Japhet

Ruby Baby is one of my all time favorite tracks to play along to. No chance of ever getting to play it with a band though since it hasn't got a guitar solo!

To address your 'What are they for?' question, Personally I like to run my amp with a clean sound. That means not driving the preamp into breakup or distortion. I then use pedals to create the sound I like which is a bit of distortion when I'm playing rock. The reason for this is that I can keep that same core sound at any volume near enough. I have more than one drive pedal - one to give the core tone and then another one later in the chain to give more grit and a bit more volume for specific songs. I also use a bit of compression (always on) and an octaver and a chorus pedal for a couple of bits in the set. I never really used pedals until I was in a 3 piece blues/rock setup where I found that when the guitarist dropped out of the rythme stuff to play solos, the sound suddenly became too thin and I needed to add something to fatten it up a bit.

Saw the thread title and immediately thought 'Grace - Jeff Buckley' only to find it's the first album mentioned. Another one I bought decades ago and immediately hated was Graceland - Paul Simon. Huge hype but utter bilge to my ears. Might be worth a few bob though since it's on vinyl and only been played twice - once to register my disapproval and once again many years after to confirm it was just as bad as I first thought.

It's all about playing in 2nd position so that you can bend notes by drawing through the harmonica instead of blowing. I think a C harmonica gives you a G blues type sound when you mostly draw through the instrument (but could be wrong about that). Give it a try over a blues in G.

I'd check out the TC Electronic Nether for a cheap octaver. Sounds pretty good to me.

I tried it once but it made me feel dirty and ashamed.

Always seems to be the functions gigs where people seem to think you're a jukebox that can play whatever they ask for (even if you've never heard of the song). The pub punters seem to be a bit more intelligent and understand that you do actually have to learn a song before you can play it.

Sometimes at an opportune moment I'll say 'We've had a request.................but we're going to keep playing'.

I'd go Tecamp if you can find one.

I've only used the Mk1 version Al. I like a clean amp and use pedals to create any drive so that I can get the same sound at any volume. The Beta was used as an 'always on' at the start of the signal chain to give a smattering of break up - think Motown. I really like it in that situation but not so much with flats. To my ears it sounded great with my Stingray but the Precision/flats combination did make it sound a bit too muddy. I'm currently experimenting and have a sound I like from an Ampeg Scrambler (always on) at the front end and a One Control Hookers Green further along to boost the drive tone when needed. No doubt the Beta will be back on the board at some point though. To be honest, I don't think I hear half the stuff other people seem to though.

Used to have a guitarist in the band who was a really good player, great bloke, got us gigs, put his money into PA and stuff but the downside was that he was always TOO EFFING LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!! He'd always say 'It has to be that loud or I can't get my sound' and there was no compromise. Since he's left I don't think the band is better but the overall experience has improved immensely.

I find that the 'best' gigs are the rowdier ones where people have a few and want to dance, sing, jump about etc.. That means that I don't much like taking my best gear out and generally use my perfectly adequate other stuff. Then I find that I don't take the quality stuff to the other gigs because it feels like overkill when there's only a few punters who aren't listening.

If you buy new stuff you'll lose a lot more money when you trade up, if that's your intention. You might want to consider buying higher quality used gear to preserve a bit more second hand value.

Dragonfly is one of my all time favorite songs. So long Danny.

+1 for the Chowny. Cracking pedal.

My Mum was a very good piano player and one of her favorite songs was Mac The Knife - Bobby Darin. I was fascinated by the bass line in that song and still am to this day. Another one that pushed my buttons was Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye.

I don't suppose anybody gives a coitus.

He's never been one to under-estimate his own importance. 1971 is probably about the time that The Who started to run out of steam and others who had undoubtedly been influenced by them kicked them to the curb and disappeared into the distance.

Not all plain sailing though. I remember when he was jilted.

I've been using a TechSoundsystems (pre Tecamp) 2x12 for a few years now and can't envisage needing or wanting anything else. Primarily, the sound dispersion is great and I can hear what I'm playing. It's a 4Ohm cab and is capable of massive volume. I use a 500 watt amp at around 50% and it's not a quiet band. It's also very light and has a small(ish) footprint.

I'd find that a prohibitively slow method of moving my gear around.