DeepEnd

Congratulations. Happy New Guitar Day.  As for how the quality is possible, it largely has to do with labor costs in Asia.

On 10/26/2023 at 9:44 PM, kwakatak said:

I was .1mm shallow on the binding channels but I went back yesterday did another pass. Now everything is flush. . . .

Second best outcome you could've hoped for (the best being that it would be perfect on the first try). 

I've heard of balanced tension strings, primarily for electric, but I'm not familiar with the brand. At first blush it seems like a nice idea but that's about all.

Very nice. I very much approve. 😉 Seriously, it looks very much as it should. Looking forward to journey's end.

On 10/6/2023 at 7:17 PM, garthman said:

Good stuff, Deep.

Here is one from me. A traditional song from the USA set towards the end of or just after the civil war.

The Lakes of Pontchartrain

https://app.box.com/s/tgjudjk35134ig8nsl576y329jgjtmgs

Thanks. I got a chance to sing it in worship Sunday as part of a trio: Me, a lady from choir doing vocals and percussion, and her 15-year-old daughter on bass.

As for yours, sadly, I wasn't familiar with it but I found a YouTube vid of Paul Brady singing it and you did a very credible job. Thanks for posting.

Roland Cube 80XL as my main amp, 80 Watts SS, 1X12; SWR LA12 bass amp for home noodling, 60 Watts SS 1X12; Fender FM65R, 65 Watts SS 1X12, that needs a home.

Something slightly reminiscent of the season, an original called "Dead Men Walking."

https://m.soundcloud.com/david-phelps-681437607/dead-men-walking-1

The cabs are rated at 16 Ohms each. If your Marshall head can be set for a 16 Ohm load you'll be fine running just one. If your Marshall needs an 8 Ohm load you could run both cabs in parallel assuming you can figure out the wiring.

Congratulations. Happy New (Used) Guitar Day. 

On 9/4/2023 at 11:12 PM, daddymack said:

Yeah... there are rules about feed back, and you are getting a crash course. Sitting close to the amp, [especially if you are facing the speaker, not saying you were...], is going to feedback ...at pretty much any kind of volume for ensemble playing with an acoustic guitar...try to get a few [3-5] feet in front of the amp with your back to it. Using the clean channel is the correct approach!

Thanks and sorry for the late response. The main reason I asked is that I don't get feedback with my bass amp in a similar situation. That's why I guessed a difference in EQ between the two channels but your suggestion that there might be compression in play does make sense. I was standing several feet from my amp while playing so feedback wasn't an issue anyway.

I feel like I'm in an old comedy routine:
DeepEnd: It hurts when I do this.
daddymack: Well, don't do that.
To clarify, the feedback happened/didn't happen when I was sitting right next to my amp. Getting farther away would have probably helped. But if I even barely increased the volume from zero at that distance the "Lead" channel gave feedback even though it doesn't seem to have appreciably higher gain than the "Clean" channel. My acoustic is equipped with an aftermarket Shadow undersaddle pickup. Obviously I'm not going to use the "Lead" channel for acoustic. You could easily be right about compression. I hadn't thought about that. But I'm not ruling out differences in EQ. I'm acquainted with feedback busters but since I was able to get plenty of volume with the "Clean" channel, one wasn't needed.

Sunday I wanted to play my acoustic in worship but I don't own an acoustic amp. I could've brought my bass amp but I decided to use my Roland Cube 80XL, which was already at church, and hope for the best. For anyone who doesn't know, it has two channels, "Clean," which emulates a Jazz Chorus, and "Lead," which has models of various Fender, Vox, Mesa, etc. amps. But I got feedback--serious feedback--with any of the various models on the "Lead" channel. Oddly enough though, the "Clean" channel didn't give a problem with feedback. My guess is that the "Clean" channel's EQ includes a high-pass filter the "Lead" channel doesn't have. Can anyone shed any additional light?

This is actually a video of a worship service but if you skip to about the 57 minute mark you can watch me doing an original titled "Waiting for Shadows." https://maplewoodumc.org/worship?sapurl=Lyt2bnd3L2xiL21pLytnMnNzeDZ0P2JyYW5kaW5nPXRydWUmZW1iZWQ9dHJ1ZSZyZWNlbnRSb3V0ZT1hcHAud2ViLWFwcC5saWJyYXJ5Lmxpc3QmcmVjZW50Um91dGVTbHVnPSUyQnozd21rdGo=

Forget it. A cheap 4X12 is what, maybe $150? That's not much less than I paid for my Roland Cube 80XL combo used. Granted it's a SS modeling amp but at 80W it's actually gigable if I were anything other than a church player. Or you can find a tube combo in that price range if you're lucky and not picky but the wattage will be on the low side.

The Ampeg is pretty much a lateral move. You might gain a couple decibels of output but that's all. The Rumble 40 is a small step up but as daddymack said, it depends on how you're using the amp. I have a 60 Watt SWR for noodling at home since I'm not much of a bassist.

On 7/12/2023 at 9:48 PM, gardo said:

This is interesting 

Yeah. Reminiscent of the G&L version.

Happy New Lap Steel Day 

u6crash's original reminded me of a phrase from Gershwin's "Embraceable You" so here's a simplified version:

https://soundcloud.com/david-phelps-681437607/embraceable-you

On 7/5/2023 at 7:49 AM, daddymack said:

Chambered was developed for weight relief, and many 'purists' disdain them, much like 'pancake' bodies and neck volutes. . . .

Thanks, I was aware. I was thinking more in terms of how much weight reduction and whether it would make any real difference.

Larrivee, Godin, Breedlove. Don't overlook Takamine either.

Looks good.  Looking forward to hearing it played.

u6crash - Nicely done. I enjoyed that. Thanks for contributing.

An original called "The Special Gray Fox." Our church is running a summer Freedom School and AfterCare program and I got asked to bring my guitar and do "something about songwriting" with the kids. I had the kids come up with ideas with the promise that I'd turn them into a song. This is the result. BTW, sorry for the audio quality. I think there's something wrong with my mic. 

https://m.soundcloud.com/david-phelps-681437607/the-special-gray-fox

On 7/3/2023 at 12:51 PM, daddymack said:

. . . Have you ever tried a Lester? They can be heavy. If you are a 'bedroomer', that is not a big deal, but if you gig, they can cut a rut in your shoulder....

Never owned a LP but what's the story on chambered models? 1,000-2,000 GBP is 1,270-2,540 USD. If the OP wants a "real" i.e. Gibson LP used is his best bet.

On 6/22/2023 at 1:28 PM, kwakatak said:

This build shows that there is much room for improvement. . . .

If it's any consolation it's still miles better than anything I could do.