Alex's Guitar

[KlanKaos]

QUOTE (SignatureAurora75 @ Sep 20 2009, 05:01 PM)

For KlanKaos don't fret! Unbelievably another 2000cpl just went up for sale on Ebay.

0.0!!!

 

I'm lucky, or I've got good karma going on, or something. Anyways, I'm not gonna risk this one getting away like DigitalMan's did =P Buying it now, hopefully in about two hours when I can get out of school and home to get my dad's credit card set up on PayPal and buy this thing. Also another stroke of good luck - my dad's buying a quad from the States soon and he can go in and pick up my preamp from an address he has in the States, so I'll hopefully have this baby by the end of the week =)

 

Now for a guitar. I'm thinking Epiphone Les Paul with the Evans in, but I'll look into the EMG S&Hs as well, thanks for all the tips there guys =) Kinda want a Floyd Rose though... maybe I'll get one put on. Either way, that's a ways away yet, but I'm on track to building myself a serious rig here =)

[red sector animal]

I have this $199 (new) Ibanez GIO series guitar.

 

Like many new 'discount' guitars. It actually looks excelent. And plays pretty good.

 

But the tone sucks so bad its pathetic!!! The overtones you can hear when playing say a High E or F note would make you vomit.

 

Then the rest of my rig is another mess.. a Tech 21 That never plays clean, its always modeling another amp. Its fair at best. the good news is its pretty loud.

 

I just got an RP350 processor, that I'm happy with, although its just more modeling and processing. I like that I can kereoke with backing tracks through my amp, thats cool.

 

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

Seems like if you just get a PRS and a GK amp, or HK zentera, your in...no?

[KlanKaos]

QUOTE (red sector animal @ Sep 21 2009, 01:43 PM)

I have this $199 (new) Ibanez GIO series guitar. Like many new 'discount' guitars. It actually looks excelent. And plays pretty good. But the tone sucks so bad its pathetic!!! The overtones you can hear when playing say a High E or F note would make you vomit. Then the rest of my rig is another mess.. a Tech 21 That never plays clean, its always modeling another amp. Its fair at best. the good news is its pretty loud. I just got an RP350 processor, that I'm happy with, although its just more modeling and processing. I like that I can kereoke with backing tracks through my amp, thats cool. Sorry for hijacking the thread. Seems like if you just get a PRS and a GK amp, or HK zentera, your in...no?

Not quite, apparently the pickups are a big deal too. As discussed earlier, the EMGs or the Evans seem to be your best bet. Also, check out the list DigitalMan posted of GK amps that he thinks are good earlier in the thread.

[mrbarlint]

QUOTE (SignatureAurora75 @ Sep 18 2009, 10:31 PM)

QUOTE (mrbarlint @ Sep 18 2009, 05:55 PM) Signature guitars for the win! I love my Odyssey modded with an original floyd rose trem. + GK 250ML + Marshall 4x12 = FUN!!! Would like a copy of that email Digitalman85. I've seen your guitar before and I LIKE IT!!!!!! Thank you SignatureAurora75. Your white one is pretty damn sweet as well. At one point I was considering refinishing mine in white. Classy look.

[PW_Guitarist]

QUOTE (KlanKaos @ Sep 16 2009, 11:01 PM)

Goddamn, these things are going to be VERY hard to find and VERY expensive. I have no idea where to even START looking for the Aurora...

Actually, you are pretty well positioned to find one of these in BC, as they seem to be easier to find in Canada. Keep an eye on Ebay, used music stores and even pawn shops.

 

The neck-through Signatures were made by Larrivee in BC, and the bolt-ons were made by Godin in Quebec. If you can't find an original Signature, you may want to check out the Godin Artisan ST1 Signature, the ones from the early 90's with the ebony fretboards and Kahler tremolos (not rosewood with Wilkinsons). As far as I can tell, they are identical to the carved-top bolt-on Signatures. Same factory, same tooling, and "coincidentally" put in production the same year Signature went belly up. Just pop in some Evans pickup (if you can find them) and there you go.

 

These are much-maligned guitars because of the HYF sound and they always seem to generate much debate here, but I can vouch for the quality of these instruments as well as their playability and great sound, which was way too processed on HYF (In my opinion). My favorite are the neck-throughs with the humbuckers at the bridge (Odyssey).

 

 

[SignatureAurora75]

I just scored an Odyssey yesterday. This one is serial #936 which would make it about the 11th Signature ever made. I've got it tore apart now, doing some cleaning and shining up. Red, with gold hardware, just like the one in the catalog. I'll post some pics when I get er all back together!

 

Anyone know the chap who created that Signature tribute site? It seems like it's been forever since he updated it. I've tried to email him, but my emails always get returned. I hope he is OK wherever he is....

 

 

[Rush Cocky]

[DigitalMan85]

Hey guys, I just got my Gallien-Krueger 2000CPL in the mail! So far I've only been hooking it up directly through my Crate solid-state amp's power section -- a GFX-212T -- with no effects, so I can't really speak for how it's going to sound with all the bells and whistles. I'll probably update that later tonight. For now, though, here are my first impressions:

 

(1) The compression rocks! The very first thing I noticed when I plugged in and played a few chords on the B channel was just how good the "natural" compression sound was, how close it was to a cranked tube amp. Especially with the "compression" engaged, but you could even hear it without it. I've played other solid-state amps before but none of them had this quality. GK really did their homework.

 

(2) The EQ is very good! The 10k works great on both channels, the the 500Hz works particularly well on the B channel for getting a more "raunchy" distortion. The 80Hz band really gives it a lot of "oomph" when you're trying to get a more metal sound. After this, I'll take 4-band any day over 3-band.

 

(3) My guitar's pickups suck! lol...I know that's not saying something directly about the amp, but what I'm trying to say is this: like the JC-120 this amp is all about sonic DETAIL, and it will expose flaws both in your pickups and your technique that you didn't think were there. This was something I was worried about even before I got the amp, because I had plugged this guitar into other amps that sounded kind of like this before and it really made my guitar sound "twangy" and "screechy." It wasn't because the amps were bad, it was because that's how my guitar really sounds, and certain gear just obscures certain frequencies and makes it "tolerable" lol...it's a Washburn WG-248 with stock pickups, so go figure. I'll definitely be getting some EMGs or some Evans pickups for this, or maybe just ditching it and getting an all-new guitar. Not really sure what I'm going to do yet.

 

Before anybody thinks, "oh maybe it's the amp and not the guitar..." -- nope. I plugged my other guitar, an ESP LTD V-250 with EMG HZs into it and it sounded ten times better! The "screechiness" was gone completely, and it took on a very nice hard rock/metal sound. Sounded like a real guitar! Of course HZs have only so much gain and it made me wish I had some 81s, but it was clear that the amp is capable of some really good tones. I can't wait to plug it into a real tube poweramp.

 

Overall, I'm very glad I purchased it, but I'm very frustrated at the same time about the pickup situation. And the poweramp situation, as my solid-state poweramps are not the best in the world lol...it's going to take some experimentation but I think eventually I'm going to get the sounds I want out of it, at least for copping those Rush tones that I love. I can't wait to hear what the clean tones will sound like especially once I get some EMGs/Evans in them, I think that will always remain part of my sonic palette from now on, as it's my favorite clean sound in the world.

 

Once I get to try it with a good guitar, I'll try to record some and post it here. KlanKaos, if you don't have great pickups in your guitar, I would say, when you get your amp, try it with somebody else's guitar the day you get it, so you can hear how it's really supposed to sound! You'll thank me

[SignatureAurora75]

Hey congratulations! I think I'm a Gallien Krueger man for life, just for all the reasons you stated above.

 

How do you think of the overall sound? With either of your guitars, does it sound similar to the ASOH sound?

 

Strangely enough, an Evans E-2 went up for sale on ebay...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Evans-Humbucker-Guitar...id=p3286.c0.m14

 

This E-2 is a thing of beauty, you get an option of a kick ass sounding humbucker, then wire it up to a push-pull pot and you can turn it into a single coil. That will get you your ASOH sound even closer.

 

I've posted a video of myself covering Tom Sawyer on youtube... Here I am using the stock Signature Aurora pickups (Fernandes active single coils ) which I believe are the same pickup as the EMG S series.. through my GK2000cpl

 

Let me know what you think of the sound!

 

You can let me know if I suck at guitar too...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps9FyORaDzQ

 

 

 

[DigitalMan85]

Unfortunately, due to my pickup situation, I don't really sound much closer to the ASOH sound. My bridge pickup really just blows and there's no way around it. My flying V guitar sounds a little bit closer but that has EMG passive humbuckers, so it gets a little closer to the Roll the Bones tour sound but not ASOH. I might bid for those Evans pickups, but I should let you know, the clean sound is really more important for me than the distortion. I really want to get those clean sounds from "Prime Mover" or "Territories" or "Tai Shan" more than anything right now. Kind of like this sound, about 47 seconds into it:

 

 

or this one, at 3:32:

 

 

If the Evans E-2's can't do that, I'm probably going to pass on it, and then maybe look for their single coil pickup. The pickups in your Signature guitar sounded pretty good to me though, so I might just get an EMG H instead. I guess I'm looking for a pickup that can sound "wiry" (clean) and "fiery" (distortion) at the same time lol...not sure if it can be done, but I can sacrifice fiery for wiry if I have to. I've been thinking about the EMG 89 as well, that one is an alnico active pickup that can be split.

 

I'd love to see you post a video with just you and the guitar with no music in the back, especially if you could demo some clean sounds like from the Hold Your Fire and Presto stuff. Do you have any effects you run with it too? I think that the multi-voice choruses Alex was using has something to do with that clean "chime."

 

Thanks for posting that video, that guitar looks amazing! I hope you post one with your other Signature soon!

[SignatureAurora75]

QUOTE (DigitalMan85 @ Sep 28 2009, 07:07 AM)

I'd love to see you post a video with just you and the guitar with no music in the back, especially if you could demo some clean sounds like from the Hold Your Fire and Presto stuff. Do you have any effects you run with it too? I think that the multi-voice choruses Alex was using has something to do with that clean "chime."

Check out my Hemispheres video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob3_-gV7aqQ

 

Listen to the end when I play The Sphere... Is that the sound you're looking for?

 

That pickup I have in the Aurora sounds very chimey and wirey in the clean mode.

 

Also, check out my Time Stand Still Video, see which pickup you like better. That one I'm using an Evans E-2

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3f2jv-ohYE

 

 

Thanks for the nice comments, the next song I do I'll do with my red Signature Odyssey.

Edited September 28, 2009 by SignatureAurora75

[KlanKaos]

Yeah, DigitalMan, my pickup in my hollow-body isn't fantastic. It's just not a great guitar overall. But my new plan is, instead of buying my own guitar, a friend and I are going to build one (from scratch! We're doing our homework! =P) and I'm going to put in EMG S pickups. It's going to be a high-quality guitar, and I'm going to get a GK 2000CPL as well, so I'm really going flat-out on guitar gear this year, since hockey isn't happening for me and I have time to get a job to pay for my dream gear =)

 

Also, where you were talking about the 'chime', I think it has lots to do with the choruses, yes, but I also think that throwing a lot of the 10K boost we were talking about earlier would help with that tone as well. Try it with just the GK's built-in chorus and the 10Ks pushed up high.

[mcleanab]

Hello all!

 

I'm new to the forum, but very thankful for this particular thread that I've been reading for a year now.

 

I owned a 2000cpl a while back and loved it, but wanted more versatility. I FINALLY found a couple of lovely 100mpl's (it took me two years and I managed to track down three, 2 for me and 1 for a friend) and could not be happier!

 

I wanted to know if anyone else has had the good fortune of grabbing up one of these lovely old beasts and what your experience has been with it... The cleans are unlike anything I've heard (other than those of the HYF/ASOH/Presto era) and the amount of gain is shocking compared to the 2000cpl.

 

I usually pump my EMG HA into the GK and run that into my Boss VF-1 which has "models" of the old Dimension D. It great!

 

So, does anyone else have this beast and how are you using it?

 

Thanks!

[TheSpiritOfLerxst]

I'd love a copy of that email!!