Discontinued Purple-Days Vaporizer

[Nycdeisel]

I would personally stay away from those brands, they are all chinese percs and have the same designs as most china pieces.


Buy American glass!

and smaller tubes are usually better for this application, fyi.

 

[Madcap79]

Is the diffuser stem just as effective as a tree perc or dome perc. Just curious. I'm not well versed in glass....


Also, what are good American companies?

 

[Nycdeisel]

No, completely different in the way they work. Dome percs are not highly regarded, I would stay away from those, but for this purpose, I would stay away from perc'd tubes altogether! A smaller straight tube or beaker would be best to use with the PD. Though IMO and IME, between my mini beaker and 11" straight tube, the straight works better with the PD.


Many good great american companies and artists can be found on Aqualab and that other site I linked, RXI

 

[jeffp]

Yes, I have heard some people have related the early stuff with Syd as a little similar to a Beatles sound, and yes, whimisical might be a good way to put it.

And to see Echoes live



We just talked about this, check out the SSFG 10-12" straight tube. or this which is VERY similar http://www.rxindustries.com/scienti...ypage.tpl/product_id/465/category_id/139.html

Not similar or even in a very similar vein but if you like Syd Barrett era Floyd check out the first album by The Incredible String Band, "The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion." Like "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" this is very rich original music from 1967 that requires a few listens before it gets under your skin.

 

[Madcap79]

Thanks for the help NYC. Jeffp, I'll have to give them a listen. Always good to find good original music.

 

[jeffp]

Thanks for the help NYC. Jeffp, I'll have to give them a listen. Always good to find good original music.

Also - listen to Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. That is a very important album, it was the impetus for the Beatles to do Sgt. Pepper as music was evolving.

 

[Madcap79]

I've read so many musicians refer to Pet Sounds but I have never listened to it. About time I did I suppose....

 

[lwien]

Pet Sounds is one of my favs. Groundbreaking.........

 

[hereatlast]

I would stay away from perc'd tubes altogether! A smaller straight tube or beaker would be best to use with the PD.

Just wanna interject quickly with my

While I think either a straight tube or beaker offers a great all-around piece and a fair introduction to high-quality glass at low price, I don't think there's really any universal bests. My first GonG piece (bought specifically for vapor) was a straight tube that now sits on the shelf for the most part. Still, I think as an initial quality glass purchase a simple bong like this is a great way to survey the field.

Also, I agree that staying on the smaller side of things is a smart move. This is obviously mostly preference but again probably easiest to start small and move from there.


EDIT: re: Petsounds. Crazy stuff. I heard a great remix/mashup (hate the term and usually the results but this one was pretty great) a few years back by an artist named Lushlife that was pretty stunning (more for hip-hop fans though and too obscure to find on the web anymore).

 

[Madcap79]

I do have a bong already. I just wanted a perc\diffuser for smoother hits.....

 

[Nycdeisel]

Thats why I said for this, I have personally found it to be best to use a smaller, simple setup. theres definitely no best though!

so many kinds of glass water pieces out there now! many great choices nowadays

 

[jeffp]

Who cares about vaporizers? Let's get back to talking about Pet Sounds!

*edit*

kidding of course. Another masterpiece from the era is "Electric Music for Mind and Body" by Country Joe and the Fish.
I believe it's also from '67.

 

[hereatlast]

For sure. FWIW, I use the PD with a few different pieces and the thing I've found that matters the most is finding a piece that has low restriction/drag given the inherent restriction of the PD. Will have to post up some pics of glass this week for my contest entries.

Madcap, I would say that a diffused downstem is generally an upgrade with regards to smoothing out a hit either way as well. My favorite piece features an 11-arm design (in a second chamber, what some refer to as percs I suppose) but the intricacies of each piece are always fun to rediscover over and again.

 

[Nycdeisel]

So then the Itza dry to 11 arm has very low drag, yes?

 

[jeffp]

I've read so many musicians refer to Pet Sounds but I have never listened to it. About time I did I suppose....

If you can find a recording in the original mono that's the one that's worth hearing the most.
Same goes with Sgt. Pepper - hearing it in mono is like hearing it for the first time.

 

[Madcap79]

Are the mono recordings only on vinyl? I know when I listened to the Floyd in headphones the sound was so much better (obviously) and you can really hear all the subtle nuances.

 

[jeffp]

Are the mono recordings only on vinyl? I know when I listened to the Floyd in headphones the sound was so much better (obviously) and you can really hear all the subtle nuances.

Maybe we should steer our dialogue closer to the PD but I'm positive Pet Sounds is available on mono on CD; if only as an import I can ask my friend who is an encyclopedia about this stuff. Sgt Pepper is impossible to find in mono - I have a scratched up copy (LP) but it's still amazing to hear little guitar riffs that are buried in the stereo mix.
In the old days when stereo was new, the older mono recordings were re-released in "rechanneled stereo" - meaning fake stereo. I think the bass was on one end, and the treble on the other, to give the illusion of separation. So the first time I got a copy of Pet Sounds it was on vinyl in rechanneled stereo. I have a copy of it on CD in mono but it's a Japanese import but that was before the Beach Boys catalog was issued on CD and it was the only way to get it.

 

[Purple-Days]

Who cares about PD... we are talking music. Carry on.

I got to hear One Of These Days 'live' (when Meddle was out), on the FM, in my teen-age room . . . with the beads . . . and the lights down. Fully half of an hour show, one song, blew me away and was ever after an enthusiast.

Jeff, my childhood mentor, mentioned before, the one who snuck into the Beatles concert at Crosley Field, former home of the Reds, was very excited when he got his copy of Sgt. Pepper . . . I'm pretty sure I heard it withing a few days of it's release, so that must have been a mono copy. It's funny, that you bring up the 'engineering' that went into later releases. I never thought about it, but the thing never has sounded as 'bright'??, as those first few listens. I always thought is was familiarity that dulled the experience.

Vinyl and Glowing Tubes into a Folded Corner Horn... Mono indeed. Stereo is a sort of sonic illusion. Anybody gonna admit to having a quad system? And today, what, 5 channels???

 

[jeffp]

Hey Tom, I've never had a quad system, but I have a quad receiver in my bedroom but it's switched to two channel. Just an old early seventies receiver I picked up at a garage sale for $40 that needed a Radio Shack "tuner cleaner" treatment to get rid of the scratchy sounds when you turned the dials. I have a few Quad LPs - Apostrophe is one of them.
Be interesting to be able to hear what it sounds like...

Mono, Glowing Tubes - all of that - it's high fidelity and these days when people want to play me the latest Trey Songz nonsense from their cell phones I would vomit but herb helps with nausea.

 

[Purple-Days]

I was part of a quad system, back in the day. Room-mate had a quad receiver (Sansui? Marantz?) His amp and 4 speakers ran the stereo front and my amp and speakers handled the back channels. Big room, interesting sound. Very limited interest in Quad meant very few releases, but I heard some interesting stuff, even in stereo on that system. Always thought 'set and setting' played a role in the experience.

Today the best I manage is headphones and a digital experience. Sorta lacking. Almost elevator like.

Semi back to PD land, I listen to a pair of mid priced Senheiser earbuds, attached to a twenty foot cord. These go under 30 dB ear muffs. Usually connected to my internet radio, sometimes to an i-pod. I'm listening to something most of my working day. (With reading glasses, and goggles for protection a lot of the time.)

 

[jeffp]

I love having some younger friends over, vaping, and then putting on vinyl of an album that they're familiar with. It's a giant WOW - a revelation of what the sound of music can FEEL like. To me CDs were always a convenience; easy to throw into a deck. And tens of thousands of dollars must be spent on an audio system to make digital sound as good as the old stuff you find at garage sales....except of course tube amps. My living room stereo is inexpensive but good and it's lasted me since around '82. It's a Hafler 220/110 amp/pre amp that I bought used at Stereo Warehouse across the street from Tower Records on Broadway. I'm using AR speakers which are very good but too large for the room, I'm going to eventually replace with a set of Dynaco A25's - to me those speakers are sublime.

 

[lwien]

I'm using AR speakers which are very good but too large for the room, I'm going to eventually replace with a set of Dynaco A25's - to me those speakers are sublime.

I just replaced the foam surrounds (after I blew them out) on some Boston Acoustics HD5's and a Boston VR500 sub, and they sound as good as new.

 

[Purple-Days]

Of course, I realize that my ears aren't what they used to be...

Hear is a test for your ears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G60hM1W_mk
Listen at normal levels.

When you start hearing the tone you can skip ahead...

I start at 60-7OHz (full at 100Hz) and top about 13-14kHZ. I am getting old and could hear about 16-17Khz a few years ago. I protect my hearing, but this is what age and daily hard sound (carpenter / factory man) will do. Protect your hearing if you are young!!! NO wonder music isn't as fun as when I was a kid...

 

[Milk]

Forgot to do something interesting for today's pic.

 

[jeffp]

Grocery Store Series item #1...