Jimi Jam Johnny A

[tubenit]

Easily in my top 5 favorite guitarists ..................

Johnny A. - Jimi Jam - Rockpalast Germany 2011

[SILVERGUN]

Nice....
I can honestly say that I'd heard of him but never his playing before you posted that,,,but now I can say I'm a fan too

So I did my normal Google thing and came across this....good reading:
http://www.johnnya.com/tone_quest_0905.pdf

[tubenit]

I saw him live and he was PHENOMENOL ..............

Johnny A live was maybe the best show I've ever been to?  I can't think anyone else that I've enjoyed more.

Here is his version of   "Wind Cries Mary "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ikkwSYE_JSY

Jeff

[Ritchie200]

Yeah, that boy can play!  Typical of a lot of guitarists who have many years and miles on them honing their skills in front of a crowd.  His bass player reminds me of the guy who I played with for many years in several bands.  He would lay down a thunderous groove yet with some melody and rhythm - perfect for when I would go off on a tangent of self absorbed noise!  Guys like that are rare and priceless for a guitar player.  Most either just want to thump down low or be a Stanley Clark slappin' fool.  It was also interesting that in his bio, he said he worked for Tom Scholz at SR&D, yet he doesn't have a single Scholz Rockman product on his pedal board!

Jim

[SILVERGUN]

Guys like that are rare and priceless for a guitar player.

Yeah, I was gonna mention both of those other 2 guys.....man, I would kill for that setup......I'm a fan of all 3 of those guys now

It was also interesting that in his bio, he said he worked for Tom Scholz at SR&D, yet he doesn't have a single Scholz Rockman product on his pedal board!

Does anyone anymore?  ......Tom Scholtz was smart enough to know when to get out
Nothing sounds less tubular than that stuff.......but don't get me wrong.....back in '89 I took one of these "bad boys" (SEE PIC) on stage a few times ............at least I had the common sense to run it through a Mesa power amp.......without that it sounded like the built in guitar sound on a bad Casio keyboard

Johny A's tone just kills me......did you read the part about using the Marshall direct????...I never would've dreamed of doing that

[Ritchie200]

HEY!  I've got a whole rack full of bad casio guitar sound!!!!   I, for one, am a huge fan of Tom Scholz, and his equipment.  I have personally funded his retirement with my module purchases.  AND, the XP100 was pretty cool on its own - get rid of the amp and speakers....  He has some of THE best sounding analog processors on the planet. 

If you are bored, read my latest Boston album review.

Jim

[SILVERGUN]

HEY!  I've got a whole rack full of bad casio guitar sound!!!!  

I remembered that from reading about your recording setup......I'm a big fan  

Does anyone anymore?  

That was my way of returning some of the Tele bashing of the past......remember,,,I'm "Team Tubenit" to the core  

AND, the XP100 was pretty cool on its own

At the time I scrounged up the $800 for it,,,I thought so too
Until I kept getting my face blown off by guys with tube Marshalls....(it was right around the time of the JCM800 invasion, and some of the "older" guys were still dragging around those Major's)
I had no idea that they came out with a MIDI switchable amp (like the one Johnny A uses----6101)...I had never heard of that amp until I just read this article.........that would have given me an option,,,,because I was sold on MIDI (that's how I eventually wound up with a Mesa Triaxis)

The XP100 was a great idea (except the speakers),,,and a cool toy...kinda the beginning of the programmable amp tones....
everyone wanted my MIDI pedal board  
Scholtz is a genius....no doubt about it.......from his playing right down to his homebrewed equipment....definitely a huge inspiration to me..................
I just knew I wasn't that smart 

Dave

[Ritchie200]

Team Tubinet!  That's good.

You realize you have sold your soul at the crossroads, forever on the dark side....

To give you an idea of the madness... 

Rare Rockman Rev 20 Sustainor SP 19195 April 20, 1989 - THE HOLY GRAIL of  ROCKMAN   -  1 of 13 that exists

The REV 20 was a major revision to the sustainor and very complicated. There was 111 new parts, some which were matched parts.

It is in excellent condition and works great.   I added 3 photos showing some of the custom REV 20 changes to the circuits (there are several modification over the standard Models 200 sustainor)

From RockmanCentral.com :
 Within the Model 200 sustainor build some non-production sustainors were made. Bob Cedro designed and developed Tom Scholz's personal Model REV 20. Presumably this was by request from Scholz for improvements. Just a few handfuls of Production Model 200 Sustainors were pulled and modified. It is assumed that Tom Scholz and Gary Pihl hand picked a given amount of these modified units for Stage and Studio use and the remainder were sold to specific customers.

 REV 20 units are most easily identified by their PRE-TREB input control instead of the stock PREAMP-GAIN input control. REV 20 had stock rear panels printed with the typical Model 200 notation. The REV 20 had a unique faceplate with Pre Treb in painted font and a 1989 copyright date under the power switch. The first known REV 20 unit appears on April 20, 1989 (serial 19,191). Thirteen (13) REV 20s are known to exist including Tom Scholz's and Gary Pihl's.

 There are four (4) major differences in the REV 20 units compared to the production units at that time.
 1. The Auto Clean really functions as intended.
 2. Pre Treb input control functions as a bass defeat tone control. Higher setting result in less bass input to the compressor. A 10K resistor was installed to hold the preamp gain constant.
 3. There was a significant boost of the 11K-12K frequencies in the Distortion and Edge modes.
 4. "Lead Leveler" known internally (SR&D) as the "Tom Circuit" with the "piggy back" Double IC. Functional only in the Distortion and Edge modes (to avoid compressor breathing), it speeds up the recovery time of the compressor within the window of high to medium compression. This is desired when playing hammer-ons, pull-offs and quick picked notes. This is accomplished by letting the compressor recover quickly from the attack of the previously played note.

All this on fleabay for a Buy it Now of $3500.  There are still plenty of Team Tom out there! I love my Sustainer.  It is a model 100, but it is awesome.

Jim 

[SILVERGUN]

To give you an idea of the madness... 

Wow, I had no idea.....
Once the grunge thing hit,,,, that stuff (not that specific piece) was sitting around at local music store for $60 collecting dust

My XP100 is in pieces  ....in a graveyard of old gear that may never see the light of day again...

You realize you have sold your soul at the crossroads, forever on the dark side....

I had already done that a long, long time ago.....

Sorry for the Hijack T......but I do like the fact that a simple post can spark this much conversation....
Greatness like Johnny A's is inspirational, and humbling at the same time.........I'd like to think that I could play like that,,,if I'd never put it down 

There's a saying..." the older I get, the better I was" .....that's the direction my storytelling is taking 

[Ritchie200]

Well, as far as the madness, 1 of 13 of anything that is personally used by a big name usually comes at an inflated dollar!  The other stuff is certainly more reasonable. Model 100 Sustainers usually go for just north of $100, Model 200 are around $200.  Others, (Chorus which is awesome, by the way, and echo) vary greatly.  All analog, great stuff for someone stuck in the 70's like me!

I would be happy to take that XP100 off your hands.  Just the processor, not interested in the power amp or speakers - although you make it sound like it is already apart!  Most need to be gone through to replace all the electrolytics and a general scrub down!

Yeah, I hate to hijack, but like any conversation - you never know where it is going until you start talking!  I dont think anyone on this site is worried about that kind of stuff. 

Jim