Scott Henderson Discussion

[junkyard]

My tone journey is just beginning, but this is what I’ve acquired in the last week. SD9, 6ft Mogami cable, and “cat jumping through the 9” batteries. I went to 3 different dollar stores to find the batteries, and when I finally found them, I had to laugh at myself for the sense of fiendish glee I felt.

Now I just have to buy a Plexi, a better cab to house my Greenbacks, and probably a new Strat. Haha. I’ll be dead first. But this already made a big difference. So thanks for all your tone advice, people *are* listening.

I floated my bridge myself, and the results suprised the heck outta me, it stays mostly in tune, with the exception of the B string consistently going sharp. Gonna put some more nut lube on it tonight

[Scott Henderson]

Always my pleasure to help! Those batteries rule!

[junkyard]

If I could impose on you for your expert opinion, Scott, I’m curious in what order you would prioritize slowly, and on a Dad’s budget, upgrading my gear. I’m not gigging anymore for the moment, so it’s not a rush, but here’s what I have at the house:

Marshall 50w Vintage Modern,
Marshall cab that I put 16 ohm Greenbacks in to replace the 75 watters it came with,
‘95 Japanese ‘60s reissue Strat (which I really dig), stock pickups except a Duncan HotRail in the bridge. I want that out of there, and am thinking about the Suhr vintage-style pickups that you mentioned in a recent post.

Thanks for everything, it’s friggin awesome that you spend time to be personally active on this message board.

[Scott Henderson]

I'm on a dad's budget too, so the first thing I'd do is get some Suhr ML standard pickups - I love them and they'll make your guitar sound a lot better. Next, I'd sell those 16 ohm Greenbacks, or try to trade them in for 8 ohm Greenbacks. Marshall's sound the best at 8 ohms - all the tones we love by Hendrix, Zeppelin, and Deep Purple were recorded with amps running at 8 ohms, which is what you get with a Marshall stack - two 16 ohm cabs make 8 ohms, and they just mic'd the bottom cab. You don't need two cabs if your cab has 8 ohm speakers.

Lastly, take the pressboard back off your Marshall cab and take it to a cabinet guy - tell him to copy it but use real birch wood. You'll be amazed by how much better the cabinet sounds. Also, wire your cabinet with 10 gauge wire and replace the cheap wire that Marshall uses - it's for televisions.

[junkyard]

Wow, man, thanks so much. That’s exactly what I was looking for, now I can start stashing away a little money here and there when I can, and work on this one step at a time.

Easy to see how tone chasing can become an obsession to where somebody can start laying awake nights wondering over every single piece of metal, wood, wire, or electronics in their entire signal chain. And the interactions between the different components! It’s awesome, though.

Frickin Landau is unbelievably amazing. I’d definitely buy anything that he put his name on. Listening to your stuff, and then discovering him by hearing you guys talk about him on GuitarWank is what has me excited to play again, after my Strat sat untouched for 6 months. Thanks for that.