My "Gretchen" Rig Clips - Ty Tabor Tone

[Krinkle]

First clips with my finally completed "Gretchen" rig. This is supposedly the gear Ty Tabor used to record GGTN.

Summerland/Over My Head First Solo Noodle

Over My Head Solo

Signal chain;

Modded Fender MIM to Elite->LAB Series L5 "Low" input with settings from Guitar Player TT interview->L5 preamp out to BS2 buffer to split signal to feed stereo FX->L&R Alesis Midiverb II->

L into Ibanez DD-200 Delay #1->L into Crown Micro-Tech 600 Power Amp
R into Ibanez DD-200 Delay #2->R into Crown Micro-Tech 600 Power Amp

Crown Power Amp outs into Peavey 4x12 cab with four 16 Ohm Celestion G12K-85's, wired 2 in parallel a side to get 8 Ohms x 2 sets for stereo.

Fender MIM STrat modded to Elite specs;
https://s793.photobucket.com/albums/yy21 ... 1_3349.jpg
https://s793.photobucket.com/albums/yy21 ... 1_3348.jpg

Homemade Elite Preamp
https://s793.photobucket.com/albums/yy21 ... C07940.jpg

Preamp Installed with Elite wiring on Pickguard
https://s793.photobucket.com/albums/yy21 ... C07936.jpg

LAB Series L5 with Ty Tabor Mystery Settings
https://s793.photobucket.com/albums/yy21 ... 1_3347.jpg

Alessis Midiverb II
Ibanez DD-200 Delay #1
Ibanez DD-200 Delay #2
Crown Micro Tech 600 Power Amp
https://s793.photobucket.com/albums/yy21 ... 1_3346.jpg

Peavey 4x12 Cab with Celestion G12K-85 speakers, rewired for stereo
https://s793.photobucket.com/albums/yy21 ... 1_3350.jpg

 

[rjohns1]

Sounds fantastic dude!

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

great job!

 

[JTyson]

Nice job man!

 

[Rayneman]

Sounds quite authentic.

<scampers off to ebay to check current, likely way overpriced availability of Fender Elite Strats>

 

[The Whale]

Wow - That's pretty impressive. What's involved in the preamp circuit?

 

[JTyson]

Sounds quite authentic.

<scampers off to ebay to check current, likely way overpriced availability of Fender Elite Strats>

I actually saw a few on there the other day that were not too bad.. Some L5's too..

 

[Krinkle]

Thanks guys, I'm really loving this setup. the tones from the Elite are endless, if you don't like something, tweak the volume and midboost pots and you can get what you need. It can cause tweaking paralysis though, I am constantly fiddling with the knobs!

 

[Krinkle]

Wow - That's pretty impressive. What's involved in the preamp circuit?

I just built it based on the Fender documentation. I ordered the parts from Mouser and they allow you to share parts lists so if anybody is interested let me know.

 

[Krinkle]

By the way, if you search long and hard enough;

Alesis Midiverb II - $75
Ibanez DD200 #1 - $39
Ibanez DD200 #2 - $100
Crown Micro Tech 600 - $200

Ty Tabor Gretchen tone - PRICELESS!!!!!!

Haivng said that, the magic is the Elite paired with the L5. Although I will say that I tried my VHT 2502 and I prefer the Crown, tighter low end, crisper highs. Peavey cab with those 85's made a big difference too. I LOOOOOOVE my greenbacks but for this tone, the 85's rule. Same story, great bottom end and correct highs combined with the rest of this setup.

Unbelieveable how Ty had the ears to combine all of this gear to get that sound. Then to write those songs, WOW, what a talent!

Ty should dig out all of his old gear and record a new album called "The Perfect Storm"!

 

[JTyson]

Agreed, the songwriting alone on GGTN is fantastic. Couple that with Ty's tone, Doug's singing and massive bass tone, and Jerry's drumming and it is the stuff of legend for sure. I still enjoy it (along with their other early stuff) daily
I've never heard anything like it

 

[yngzaklynch]

Wow!!!!!! Outstanding job.

Jim

 

[controlled_voltage]

the pinnacle of ty and king's x for me
a truly perfect album that has stood the test of time exceedingly well
great job nailing that tone
my pal had an L5 and i always liked it even though it was solid state

 

[singtall]

i would like to have the elite preamp installed in my strat and have a custom L5 preamp section only.

 

[Rayneman]

Sounds quite authentic.

<scampers off to ebay to check current, likely way overpriced availability of Fender Elite Strats>

I actually saw a few on there the other day that were not too bad.. Some L5's too..

There's an '83 emerald green elite strat that seems reasonably priced relative to others I've seen. Of course its the color I want as well...I REALLY didn't need to see that.

 

[JTyson]

Sounds quite authentic.

<scampers off to ebay to check current, likely way overpriced availability of Fender Elite Strats>

I actually saw a few on there the other day that were not too bad.. Some L5's too..

There's an '83 emerald green elite strat that seems reasonably priced relative to others I've seen. Of course its the color I want as well...I REALLY didn't need to see that.

I saw that one, it looks great aside from the mark on the body (I could easily live with that) They had a natural finished one in there that looked good as well for around 800 (!!) if I remember right.
That emerald green one is sweet

 

[Krinkle]

i would like to have the elite preamp installed in my strat and have a custom L5 preamp section only.

I know, I saw your posts on another forum. I spent so much time searching before I put all of this together that I think I found every piece of information about Elite's and L5's on the internet. Lyle Caldwell on My Les Paul forum was thinking about doing it, in a thread from late last year. I posted the other day but no response yet. he said he thought he could do it for $325, I would buy one for that all day long, I'm just not so sure it can be done that cheap.

I've thought about building a 1U clone of just the sections that I use, no changes, not interested in changing/"improving" it. But I'll probably never get around to it. I paid $450 for my L5 about 4-5 years ago, very good to mint condition. I don't see too many these days and it seems that people are asking a lot for them when I do. At the same time, I don't know how cheap it would be to build one, by the time you buy a 1U rack enclosure you're looking at $100 or so, unless somebody knows where to get them cheaper (without buying hundreds of them). The you have to get a pcb made, not cheap either. That would dig into your $325. A "1 of" would probably cost about $500 to build, based on what I know from other things I've built.

 

[Krinkle]

Wow!!!!!! Outstanding job.
Jim

the pinnacle of ty and king's x for me
a truly perfect album that has stood the test of time exceedingly well
great job nailing that tone
my pal had an L5 and i always liked it even though it was solid state

Thanks guys! Once I saw Scunion's video's on Youtube and knew that it could be done, I started looking for the same equipment. It all came together with a flurry of activity over this last month, modding the MIM to Elite specs, buying the Crown MT600, the second DD200 delay, and the Peavey cab.

Can you believe you can get that Crown power amp for $200? It sure beat buying a MB 2:90, pricewise.

 

[Krinkle]

Sounds quite authentic.

<scampers off to ebay to check current, likely way overpriced availability of Fender Elite Strats>

I actually saw a few on there the other day that were not too bad.. Some L5's too..

There's an '83 emerald green elite strat that seems reasonably priced relative to others I've seen. Of course its the color I want as well...I REALLY didn't need to see that.

I saw that one, it looks great aside from the mark on the body (I could easily live with that) They had a natural finished one in there that looked good as well for around 800 (!!) if I remember right.
That emerald green one is sweet

I was thinking about that one, too. There was a black one that looked really clean, I just couldn't justify it with all of the other stuff I bought, I would have had to sell something, so I figured I'd take a stab at modding my MIM. it worked out great.

 

[Krinkle]

Black Flag Solo