I received a package from the UPS djentlemen. I head straight away over to Coop's house to investigate. I plop it down on his table and his first born investigates.
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Time to cut this thing open like a cheap whore, along the flaps.
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Oh herro? What be this?
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ZOMG A MOTHERFUCKING GP3 MOTHERFUCKERS EXTREME WTFBBQRSVP!11!11one
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The dude was kind enough to take the tubes out for me, so I must open this bitch up and put them back in.
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Some VHT guts.
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OOooOOoooOOoo, shiny.
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Link, what do your kitty eyes see?
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Dexter has found a hiding spot!
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Make sure you get in behind the foam, we can't see you that way.
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"I'm so lonely over here...."
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Fuck this, I'm getting in the box too!
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What you lookin' at?
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Strike a pose!
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Okay, enough with the kitties. But they were going fucking nuts over the box. It was kind of amusing.
We decide to try this bitch through Coop's VHT Ultralead, into the effects return. He riffs around a bit.
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I try my new baby out.
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Dentist, chugga jugga wugga. Deli style, chugga jugga wugga.
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The kitties look lonely because we're no longer paying any attention to them. They look sorrowfully out the window, probably eye fucking the shit out of a chipmunk or something.
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I turn some knobs.
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I get it home and realize that I must put it into something. Let's see what we have for rack gear.
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I mash it together and get this.
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And here's my pooch, I think he approves of the setup.
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Initial impression: Fucking awesome. Anyone who says this pre-amp doesn't have enough gain is fucking retarded. I mean that in the most derogatory way possible. There's actually a mod Steven Fryette put out because people (more than one) whined that it didn't have gain. Mine is unmodded and I don't even understand how someone would want to run more gain than this thing has. I'm running the gain on about 50% for rhythm, with a bit of a boost, and a little over half for leads, again with the boost engaged. This thing is aggressive, and tighter than a 10 year old's ass.
I'm running it with what I like to call the 5 cable method. Yes, the *5* cable method. I am so fucking awesome I invented a method. Basically, the GP3 has an effects loop, which is placed after the gain stages and EQ, and there's a tube buffer like on the GP1 tube buffer thingy that you can buy for pedal boards. I run the 4 cable method, with the effects send of the GP3 into the return of the Axe so I can get my post pre-amp effects, then the Axe output into the GP3's effects return to get the tube buffer (whatever the fuck it does exactly :lol
and run the amp output into the Carvin TS100. Another cool thing is that I can bypass the effects loop on the GP3, and get the shit before the pre-amp I want like my OD, but not go back into the Axe and thus not going through another A/D and then a D/A conversion, such as if I want a nice dry rhythm tone.
I do think a VHT power amp is in my future, just not immediately because it does sound good with the Carvin and it's plenty loud for me.
I'm going to miss the low volume practicing I had with the Axe and a solid state power amp, the thing sounded fucking sweet at low ass volumes, but I think I'm going to be happier with this rig. The Axe is awesome as a pre-amp, but fucking around with the amp sims and more importantly the power amp sims was just not my thing. I only need a 3 channel amp, but I love the effects of the Axe, and honestly, if I went out and got all the shit I wanted that replaced all the features I wanted in the Axe, and got it all setup to run pre and post pre-amp, I'd be spending almost as much, and it would be WAY more complicated.
As complicated as my 5 cable method setup is, I assure you it's not that bad once you understand where exactly the signal is flowing.
Thank you, and good night.
Time to cut this thing open like a cheap whore, along the flaps.
Oh herro? What be this?
ZOMG A MOTHERFUCKING GP3 MOTHERFUCKERS EXTREME WTFBBQRSVP!11!11one
The dude was kind enough to take the tubes out for me, so I must open this bitch up and put them back in.
Some VHT guts.
OOooOOoooOOoo, shiny.
Link, what do your kitty eyes see?
Dexter has found a hiding spot!
Make sure you get in behind the foam, we can't see you that way.
"I'm so lonely over here...."
Fuck this, I'm getting in the box too!
What you lookin' at?
Strike a pose!
Okay, enough with the kitties. But they were going fucking nuts over the box. It was kind of amusing.
We decide to try this bitch through Coop's VHT Ultralead, into the effects return. He riffs around a bit.
I try my new baby out.
Dentist, chugga jugga wugga. Deli style, chugga jugga wugga.
The kitties look lonely because we're no longer paying any attention to them. They look sorrowfully out the window, probably eye fucking the shit out of a chipmunk or something.
I turn some knobs.
I get it home and realize that I must put it into something. Let's see what we have for rack gear.
I mash it together and get this.
And here's my pooch, I think he approves of the setup.
Initial impression: Fucking awesome. Anyone who says this pre-amp doesn't have enough gain is fucking retarded. I mean that in the most derogatory way possible. There's actually a mod Steven Fryette put out because people (more than one) whined that it didn't have gain. Mine is unmodded and I don't even understand how someone would want to run more gain than this thing has. I'm running the gain on about 50% for rhythm, with a bit of a boost, and a little over half for leads, again with the boost engaged. This thing is aggressive, and tighter than a 10 year old's ass.
I'm running it with what I like to call the 5 cable method. Yes, the *5* cable method. I am so fucking awesome I invented a method. Basically, the GP3 has an effects loop, which is placed after the gain stages and EQ, and there's a tube buffer like on the GP1 tube buffer thingy that you can buy for pedal boards. I run the 4 cable method, with the effects send of the GP3 into the return of the Axe so I can get my post pre-amp effects, then the Axe output into the GP3's effects return to get the tube buffer (whatever the fuck it does exactly :lol
and run the amp output into the Carvin TS100. Another cool thing is that I can bypass the effects loop on the GP3, and get the shit before the pre-amp I want like my OD, but not go back into the Axe and thus not going through another A/D and then a D/A conversion, such as if I want a nice dry rhythm tone.I do think a VHT power amp is in my future, just not immediately because it does sound good with the Carvin and it's plenty loud for me.
I'm going to miss the low volume practicing I had with the Axe and a solid state power amp, the thing sounded fucking sweet at low ass volumes, but I think I'm going to be happier with this rig. The Axe is awesome as a pre-amp, but fucking around with the amp sims and more importantly the power amp sims was just not my thing. I only need a 3 channel amp, but I love the effects of the Axe, and honestly, if I went out and got all the shit I wanted that replaced all the features I wanted in the Axe, and got it all setup to run pre and post pre-amp, I'd be spending almost as much, and it would be WAY more complicated.
As complicated as my 5 cable method setup is, I assure you it's not that bad once you understand where exactly the signal is flowing.
Thank you, and good night.
