Ceriatone Forum

Does any body have any strange stories about products or famous amps (and players)  that are are just too strange or just plain wrong !!, I know that there has been some stories out there!

Someone tried to tell me that cloth covered wire sounds better. I am a Electrician, I know copper is copper!! ;D

I recommend snake oil strings. seriously

Hi Fi audio these days is pretty hilarious....it ain't just snake oil....it's triple distilled snake oil.

Hey Eri77, this is totally unrelated to guitars and amps but as an electrician, you'll probably appreciate this.  I'm an engineer for our utility and we get a bunch of inquiries about "energy saver" black boxes for residential customers.  What they typically turn out to be are large capacitors mounted in enclosures (usually NEMA 1 - not even weatherproof).  Now it's true that there may be some power factor correction, but our tariff doesn't have a PF incentive built into residential rates - it just doesn't make economic sense.  There may be some I^2R wire loss savings as well, but this is typically pennies per month.  Let the buyer beware.  ;)

Hi Mark,

I have heard of those boxes also, silicon chip here in Australia did a extensive test on them and I mean extensive (4or 5 pages I recall ) and they came to the inevitable !  :D ;D

So what's with those speaker cables that costs more than the most expensive amp Nik offers on his website (pre-built including tubes too)? Are they really worth the price? I mean I glanced at a few hi-fi shops around here and the prices of some of the stuff are just totally out of this world, and makes me think how does those store sell anything..

I happened to run into another electrician on friday, and he mentioned his Audio amp project he is building, now this guy is a smart guy, but he is being drawn to the darkside (audio amps that is :D)WHEN HE STARTED GOING ON ABOUT THE HANDMADE POTS AND PURE SILVER WIRE I WAS SHOCKED-$2000 in parts already and he has not even brought his caps :)

I second the snake oil strings.
they are the best and most pure nickle strings in existance!
they last longer without being coated, they feel better, and most importantly sound better than any and every string I have ever tried!
 ;D

I think that if you have a whole chain of top shelf leads, acc etc etc, it might make a difference.  But, the problem is some people believe that one good lead alone will do something magical, then myths start up, and so on.  I bought monster guitar cable, expensive stuff, and hated what it did to my sound.  The cheaper monster 'rock' cable and mogami sounded so much better - more suitable to guitar. 

That expensive cable gets used occasionally for bass tracks though, so it wasn't a waste of money - can hear the difference in some applications.

I guess I'm saying that there's usually some truth to the myths, that's why they sound so believable.

Having said that...I hear a lot of stange stories about magical power cables (for amps), leads, etc.

Anyone know much about the monster power lead?  Very very expensive but why????

a guy on ebay is selling grillcloth for bluesbreakers claiming that the speakers and tubes dont matter "you cant get that vintage tone without this grillcloth" it cost $500 for one amp's grill cloth ??? ???

typical...

got a link?

I bet you didn't know you needed this for your amp

http://www.aaudioimports.com/ShowProduct.asp?hProduct=37

US$39 24k Gold Plated Audio Grade fuses

Product Features:
• 24K Gold Plated Contacts
• Audio/Video improvements

Transparency
Details
Airy Spacious Sound Stage
Extends Top and Bottom Octaves


The product reviews are a good read for a laugh
 

...and aged 12 years.

LoL :D

I used to be amazed in hifi shops, they'd recommend a minimum of 10% overall budget for cables.
Then you'd get guys with a £80 CD player using a £20 or £30 cable. Pop off the  cover, and see what the manufacturer used.... oh just a little normal cable, but hey what does the manufacturer know?

I reckon I could play like SRV if I could get a guitar strap the same as his.........

   Actually, my cobra oil is better than your tiny green tree snake oil!   :)

How about the "Cryogenically treated" tubes?

LMAO, so If i pay MORE money for the same tubes these guys will freeze them, thaw them out, and then sell them to me?

What? Does it get rid of ice pick lol? What a joke. At some point people need to remember that it's about PLAYING the guitar, not just buying magical parts for it.