Ryder EM 45 stacked Humbucker amp recommendations?

[Barry Canada]

I am excited to receive my Ryder mando at the end of the month!
I am looking for amp recommendations used by Ryder users!
Thanks
Barry

[Ed Goist]

Congratulations, Barry!
You must be on Steve's list just before me. I have an EM-44 coming soon (early December I suspect), and it will be equipped with stacked humbuckers also.
Hence, I'm excited to see the responses you get here.
Be sure to post some pics of your Ryder when you get it.

[Barry Canada]

It was the used emando that was posted on the classified a couple of months ago.

[Ed Goist]

Barry; I remember that EM-45.
What a beauty!
Again, congratulations.

[Barry Canada]

Thanks Ed
I will let you know how it is when I get it
Have you played one of the Ryder mandos?

[rico mando]

Mesa Boogie

[Ed Goist]

Hi Barry; I have not played a Ryder...
I ordered my custom build based on several strong recommendations from Cafe members, Steve Ryder's good reputation, and faith...
Hoping for the best.

[Christian McKee]

Barry, what kinds of sounds do you like/want to play? There's a million amps out there, but generally speaking Mesa, Marshall and Laney will serve well for heavier, distorted sounds, Vox is the sound of the British Invasion, and Fenders rule non-jazz 'Merican music. If you want a classic jazz sound, look to the Polytone amps. If you're going to be getting into effects pedals, something that doesn't distort easily (i.e., has "lots of headroom") will enable you to get the most out of them.

Christian

[Barry Canada]

I presently have a 77 Fender vibro champ and a early 70s ampeg reverbrocket II.
They are in great shape!
I play mostly country, folk, blues and jazz standards with guitar, bass and sax.
I prefer to experiment with what I've got and look for accessories such as pedals and effects. What strategies would you suggest for an electric mando newbie?
I use a trace Elliot tr50 for my acoustics)
I am open to suggestions...
Thanks!

[Charlieshafer]

What you have is already great. You're spot on with the pedal concept. Vintage Guitar magazine recently did a little blurb on the 25 most collectible vintage pedals. Neat stuff out there! Electro Harmonix has a lot of fun stuff, but man, it adds up quickly...

[Tom Wright]

I employ distortion to dial in the needed slight clipping or overdrive, using King of Tone from AnalogMan, a nice analog chorus from AnalogMan based on the EH Clone pedal, and a Boss echo.

I settled on Ernie Ball stainless steel wound strings for my EM-45. They hold tone for a long time, and make the C very steady in tone. My gauges are .056, .040, .024, .014, .010.

[Barry Canada]

What is the fuss about flat wounds?
Have you tried them Tom?

[Christian McKee]

Barry, my bet is that you'll be pretty happy with the vibro champ and reverbrocket. Pedals are a blast, but not all guitar pedals fit mando too well, in particular some of them need more output than a mando produces to really sing, and some of them get a bit too bright - wahwahs are especially prone to this in my experience. The Bud-Wa from Budda is darker in this regard, and give you some great honk to play around with. I'd look for a delay pedal you like, the Memory Boy from Electro Harmonix has a lot going for it (sound, price, size, flexibility,) and perhaps some distortion. Tom's suggestion of the King Of Tone is a good one, they sound pretty durn good. I LOVE the EH Q-Tron, if you want to go down that road.

And I have no experience with flat wounds, curious about them myself.

Christian

[Barry Canada]

Are there any quality pedals that do not cost the amount of the proposed effects pedals or are pedals qualities also related to market price? Please excuse my newbism with respect to this area of electronics!

[Christian McKee]

The "boutique" pedal market has EXPLODED in the last several years. Many of them sound great, and in my opinion, many of them are overpriced, and some of them are handmade, so the pricing makes more sense to me. Personally, I think it makes sense to treat pedal purchases like instrument purchases - your first mandolin wasn't a vintage Gibson for thousands of dollars, there's no reason your first distortion/chorus/wah have to be top-dollar items either. One option you may consider (especially as a cost effective means of trying many different types of effects) is a multi-pedal. Something like the Digitech RP-90 will give you a sense of what's out there, and what you want to explore in detail. If you find you love playing with chorus, you might consider investing in a really top notch chorus pedal that will cost a bit more.

Christian

[Ed Goist]

...snip...I think it makes sense to treat pedal purchases like instrument purchases - your first mandolin wasn't a vintage Gibson for thousands of dollars, there's no reason your first distortion/chorus/wah have to be top-dollar items either...snip...

I agree 100% with Christian's comments.

Over the past few months I've been checking-out, listening to, and demoing distortion/muff/over-drive pedals as played through my old e-mando (JBovier EMC-4), my Standard Telecaster, and other assorted guitars (when demoing in a music store I'd always try to play the pedal with both a single-coil Fender and a Humbuckered Gibson).

Anyways, here are the best value distortion/muff/over-drive pedals I have demo'ed in the under $100 category. (Note: I'm rating on a 1 - 100 scale, just like grades in school. So, a rating of 90 to 100 is an "A", 80 to 89 a "B", etc.):

Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi / Wicker - $89 - Rating 92. Wow! Great 70s Hard Rock tone. Tonal variations on all settings are substantial and very well articulated. Good stuff! By the way, with the sustain back and the wicker on you just might find yourself in Electric ladyland...Electric Blues Heaven. Excellent pedal, Great Value.

Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi - $ 80 - Rating 90. Outstanding range of tones, and great for vintage Hard rock (think Black Sabbath). Try it with the knobs at 1, 11, & 9:00...Very good pedal. However, I'd recommend spending the extra $9 to get the tone wicker. EH makes great pedals.

MXR Distortion III - $70 - Rating 90. Has a really nice gain, and very strong low-end performance. Good dynamics and a wide range of tones. Excellent value.

Digitech Screamin' Blues Overdrive - $50 - Rating 87. Has a nice classic Texas Blues Grit if you get the controls set just right, especially with single-coil PUPs. Doesn't seem to have quite the fullness of tone the pedals listed above have (hence the "B+" grade), but has a really nice range of control. Incredible value.

Digitech Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive - $50 - Rating 85. Very similar to the Blues Overdrive above, but with maybe a little less body and fullness to the tone. However, the distortion is more aggressive, so this might be a good choice for those looking for more of a Hard Rock/Metal distortion. Would still be a good pedal for Classic-Rock if played through humbuckers and one was careful to get the settings just right. Excellent value.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your search. Let us know what you decide on.

[rico mando]

some gear can suck the tone out of your signal . even when it is on the bypass setting . something to consider

[Barry Canada]

Thanks all you guys for your input......
Wednesday I get the Ryder 5 string axe!!!!
Cheers!

[Barry Canada]

Picked up my ryder last night and p,utter her into my vibro champ. Was too tired to really comment fairly but tonight was the moment; Really sweet sound, had to adjust the height of the pickups to my preference (easily done just just with my pick!)
touch is lovely but will have to adjust the c string. Will be a challenge what to do with that forth string!
even my other half found it sweet and nice! she actually likes it! What else could u ask for!
sounds beautiful after a couple of hours getting used to it.
The sustain is incredible. I only have an mandobird to compare it to: My mandobird will definitely be up for grabs however I mayp convert it to a slide guitar by raising the nut.
I will post pics of this axe. Thanks for all your driving comments. Let us know how you like your Ryders when you get them.

[Ed Goist]

Congratulations Barry!
Enjoy.

[Barry Canada]

Hi,
Can anyone recommend strings for the 5 string ryder?

[Barry Canada]

Thanks for all the support from the forum. Here are the pics of this instrument. Thanks Steve Ryder, for the fine workmanship.

[Ed Goist]

Absolutely gorgeous!
I particularly like the back, with the contract between the back of the body & the back of the neck. Nice!
Congratulations, Barry!

[Jerry Turberville]

WOW! Really a beautiful instrument Barry! I'm jealous!!LOL!! Going nuts waiting for my EM 55!!