The Electra Forums

OK, not really!! But I got the Outlaw back from the shop, and couldn't stop playing Zep riffs through it! So much so, that I thought it would be a good vehicle to demonstrate the 'Fest Outlaw project, and how good it sounds, especially with the Phaser MPC module that Redeye bequeathed to me. Here's the audio file, which you'll probably want to open in a separate tab or window:

http://www.box.net/shared/y01dr91hg8

Again, this is the very well used Outlaw that X189 donated to ElectraFest 2009, electronics were totally functional with the exception of some corrosion. I wanted to show all the different pickup combinations, so here goes:

Achilles Last Stand intro (Position One, Phaser set at 2.5)

What is and what should never be (Position Two)

Tangerine (Position Three)

Down by the Seaside (Position Three, Phaser at 9.25) (Jimmy used tremelo on this, but the phaser speeded up sounds underwater to me!)

The Ocean (Position Four, Power Boost used on short lead)

Nobody's Fault but Mine intro (Position Four, Phaser at 7.5)

The Rover (Position Five, Phaser at 5.0)

Houses of the Holy (Position Five)


Man I love that Achilles Intro Phaser! All one take, flaws and all (The Ocean and the Rover are a little sloppy!), you can hear the clicks when changing pickups, etc., played through my Boogie Mark IIb, starting at mild breakup, until 'The Ocean' where I crank it up. I did add some reverb during mastering, but other than that, this is the Outlaw plugged directly into my amp, no other effects but the built in MPC. So give a listen, eight Zeppelin songs in 4 minutes! Tell me what you think and if you can open the clip, Cheers, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Sounds good to me man. Also sounds like your having a lot of fun with it. Try #5 with a delayed echoe and reverb and a little distortion.

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SlmGuy

Man that Outlaw is back from a long coma and sounds like it has plenty of life in it and is ready to rock. Congrats on the project. I am patiently waiting for my 12 string to be done. It's always good to see a good one brought back to life.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Here's the 'Business End' of this road warrior:


And here's the pretty side:


The Outlaw with it's Neck Through construction is more like a Firebird than the SG that it's typically compared to, kinda heavy but solidly constructed. Even though its not a Matsumoku, it is a well built stage ready axe. I'm liking the scooped out heal and 'Catface' pickguard!

The Tone Spectrum circuit was standard on the Omegas and almost all the MPC guitars (the Ultima and some Vulcans have a three way). It's versatile and well thought out, it would be cool if it had some single coil options, but hey. Often the pickups are replaced, and the 'secret wiring recipe' is lost, the five way rotary has like 17 wires on it, and most techs just bail and yank it out. If you find one of these that still has the 'Tone Spectrum' in it, you owe it to yourself to try it out, listen to the clip, these pickups have a lot of expression and different tones to them. Cheers, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

That is absolutely SWEET Mike! Clip played fine, and the Outlaw sounds awesome. I told ya you'd like that phaser!

Achilles (ok, all of the clips) did indeed sound great, but I was blown away by Seaside. Granted, the effect (underwater, as you so eloquently put it) isn't exact, but it's darn close, and parts of it sounded spot on to me! I think after that little collaboration on The Rover, I may need you to show me a thing or two on Seaside!

Gotta get that positive lead from your battery in the MPC cavity routed correctly though!

Oh yeah - almost forgot - this guitar isn't a Matsumoku? Why?

Phaser sounds uber cool on the 'Nobody's Fault' intro too (if I say so myself). Don't have any first hand knowledge on the Outlaw, but it's cited a number of times on the Forum that Terada (not sure of the spelling) made the Outlaw, and it is credited to a Tom Pressley conversation.

If you look closely on the rear photograph, you can see that I (unceremoniously) filed a shallow channel into the battery compartment for the Red (positive) Battery lead so that the cover closes cleanly now. Yes, the lead should serpentine through the control area and into the battery compartment, but that's how 'someone' left it, and somehow I feel it's fitting that this guitar has it's fair share of quirks, plus nothing says "you're mine now" like filing into a 30 year old peice of Mahogany!

As far as Zeppelin riffs go, you know that nothing I play is out of a book man, it's all by ear, so who knows if it is 'Correct' or not? But I'll gladly share that with you, look for an email sometime in the future. Glad that I uploaded the clip correctly and apparently successfully shared the file, would love to hear more Electra audio on here, especially all of the MPC boxes. I almost over used the Phaser on this clip, but I gotta say it was a heavily used Jimmy Page effect, and this 30+ year old Phaser can hang with any currently produced box. Enjoy, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

I missed the file job. And you are absolutely correct, sir! She is now Yours - and to be honest, it works just as well, and no need for all that soldering! Good on ya!

I think the Outlaws were Terada made...

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."