so, i unexpectedly got the ac30 plug in the mail today.

i was expecting to get a "searing lead" plug in the mail yesterday, which doesn't seem to have shown up. i was only expecting to get the ac30 plug some time next week. but, they only seem to have billed me for it once, so maybe they caught the problem.

great...

i'm going to wait until i get a response from vox before i open it, though. and, the bottom part of it should be at long & mcquade, soon. i am going to get a pignose when i go down there and grab it, and i'll see tonight if i want to ask them to look at the board in the strat or not, too.

i have received two of the three clothing orders i purchased - a blue tank top that's a little shorter than i hoped (and not quite as sparkly blue) and a pink cami that's about what i expected it to be. there's two more tanks coming, in the same style as the light pink tank in many of my videos, but purple and a darker pink. that pink tank is almost done, and the company is apparently out of business, so that's some replacement items.

i need new stretchy jeans, but i'm going to wait until the second hand stores reopen, if they haven't already. i have to try jeans on. but, i have no interest in shopping in a face mask, and buying groceries isn't the same thing as buying clothes. i'l wait the stupidity out.

i also bought another usb keyboard yesterday...

so, that means the following is left on the way here, for now:

- the bottom of the vox combo

- a wood flute to replace the one my aunt bought me in 1998, and since just broke due to being old. that flute was used on several recordings, actually.

- the two tank tops

- sennheiser replacement headphones

when i was in yesterday, the long & mcquade guy suggested $30 as a minimum base rate to fix some wiring.

i can get a soldering iron - which i should have, anyways - for about that amount. 

but, i haven't soldered anything since....grade 12? really? i'm trying to remember what the last thing i soldered was...

my dad had a soldering iron, so what basement is the last basement i can remember soldering in? it was a blue soldering iron, i can remember that. and, i remember making somewhat of a mess, but i don't remember what it was.

let me look at it a second time and determine if i'm confident about wiring it myself or not.

ok.

logically, i need to  fix my strat before i can look at cheap tube amps.

right?

yeah, it's just a smidgeon too much for me unless i need it right now, and i don't.

this is my wish list, though - somebody find me a little tube amp for $150. i don't need a lot out of it, i just need the warmth of it. and, i just need it loud enough to mic it, too.

ok, let's get back to the next thing, then, which was making some phone calls....but it's the end of the day. ugh. tomorrow...

sorry, i forgot the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUMYgohG-KA

well.

instead of the pignose, i could get this. it's relatively cheap - much cheaper than anything by any of the more well known brands. 

this is actually behringer, though, which isn't an unknown manufacturer, by any means.

it's not that i'm changing my approach, here - i'm still going to record most of my parts direct. but, i need that bright tube sound, and i'm not convinced i'm going to get it...

hrmmn.

let's put these ideas aside, rather than buy it all right away. i've got two new micro amps already, and i need to finish the filing first, as well. let's see what the vox sounds like, first - and then let's see if i can get the sound i want from some combination of these items.

and, if i can't, i can take a look at some combination of these other choices.

one way to guess if we're dealing with a model or not is to see how close the controls are. models are notorious for making knobs up.

the thing has three controls: volume, one, gain.

the original model had two controls, plus a number of separate tremolo channels:

https://www.stevesamps.co.uk/?page_id=287

further, the item has tremolo switches.

i have to ask. i wish i didn't, but i do - so i have to wait. i hate that...

i keep talking about the pod..

of course i have modellers in guitar rig, too. i really don't need more modellers, i need a couple of little speakers with real hardware to mic.

so, i think there's probably two good guesses on what the amplug2 actually is:

- it could be the same chip as in the modelling amp or

- it could basically be a rebranded version of one of their stomp boxes

The amPlug 2 AC30 amp features 100 percent analog circuitry. Thus, if you do not like digital modeling technology, the Vox amPlug AC30 might suit you.

that was my logic, here - not because i don't like the modeling, but because i realize it's limitations.

but i sent them an email...

actually, let me think this through more carefully.

the amplug2 is marketed as having "analog circuitry". that would suggest it's not a modeler.

but, if it is a modeler, and i'm buying one model, i'd be better off getting the amp, obviously. 

it's less that i'm worried that i bought one setting on the amp and should have bought the amp and more that i'm concerned that i bought a setting on a modelling amp and wanted a dedicated circuit.

if it's just a setting, i don't want it at all...

so, i do really wish i could get a little mini fender tube amp for $100, but the only options are modelling amps, and what's the point of that? i have enough models, in the pod. likewise, i could get a vox pathfinder mini3 g2 for a bit more than the same price as i paid for the mini ac30, and that would probably be a better choice for most, but it's not going to get me the sound i actually want the way the mini will, i don't think.

given that i now know that the fender mini is a tubescreamer with an amp, this isn't that different than it, but it's also a more usable, distinct sound. i mean, it'd be great to get that late 50s fender tweed sound - really. i'm better off with a modeller, though, this, on the other hand is more real, and i'm going to grab it as the last purchase, to replace the fenders i was thinking about.

i'm not going to bite on this myself, but the ts7 does have a slightly different chip in it than the vintage ts808s and ts9s, and if you really want the original chip, those fender minis might actually be the cheapest way to get one.

you won't find a vintage tube screamer for $70, canadian.

i had to run out to get the mini orange yesterday, and spent the evening grocery shopping and fighting with the rain. by the time i got to bed, it was actually a relatively long day, so i slept in a little bit. i'm now superstocked for months, and stocked on fruit & veggies until at least the 20th, probably longer.

it's useful to be able to get out once a week and get a few things, rather than do everything all at once on the first of the month.

the ram for the laptop also came in, and it's definitely not giving it the boost i hoped for, but i can continue to experiment with that and hopefully get something a bit better.

so, we were talking about the fender mini and i found this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GuitarAmps/comments/g3j43g/fender_57_mini_twinamp/

it seems like the devices are actually little mini tubescreamers, but with an apparently poor design, according to this guy. i'd guess the twin is essentially the same thing, even if the wiring and/or chip is slightly different.

so, this is a better representation of what you're actually buying (excluding the fact that he's playing though a vox amp, and you're not getting a vox amp with your fender tube screamer copy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSCNxCj_V0c

i have a ts7 already and don't see the value in getting another one wired to a 1" speaker.

ok.

so, that's decided upon.