Grateful Dead Music Forum

JonnyBoy wrote:That sounds nice, very Jerry. I always thought of you a fantastic player... that's a real Jerry Tone Machine!!!!

Thanks Jonny! That means a lot coming from you. There are really a lot of great players on this board - I was shocked when I started getting involved on RUKIND by how many really great players are doing this stuff in one form or another. I really dig the variety of ways Dead music is interpreted by the folks here - I have learned a lot both about gear and playing from my interactions with everyone - yourself included. This board has made my goal to learn something new everyday a lot easier

Brad's box is really something else. I can't give a strong enough endorsement of it. Well worth the investment. I've got a lot of nice amps and it hasn't taken long for the SMS Classic to become my favorite.

I can't wait for my new guitar with Waldo's preamp to see how that changes things!

I was just on Brads site - It was so hard not to just put it on my Pay Pal card
Credit be damned !!!!!!!

Yeah Tom loved your sound bite a ton

Tennessee Jedi wrote:I was just on Brads site - It was so hard not to just put it on my Pay Pal card
Credit be damned !!!!!!!

Yeah Tom loved your sound bite a ton

lol - I'd do it, you won't regret it. My best friend and our former rhythm guitarist and lead singer had a saying he called "the grandpa theory." When you're old and gray you won't remember having to eat raman noodles for a month or two to afford that toy or having to drive back from a show and get home just in time for work w/no sleep, but you will remember the years of enjoyment you get from a new piece of gear or memories of a great road trip and show. Plus, it'll make a great story for the grandkids. I'm sure when I'm old and gray I'll still be playing through my SMS Classic (though old and gray isn't that far off these days).

tcsned wrote:I'm beginning to get the SMS dialed in. It's been hard to find time to mess with it that isn't getting set up for a gig.

Here's a quick sample using my PRS CE-24. My WGD is in the shop getting the midi pickup issues ironed out and the new guitar is a month or so from being ready.

Here's the pathway: PRS middle position --> Lexicon MPX G2 --> SMS --> Mesa Mark III --> Mesa 1/2 open 2x12 cab. No distortion or Mutron.
http://www.vtcli.com/media/tom/clean.mp3
similar thing with some delay:
http://www.vtcli.com/media/tom/delay.mp3

Wow, that sounds pretty dialed-in to me! Where are you on settings on that Clean clip? Nice and crispy...bright switch on?

Also, proud to announce that I got my SMS last week! Unfortunately, work has gotten me down so I haven't gotten to spend much time with it yet--what time I have had though suggests this is one fine piece of work. This weekend is looking good for the two of us to get better acquainted...

lunasparks wrote:

tcsned wrote:I'm beginning to get the SMS dialed in. It's been hard to find time to mess with it that isn't getting set up for a gig.

Here's a quick sample using my PRS CE-24. My WGD is in the shop getting the midi pickup issues ironed out and the new guitar is a month or so from being ready.

Here's the pathway: PRS middle position --> Lexicon MPX G2 --> SMS --> Mesa Mark III --> Mesa 1/2 open 2x12 cab. No distortion or Mutron.
http://www.vtcli.com/media/tom/clean.mp3
similar thing with some delay:
http://www.vtcli.com/media/tom/delay.mp3

Wow, that sounds pretty dialed-in to me! Where are you on settings on that Clean clip? Nice and crispy...bright switch on?

Also, proud to announce that I got my SMS last week! Unfortunately, work has gotten me down so I haven't gotten to spend much time with it yet--what time I have had though suggests this is one fine piece of work. This weekend is looking good for the two of us to get better acquainted...

Congrats! I'm sure you'll enjoy it for a long time. For that "clean" clip all I did was PRS combined humbuckers --> Lexicon (bypassed) --> SMS (settings: treble - 10, mid - about 5, bass - 0, dark/bright switch in the middle or off position --> effects return of Mesa Mark III --> Mesa 2x12 cab. The cool thing with this is it's so simple that not much "dialing" is required, which is a good thing for me since I'm not one to spend hours spinning knobs. At gigs a lot of times I'll just turn everything on and if it sounds good to me I just leave (if it ain't broke, don't fix it theory).

Really, I think you'll love this box. Even when I was having problems with my midi system and my guitar (on the live clips) I can hear the quality of the SMS shining through. Can't wait to get the new guitar w/Waldo's preamp and OBEL to see how all that works together.

That thing sounds great, gotta get one too

USBLUES wrote:That thing sounds great, gotta get one too

All I can say is, YES DO IT!

tcsned wrote:

lunasparks wrote:

tcsned wrote:I'm beginning to get the SMS dialed in. It's been hard to find time to mess with it that isn't getting set up for a gig.

Here's a quick sample using my PRS CE-24. My WGD is in the shop getting the midi pickup issues ironed out and the new guitar is a month or so from being ready.

Here's the pathway: PRS middle position --> Lexicon MPX G2 --> SMS --> Mesa Mark III --> Mesa 1/2 open 2x12 cab. No distortion or Mutron.
http://www.vtcli.com/media/tom/clean.mp3
similar thing with some delay:
http://www.vtcli.com/media/tom/delay.mp3

Wow, that sounds pretty dialed-in to me! Where are you on settings on that Clean clip? Nice and crispy...bright switch on?

Also, proud to announce that I got my SMS last week! Unfortunately, work has gotten me down so I haven't gotten to spend much time with it yet--what time I have had though suggests this is one fine piece of work. This weekend is looking good for the two of us to get better acquainted...

Congrats! I'm sure you'll enjoy it for a long time. For that "clean" clip all I did was PRS combined humbuckers --> Lexicon (bypassed) --> SMS (settings: treble - 10, mid - about 5, bass - 0, dark/bright switch in the middle or off position --> effects return of Mesa Mark III --> Mesa 2x12 cab. The cool thing with this is it's so simple that not much "dialing" is required, which is a good thing for me since I'm not one to spend hours spinning knobs. At gigs a lot of times I'll just turn everything on and if it sounds good to me I just leave (if it ain't broke, don't fix it theory).

Really, I think you'll love this box. Even when I was having problems with my midi system and my guitar (on the live clips) I can hear the quality of the SMS shining through. Can't wait to get the new guitar w/Waldo's preamp and OBEL to see how all that works together.

Yep, the wife is ready to kill me. I spent pretty much all day in my little office playing. The SMS Classic really is fantastic, with just the right amount of Jerry-fied "true grit" going on. I feel bad for my heavily-modded PRRI -- the little guy sounds great, but I'm thinking Mr. Sarno's box is going to get most of my attention from here on out. Despite my embarrassing lack of chops, I'll aim to get some clips together and posted. No promises but I'll try....

If you read this, Brad, thanks again. The amp really sounds great; I'm a happy camper so far!

Link below to a clip of me messing around with the new SMS. I'm no expert at recording and it shows -- there's some clipping. Also no expert with the looper so time is a little loose. Anyway, this is Am. Std. Strat ('89) -> Line 6 M13 -> SMS Classic (Jerry mods) -> Rocktron Velocity 300 (original) -> 2x12 cab with K120s.

The SMS is really great sounding and apologies in advance if this recording doesn't do it justice.

Oh yeah, I'm also no expert at playing! Just wanted to give the curious a sample of clean SMS and a few M13 settings I'm trying to dial in....

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single ... i&newref=1

Don't be so hard on yourself, you play well, and the tone is fantastic. What a freaking Box!

JonnyBoy wrote:Don't be so hard on yourself, you play well, and the tone is fantastic. What a freaking Box!

Thanks, JB. I remember reading an interview with Jerry where he talked about not being able to listen to old recordings because all he could hear was what he was trying to make happen instead of what got laid down. Kinda how it goes for me, but guessing there are many who can sympathize.

Anyway, the SMS is probably going to end up ruining an otherwise acceptable marriage!

JonnyBoy wrote:Don't be so hard on yourself, you play well, and the tone is fantastic. What a freaking Box!

Agreed! sounds great lunasparks both the gear and the playing. You can certainly hold your own with anyone else on this message board.

I got a Mosvalve MV 962 power amp - and while I'm keeping an eye out for a Mesa Boogie 50/50 I think I am pretty happy with this setup.

Top to bottom -
Stomp boxes:
T-Rex Dr. Swamp overdrive - the only distortion pedal that I've ever been really happy with
HAZ Mutron III - some don't like the HAZ labs reissue but it works great for me.

Top rack:
Korg DTR-1 rack tuner
Mosvalve MV962 amp - I was very surprised that I liked this so much makes the wait for a Boogie 50/50 a lot easier

Bottom rack:
Power Supply
Mesa Boogie V-Twin preamp (runs the talk box and serves as a backup) - this is a great versatile preamp and has some really cool features, underutilized running a talk box
SMS Classic preamp - can't say enough good things about this box, it's badass!
Lexicon MPX G2 - multi-effect processor - pretty much just used for delay and phase shifter also has a good speaker sim and preamps that can go straight to board in a pinch.