How to spend $900 on music gear

lscottk

lscottk

Experienced
I'm wanting suggestions on how to spend $900 bucks in "rewards" money on Musicians Friend. This is a Musicians Friend only purchase because this isn't cash. I'm considering the following:

1. A PRS SE DGT or a PRS SE Silver Sky. I have two strat style guitars (Grosh H-S-S and a traditional USA Fender Strat) but I've heard great things about the SE Silver Sky, so it's in the mix. I have a couple of Knaggs guitars that I love, so I'm less inclined to spring for a SE DGT, even though it gets great reviews. But I think that I'll be duplicating what I've already got, so shying away from this one.

2. An MPE capable keyboard). Maybe a Keith McMillen K-Board Pro 4

3. An Electro-Voice PXM-12MP powered wedge I have an Atomic CLR, but it has some sort of buzz resonant buzz going on - Tom King is not responding to my request for help troubleshooting and repairing, so I'm considering replacing it.

4. IEM system. Still researching the best system for the money

5. A great mic. I have some decent mics, but rarely use them, so this is pretty low on the list. More for my son, who is a budding engineer.

Not promising to follow the crowd opinion, but wondering if someone would suggest something that I haven't thought of.

Any thoughts? Something that I haven't mentioned would be tops on your list?
 
if you already own a FM3, 9 or Ax3 first pick for me would be the ev wedge, second would be the keyboard and 3 would be the mic, also a acoustic guitar that has a lowZ or 1/4" jack so you can plug it into your FAS unit...
 
I think it depends on what you already have and what you actually need.

If you rely on the wedge and yours isn't working right...that would probably be my choice.

If you want to move to in-ears...I'd go that direction. But...I personally avoid wireless when possible. So, I don't think you need to spend all of it on that, especially because I don't think MF sells IEMs that I know I would like. FWIW, I mostly play via a Presonus HP2 that I plug into my fractal (and everything else I'm monitoring goes through the fractal as well, at least when I'm playing). You could probably get that there. Frankly, though, adding a belt clip thing to Ernie Ball's new guitar + headphone cable would also do the job as long as you're okay adjusting the volume on the fractal. The only real downside is that it's almost as expensive as the HP2 and doesn't have a panic-capable mute/off switch in case something goes wrong.

Neither of those guitars interest me. There are guitars under $900 that I would buy if they were effectively free...assuming I didn't actually need something else.
 
Definitely the silver sky.
I’ve had Mexican, and American strats, which gave me nothing like the strat sound I wanted. The silver sky gave me the strat sound in my head. For the price, I cannot believe how good it is.
Thanks
Pauly

lscottk said:
I'm wanting suggestions on how to spend $900 bucks in "rewards" money on Musicians Friend. This is a Musicians Friend only purchase because this isn't cash. I'm considering the following:

1. A PRS SE DGT or a PRS SE Silver Sky. I have two strat style guitars (Grosh H-S-S and a traditional USA Fender Strat) but I've heard great things about the SE Silver Sky, so it's in the mix. I have a couple of Knaggs guitars that I love, so I'm less inclined to spring for a SE DGT, even though it gets great reviews. But I think that I'll be duplicating what I've already got, so shying away from this one.

2. An MPE capable keyboard). Maybe a Keith McMillen K-Board Pro 4

3. An Electro-Voice PXM-12MP powered wedge I have an Atomic CLR, but it has some sort of buzz resonant buzz going on - Tom King is not responding to my request for help troubleshooting and repairing, so I'm considering replacing it.

4. IEM system. Still researching the best system for the money

5. A great mic. I have some decent mics, but rarely use them, so this is pretty low on the list. More for my son, who is a budding engineer.

Not promising to follow the crowd opinion, but wondering if someone would suggest something that I haven't thought of.

Any thoughts? Something that I haven't mentioned would be tops on your list?
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Best advice I can give is:
  • Make an inventory of what you currently have.
  • Determine your target rig (or studio system) design + capability, and the components required to enable that. The target rig might well develop in phases with each phase being operable and usable, but with each subsequent phase having greater capabilities.
  • Determine what's missing or in need of replacing between current and target. This will be your shopping list.
  • Prioritize the determined shopping list by importance to the next target design phase (you may need to develop a points system and associated formula to do this precisely).
  • Determine the best sources to procure each item on your shopping list based on price, return policy, warrenty service...
  • Determine the top X items on your shopping list that add up to $900 and with SW as a possible source.
  • Place order at SW.
 
If you need an S guitar then the SE Silver Sky might be good. The EV wedge gets a lot of praise. The thing with the SE guitars is that they’re great for the price, but not all of them are great. There are some stinkers mixed in. That’s true for higher grade guitars too, but the odds are much better on getting a good one. If it was me I’d buy the EV.
 
Not in your list, nor as glamorous as new gear, but it’s a great opportunity to load up on cables, picks, strings, cleaners, and all those things you never seem to have time or money for… just a suggestion.

Of the items you list, practicality points to the EV wedge. If your CLR isn’t quite right, you’ll want to have a backup ready. IMO everyone who gigs should have a backup regardless. Plus you can set them up stereo and have some fun with that, too!
 
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I have a Grosh Retro Classic that I've owned for over 20 years. It really scratches my "S guitar itch". I also have a Fender strat that's a good guitar. So I am concerned that the SE Silver Sky would be redundant. I'm going to see if I can try one locally. I just bought a Yamaha Revstar from MF that I ended up returning. In the last 5 years I've bought 3 different guitars from MF. All of them were returned for one reason or another. I've been buying guitars off the internet since the 90s, and I've gotten some really great ones, but not so much the last couple of times.

I think that I'm leaning towards the EV wedge. I bought my CLR used and it developed a really nasty resonance from home use. I just don't trust it to be sturdy and reliable. I can't sell it without fixing it, and I have not gotten follow through from Tom at Atomic. He responded to one of my email, but since there has been radio silence. EV, on the other hand, is responsive. I have 3 12" EV monitors (ZLX), so I have backup. They're great as monitors, but not on the same level as my CLR, at least when it's working.

Anyway, I appreciate the thoughtful responses.
 
skolacki said:
IThe thing with the SE guitars is that they’re great for the price, but not all of them are great.
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I haven't played that many of them, it was a while ago, and they were all custom 22s or 24s, but...I don't remember being impressed with any SE I've played. I don't think any of them were bad, but none of them were impressive either.

I'd play an SE 594 or SE Silver Sky if I saw one in person...but they haven't hit stores here yet. Either that or I just happen to miss them because they really do sell that fast.
 
Admin M@ said:
Don't spend it. Save it until it turns into $1800.
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I like that idea, except for having to spend more bucks to bring up the total, which bucks I don't have at the moment. Unless you know a secret on how to get them to have babies. Like some bunny rabbits or something. :)
 
gibsonash said:
A PRS SE DGT !
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The only issue with the SE DGT is that I have two Knaggs Kenai guitars, both of which are lifetime keeper guitars, so I'm thinking that the DGT would be duplicating tonal territory that I already have covered. So I guess that I shouldn't have even put the SE DGT on the list.
 
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