The stupid questions thread

[Achtane]

What's the appeal of modern monophonic synths?
I understand wanting older synths that sound awesome and are monophonic, you know, due to being made when they were.
But if there's a polyphonic version of it(or one similar), is there a reason to go with the mono one, other than price?

[MEC]

if clones sound identical to the original pedal, why waste so much money for an original superfuzz/green muff.etc. etc.?

The key to this question is the big "IF" at the beginning and the only way to find out is to own/have owned the original for comparison.
That being said, I'd much rather own a pedal based on a classic but that offers some improvements than own a identical clone OR an original.

[huggernaut]

How much is too much to spend on guitar mods? I'm looking to add a tone pot and change the switching on my JM to a 4 way switch for series operation. What should re-wiring cost?

[MEC]

How much is too much to spend on guitar mods? I'm looking to add a tone pot and change the switching on my JM to a 4 way switch for series operation. What should re-wiring cost?

Do you mean add another tone pot or just swap out the one you have with something different?

I would think you could get the whole thing rewired for around $80-$100, maybe more in NYC.
You could also buy a really nice soldering iron for $80-$100 and never pay to have a guitar rewired again.

[bigchiefbc]

do compressors really do fucking anything because i never hear a difference AT ALL
The only time I think that compressors are really noticeable is how they make harmonics jump out at you, or if you are squashing the shit out of your signal (which I liked for a while)

is the concept of "transparency" full of shit?
It's not full of shit, but it's certainly not something I strive for. When I click on an effect, I WANT it to change my sound. That's the whole fucking point.

why do people think noise is experimental?
Because to most people, anything that isn't Nickelback or Papa Roach is experimental

are expensive guitars really worth it?
I think the jump from a $300 guitar to the guitars around a grand are almost always worth it, because the jump in quality is huge. The jump from 1 grand to 5 grand is almost always NOT worth it, you get really diminishing returns on quality, and it becomes more about showing off that you can afford this insanely expensive brand and thus you have a large cock.

why do all bands above the local level that aren't metal or jazz always have bassists that play jazz or p basses and nothin else?
Mostly because engineers and producers want to hear the j-bass or p-bass sound. They're almost all close-minded dinosaurs, and they want all music to be consistent and predictable, because that's what record companies want.

why do people think clapton/vaughn/etc. are any good?
Clapton's stuff in Cream and Blind Faith was really good, and I'll always love his playing in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". But his later stuff was crap, and I can't fucking stand SRV at all. BLECH.

why are all demos blues licks?
Because most boring dad-rock wannabes worship SRV and Clapton, and boring-ass blues licks are first thing they learn.

why dont more people play baritone guitars?
I actually get annoyed when guitarists always want to play really low with really bass-heavy EQing, because you're basically strangling out the bass, and giving the bassist nowhere to go. When you're in a band, you need to give the bassist some room to fill out his own sound. Unless you don't have a bassist, then knock yourself out.

why do so many fucking companies cater to the metal end of guitar playing?
Because (in the USA at least) there are tons and tons of metalheads out there. Which is the only reason my cover band gets gigs.

if clones sound identical to the original pedal, why waste so much money for an original superfuzz/green muff.etc. etc.?
honestly, it's mostly either faux nostalgia of old guys, or its cock-measuring, or it's pure corksniffery

if you're making noise music, do you really NEED an elaborate/exotic/expensive setup?
It depends. To me, noise is all about coming up with crazy noises that inspire further creation. If you can get that with a digidelay and a casio toy, then more power to you. I found that when I'm making noise, I was a metric fuck-ton of knobs and options, so I tend to go with more elaborate setups.

[excane]

^^^ Perfectly said my friend.

[huggernaut]

How much is too much to spend on guitar mods? I'm looking to add a tone pot and change the switching on my JM to a 4 way switch for series operation. What should re-wiring cost?

Do you mean add another tone pot or just swap out the one you have with something different?

I would think you could get the whole thing rewired for around $80-$100, maybe more in NYC.
You could also buy a really nice soldering iron for $80-$100 and never pay to have a guitar rewired again.

I just got a thurston moore jm and it has no tone pot at all.

Having never soldered anything at all before, how difficult of an undertaking are mods like adding a 4 way switch and tone pot? I realize I could get the parts and do it myself, but I wasn't sure how difficult it would be.

[MEC]

How much is too much to spend on guitar mods? I'm looking to add a tone pot and change the switching on my JM to a 4 way switch for series operation. What should re-wiring cost?

Do you mean add another tone pot or just swap out the one you have with something different?
I would think you could get the whole thing rewired for around $80-$100, maybe more in NYC.
You could also buy a really nice soldering iron for $80-$100 and never pay to have a guitar rewired again.

I just got a thurston moore jm and it has no tone pot at all.
Having never soldered anything at all before, how difficult of an undertaking are mods like adding a 4 way switch and tone pot? I realize I could get the parts and do it myself, but I wasn't sure how difficult it would be.

If you have a decent soldering iron and once you learn the basics of soldering, wiring a guitar is super simple.
Unlike working on a amp or pedal, there is not much damage you can do rewiring a guitar because most of
the time the wiring is passive. Even if you wire everything wrong nothing will blow up/out and the worst
case is you'll have to resolder a few things.

The only thing that worries me about the Thurston Moore Jazzmaster is whether or not it is routed
to accommodate what you want to do. Is there enough room in the cavities under the pickguard to
add a tone pot and the 4 way switch?

If there is, it should be an easy job. If there isn't, you'd have to route it out and in that case you'd probably
be better off taking it somewhere. If it has to be routed the wiring job will cost a lot more.

[Officer Bukowski]

^ agreed. The first time I ever used a soldering iron was on my expensive Gibson SG and it was really easy and worked perfectly. Also, I paid $15 for my soldering iron and it has served me well for repairing guitars and building a whole bunch of pedals. Just get a simple $15 Weller and you're good to go.

[snipelfritz]

Don't forget to buy solder too!

[dubkitty]

LOW-TEMPERATURE solder intended for use with electronic components. otherwise you'll cook your parts before the solder melts. trust me on this...i roasted a Stratocaster switch and several capacitors before i learned.

[dubkitty]

but yeah, adding tone pots and switches is dead simple from a wiring standpoint...you shouldn't even have a potential out-of-phase problem because your hot and ground wires will be apparent from the wiring that's there now. the diagrams are easily available on the internets. the question is whether there's room in the guitar. you should be OK because i'd think they use the same CAD/CAM jigs to route all their Jazzmaster cavities rather than bothering to reprogram them...in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if there's a rout for the upper controls under the pickguard. i'd bet that they make all the Jazzmaster bodies the same and just pull them from stock for the Ranaldo/Moore models.

[jskadiang]

New stupid question. I've done soldering and wiring shit up no problem, but now I find myself in the position where I either learn how to drill mounting holes, cut and file a nut, and then set-up the guitar, or pay a tech a lot of money to do it. How hard is it really? What kind of tools do I need?

[huggernaut]

but yeah, adding tone pots and switches is dead simple from a wiring standpoint...you shouldn't even have a potential out-of-phase problem because your hot and ground wires will be apparent from the wiring that's there now. the diagrams are easily available on the internets. the question is whether there's room in the guitar. you should be OK because i'd think they use the same CAD/CAM jigs to route all their Jazzmaster cavities rather than bothering to reprogram them...in fact, i wouldn't be surprised if there's a rout for the upper controls under the pickguard. i'd bet that they make all the Jazzmaster bodies the same and just pull them from stock for the Ranaldo/Moore models.

I'm almost positive they don't have the upper bout routed actually. However, if the body is routed for a normal 3 way switch, would that be deep enough for the tele switch? I thought so, but now I'm not sure.

[dubkitty]

according to StewMac their 3-way Les Paul-style switch requires 15/16" clearance, and their Tele switch requires 1 3/8".