thearabianmage
Well-known member
I have finally gotten around to getting some clips of Bubba recorded and I got 10/16 of the tones that the Chromacaster offer in it, too, so not too bad going.
For those who forgot/don't know, here is a close-up of Bubba:
http://the-arabian-mage.deviantart.com/art/Bubba-close-up-109670011
There's an explanation on the page to save us all a bit of time.
Now with the clip, I tried to be a thorough as possible. Save the last piece, all of the parts were recorded in one of the same 2 channels through my Pod. There was a clean and a light/medium gain. Every other variation in sound comes from the guitar/chromacaster. There are 6 genres of music with a rhythm and a lead each (no drums or bass so the focus can be entirely on the guitar's sound) and each section is between 15 and 30 seconds long.
Here is a list of the tones used:
[Key- R= Rhythm L= Lead - += parallel *= series -= out-of-phase B= bridge pup M= middle pup N= neck pup]
Blues (Te-ni-ne-ni-nu excerpt) - R = B+M+N ; L= (-B*N)+M
Funk (excerpt from Grade 6 guitar) - R = -B+M ; L= -B+M+N
Jazz (my own composition) - R = B*N ; L = (B*M)+N
Spanish (my own composition) - R = (B*N)+M ; L = B+N
Country (Chet Atkins style progression) - R = N ; L = B
Metal (my own composition) - R = -B+M ; L = (-B*N)+M
The positions used on the metal one are repeats, but this time with a higher gain so you can hear the guitar wail.
After the metal bit I use both kill switches, first the on-off, the off-on-off, so you can get an idea of how they sound (and why I have put in two killswitches)
So here, I hit two birds with one stone and show a clip of Bubba and the Chromacaster.
http://www.box.net/shared/uf5pni13yt
After months of having the Chromacaster, I can say that I love it. A lot. I like the variation I can get out of my guitar. But, still, after months (especially with Bubba being my primary guitar) I still can't remember what is what apart from the 3 or 4 positions that I use constantly. That, and the fact that it can take a fair few seconds to dial in the position are the *only* two criticisms I have for this excellent piece of kit.
And about the recordings, my primary aim was to show-off the tones and sounds of the guitar, not my playing, which could have been better. I could have spent a lot longer perfecting solos and lines and whatever, but felt that would have been detrimental to focus I wanted to spend on the tones themselves.
Also, I made no attempt at EQ or anything like that - just so long as both guitars were audible I was happy (plus, EQ would change the raw sound of the guitar, wouldn't it?)
One last time - apart from the metal section - there are only 2 effects being used: a clean channel and light/medium gain channel. Every other variation in sound comes from Bubba.
Enjoy! Let me know what y'all think!
Cheers,
Joe
----Edit----
One thing I forgot to say in relation to the Chromacaster is just how pleasant Deaf Eddie (it's creator) is. He is more than helpful if you are having any problems wiring the Chromie into your guitar and he has helped me out on numerous wiring projects. 10/10 for customer service!
For those who forgot/don't know, here is a close-up of Bubba:
http://the-arabian-mage.deviantart.com/art/Bubba-close-up-109670011
There's an explanation on the page to save us all a bit of time.
Now with the clip, I tried to be a thorough as possible. Save the last piece, all of the parts were recorded in one of the same 2 channels through my Pod. There was a clean and a light/medium gain. Every other variation in sound comes from the guitar/chromacaster. There are 6 genres of music with a rhythm and a lead each (no drums or bass so the focus can be entirely on the guitar's sound) and each section is between 15 and 30 seconds long.
Here is a list of the tones used:
[Key- R= Rhythm L= Lead - += parallel *= series -= out-of-phase B= bridge pup M= middle pup N= neck pup]
Blues (Te-ni-ne-ni-nu excerpt) - R = B+M+N ; L= (-B*N)+M
Funk (excerpt from Grade 6 guitar) - R = -B+M ; L= -B+M+N
Jazz (my own composition) - R = B*N ; L = (B*M)+N
Spanish (my own composition) - R = (B*N)+M ; L = B+N
Country (Chet Atkins style progression) - R = N ; L = B
Metal (my own composition) - R = -B+M ; L = (-B*N)+M
The positions used on the metal one are repeats, but this time with a higher gain so you can hear the guitar wail.
After the metal bit I use both kill switches, first the on-off, the off-on-off, so you can get an idea of how they sound (and why I have put in two killswitches)
So here, I hit two birds with one stone and show a clip of Bubba and the Chromacaster.
http://www.box.net/shared/uf5pni13yt
After months of having the Chromacaster, I can say that I love it. A lot. I like the variation I can get out of my guitar. But, still, after months (especially with Bubba being my primary guitar) I still can't remember what is what apart from the 3 or 4 positions that I use constantly. That, and the fact that it can take a fair few seconds to dial in the position are the *only* two criticisms I have for this excellent piece of kit.
And about the recordings, my primary aim was to show-off the tones and sounds of the guitar, not my playing, which could have been better. I could have spent a lot longer perfecting solos and lines and whatever, but felt that would have been detrimental to focus I wanted to spend on the tones themselves.
Also, I made no attempt at EQ or anything like that - just so long as both guitars were audible I was happy (plus, EQ would change the raw sound of the guitar, wouldn't it?)
One last time - apart from the metal section - there are only 2 effects being used: a clean channel and light/medium gain channel. Every other variation in sound comes from Bubba.
Enjoy! Let me know what y'all think!
Cheers,
Joe
----Edit----
One thing I forgot to say in relation to the Chromacaster is just how pleasant Deaf Eddie (it's creator) is. He is more than helpful if you are having any problems wiring the Chromie into your guitar and he has helped me out on numerous wiring projects. 10/10 for customer service!
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That was always my biggest concern with the concept of the chromacaster--how the heck do you keep it all straight? Makes for one seriously flexible guitar, though.
