That Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face sounds amazing, but last time I tried to use it, a small fire erupted near the pickups forcing me to drop to my knees and entrance it like a snake charmer trying to control a serpent. That being said, the small fire gave my tone a nice mid-hump and let me cut through the band mix. Next time I will use “wet-dry” rig in case I need to extinguish the flames.
I remember years ago, hearing a psychiatrist state that 50% of people will suffer some form of mental health issue in their lifetime. From what I've seen and experienced, I'm sure they were right. I also remember how stigmatised it used to be. Thankfully, it is becoming less so. It's good that you feel comfortable enough to talk about your own experience of it, and it definitely helps others to do the same, especially older people like myself, who were brought up in a culture that told us that men should suppress their feelings and emotions. I wish you good health.
Thank you Fishy, I appreciate that. That culture of not talking is just about repression and poor human relationships. We change that, we truly change the world. Cheers!
@@ThatPedalShow Nah, mate, thank you (and Dan) for the great content. You teach me good stuff, and always make me smile and laugh. Side note: I don't mind being called fishy (lol) but I feel I know you well enough that you can call me Nick, if you like. Named after St. Nick, but these days, I'm much more of an old Nick. 🤨😄
@@ThatPedalShow Mick the music will always keep you grounded my friend We ALL have our foibels lol or whatever And as long as you are at peace My therapist taught me " If you can't control something Let it Be" or don't stress or sweat it Love is all we need and GAS 😜
@@fishypaw (and Mick) We change the world, we change the conditions of our existence, and therefore we change how human subjectivity emerges and is constructed from the initial, "biological" (it's kinda all biological, hence the quote marks) determinants. I don't buy the "it's all just low or unbalanced levels of serotonin/dopamine/etc" explanation. Even if that were true the question is WHY has there been such a dramatic rise in people who suffer from chemical imbalances in the brain? Capitalist Realism, man. We gotta change this paradigm. And as Mick said, it starts with considered thought and discourse. It's a colossal ball-ache. Take care, Paw.
From someone who's currently thankful that guitar and bass can go some way to helping through a cancer fuelled low point, thank you Mick and TPS for everything you do as it most definitely adds an injection of light into my world at the moment.
Mick, you're like the Mr. Rogers of guitar nerds. I consistently have the "where did the time go" when watching your videos. Reminds me to slow down, take a breath and enjoy the journey. These videos I think are more about the process being the destination instead of the destination being the destination. Great work neighbor!
As creatives are a bit over represented in the area of mental health, what you are doing is enormously helpful to those who believe they suffer alone. Thank you for speaking up. Years ago I began a process similar to yours. The difference is, though imperfect, rather stark. And that's the one thing I've come to understand ... nothing will be perfect all the time. Learning to take the downs with the ups is how I've seen improvement. A quote has stuck with me (can't remember who said it) ... "Nothing very, very good or very, very bad lasts very, very long." When things are tough I try to remember this. Again, I can't thank you enough for helping to normalize the discussion around mental health.
I love you guys buddy. I've been winding strat pickups for 20 years. I only do it for myself and maybe I'll send you a set for fun. I don't care to make money off it. I had to sell a 1964 strat to survive in 2003 that sounded like god and 3 years late when Ihad the money to replace it they had gone up to 25,000 and I would never own another one and I had to accept that. So I built my first pickup winder and set about winding my own pickups to find that tone. Also I have suffered crippling depression and anxiety for the most of 25 years. It's not something you can explain to others so you suffer alone. You are an amazing player and person. I appreciate you and the show very much brings a much needed smile to my face frequently. Thank you.
@@ThatPedalShow Do you have a neutral Po box not your real address I can send you a set of strat pickups I will make just for you? Made with love free I don't sell them so I don't want anything in return.
What a great edition of your blog posts. I really enjoy when you have some difficulties in your build and walk us through your problem solving steps you take to alleviate the problem. Well done. Love the tape echo, hope to see it on the show soon. Cheers
I seem to recall, in the early days of TPS, Mick saying "Oh, I don't really get on with delay..." Three years later, three delay units on a single board.
Great point about the benefit of a loop switcher (if having an issue doesn't shut the whole board down). The tone was amazing! Really loved it. Love that you also had 2 fuzz's (Dunlop and Mythos). Appreciate you sharing your journey and the strategies that work for you. You're right even on a trajectory in the right direction there are bumps along the way. I try to remember that those bumps do help us appreciate and enjoy the "rises" so to speak even more than we would without them. Thank you for being open and transparent. It's the honesty of who both you and Dan are that shines through and I appreciate and enjoy that as much as I do the gear and tones. You are a great inspiration Mick.
One of my favorite videos you've done. You guys should do a "giveaway" for your services. As in the winner send you their pedals and their signal chain preferences and you build their board as a video. You guys are super busy as it is but that would be a really cool series to watch!
What a good human being you are Mick! And good to hear you're doing well, there are too many people suffering from depression who onfortunately never get well.
Firefighter from Texas here. I play guitar for our church’s band, and get to jam a little here and there. You guys have been such an inspiration, as well as a huge base of knowledge for me! Every time someone asks me a question about pedals, signal chain, amps, etc., I refer them to you! Thanks for all you do...keep it loud and tasty😉
I’m glad you talk about mental health, Mick. I deal with depression as well and it’s not talked about as much in the music community as other artistic communities. I’m also an actor and the difference is surprising.
Echoing so many of the responses below-Mick, you are something of a role model. I truly appreciate your candid and earnest commentary on mental health. It's also so heartening to hear it resonate with so many others, especially in the "not so young, not so old" crowd. In other news...my echorec seems to have a similar intermittent issue as yours. Interested to hear if you find the problem.
Technology is supposed to make everything easier and make more time for other things, but instead it’s made a lot of us way too busy and makes us envious of people who we should be cheering and such. I think it’s super important to hear you say that everything is NOT sunshine and daisies, and you’ve done a lot of work to get to where you guys are today. Thanks for being awesome Mick! I appreciate both of you, even if my bank account doesn’t!
Thanks Nate. I’m absolutely convinced that in a decade or two we’ll look back at social media in the way we do now about smoking. Ie, it’s a death sentence at worst, and just generally bad for your health at best. But it can make you look cool when you’re mind identified and worried about what other people think of you. That’s the cul de sac we all find ourselves in, me included. I’m increasingly mindful of the fact and want to try to add something useful to humans that isn’t just bullshit self promo. Clearly have a long way to go, but the first step is acknowledging it. Thank you for the comment. May we all be well!
I love these little spinoff videos, sometimes like now they’re better than the regular show. I too am a big fan of the blue Hendrix fuzz face, they got it right that time. Good to see you in high spirits Mick.
Mick- your bravery in talking about issues with mental health is to be applauded! I have struggled at times, but as a geezer if 50, I’m lucky to have figured a lot out. Unfortunately, my best friend lost his 16 year old nephew to suicide (due to mental struggles) just a couple weeks ago. Devastating! For the family, and all who knew him. We as a world need to embrace this as a major issues... that will destroy more than corona virus could ever dream of. Let’s shift the focus, from what’s a sensational headline... to what’s real!!! Peace, and thank you!
Really enjoy the Vlogs, Mick. You and Dan have been such a big part of my guitar journey and weekly life for the last 4 years. Thanks for the inspiration.
Loving the vlog content Mick! It's tone heaven. There's this quote I read in a book that has always stuck with me, "What's the most important step a man can take? The next one." Keep it up brother!
Mick, also, thanks for talking about your personal journey. I'm about a year and half into my journey as a creative (i.e I left my day job to pursue music full-time) and it has certainly been an incredible experience with enormous ups and downs. We are a community and we need to take care of each other since unfortunately the modern world doesn't value the arts outside of it's capital so it's so important that we take care of each other. You guys are doing good work, thanks for that and for all the inspiration 😊
Cheers Justin. The only person who will ever truly value it is you, and in so doing some other people will get it. But never do it because you want them to like it. That is simply seeking the approval of others which is a fast track to going crazy. I’m with you brother! :0)
Yep. You sir do greatly reach us, assist us in our own endeavor. We are uplifted by your candor, courage, and forthright continuance! Please carry on with all vigor and strength. I salute you both! I get it. Music of the heart and mind, is always the best! At 66 and building a future. Sam
My small board is all mini pedals. I did it as an exercise to reduce out of control board! Has a tuner, EP boost, Tumnus, Mooer Elec Lady and a Flashback. One daisy chain power supply which, surprisingly, isn’t noisy! All goes into the front of my AC15 or DSL40C. It’s great as its all in a small case and has a small footprint and covers most of the sounds I need.
Those Schmidt Array pedalboards are really things of beauty. Functional and stylish. Also, the two amp setup with the fuzz and the tape echo instantly brings to mind Eric Johnson.
I may have mentioned this before, but I like to take hi-resolution manufacturer photos of pedals, drop out the backgrounds and size them to life-size with Adobe Photoshop, then create accurate to the millimetre pedalboard layouts with Microsoft Visio, which also allows me to easily draw in signal and power routing. That way, I always know if and where and how a pedal is going to fit on my pedalboard before I buy it or build it. It only take s a few moments per pedal to fix the pix, then I have them in a library for future use.
Really love these vlogs. So great to watch you think through complex stuff and come out with an absolutely beautiful range of tones. If I had that setup I’d be done for life. (By “life” I mean until the next TPS show reveals another killer find...) Thanks Mick (and Dan) for all you do!
When you spoke about the intermittent issue I instantly thought of Scotty from Star Trek. In one of the movies he said something like “the more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to bung-up the drain.” Man that was a lot of wiring under there. 😀
It really makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to hear those beautiful tones after the time you spent putting it together. It's like 'It's ALIVE!'...yeah sounds great man.
Mick thank you for mentioning Mental health again. I would of loved to have been there on the Sunday but I had a rehearsal booked. Sorry to hear the board didn’t work out on the day. I use a Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe in front of my amp for slapback and then either a Catalinbread echorec or a Way Huge Supa Puss in my effects loop for a long delay. I can never decide which is best it’s a never end quest. But I ave been stuck on the Belle epoch at the front for what seems like forever. With my own journey playing guitar and being around musicians and like minded people has often stopped me from slipping back into negative thoughts. Just talking about things can often take a whole weight off your shoulders. Thank you for another awesome vlog.
Cheers J, no apols needed man. I'm going to try the BED at the front again. See how we go. I think being around like minded people helps you stay present and conscious and in this moment. The negative thoughts are all psychological time - past and future worries and anxieties. Once you can spot that happening - your mind stepping into psychological time - you can simply watch it, don't judge it, and exit it as you return to the present. It really works! All best to you!
It's so fun and instructive to see the whole process of the board build. Including that parts that didn't go the best is so valuable. And some really great tones! Thanks.
A serious but great note to end on 🙂 The first vlog that you mentioned mental health in was a real eye/mind opener to the option of talking about things however big or small instead of retreating and trying to deal with it all solo, even though I “knew” it already. Thank you! It’s alluring to imagine some kind of GigRig box for the mind to remove the noise in the brain-chain at the flick of a switch but we can work to achieve it in a deeper and longer lasting way with openness and the right support. Also, as a very new player it was truly amazing the hear and FEEL the sounds at the Guitar Show! There’s a target to aim for 😬 Thanks to you, Dan and everyone behind the scenes that helps us experience such glorious, grin inducing noises!
Nice one Dave, and thanks for coming to the show! Eliminating the noise in the brain chain is absolutely key to feeling better IMHO. Eliminating the tendency for compulsive thinking and being able to stay present and conscious in this moment and not getting lost in psychological time (the past and the future: regret, nostalgia, fear, anxiety - those things simply don't exist in the present). Sorry, don't mean to sound preachy. But it's fundamentally changing my life. And it's not hard. Hooray!
Never give up on the sweet JHF1!!! I leave it just off my board as well. The Clyde Deluxe, or regular Clyde Wah work really well with it too. Killer board, my only difference would be taking the Mythos off for a Uni-Vibe.
Great upload. Love how you communicate with us in a manner that transcends the "TV aspect" of this whole thing, making it a conversation that goes beyond guitar and tone - life! Kudos on the RnR circus tribute- Dirty Mac, the band that never was and, yet, managed to rock our socks off... Love it. Cheers, guys
Thanks again for sharing your personal journey (with pedals, boards and ups and downs!). I'm in a similar place, much less pro on the pedal front, but finding help through mindfulness and living in the moment. It's great to hear a public figure speaking out about all of the same issues that I'm experiencing.
Thanks Toby. I'm becoming ever more interested in helping to normalise the conversation. Experiencing some kind of mental health issue is just like any physical health issue. It happens to all of us some of the time and yet we still think it's fine to get the flu, but not a bout of depression. I'm glad you've found the moment and the ability to watch your mind. That's about 80 per cent of it for me. All best!
@@ThatPedalShow Thanks Mick, I'm certainly coming to realise that!! Normalising the conversation around all of these issues is really important and your contribution is really helping me, and I'm sure many others.
Very nice! I’m currently building a board around the Gladio. It’s gonna be a small board with tuner, Klon (clone) EQ, Chorus, Delay, and Reverb will also take up real estate on the board, but as I’m rather new to pedals it’s taking a lot of trial and error and watching many videos trying to find the best options for this build. The build continues, but I’m afraid it’s going to take a bit too find all the best pedals and what works well together. This board is going to be mainly for my new amp, a Ceriatone OTS (Dumble style amp) but I’ll certainly be experimenting with a few of my other amps too…. Thanks again for a killer video and build! ✌🏼
Good on you Mick, the road may be bumpy, and may have some tight curves, but it's the journey and what we make of it that matters most. I enjoyed watching the build and was sorry to hear that you had to remove the Boonar for phase issues. I knock on veneer in this road hotel that I have never experienced that with mine, because I really do love it. Also I sincerely appreciate your enthusiasm for tube based tape echo. They can be fragile and a pita to maintain but nothing else sounds like them, although some pedals do a pretty close job. Be well
Great vlog Really enjoyed watching the real estate juggling, patching, leads, power issues, signal paths etc Good stuff; and nicely capped off with mentioning mental health Everybody has mental health, whether it’s good or bad and talking brings a wealth of thoughtful food to eat away the sad
Greetings from Sonoma County. I'm always trying to make my board smaller without giving in to digital multi-effects units. Mick, I feel your pain with the last-minute diagnosis on a cramped board. I recently had the acoustic half of my board quit moments before show time and had to run that guitar straight into my DI with no modulation. It's disconcerting to not have the tools, to which I'm accustomed, being gone. Audience doesn't know the difference, but it brings me down a little. I enjoyed the whole v'log, and really dug the tones you coaxed, despite the issues. You and Dan are tone whisperers for sure!
Fantastic vlog Mick. Sad to hear it didn't quite work in the way that you wanted it to and that you've had a tough week. Here's to good times ahead. Look forward to hopefully a follow up vlog which tells us what changes (if any) you make for Andy Timmons, July and onwards. Keep on keeping on, Mick :)
That board sounded epic when you finished it up and your playing was amazing in the TPS studio when you were testing it, you could tell you was totally digging the sounds and tones !!. Kudos on the mental health shout out as this is such an important subject nowadays and people are now talking which is vital in fighting the problem, great vlog :D
Mick, I absolutely love your vlogs - the technical stuff, definitely, but the deeper things, the subjects of connecting with instruments/effects/amps, and most of all, your mental health discussions (and physical). I also really love that you openly talk about how good Dan's GigRig gear is, as I'm a very happy G2 owner, and wholeheartedly agree about the quality of his power units. I understand (as Dan recently said) that pushing GigRig stuff is obviously not the point of the show at all, but man I wish you two would do a modern day episode on switchers and comparisons (?). Anyway, I think the G2 is a spectacular tool, and I wish more people knew about them, as well as all of the specialized adapters and outstanding power supplies. I use my G2 as sort of a normalled patch bay for my home recording setup, using my pedals as outboard gear as I record (everything, not just guitar/bass). Keep up the great work on all fronts, cheers from the States!
Thank you Patrick, that is very kind! We shy away from the switchers thing because people assume we’re just trying to sell Dan’s gear. And then they get annoyed because we won’t use anything but GigRig. A) because it’s the best, B) because it’s Dan’s firm of course! So it is our one blind spot of not being able to be objective really. Hey ho. :0)
Nice "travel" board, that's better than most people's normal board. I'm envious. 😄 You know it's easy to swap the input/output jacks around on the Fuzz Face? No soldering required. I did it to mine. It took 2 minutes.
Before he put a single pedal on that board it was already better than most people's normal board! (Those Schmidt Array boards don't come cheap ...) Then he put a Klon on it.
D, please give some time to The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle. He explains it in ways I can't. Powerful stuff, life changing. And not at all weird or ideological/religious etc. Just psychology and philosophy. All best to you!
Oh boy how I love new board builds. And somehow you guys always manage to swap half the pedals despite keeping all the classics and favourites so it's interesting. And some of those have to be good for you to replace your usual suspects. The diagrams are top notch in this one, good looking and they make hell of a lot of sense. Turns out your board was quite unlucky with everything requiring another gigrig piece. Interesting short episode would be making all the pieces you had throughout this build work and showing what you needed to do to fix the problems. I'm myself getting my hands to gigrig power any day now (unfortunately not from gigrig but second hand, fortunately for my wallet though and now I can update the system for reasonable cost directly from gigrig anyway) and I'm super excited to finally see and hear what others have had the pleasure to enjoy! Since mental health is mentioned, personal isn't going too shabby, but TPS always manages to cheer up. The honest enthusiasm towards the shared interest. And hearing sweet sounds and great playing.
Bless you, Mick! I am so glad to hear that, despite the expected bumps along the way, you are doing well. Many of us have dealt with mental health issues in our lives, and I am certainly included. Okay..... You guys have hinted that you are doing things with Sweetwater, and now you're doing something in June.... Please don't say that you'll be at Gear Fest this year! I will be out of town for a family event and there's no way I can attend!! I'll be sick if you guys are less than an hour from my home town and I can't go!
Aynsley Lister awesome Mick I’ve been following him since he was a kid “ being a local Leicestershire lad” saw him first back at Rock City Nottingham , the small downstairs room great guitarist. Great vlog too 👍🎸🎸
Mick, you're simply one of the finest presenters on the internets. Both you and Dan are my elixir after a tough week of work. Keep up the great work. PS. Do you give the CS fat sixties strat pickups a thumbs up?
Congratulations! That's sounds awesome! And thanks for sharing the serious stuff with us. We are all still humans. Life's not easy, though is very short. Worrying too much is pointless, and living in the present moment makes everything more enjoyable. Cheers man!
This video gave me the idea that perhaps you guys should do a video on using high headroom pedals into smaller amps and possible alternatives in cases they don't work. For example I find the frequencies of a univibe and fuzz face to require high headroom, into a smaller amp things start to flatline. I suppose the answer is "more is more" but it'd be interesting to explore ways to make those sounds work or approximate them in a 15/20 watt combo setting. Cheers, great tones Mick
Would love you to share those techniques and strategies one day Mick, something I unfortunately haven't yet discovered. Perhaps in a little separate Vlog. Love what you do, keep on keeping on 👍
Hello Digby, a few people have asked me this so I might see if I can do it. I don’t want to be preachy. However, pretty much everything I’ve discovered is the following... 1) Understanding cortisol, the stress hormone, and why exercise, less alcohol and less sugar Really Do Work. 2) The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Being conscious and present and rejecting psychological time has been truly transformational 3) Dovetailing with the above is The Courage To Be Disliked by a couple of Japanese doods. My apologies for being so brief about it, and indeed it is ongoing work, but for whatever it’s worth those three things have totally changed my life! Wishing you wellness Digby! And great tones of course. :0)
That Pedal Show thanks Mick I really do appreciate your reply, I will look into those things you mention. Playing guitar and watching your Shows help as well may I add. Thanks for all of that
Hey Mick! First, thanks to you and Dan for years of great content. Second, I had a strange issue with my Catalinbread Echorec as well. When using it in Trails mode and the pedal is off, the Mix knob would act as a Volume out to the rest of the chain. I found this odd, but worked around it. Not sure if it’s related, but thought I’d throw that out there. Thanks again for your entertaining yet educational show!
Having been watching your vids for 3 years and purchased (and sold) many pedals because of this show, one thing I would like for you guys to cover is Loop Switchers. Let’s face it, it’s a main staple for any board. I understand you’ll always side with GigRig but there’s so many others out there and I for one needed guidance when purchasing one many years ago. Keep up the good work.
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