Grateful Dead Music Forum

PaulJay wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 3:16 pm I appreciate your reply about the cab, but more importantly, I am a long time viewer of lost sailor videos on you tube and always go back to them to watch.Just great playing. Wondered what happen to you guys. And glad to know you are still playing. Will be catching up on your new band.
Thanks Paul

Aww, thanks man. Really appreciate that.

It's been a long strange trip for sure. Lost Sailors was an amazing 20-year journey, and playing with the same folks for so long is the best formula for musical magic and chemistry. Looking back now, it really kills me that I never achieved the proper gear/setup to make it what it could really be. Thought my tone was “OK”, but now that I’ve had the real thing, I do cringe a bit. We were playing mostly small-medium sized rooms. We were pretty early adopters of in-ear monitoring (1995), and our rhythm guitarist mixed us (all analog) from the stage. So, we decided early on to run instruments direct to board to manage ambient stage volume, and give him a fighting chance of dialing in a good mix (which he did). I had all the right preamps, OBEL, effects, but I never got to the point of using a McIntosh/JBL combo on stage. Cabinet emulation was not what is now, and I couldn't swing a Fractal when they finally arrived. Would love to go back in time and play 20 years with my current rig.

Anyway, these days, I've got the rig of my dreams. It is NOT grab 'n go! But damn it sounds great! And more importantly, I really believe that the way it sounds has helped me become a better player. The nuance and clarity, the springy clean low-end, the resonance. It all requires touch. But it also inspires it. Hard to explain, but I know my playing has evolved in a good way.

There are a few decent clips out there of the current band. I wish we had more video available. Finding it hard to capture good video worth posting. I will say that the our live gigs are REALLY fun and special. Great vibes. I like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVicWaV_d4M

Current Rig:
Troy Post Wolf / Phred Liger / Mayer SilverSky SE >
FYD Preamp
MC-50
1x12 JBL K-120
MicroTron IV
Earth Drive
Solar Flare
MXR Phase 100
Lexicon MPX1 (delay+)

Thanks again for the kind words. Look forward to hearing what you settle on with a grab ‘n go rig!

NeilG1 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 4:48 pm Man. I can never post pics correctly.
Try this link

https://imgur.com/a/UAPKFCj

NeilG1 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 4:48 pm Man. I can never post pics correctly.
Try this link

https://imgur.com/a/UAPKFCj

Sweet baffle!! Can I ask where you got it?

Thanks! The grill cloth is made by Courtenay Pollock - he made all the grill fronts and backdrops for the Dead in the 70s (other artists too), and is now a fellow Canadian.
His website:
https://www.courtenaytiedye.com

If you email him and give him dimensions, colour scheme etc, he will make you one. I think he also has some stock too. Really beautiful stuff.

Hmmm. Just saw this on IG.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2BF90_yi52 ... dkYTN2dQ==

NeilG1 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 4:48 pm Man. I can never post pics correctly.
Try this link

https://imgur.com/a/UAPKFCj

Do you have clips of this amp?

I could make some for sure - but having seen you play many times, I’m embarrassed to share!!!
Let me find a way to put a couple up.
Worst case I’ll send you my email and I can send them that way.

OK here goes - couple quick clips from when I first got it and put the JBL in. Laptop microphone caveats apply.... Clips a bit for sure.

I'm in Toronto if you want to try it any time....

https://youtu.be/hhh7H8G99io

https://youtu.be/y4oIcdRd5O8

NeilG1 wrote:OK here goes - couple quick clips from when I first got it and put the JBL in. Laptop microphone caveats apply.... Clips a bit for sure.

I'm in Toronto if you want to try it any time....

https://youtu.be/hhh7H8G99io

https://youtu.be/y4oIcdRd5O8

Man that sounds fuckin' fantastic! Are you playing with an Earth Drive, Thick Air, blaster, etc on or is that just guitar & amp? May have to finally get a JBL.

Much appreciated!! I like the tone more than the playing

The guitar is a (mostly) wolf replica made by Bob Fishman, our own AugustWest. If you look in the guitar building forum you’ll see his thread - I think he called it a cocobolo set neck wolf or something to that effect. Which is what it is. So it has essentially Tiger wiring and an appropriate buffer in it.
Other than that, the guitar is being played clean except for the brief spot where I add some dirt. That’s a modern MXR distortion + modified to vintage script spec by the late great Jason Ferguson.
So all you’re hearing is the guitar, amp, and my fingers!

A buddy bought a JC 40 last year and it didn’t click w him so I grabbed it from him.

It’s now my “ grab and go “ amp.

It’s not as sexy as my other rigs but it’s light and sounds fantastic.
Tell you what - it does Bob or Jerry.

As someone who obsesses over gear it’s great to just say F it and just go w the easy option.

In Canada and not the cheapest, but this is a lot like my combo. Bet it sounds amazing.

https://www.guitarscanada.com/threads/l ... st-3204482

NeilG1 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 12:46 pm OK here goes - couple quick clips from when I first got it and put the JBL in. Laptop microphone caveats apply.... Clips a bit for sure.

I'm in Toronto if you want to try it any time....

https://youtu.be/hhh7H8G99io

https://youtu.be/y4oIcdRd5O8

hey man - where are you in Toronto? I'd love to check out your amp - i play in the Mark T Band and Whose Cat is Dead