Bedroom player - equipment advice needed

[dave robinson]

I too have the Catalinbread, but they are around £200 and don't do as good a job as the Stanley FX eTap pedal that I wish I had at £130.

[geoff1711]

why steer clear of noiseless pickups?

If they're good enough for Hank!

I've used them for years, Fender, Kinman, Entwistle all good and particularly in a small room maybe close to a computer.

As for amps look at Gear4Music, or Fender G-dec 3 where you can load your backing tracks directly to it and save whatever amp sim and effects you want for that track, discontinued now but generally plenty on Ebay, the 15 watt would probably be better than the 30 watt for bedroom use.

Geoff M

[David Martin]

With all due respect, and based on personal experience - I still have a Strat with Noiseless pups and have had the 40th Anniversary Hank Strat plus others fitted with Kinman's - I would strongly assert that noiseless pickups do not capture the sound of classic Shads sound pickups.

[Didier]

With all due respect, and based on personal experience - I still have a Strat with Noiseless pups and have had the 40th Anniversary Hank Strat plus others fitted with Kinman's - I would strongly assert that noiseless pickups do not capture the sound of classic Shads sound pickups.

Kinman "Marvin" PUs were intended for the modern Marvin sound. The "Impersonator 54" model should be better suited for an early years Marvin sound. Has someone tested them ?

Didier

[gibbo3272]

Hello Pete,
The advice that has been given here is all good and one can get a good sound on a low budget. If you are only a hobby/bedroom player then another alternative could be: Classic Vibe 50’s Strat ($525), Behringer DR400 - Reverb and Delay in one pedal – (59), Caline 10 Band EQ (57), Vox AC1 ($89), 2 x adaptors for Behringer and Caline ($40). I have quoted cost in Australian Dollars. I have both American Strats and the Classic Vibe, the Classic Vibe stands up really well against the American. For an outlay of $770 Aussie dollars (current conversion to GBP is 388.99 British pounds) you can get a really good sound and the Vox AC 1 is plenty loud enough for home playing and has an auxilliary input for playing Backing Tracks.
Geoff

[Snewzer]

Many thanks to everybody for all the replies, plenty for me to research into! To answer one question, yes I do need an amp rather than headphones because I play not just for myself but for my wife also. I am unfamiliar with most of the gear mentioned here so will need to look into it. Thanks again.
Pete

[sixstringsid]

With all due respect, and based on personal experience - I still have a Strat with Noiseless pups and have had the 40th Anniversary Hank Strat plus others fitted with Kinman's - I would strongly assert that noiseless pickups do not capture the sound of classic Shads sound pickups.

broke the bank for one of those fender custom shop 56 strats a little while ago, got the noiseless pickups in it, not good at all for the old hank sound, I can get a better old shads sound on my mates freemans catalogue encore strat. got a set of sliders on order as replacements for the noisless, can't wait 'til those arrive.

[Tone]

With all due respect, and based on personal experience - I still have a Strat with Noiseless pups and have had the 40th Anniversary Hank Strat plus others fitted with Kinman's - I would strongly assert that noiseless pickups do not capture the sound of classic Shads sound pickups.

broke the bank for one of those fender custom shop 56 strats a little while ago, got the noiseless pickups in it, not good at all for the old hank sound, I can get a better old shads sound on my mates freemans catalogue encore strat. got a set of sliders on order as replacements for the noisless, can't wait 'til those arrive.

I'll add my agreement to the above as regards the Fender Vintage Noiseless. I bought a Greg Fessler Masterbuilt Strat fitted with them and it was, and is, a beautiful guitar. Those pickups sounded fine in the shop but when I got the guitar home I found it very difficult to get an early Hank sound from them. After constant tweaking of amp and eq settings I did get somewhere in the ball park but I was never really happy because there was a lack of punch and bite. Eventually I fitted a set of CS54s and they transformed the guitar into what I thought it should have been in the first place.

The Kinmans are a different kettle of fish. Agreed, you can't get a vintage Hank sound from them but for Hank's 'modern' sound they are superb - as, of course, they should be.

Cheers.

Tony

[Snewzer]

Thanks to everybody for all the replies. I am unfamiliar with most of the gear mentioned here so will have to go away and research it. Just to answer one question, I do need an amp rather than headphones because when I'm on form I play to my wife as well!

[keithmantle]

I have a peavey classic 30 all valve , mint condition, valve upgrade, half new price £300. Pm me.