I had a four year Rig-Talk hiatus. Here, have some pics!

[Peter]

I'm pretty pleased with myself for acquiring the username 'Peter' - I cannot believe no one else thought to take it

I haven't been on here in four years, which is pretty crazy.

Just thought I'd share a bit about what I'm working with in terms of gear, like where I'm at, and where I want to be.

I love Japanese Ibanez guitars. My first was an '99 RG7620BK:

Great guitar - I still miss it!

This was my 'between Ibanezes' guitar. Hated it. Looked cool, played averagely, but it just had all these design issues.

Next - and this is where things got good - I bought an RG550MXX reissue.

Fantastic guitar. Put a zebra PAF Pro and a white Super Distortion and the bridge and it absolutely ruled. Cannot stress how much it ruled. Ended up selling it because that awesome-looking square heel made it hard for me to play (I don't have long fingers).

Lastly, and currently, is my RG2820 J-Craft which is a Japanese exclusive model.

Best looking guitar I have ever owned, but the fingerboard has such an open grain - I prefer the smoothness of the maple on my old RG550. Also the Edge Zero is a disease that needs to be wiped out I've seen people replace them with original Edges and Edge LoPro's before, and that's probably what I'll do when I get some disposable income (I just finished my degree). I'm dying to chuck a LoPro in it.

I've been working with a Rivera Knucklehead K412T for 4-5 years, and it's an amazing cabinet that I was very lucky to come by. I've owned a Randall RM100 since 2009, and it's been a funny ride. I went 3 years without using an overdrive, or any other effects, and once I started using one the amp sounded great, although the 'Ultra' module doesn't really clean up, even when you're using a classy guitar with passive pickups.

At one stage I even had a Digitech TSR-12. I mentioned this in my first post on the forum. I didn't use it properly, but it looked cool.

Then things got cooler:

And a bit cooler still:

Even though my tone right now is actually really awesome (think Petrucci), I'm replacing my rig with an Axe-FX II XL+ quite soon.

So, I'm a 24-year-old analytic philosopher and musician. I sit in my room playing Ratt, Toto, and Dream Theater solos at 75% pace every chance I get. I like wet as hell guitar tones lol.

Cheers, guys.

 

[Peter]

cool man! welcome back to the battle with your wallet!

It's a battle I'm going to try to lose a lot

 

[Racerxrated]

Welcome back! Man, I gigged for almost 20 years with a '90 Hamer USA Centaura and a black '87 RG550. Paid 200 for the RG from a guy who didn't play guitar...he just sent in an entry in guitar player magazine for a free guitar giveaway.. . Anyway, those guitars are long gone....wish I still had em!

 

[Peter]

Welcome back! Man, I gigged for almost 20 years with a '90 Hamer USA Centaura and a black '87 RG550. Paid 200 for the RG from a guy who didn't play guitar...he just sent in an entry in guitar player magazine for a free guitar giveaway.. . Anyway, those guitars are long gone....wish I still had em!

Never had the pleasure of playing an original '87, but those J-Craft guys do some of the best necks in the biz! I'd hazard a guess that the reissues are superior, but I might become very unpopular with talk like that

 

[charvelstrat81]

That J craft is stellar!

 

[Peter]

That J craft is stellar!

It was very popular across all the forums I frequent.

The fingerboard LOVED the conditioning process:

Before:

After:

The first pic did have a different exposure setting, but it really was considerable paler/lighter. Looked sexy as f-ck afterward!

 

[charvelstrat81]

I always wanted a all maple neck J craft but everytime i came across one(which was rare)
they were over $2500 and i was broke!

 

[rottingcorpse]

The 501st salutes you.

 

[Peter]

I always wanted a all maple neck J craft but everytime i came across one(which was rare)
they were over $2500 and i was broke!

A friend of mine had a 1-of-3 made J.custom that had a quilted maple fingerboard. I believe he had it for sale here among other places.

 

[tschrama]

Very cool to see someone else also using a RM100 (I also use a Soundtank Tubescreaner lol). One tip: fill the other two preamp slot too! That will effect the tone for the better. The preamp power supply gets slightly loaded down that way. 2nd hand XTC-modules of Recto-modules can be found on ebay for 100-120 dollar, fender-deluxe modules even less.

I'm sure you know about the trick to slightly overdirve the FX-loop of the RM100, by setting your module's volume to 3-oclock. Works wonders.

BTW
Awesome looking guitar

 

[Peter]

Very cool to see someone else also using a RM100 (I also use a Soundtank Tubescreaner lol). One tip: fill the other two preamp slot too! That will effect the tone for the better. The preamp power supply gets slightly loaded down that way. 2nd hand XTC-modules of Recto-modules can be found on ebay for 100-120 dollar, fender-deluxe modules even less.

I'm sure you know about the trick to slightly overdirve the FX-loop of the RM100, by setting your module's volume to 3-oclock. Works wonders.

BTW
Awesome looking guitar

I had no idea about either of those things. I'm tempted to test those theories, but I'm pretty intent on selling my head and cab and getting that epic Axe-FX II XL+

What exactly do you mean by 'overdrive the FX loop'?

 

[tschrama]

Dont sell it.. you'll be lucky to get 400$ for it (500 with module), while it is a awesome head and a great tone-platform: midi, great power amp, individual bias per tubes so you can mix 6L6 with EL34, 6550, or even KT88, great output transformer. If you go the AXE-FX route, you the RM100 as a piower amp... well just my 2 cents..

PS
I did cut one of the ventilator wires to shut it down.. couldn't stand the noise.

 

[Peter]

Dont sell it.. you'll be lucky to get 400$ for it (500 with module), while it is a awesome head and a great tone-platform: midi, great power amp, individual bias per tubes so you can mix 6L6 with EL34, 6550, or even KT88, great output transformer. If you go the AXE-FX route, you the RM100 as a piower amp... well just my 2 cents..

PS
I did cut one of the ventilator wires to shut it down.. couldn't stand the noise.

I have it up for $1,400NZD. They're hard to come by, although I think I'll be letting it go for a grand lol. Honestly, I know how great an amp it is, but the Axe-FX II XL+ is just so damned diverse, and I can dial in basically anyone's tone!

Like I said, my tone is pretty awesome at the moment, so it's going to be a bit sad when it goes!

 

[tschrama]

Ah, I see they might be rare in NZD. Here in europe they are hard to come by too. I actually had to import them from the US, which made the whole deal twice as expensive.

Goodluck m8!

 

[Peter]

Ah, I see they might be rare in NZD. Here in europe they are hard to come by too. I actually had to import them from the US, which made the whole deal twice as expensive.

Goodluck m8!

They're common in the US, but yeah they're definitely rare in NZ and Europe.

 

[slash57]

First time I've seen another dude with the Rivera cab, they seem to be pretty rare. I love mine though.
How do you intend to amplify the Axe FX?

 

[Peter]

First time I've seen another dude with the Rivera cab, they seem to be pretty rare. I love mine though.
How do you intend to amplify the Axe FX?

I'll use powered speakers at first, but I'll want to try using a power amp and two cabinets after that. Oh and yes they're extremely rare in New Zealand. I've never seen another one around, only older combos. I'm thinking a Marshall 50/50 would work nicely.

 

[Ventura]

cool man! welcome back to the battle with your wallet!

Let the GAS begin!!

 

[Peter]

cool man! welcome back to the battle with your wallet!

Let the GAS begin!!

Rig-Talk is definitely more GAS inducing than other sites I've been on. I mean, some guy had a neat setup which consisted of a DeMartini Charvel San Dimas model, another San Dimas, a 5150 II + 2x12, and a Fractal Audio Systems FX8. AWESOME. Back on Sevenstring.org, everyone had 8-9 strings and used Brugeras