I'm Robert Russell, and I play retro inspired rock and roll. On this page I will post songs, music videos, gear demos, gear reviews, and even videos about random fun stuff I happen to like... even if it's not music related.
My first solo record is available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and many other digital outlets, including right here on you tube. I've also started recording lots of cover songs... it's fun and it's basically a series of experiments and discovery sessions. I played bass, or upright bass in So-Cal Rocket Dynamics for many years, and recently, I’ve tried to get better at playing guitar. ...Being a self taught musician, I was always sort of afraid of guitar... but I’m getting better with each new experiment. You can also check out my web site and social media links in the banner. When you subscribe, like, and share my pages it really makes a big difference and I appreciate your help very much!
Watching before I buy a similar Pango kit, I bet your stain didn't go even because you didn't sand it first - have to give the wood a uniform texture for it to absorb stain uniformly, that's why after sanding the stain back out it went on again easier 🙂
Dear Robert. I did a similar pickup system for my upright bass. Unfortunately I can’t generate a good click sound on the fredboard. Maybe the reason is, that I use a simple piezo-pickup from amazon. What pickup you using? Greatings from germany 😊
I don’t think what my pick up is doing is all that great either, but it could be the pickup quality. I was just using the pickups that come with the k&k rockabilly.
@@robertrussell2717 thanks for the answer. A further problem is that the wood of my fingerboard is bended at the bottom. I think i will fill it with a woodpiece to make a flat connection. Do you agree ?
I hope it helps. Not sure about the bent wood. You never know how much stuff like that is going to matter or not. With my sloppy and heavy handed playing, nuance matters less. :)
Great video ! I really identified with your experience! I'm on #6 kit and getting better each time. First was a lefthanded! Kept on having fun with these and Ann is great also
I think the Preamp pedal plays a lot into your sound. Ive been debating between getting the Atomic Brain Preamp or the whole Mystery Brain. I also want his Jr Barnyard. I like to play Rockabilly, Surf, Blues, and 50s RnR. My previous pedal board was all Boss: DD3 digital delay, TR2 tremolo, and RV6 reverb. For awhile I used just the JHS Milkman or Keeley Memphis Sun. My current board is TC Electronic Spark full size Boost used as a light overdrive, Lovepedal Echophonic tape delay, and Keeley TremoVerb tremolo and reverb. If I get the Mystery Brain and Jr Barnyard that will knock the Lovepedal and TC Electronic off the board. It's fun to go down the rabbit hole of chasing a sound.
Sounds great, Funny I had the exact opposite impression that I did, you thought the Epiphone sounded better because of the rich lows, while I was impressed by how bright but mellow the Creature sounded, maybe the lighter materials let it rattle and chime a little more. I am also hopelessly addicted to diy/tlc, especially when it comes to cheap or beatup instruments. I understand the joy.
Have you stopped doing RU-vid? I'm looking for new material from you. I love the style you play in and the incredibly informative videos you have done up to now.
Thanks! That is inspiring actually. Not too many people pay attention to the stuff I was doing. Really! Thanks! I kinda stopped… I have some neat stuff to shoot and share, but about 2 years ago, I was putting all my effort into a knob company, and that is sadly limping to its demise… neat, but I could not seem to get them made fast or affordable, and I had some quality issues too… then I got really busy with my actual job, and we had to move… so presto! Nothing. :) I might crank out some new vids in November or December. Maybe… again, thanks for the encouragement.
Looks like some episodes were found, so now I can see how different this was from the original. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-P-LbDfm0COY.htmlsi=JX5pU9IesItH2WwN
Two sound posts and a mini nerf football shoved under the tail piece. I hug it with my knees when needed, and mostly, I just don’t turn up that loud, and let the house take care of it. Feedback does happen though.
I would absolutely not purchase a guitar kit from this company! When I unboxed the kit and reviewed the body and neck. the laminate was buckled in 2 places so it was impossible to glue back down and repair. The neck had scratches on it that were so deep they could not be sanded out. When I sent an email and complained about the state of the kit they ignored me for weeks. When I finally did receive a reply after 5 emails they informed me that if I wanted I could send it back (at my expense) and they would determine if they would replace it or refund my money. When I showed them the photos of the veneer buckling they said and I quote "This is a diy guitar kit, no sanding, no polishing, For this little issue, it can be fixed by some glue easily". Which of course it can't. Stay well clear of this company and purchase from a reputable company.
How do you marry the bridge and finger board channel into the k&k? I've watched the vide several times and I still don't understand. Btw I'm building the same pedal board.
nice work!! thanks for making a great demo - I guess I’m a bit leery of using stain or oil for a finish, and wonder if a lacquer or poly finish might positively affect the tone, although I have no idea which is easiest to use on a home-built guitar I was also curious about the fingerboard and frets… was the quality very good? did you have to file the frets? or had that been done properly by the factory ..? not suggesting you do this, but would be fun to build this kit using the included hardware vs same kit using better-quality hardware (especially the pickups) and a pro paint job
It is a SlapKing by King Double Bass. It was a manufacturer in Orange County California many years ago. I had it custom painted by an auto paint shop. …Today it is very close to a 1,4,5 by Blast Cult.
Hands down the Creature is better! Why? Because it's a true hot rod, and this is rockabilly, and that's exactly what it's all about, isn't it? I think much of the difference in tone could be negated by an eq or different pickups. As for mojo, the Epiphone is not even close. Any idiot can go buy an Epiphone out of the box, but man, you BUILT that thing...oh, one last thing, the beauty of a hot rod is that they're not ever quite done. You can keep tweaking and it's about the learning process! Which is awesome. Even if you call this one done, imagine how rank the next one would be! Glad you lost the pressure and had fun with it. I think it's AWESOME.
I agree… I probably should have checked the compression pedal settings too, I may have choked the creature by trying to keep everything the same. …and yeah, it’s grown on me. It’s a neat guitar and I’m proud of it. :)
Hi Robert! I’ve been setting up my equipments inspired on your vídeo. Here in Brazil is really hard to find stuff to double bass and rockabilly. I’m not able to find what you shown at the vídeo. Would you say that I could use a ABY pedal box instead the K&K? Thanks for the vídeo!
Saturnworks can build you a powered 2 channel mixer for bass. Otherwise watch eBay, k&k and shadow mixers for this come up often. I can’t recommend an aby for it, …it may work, but not as a bass pre-amp? …I don’t know for sure.
K&K made the pickups. (Came with the k&k mixer) The one under the fingerboard is there with tape. The one on the bridge is wedged in, and sometimes has a thumb screw to help hold it in place. I have 3 uprights and each is set up a little different.
Funny how they all have non Chinese names. I've emailed with Ann from Pango. Lily from Weifang Yujing and Becky (yeah right) from Hulyuan Music ( a seller on DHGate )
It’s the same as splitting with a box. …and I forgot to talk about it in the vid, but I use a dual mono to trs cable to go back to the k&k. So yeah, splitting is splitting, it’s just where and when you use a preamp or effects and where you sum/mix it..
Ha, that made me think, definitely don’t wanna boogie with a moist vox… you know, to try and another word that people commonly say creeps them out… but then maybe 3 wrongs made it right?
Great vid!!! What exactly is the config in your K&K? There are some knobs to control highs, mids, bass, gain for each channel. I would love to see that nice little detail :-)
Thanks for the effort of putting this out there. I'm more of a celtic and bluegrass player myself, but I like your style and found a lot of inspiration in the way you have thought out your signal chain. Rock on
Ha. Cool. I get occasional rude rockabilly-splainer comments, so I feel like I have to preemptively defend that even though I do love pure reenactments of the past by others, I personally am not doing that, and that is ok. :)
so nice! i’ve been playing clean with a shadow rockabilly plus pickup/preamp for years but im venturing into pedals. your input is priceless! and nice lookin setup!!!
Glad it helps. I’ve changed that board and made another one that does some haunted house orchestra type stuff for fun. I fell off making vids but I’ll get around to to it again.
Not to be a dick but the only sonic part of the video is paired with another amp so you have no idea what it sounds like and then pay more attention to aesthetics than tone. I would play out of a toilet bowl if it sounds good
