1. Originally posted by Alex:[..]
    Yes, I wrote that piece of music. Thanks for the compliments.

    It's meant as an intro for a quite heavy song, so the heavy distortion makes some sense. Right now my wife and kids are away, and I have a few days off. So I'm working on a few new pieces of music. Let's see what I can finish until Thursday.

    Alex


    You are welcome. I love heavy music and heavy distorion, what I was saying is that I didn't like your distortion on that part. It sounds a bit artificial. It's a matter of taste obviously. I happen to be old school.
  2. Originally posted by thechicken:[..]

    You are welcome. I love heavy music and heavy distorion, what I was saying is that I didn't like your distortion on that part. It sounds a bit artificial. It's a matter of taste obviously. I happen to be old school.

    Okay - I understand. No offense taken.

    For your info: I played through the Lead channel of my Hughes & Kettner Tubeman direct recording workstation. Gain at 11 o'clock, Voicing at 1 o'clock, bass eq at max, mid and treble at 2 o'clock. So even it sounds artificial to your ears it's still full tube preamp saturation. The other guitars were recorded through the clean and crunch channels of the same unit. I also used a Promeek recording compressor on every track and finally some master compression (actually too much but I didn't want to redo it considering it's only a demo).

    As you said - it's a matter of taste. I can make the Tubeman sound completely different if I want to. The Voicing control gives it a great versatility. I even use it live - I bypass the speaker emulation and plug it into a small 18 Watt Class A power amp head, so I have a three channel full tube amp. I haven't used distortion stomp boxes in ages.

    Alex
  3. Here's a little piece of a song that I've been recording today. Still a rough mix, no reverb / delay and no vocals. I'll probably add a little keys, too. This is all my blue strat. The bass is a Korean Rickenbacker copy.

    www.freak-alex-band.com/DemoDez2008.mp3

    I noticed a small background hiss at the beginning that I still have to eliminate. And too heavy master compression again...

    Enjoy

    Alex
  4. Originally posted by Alex:Here's a little piece of a song that I've been recording today. Still a rough mix, no reverb / delay and no vocals. I'll probably add a little keys, too. This is all my blue strat. The bass is a Korean Rickenbacker copy.

    www.freak-alex-band.com/DemoDez2008.mp3

    I noticed a small background hiss at the beginning that I still have to eliminate. And too heavy master compression again...

    Enjoy

    Alex


    Awesome... Nice bass playing! You should put an album out.
  5. That's pretty impressive man. Good for you.

  6. Actually it's not too impressive to record an album. Anyone with a computer can do it, and when he's done it a few times he can call himself a semi- professional. Even if I'm really proud of my own CD I still have to admit that I can't beat a proper professional production with the limitations of my home equipment and my self- taught know- how.

    And it's not too good for me - at least not in a financial way. The physical CD production costs money. I gave away a lot of free and promotional copies. In the end I never made any money with it, I ended up getting the cost back in and was happy. It was a little bit better in the days when we played live on a regular basis, but we mostly played for free, so our CD sales had to pay also for our car's gasoline. But now there just aren't enough people knowing my music and visiting my site. So thanks for giving me the opportunity for a post of shameless self- advertising.



    Alex
  7. Right, the Explorer is officially on its way! Should have it by Saturday with any luck, maybe even Friday if extremely lucky, and if not Monday lol. Either way, I'm absolutely buzzing! lol.
  8. Originally posted by WojBhoy:Right, the Explorer is officially on its way! Should have it by Saturday with any luck, maybe even Friday if extremely lucky, and if not Monday lol. Either way, I'm absolutely buzzing! lol.

    Give us sound clips when it's arrived! And pics!

    Actually I never played an Explorer, so you'll also have to explain how it feels in your hands compared to a Strat and a Paula.

    Alex
  9. Originally posted by Alex:[..]
    Give us sound clips when it's arrived! And pics!

    Actually I never played an Explorer, so you'll also have to explain how it feels in your hands compared to a Strat and a Paula.

    Alex


    The design and the guitars balance being as they are, one's hands tend to fall higher up the neck on an Explorer than most other guitars.

    In that, it's not surprising that Edge ended up writing a number of bits in that 7th to 12th fret range of the Explorer: Gloria, I Will Follow, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
  10. Originally posted by Alex:Give us sound clips when it's arrived! And pics!

    Actually I never played an Explorer, so you'll also have to explain how it feels in your hands compared to a Strat and a Paula.

    Alex

    Sure thing finding time to take pictures will be a challenge ('cause it'll mean putting the guitar for 5 minutes ) but I'll definitely get around to that.
    Originally posted by anstratdubh1979:The design and the guitars balance being as they are, one's hands tend to fall higher up the neck on an Explorer than most other guitars.

    In that, it's not surprising that Edge ended up writing a number of bits in that 7th to 12th fret range of the Explorer: Gloria, I Will Follow, 11 O'Clock Tick Tock

    Yeah definitely, although it's interesting that he plays Gloria on a Strat. live...
  11. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    Sure thing finding time to take pictures will be a challenge ('cause it'll mean putting the guitar for 5 minutes ) but I'll definitely get around to that.
    [..]
    Yeah definitely, although it's interesting that he plays Gloria on a Strat. live...


    I think he may have mostly polayed Gloria on the Strat. But I believe that he has played Gloria on the Explorer too. I'd have to double check that.

    There are a lot of early songs that he's played on both. "The Electric Co.", being one example off the top of my head, where he has used the Explorer and the Strat at various times.

    An Cat Dubh has been played on the Explorer and a black Strat at various times.


    Songs like Rejoice have been played on his original Black Strat...


    ...Gibson Sonex (Werchter early July 1982)


    ...and Gibson Les Paul Custom a few weeks later at Gateshead (July 1982)