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Here in Albuquerque we have a crappy Guitar Center plus two other decent shops: Music Go Round and Backroads Guitars. Both of those are hit or miss though.

Hitting the road on a couple of trips this fall/winter and always on the lookout for worthwhile shops with interesting stuff - vintage, used or new guitars, amps, what have you. Any worthy shops to check out in these locales? TIA...

When my JTM50 blew it was much cooler. I suddenly could not hear my guitar. Turned around, smoke was arising from the amp and lightning. It was awesome, totally awesome.

I have been using a Fractal FM3 since it came out.I don't play live and have no advice Re set up other than you'll need extra switching wich is available for that unit. It sounds great to me. Does it sound exactly like the amps it models? I don't know, there are so many I haven't heard most of them😀, either live or in the unit! There are many vendors for amp tweaks like Austin Buddy and they do have something to offer. Fractal has done a great job updating the unit and I think it is generally agreed that their effects are the best. I still have my Mesa Boggie Fillmore, which I love, but dont remembere the last time I fired it up. I have no complaints with "feel " or latency. Even the Capo(pitch cahnge) works pretty well. MInd you the FM3 is one of the most basic models and those with more horsepower do offer more. I am not a tweaker so most of what I use are models and scenes pre-programmed. They have done much to improve the live use of their units but I have not even bothered. I have owned some pretty good amps and like to think I have a good ear for tone. Regardless of what might come out, I doubt I'll move on. arniez

I performed with the GT-1000CORE on a very compact board (Voodoo Labs Dingbat Tiny) with just a Boss FS-7 dual foot switch and an Xotic RC Boost V2 front end, going straight to the mixing board, monitored with a QSC CP8. I used the BandHelper app to select songs and pre-configure the GT-1000CORE for each song with MIDI PC and CC messages and used the FS-7 for in-song adjustments (mostly solo and effect switching). Using as few presets as possible helped balance volume across my set - 90% of songs share the same 5 base presets, the rest having song-specific presets. So during performance I tap my iPad to select a song from the BandHelper playlist and then use the FS-7 switches in-song so I can concentrate on performance rather than tap-dancing. Great effort to set up, minimal effort to use. And I could run it on a battery. The GT1000CORE is now backup to my VG-800 based rig. In general: for live use mono is your friend, and less distortion/bass/reverb/delay results in a cleaner band mix.

I blame the guy I sold it to.

I use the Kemper Stage Profiler. The liquid profiles are great. I don't notice any latency problems, but that might just be my old ears. I used profiles from Mike Britt of Lonestar for the most part. A few from Top Jimi and some other profile guys. I use Line 6 Powercab, but not the ones with the tweeter. The IR's help me adjust the cabs to the venue. That way, I don't have to muck with the Profiler. I use a volume pedal to mitigate any volume probs between profiles. Greg Platzer has been great helping me to fine tune things. He sold me the Stage Profiler years ago. I've tried all of the latest and greatest Helix units. I've tried the Fractal stuff. I've tried the Quad Cortex twice. I've always come back to the Kemper. I tell people that I was around, as a salesman, for the first "sampling" keyboards. Kawai made a great one early on. I sold dozens of them in the Orlando area. "Sampling" became a dirty word. I think "Profiling" is the same thing, but the technology is far better at fooling the human ear. Here's the dirty little secret. None of the "fake" amps sound like a tube amp live or recorded. But I guarantee, in my experience, you can't really tell the difference if you have a drummer, a bass player, another guitarist and a keyboard guy playing around you live. That's the beauty of it. And no "sampler" will ever replace the real thing. I'm 64 years old. My hearing is failing. My Kemper rig sounds killer with the boys. When my band of 48 years finally calls it quits, the Kemper will go. Real amps will follow me to the grave. I don't record. I don't write original music. I just play covers live with my buddies. Ernie's CD is killer. I really respect him. But I rarely practice, am not interested in improving my "craft" and am totally good with the Kemper. I'm a really good golfer. But I don't practice that either. Call me stupid or just call me content.

Big hands and big feet. I'm sure that's what you meant!

^-- This!

Any good advice on using the GT-1000 in a live setting?

Clowns!

Not only does he do phenomenal work, he's a pretty darn good human being as well.

Big hands and big feet!

That's new BOC to me. I cut my teeth on the first 3 albums, and when this song came out, I was all like, WTF, dude? That was around the time when many of my favorite bands got ruined by success, or writing songs that had mass appeal: Journey, REO and Styx, to name a few. Of course, I like most of those old albums now, but still like their first ones best. And I did see BOC multiple times, even after they "sold out." First time, Dec. '73. Last time, May (I think?) 1989 in Munich. That show was complete with a Godzilla head which spit a little fire. haha.

Oh Boy, I know what that means~

There was no immediate backup amp to plug into?

It couldn't have landed in a better home Glad you got it, it couldn't be in a better home.

Guys, the seller / modifier of the guitar is our own @murkat (NTL Guitar), veteran of the Gibson Custom Shop with skills beyond compare. If he did the work, mark it down as equivalent to or better than original and was likely warranted by some previous mishap to the guitar. The original serial number can be seen in this photo: If you search the archives you'll find multiple threads where Jay resurrected absolutely obliterated Hamers to a state beyond where they were originally. It appears his old website is gone, but he's got a FB page: NTL Guitar | Rock Hill SC | Facebook Hope this helps. 😉

At this point, my regret is that I haven't sold off more guitars. I really don't need 10+ acoustics and an equal number of electrics , let alone the multiple amps, drum sets, basses etc. that rarely get used. 🙄

Do you regret reading it?

I have that effect on forums.

Love that color!