I read it and was gladdened to think you saw some reason to be optimistic that my interest in guitar and music is sincere.

I'm also glad to think that I've been cured of Aspergers. :-)

BTW, we may have had a tense moment in some discussion in the past but I have always regarded you as a gentleman. Before the hecklers ruin the moment... that is meant as a sincere compliment.



FWIW, the explanation is a lot simpler than functional autism... my Dad was an E.E. with a passion for music. My mom was a big city girl who made a point of sharing her passion for inspired performance with me as we listened to music together over the years. When I was kid she would always point out the guys in the band that were playing with feeling.

My dad started showing me sound on an oscilloscope when I was 6.

I have spent my whole life making art while trying to fully appreciate the technology and engineering behind art I very simply believe that awareness of technology does not have to detract from so called right brain creativity.

I really like guitars... I've worked with 100's of guitarists... I worked with and on 100's of amps. Some of the guitarists are world famous and some of the amps have been heard on records that sold 10's of millions of copies.

I don't like to talk about that stuff and I resent it when people refuse to evaluate factual information without it being delivered by someone with a known pedigree. I just think that is laziness. That is why I like to talk tech and facts and see if someone can step up to the plate and have an actual conversation. If they roll back on their heels and don't want to consider the facts... I'm not interested in making anyone feel better about refusing to think. I think that's why a lot of folks struggle to find ways to denigrate some of the stuff I attempt to share here... I don't coddle people and some people get angry when they are not catered too.


The bottom line is that I am honest and I try to avoid insulting anyone until they've poked a stick in my eye a dozen times. I don't do it often... but it seems like the score keepers are keen to point out when it happens.





I wonder if anyone realizes that, with the exception of the definition of a single word, that I am essentially in full agreement with Danni about how to tailor a modern guitar tone? 

It seems like very few have made that connection.

To me, it seems perfectly natural that we would come to the same conclusions... because our opinions are formed by experience.

It also seems perfectly natural that people will use different language to describe what they have realized.

I don't know why there is anything wrong with that.

I shared my understanding of the word "gain" and it can be verified by checking with any reference material you wish to use. It's a 150 year old concept.

The anger and the resentment that followed is unnecessary... especially considering we are talking about guitars and our shared love for guitars.

In post #2 I asked Starise about the first gain stage he was playing into... I've been trying to explain why the new guitar doesn't seem much different from the old guitar.

My point is that the guitar and pickups will not make much difference with some set ups and it will seem to be very unique and personalized with other set ups.

My point is that by shifting perspective one may find that the experience Starise is having is predictable and that it does not reflect poorly on the guitar... it's just a circumstance of how the gear is mixed and matched. 






Starise, I thank you for your post.. I read it and I sensed that you were trying to do something decent and benevolent.

Thanks for that.


all the best,
mike

I don't like to talk about that stuff and I resent it when people refuse to evaluate factual information without it being delivered by someone with a known pedigree. I just think that is laziness. That is why I like to talk tech and facts and see if someone can step up to the plate and have an actual conversation. If they roll back on their heels and don't want to consider the facts... I'm not interested in making anyone feel better about refusing to think. I think that's why a lot of folks struggle to find ways to denigrate some of the stuff I attempt to share here... I don't coddle people and some people get angry when they are not catered too.

 
 
One criticism that you would dismiss as 'heckling' due to selectively choosing the parts you don't mind hearing is that you will often demand that people furnish YOU with these types of facts and yet when you are involved with various things that you personally enjoy there is every bit as much fantasy and sentiment as a real good audiophile and there is a distinct absence of supporting evidence to support anything you say, even when it is asked for.  The example lately would be the DIY mic body you've been bigging up. 
 
Laziness is indicated here by the observation that so often you will only choose the easy bits of a conversation to address.
 
The comments about your personal experience within the autistic spectrum however do serve as an explanation to much of what I find exasperating about your interaction and have been enlightening.
 
Thank you for sharing that, that's why I don't like the lazy observations that you are being hated and your suggestions that some might be elated at the idea of pointing out some of the behaviour you engage in that is difficult to understand, there are some aspects of humanity aside from the point scoring that occurs between us where I am not the ogre you'd likely find it more convenient to class me as.
 
Life affects us all Mike and we all have different obstacles to navigate.  Hate is something I'd deal with very sparingly as I have not had much occasion with it previously and will certainly never extend to anyone I'd engage with on a forum.

 Hey Mike, I did edit my post. I kind of though off the cuff a little here. I know of another person who reminds me of you. I see and communicate with this person regularly. He is a medical doctor who graduated at the top of his class and he has a high functioning form of Autism. You two are probably not similar but some things remind me of you and I kind of jumped to a possible conclusion. FWIW my wife thinks I have ADHD and I think she might be right.

 I think what I was attempting to say was that some people are wired to think differently and so they don't always connect with others in a way that makes sense to them. I guess you can label that anything you want, but essentially it means that two people might be talking about A and B and someone else comes along with point C which to them makes complete sense but to others it might not seem to apply. I seen where you were coming from with the theory but I couldn't really fit it into my context right then.

 If this were the only post where there was some friction I would have been more surprised but there is somewhat of a history and I think this magnified the  negativity in the posts here. The fact is Danny has a lot of real world hands on experience with guitar that he doesn't necessarily always tie in with a theory. He has tried things and found a solution that works...you OTOH feel qualified to comment on certain aspects of the sound we get from guitars by nature of your knowledge of the components in an amp. Some of your conclusions are spot on but none of us are 100% well rounded in every discipline, so I think there needs to be some give and take. If you have an idea that isn't holding up then the most sensible thing to do would be for those who don't agree to show how and why the idea is either hogwash or agree that it works.
 
 I don't want to speak for Danny, but it looks like he feels some frustration at what he perceives as you who are viewed as a newbee to him coming into a discussion and offering input you are unqualified to give. I think you have qualification to comment on the electronics end to some degree but when it comes to techniques and real world use then Danny has a definite edge...in any case I never intended for this to become any kind of a comparison between you and Danny.

 I think the best way for a forum to operate is to listen to all views and understand that if Donald duck wants to comment here he can. Respectful disagreement can and does help in any kind of a discussion. Shooting someone down because they come from left field or because you personally don't like them,bullying people to show some kind of dick measurement or because you yourself are miserable just makes for a kind of sad entertainment that has bad results for all involved.

 Can't we all just get along?

  

Starise


 Hey Mike, I did edit my post. I kind of though off the cuff a little here. I know of another person who reminds me of you. I see and communicate with this person regularly. He is a medical doctor who graduated at the top of his class and he has a high functioning form of Autism. You two are probably not similar but some things remind me of you and I kind of jumped to a possible conclusion. FWIW my wife thinks I have ADHD and I think she might be right.

I think what I was attempting to say was that some people are wired to think differently and so they don't always connect with others in a way that makes sense to them. I guess you can label that anything you want, but essentially it means that two people might be talking about A and B and someone else comes along with point C which to them makes complete sense but to others it might not seem to apply. I seen where you were coming from with the theory but I couldn't really fit it into my context right then.

If this were the only post where there was some friction I would have been more surprised but there is somewhat of a history and I think this magnified the  negativity in the posts here. The fact is Danny has a lot of real world hands on experience with guitar that he doesn't necessarily always tie in with a theory. He has tried things and found a solution that works...you OTOH feel qualified to comment on certain aspects of the sound we get from guitars by nature of your knowledge of the components in an amp. Some of your conclusions are spot on but none of us are 100% well rounded in every discipline, so I think there needs to be some give and take. If you have an idea that isn't holding up then the most sensible thing to do would be for those who don't agree to show how and why the idea is either hogwash or agree that it works.

I don't want to speak for Danny, but it looks like he feels some frustration at what he perceives as you who are viewed as a newbee to him coming into a discussion and offering input you are unqualified to give. I think you have qualification to comment on the electronics end to some degree but when it comes to techniques and real world use then Danny has a definite edge...in any case I never intended for this to become any kind of a comparison between you and Danny.

I think the best way for a forum to operate is to listen to all views and understand that if Donald duck wants to comment here he can. Respectful disagreement can and does help in any kind of a discussion. Shooting someone down because they come from left field or because you personally don't like them,bullying people to show some kind of dick measurement or because you yourself are miserable just makes for a kind of sad entertainment that has bad results for all involved.

Can't we all just get along?

 

Excellent post, Starise. Spot on in everything. Here's my issue. The discussion was going perfectly well until I jumped in and quoted Mike. Again I apologize to YOU for that. Regardless of the technical information being correct or not, this sort of commenting seems to come up way too often in places where it shouldn't with him. I made it a point to quote each part of his post because it simply had absolutely nothing to do with anything and was so far off the mark, I couldn't believe what I was reading.
 
In reality, it would be like me jumping into a camera discussion and adding a bunch of technical information that was irrelevant that also didn't address the problem with any kind of remedy. I admit to being wrong for allowing things of this nature to bother me, but when you keep on seeing it and seeing it, it strikes a nerve. Then you'll see Mike attack someone like Karl (FBB) or some other poor soul for no apparent reason. To me, Mike said more in his last post that made sense than he did in that electronic post that had absolutely nothing to do with the problem at hand.
 
Did gain vs. square wave need to come up? Did we need to bring a silly scope into the discussion? Do we find it credible to listen to people that talk yet do not lead by examples? I don't know about you or others reading, but I'm going to get guitar lessons from a guy that can truly play over the guy that can't that just knows a bunch of theory because he went to school for it.
 
I don't know about you, but I'm going to listen to the guy that has a great tone that may not have a clue how it all works internally before I listen to the guy that posts acoustic guitar videos singing old classics. Granted, if a person comes on here and knows what they are talking about and makes sense in a language anyone can understand, their skill level matters NOT.
 
I have tons of friends that can talk the talk and know their stuff. But for some reason, they can't seem to nail things either because they are not physically skilled to, or they may not have the resources to do so. That doesn't discredit them...at least they can talk in the same conversation and truly can deliver the proper communication it takes to get their points across.
 
Take Zungle for example. He made a mention of his name in mine in the same sentence etc. Though I found that an awesome compliment, the dude is without a doubt, as experienced as me or anyone else that has a grasp on sounds that have loads of gain in them. He spoke in a language anyone could understand and did not attempt to sound more intelligent than he really is with technical jargon that had nothing to do with your issues. Even if I disagreed with him, his opinion and experience is completely valid.
 
This is the problem I have with audio discussions as well as reading books by people "in the know." This stuff has lots of variables and aesthetics. This we all know. But in my opinion there is no reason to send people on a wild goose chase because a person chooses to talk like a scientist. Yes, there is science involved in this. Yes, I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer and will admit that sometimes I simply cannot comprehend things nor do I have the attention span to learn them....yes, I'm a theoretical dope and do not have the skills I should have. BUT....I sincerely feel I make some decent music and have good results production wise, (even if my clients and I are the only ones who believe it) so I must know something? We don't need goose chases. What we need are results and examples of remedies.
 
I type novels that not everyone reads. I know that....but I also share examples all the time backing up the things I say. Whether someone agrees or likes what I do will always be subjective, but I back up everything I say...I don't just talk about it or lose people because I feel like intimidating them with words. It just doesn't have to be that way man...and when someone comes into a discussion and does that, it's a voice for the sake of a voice. It's no longer an opinion. When it happens in several areas and you see it constantly, it's like the Pete dude that bashes everyone into the ground, brags about a $5000 Dumbal amp, and a POD being better than my 18k rack "of junk" and then posts a song full of loops in the forum and people welcome the dude with open arms. How credible does that make him? See my point? It's misleading, it's wrong, and his delivery as well as Mikes, need work as they come off totally pompous and arrogant for no reason at times.
 
You ever see me just strike at someone for asking a question about something or cop a tude with them for asking a question or presenting something? Right...and you never will. When I strike...someone is ludicrously polluting the forum at will with garbage or has attacked me in a manner I feel is done in cowardice. Someone has to speak up and tell them they are out of their tree...might as well be me because well, I actually care. :) 
 
We can all get along just fine when certain others can respect the experience as well as the feelings of others on this forum. Anyone denying the apparent "snarkiness" of someone like Mike has been on the wrong forum. In turn, he deserves it when it comes back to him as well as when someone calls him on things. Most times, he starts a confrontation and runs away because he doesn't have an answer or he's been owned. He'll give you several other reasons why, but those of us that know, understand how he works. This is common with him. Or he'll fire back at you with something totally off the wall or bring something up that happened in the past just to rattle your cage.
 
You'd be surprised at the long list of members who would post "+1" if they really wanted to. But then we'd be wrong for "eye-poking" and "gang tacking" when in reality, it's like a neighborhood. Act like an arse, the neighborhood gang tackles you until you get a clue. We don't see enough of that here and sometimes we should. Nothing wrong with majority policing. When someone is wrong, the masses should speak up. When the mods see the community fighting back against one person, I bet they do something to that one person. Hopefully it doesn't come to that though....the neighborhood usually has enough of an impact to where someone knows when they've been a jack-a-lope and curbs their issues. :) But I digress...
 
-Danny