Squier Pete

It's all to do with getting the right stuff in the end - good pickups, good amp, good fx. I'm just concentrating on getting a cheap valve/tube amp with an fx loop now.

Well my budget is pretty low at the moment so I use a 25 watt Fender Frontman amp (solid state) and I don't think that has an effects loop. My compressor is also Boss CS-3 at max sustain and I use a Squier Strat and Squier Tele Thinline. I'm considering getting an Epiphone Valve amp soon though.

Does anyone know if you use an MXR micro amp to boost sustain because I'm using 5 pedals connected to my guitar and amp at the moment. Even if I'm using loads of distortion and compression the sound just trails off after hardly any time. I've read that the mxr micro amp is meant to reduce signal loss, if that's whats happening to my sound, should I get one of these?

He also uses it in Speed of Sound after the 1st verse, The Hardest Part at about 1:42 'You really broke my heart...oh'. It's a great effect but I think it's one of those things that you can't buy separately. I've tried searching for a slow-attack/volume swell pedal and the only thing I could find was a Boss Slow gear on eBay which is too expensive really (it was discontinued I think).

It's sometimes good to start on acoustic because they are generally harder to play than electrics (I think). It depends if you want to play any acoustic stuff. I taught myself with a book and because I am a musician and violinist, I picked up the basics quickly. I think it's good to use books or DVDs so you can work at your own pace. Most electric guitar starter packages feature a Squier Stratocaster which is what I started on (still have it) and a small 15 watt amp. These are good to start with. I don't know which you should buy though...:thinking: If you get the electric guitar then you can learn from that DVD.

I don't have much of an income, (being the age I am) but my first fx thing was the Zoom G1X which I still use. I now use a Boss PH-3 and CS-3 with that but I got the Zoom G1X for about £50 (I live in England). It's good for reverb and delay but it also provides loads of different types of distortion. It's good value for money. It may look small and weak but it has a lot of fx.

I'm not sure but perhaps he uses that 'slow attack'/volume swell thing on his Line 6 DL4. I haven't got one so I can't verify that. It sounds the same effect that he uses in Spies with heavy tremolo fx. 'And the spies came out of the water...'

I don't have a contour control - I use an older version of a 25R Fender Frontman which I've just recently bought 2nd hand. I never play loudly to get that 'clean cruch' sound cos I live in a small house with others who don't appreciate the sound:D . My maximum volume would probably be 1. That's why I'm investigating in dist. and overdrive pedals.

This has probably been asked before, but if I want a slightly distorted, crunchy sound that isn't too disorted, should I spend $99 on an MXR micro amp? I want a slightly distorted-clean sound but not necessarily a volume boost. I've read about the Ibanez tube screamer being good at 'slight dist' sounds.

At the moment I am writing songs all the time cos I want to be in a Coldplayish band playing Coldplayish music. I am recording stuff onto my PC with 'MAGIX Music Studio 11' software but the PC has 'been through the wars' and now keeps crashing every time I record a big project. I've been looking at multi-track recorders like the Boss BR-600 but does anyone know what would be better, to get a new computer or an external multi-track recorder to transfer data on the PC? Thanks:)

I recently bought a Boss CS-3 to get sustain but at max sustain there's too much attack emphasis for Coldplay (even with Attack at 0). I read somewhere that the MXR micro amp adds sustain. Do you think that's the sustain sound?

He starts with the naturel but changes to his black tele after the first verse of Speed of Sound and sticks to it for the rest of the song.

What, so he definitely doesn't use a phaser effect?

It's weird cos he switches between these two again in Speed of Sound (Glastonbury 2005)

I have no songs that I would say are my least favourite but A Message is one I don't listen to as much as the others. It's not that I don't like it but I don't think it has as much of that Coldplay sound to it as the others.