I think this thread is really cool. I went rooting through my own odds and ends today to see if I could come up with something helpful.



To recap:
* Aiwa boombox(circa 1995) $5 at yard sale/thrift store/you may already have one in the darkest corner of your basement.(0ptional D cell batteries)
* Battery powered EQ pedal of some kind. $24 to $109 Amazon.com/second darkest corner of your basement.
* Y cable-double 1/4 inch female to 1/4 inch male mono($7 for several if you find the right place)
* 1/4 inch female to double RCA adaptor($4 or $5)
* Stick cable(with optional but recommended Chapman Stick)
* Guitar cable
*Big red chair to set the whole thing on (I forget how much that cost)
* I didn't remember to show the $19 truck stop headphones that can plug into the Aiwa boom box for private practice(watch your ears, this option shakes the ear foundation, and loosens up any ear wax build up)

Now that I look back on my little video, I wish I would have played something cool through it to demonstrate properly. But oh wells...

Mike

PS I tried it again replacing the Boss EQ pedal with a Fishman BII battery powered pre amp(quite a bit more $ than the Boss) and it sounded better and louder.
PPS. $140 for the digitech rp255(not really necessary or even advised, really )
...And one final PS(would that be a 3PS?)--You could record yourself on the dual cassette tape deck or run a stereo line out of the headphone jack on the Aiwa to some sort of recording device!

And Scott, speaking of gear lust as I sit in Singapore Harbour, I am still kicking myself for selling my Lexicon PCM80

That was one rackmounted package of ultra lush sounds.....

Lol I think about all of the stuff that I have had, and parted with and I am somewhat horrified; I want it all back! Haha Ahh well, onwards and upwards.

Mike, that video was fawking awesome! Hacks, baby, hacks! Sounded good, and great playing too!

At the end of the day, how you are amplifying what you do is going to be absolutely secondary to the playing. The gear is a means to an end, a solution to a problem, and I think we have a couple of videos here showing that it's possible, and that it sounds okay.

Obviously if you spend $2,800+ on a custom instrument, it only makes sense that you would invest the same into into amplification/effects. But that kind of coin is tough to come by for a lot of folks initially, so without any kind of standard amp/fx line for the Stick, we gotta make do with what is available. Trial and error. It takes time, and everyone's tastes are different.

The good news is that you have time, right? I mean, it's gonna take a few years to get some skills on the instrument anyways....

How was the sound from the zoom H4N using head phones? Was thinking it might make nice travel Mp for practicing...

Honestly, it sounded fine. But then again so does my iPad via apogee jam. Lol I may pick one up just to keep another option handy...