Tonefiend Forum

Quote from mutz on August 15, 2012, 05:03
It's cool to keep your secrets, a bit like being the only guy in town who owns a copy of "Don't Care" by Klark Kent.

Omigod, I haven't heard that in years! Stewart Copeland, why didn't you make another album like that? I mean, "Office Girls", holy crap!

Quote from smgear on August 14, 2012, 12:23
I have a fondness for the old Electras. I have an old 2242?(I think - it's in storage at the moment) from the mid 70's that served me well for years. I need to refret it and make some other minor repairs to get it going again, but it is built like a tank and has great tone and sustain.

Is that one of the Electras with the built-in effects? That distortion circuit lies at the heart of SO many current boutique overdrives. (Hello, Lovepedal!)

Quote from smgear on August 20, 2012, 14:06

Is that one of the Electras with the built-in effects?

no, unfortunately it isn't one of the MPC cartridge thingy ones, but I love that concept and have been hoping to stumble across one of those models. I think that system deserves revisiting as it could be a fun on-board platform to play with. I've tried to think of some ways of doing something similar for diy circuits, but I haven't really found an ideal solution. In theory, an ugly solution for larger circuits would be to groove a 1590B enclosure and slide it into a guitar - perhaps behind the bridge on a tele. This would allow for a self contained unit with pots/switches and probably battery space if you wanted.

Perhaps a simpler option would be to just cut/enlarge a cavity for circuits, perhaps add/steal a pot on the guitar, then wire both sides to locking multi connectors (https://www.maplin.co.uk/audio-locking-connectors-chassis-plug-line-socket-997). Having everything prewired through a multichannel connector would allow you to easily switch out circuits without having to rewire the guitar electronics.

I'd love to hear some other suggestions if anyone has some ideas. Perhaps some N64 Roms might be easy to adapt. Any thoughts?

Oh man, you and I are thinking alike! I've been obsessed with the notion of onboard effects, and I'm amazed that no manufacturer has leapt into the breach to tackle this one.

Let's take the conversation here.

Maybe this is already an assumption around here, but Squier gets more hate than it deserves. They make some crap guitars, yes, but they also make some great sounding and feeling guitars at great prices. Cheap good guitars are great for making new guitarists. Although it seems like every teenager nowadays has an axe.

I have had a bit of a love affair with Switch guitars designed by Trevor Wilkinson. These were molded in one piece of Vibracell (polystyrene foam). Weight wise they are similar to a mahogany guitar. I like the Oscar model (Les Paul analogue) as it is 24 3/4 inch scale. These guitars sustain forever like that perfect Les Paul I could never afford (like Fripp's Black Beauty Les Paul which is an extraordinary guitar). They are a bit on the dark side like a Les Paul without the maple cap. They were very affordable but I recently have seen the prices begin to rise. The pickups were not too bad on their own but I changed mine to P90 Phat Kats to get a little more high end and definition (I like to hear my touch a little better rather than be masked by a humbucker). These guitars stay in tune regardless of temperature or humidity change. They also are mostly impervious to the elements like a car trunk etc. I have a total of four of these guitars 3 Oscars (Les Paul amalogues) and an Ultima (sort of a tele shaped guitar).
here is a link to an old catalog:
https://www.chrisswanger.com/catalogs/switch.pdf

Too bad they quit making them they were very unique and the sustain was over the top!