MusicGearSource

Joe gets a budget Les Paul in his name

2012-02-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

GEAR IN REVIEW - Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Les Paul

Epiphone is catering to the many Joe Bonammasa fans out there that might not be able to afford the more expensive Gibson models.
This is in no way a guitar with just a name stamped on it. There are some amazing features on this guitar that you normally never see in a guitar in this price range. Signature guitar fan or not this guitar is a serious step above any other Les Paul style guitar in this price range. Lets see what sets this one apart.

The first thing we noticed was the pink lined vintage Lifton style hardshell case. Beautiful features and rugged construction make this an amazing case for this guitar. You could not ask for a nicer looking case for this guitar. It looks like a case a 4000 dollar Custom Shop model would come in. Yes it is included.

More wood....

The long neck tenon extends the neck into the body past the neck humbucker. This gives the guitar better sustain , tone and makes the guitar as a whole a more one piece experience. This also makes the neck much stronger Normally only found in high end Les Pauls this is a great feature on this JB model and quite impressive in any guitar under 1k.

High end USA pickups....

The pickups are USA Burstbuckers and nail vintage Les Paul tones. Smooth buttery sustain out of the neck pickup and biting full rock tones are had with the bridge humbucker and leave no reason to replace them as you might in most guitars like this. Testing with various Fender and Roland amps a bunch of different tones are possible. Searing rock to warm neck solo tones ooze from this tone machine. This is an amazing sounding guitar.

Vintage fat neck....

The baseball bat neck is a treat for vintage Les Paul fans. This neck is amazing! It fills up your hand yet still plays fast , comfortable and feels great. This profile is made to Joes specs just for this guitar. Rosewood board , 22 frets , custom shop bound. All the appointments found in the higher end models.

Fit and finish....

This guitar came setup perfectly out of the case. Even with the fat neck it felt fast and played amazingly well. Fit and finish seemed perfect. Binding looks great, really clean fret work and nut. No issues. She weighed in around 9 lbs. Perfect weight for a Les Paul. I had to remind myself this was a budget model. It really is that good.

14:1 Grover tuners keep things in tune. Epiphone really addressed the features that are changed out in alot of guitars and upgraded them on this model. This is a lot of guitar for the money.

The Mahogany body , maple cap and upgraded features on this model make it a homerun value for well under 1k. No upgrades needed would be a great title for this review. A killer guitar that is attainable to all players.

Joe fans and fans of hot rodded Les Pauls need to check this one out at your Epiphone dealer today.

From Epiphone

Just like Les Pauls built since 1952, the Joe Bonamassa Les Paul starts with the hallowed tonewood combination of a select solid mahogany back with a carved hard maple top. The body is made from solid (not chambered) mahogany for depth and resonance, and capped with a hard maple top for superb clarity, cut, and definition. A solid mahogany neck is glued in with a deep-set neck joint for superior resonance and sustain, and carved to Joe's preferred rounded 1959 "D" profile for a full yet extremely comfortable feel in the hand. Its select rosewood fretboards carries 22 medium-jumbo frets, and a synthetic bone nut provides long life and unparalleled sustain.

To maximize all this tonal splendor, Epiphone loads the Joe Bonamassa Les Paul with a pair of Gibson U.S.A. BurstBucker™ humbuckers, a BB2 in the neck and a hotter BB3 in the bridge. BurstBuckers™ are Gibson's most accurate recreation of the legendary PAF ("Patent Applied For") humbuckers of the late '50s and early '60s, and include magical details like unpolished Alnico II magnets and unequal turns of 42 AWG wire on each bobbin, which results in the added "edge" or "bite" for which genuine PAFs are famous. To combat microphonic squeal at high volumes, however, these BurstBuckers are double vacuum wax potted, a must for the high-gain guitarist.

To maximize resonance and sustain, the Joe Bonamassa Les Paul carries Epiphone's acclaimed LockTone™ versions of a nickel-plated Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece, two further ingredients in that legendary Les Paul sustain, along with premium Grover tuners and a pair of straplocks to keep it secure throughout the gig. And while your wailing with supreme tone, the guitar projects supreme style, too, with Joe's preferred Metallic Gold finish, black body-back and neck, black plastics, black truss-rod cover with "Bonamassa" inscribed, and mismatched set of two amber top-hat knobs and two gold top-hat knobs with inserts.

All guitars include a replica brown Lifton-style case with pink lining, a numbered and hand-signed Certificate of Authenticity, and Epiphone's Limited Lifetime Warranty and 24/7/365 Customer Support. But production of the Joe Bonamassa Les Paul is strictly limited, with only 1,000 guitars available worldwide, so act now to avoid disappointment.

Pigtronix gets FAT

2012-01-18T20:27:00.000-08:00

GEAR IN REVIEW - Pigtronix FAT Overdrive

Our friends at Pigtronix just released and was kind enough to let us test drive their new FAT drive right before releasing it at the 2012 NAMM show.

Personally I am a drive pedal snob. Having owned and having demoed the original Zendrive , Timmys , most modded TS drives and holy grail overdrives on the market I can tell you after testing it Dave Koltai and crew have brought a serious contender to market with the FAT drive.

Right off the bat I always test to see if a new drive pedal will kill the low end when engaged. Alot of drives out there kill the bass. Nope not here the FAT drive does not mess with the low end and stays tight. Passed the first test amazingly well.

Jamming....

I use drives for a lead boost and sustain. The FAT drives OOZES smooth and singing gain. At low gain settings sweet singing gain is happening in spades. The gain structure is very warm and amp like. Too many drives out there have weird artifacts happening in the overtones. The FAT drive is very tube like and did I mention smooth? Seriously this pedal will make any drive snob very happy. I am still smiling. It SLAYS with a strat neck pickup. See the video below for proof.

2 way toggle....

In the down position on the twin toggle the gain is less compressed and open. It kills here for rhythm comping and neck pickup soloing. In the up position extra comp for singing gain is there giving up the sweet gain for smooth Gilmour like sustain. I can see having two of these on board one in each gain position on the toggle. This pedal KILLS with single coils. It is everything I love about a TS pedal with all of the normal TS shortcomings fixed and more.

Tone Control....

The Tone control on the FAT drive is VERY useful. Actually turning it all the way down takes the filter circuit out of the equation. Very useful for a very open unaltered sound. A very interactive tone control that is usually not found on other drives. It makes this pedal very versatile and easily tuneable to any gig or recording situation.

All in all....

The more I played the FAT drive the more I wanted to play it. The true sign of a great pedal. The FAT drive is a serious contender in the high end overdrive arena. Try one at a dealer soon.

See Pigtronix.com

100% Analog wide range overdrive

Multi-Stage Tube Emulated Clipping

Hi / Lo gain mode switch

Passive LPF Tone Control

True Bypass Switching

18VDC 300mA supply included

Chassis Size = 2.4” x 4.4” x 1”

Circuit Design by Howard Davis

Sound Design by David Koltai

Pigtronix FAT Drive is thick and juicy, dripping with
touch sensitive overdrive that responds to every
nuance of your playing style. Multiple cascaded
gain stages enable the FAT drive to cover sounds
ranging from slightly overdriven to rich saturation,
all while retaining musical dynamics and the original
character of your instrument.

FAT Drive takes a futuristic analog approach to
create complex crunch tones using CMOS clipping
and a variable low pass filter for tone shaping.
Bringing the tone control all the way clockwise
takes this filter completely out of the circuit for total
transparency and robust low end. Rolling the tone
control back smooths out the highs, leaving ample
mid-range bloom and bottom end punch.

A Hi / Lo toggle switch brings additional versatility
to the FAT Drive’s wide-ranging palette of overdrive
tones, altering the gain structure for enhanced crunch
and soaring leads. The FAT Drive features true
bypass switching and runs fine on standard 9-volt
power but ships with an 18-volt adapter for superior
headroom, clarity and overall output.

Reverends' driving forces chat with MGS

2011-12-29T17:08:00.000-08:00

INTERVIEW WITH Ken Haas and Joe Naylor

MGS - Welcome Ken Haas from Reverend Guitars !



MGS - Ken can you start by telling us how you got involved with Reverend Guitars and 
how long you have been there , daily duties etc.


  I happened to come across a Reverend guitar in a pawn shop in 1999, and I 
really liked it. I found out that it was a Detroit company, so I knocked on the 
door and introduced myself. I went to NAMM for the first time as Joe's guest and 
I sold a guitar to Will Ray at that show - who went on to post some Reverend 
reviews on Harmony Central. Joe decided to take me to every NAMM show from that 
day forward. I eventually became head of sales for Reverend, and now I am 
General Manager.  I still handle all of the sales, but I also handle all of the 
day-to-day operations of the company, so Joe can be designing.

MGS - How has the guitar business changed for you in the last 5 years?


All of my responsibilities increased, so I now have a better perspective of all 
sides of the MI business.



MGS - I know at one point you were direct sales only . How and when did that 
focus shift ?
Only a dealer network can give us the exposure that we needed.



MGS - What is your best selling model these days ? What is new and hot?

The Rick Vito Signature is our best seller. Basses have made a triumphant return to the 
Reverend brand, and they are getting a lot of buzz.

 We just sent a Thundergun to 
Eddie Spaghetti from the Supersuckers!  That model seems to be growing in 
popularity.

MGS - Anything new coming NAMM 2012 ?


We have two new models. The Eastsider is an homage to vintage guitars that pairs 
traditional features with Reverend innovation. A classic Korina body, satin 
finish, and a compound radius fretboard are paired with custom alnico pickups, 
stainless steel saddles, and a graphite nut for the perfect old-meets-new 
guitar. It is the latest guitar from the Pete Anderson signature series, and he 
will be performing with it throughout the weekend.
We also have a new model in celebration of our fifteenth anniversary: a 
commemorative Flatroc guitar with a Flame Maple top, a Bigsby, and a 15th 
Anniversary LE logo on the back of the headstock. It comes in Transparent 
Turquoise with a maple fretboard or Transparent Tobacco with a rosewood 
fretboard.
Lastly, we have freshened up the rest of the line by adding some new colors, 
including the 2012 color for the Rick Vito signature: Ocean Turquoise.



MGS - What have been some of your favorite artists to work with and why?

Mark Knopfler is my personal guitar hero, and it is a great honor to me that he 
regularly uses a Reverend Buckshot in his arsenal.

 I was also fortunate to work 
with Ron Asheton in the last few years of his life. Not only was he a huge 
inspiration to me and many other guitar players, he was also a really great guy 
who I was lucky to know.



MGS - Tell us about your own musical endeavors.

I play guitar in a band called the Polka Floyd Show -- a Pink Floyd tribute band done Polka-style.  We do have 
an accordion, and play the songs very fast! I also play guitar in a punk band 
called Intentional Object, and I play a '65 Double 8 Console-steel in an 
alt-country band called The Zimmerman Twins.

MGS- What is your main live guitar ?

I play the Reverend Jetstream HB. I think it's the most versatile Humbucker-equipped solid body electric guitar on the 
market.

Ok Joe it is your turn ...

MGS - Joe it has been awhile what has kept you busy these days ?

Plenty of things happening. Besides designing a bunch of new Reverend stuff for 2012, I'm launching a new replacement pickup company in December called Railhammer. It's a radical new design aimed at the rock market, and you're gonna see it on some new Reverend models too.

15th Anniversary Flatroc

MGS - Joe how do you see the future of guitars moving forward ?

Retro is still king. Lots of reliced looks on the market, as well as hybrid designs based on vintage classics. The real innovations will continue to take place in hardware and parts design.

MGS - What have been the most rewarding part of Reverend in the last few years ?

Seeing it grow. Seeing the acceptance by serious players of our philosophy of high level design at real world prices. Our endorser list is a good reflection of that.

Joes personal guitar with new Railhammer pickup

MGS - What is your take on the current Michigan economy ?

It's a grim reflection of the national economy. Unfortunately, we're not as diversified as some other states, so we get hit harder.

Ok Joe hit us with a 2 word reaction to these current topics GO !

Occupy Michigan - Octopus Garden.

Reeves Gabrels - Space Anderson.

Illegal imported fingerboard wood - Maybe guilty.

Guitar Hero - Party's over.

Hardcore Pawn - Stop reality.

Features meet tone in the delay from Providence

2011-12-20T18:07:00.000-08:00

GEAR IN REVIEW - Providence Chrono delay

Providence effects from Japan only makes high end pedals that sound and feature wise set themselves away from the pack of pedal builders that keep remaking the same pedals.
It is no accident you see Providence pedals on pros pedal boards all over the world. Today we are going to take a look at one of the most feature laden and best sounding delay pedals on the market.

Sometimes pedals sound like well....pedals. The Providence Chrono delay is more like a high end studio rack effect for your pedal board.

The Chrono delay is probably one of the nicest sounding and feature laden digital delays we have tested. Lets take a look at the features that set it apart.

The Chrono has controls for Mix , Tone and Feedback like most delay pedals but the Chrono is packed with plenty of extras that make it stand out from the crowd.

There are some key features here that make the Chrono worth its cost. Tap tempo is common these days but having the delay time precise is another matter. The Chrono delay shines with a very precise delay time. Much more so than others on the market. If you need very precise tap times look no further. This is one of several features that the Chrono excels at and helps justify its price.

Another huge selling point is that it stores 2 preset delay times. Enough to cover almost any gig. One of the two small toggles sets the right footswitch into this dual preset mode of tap mode. This is an amazing feature and essentially is giving you 2 delay pedals live.

The Echo hardness knob is a tone control for the repeats. You can go from warm analog to sharp digital cleaness with crisp high end. A very handy feature that makes this pedal a pros tool. Shape the delay tone as you need it.

The Beat Split is a great feature. As you keep your preset delay time you can change the subdivision of repeats and split the time. The tempo stays the same. This is very cool and a very unique feature. No more math converting simply pick your subdivision.

A digital readout shows your exact delay time. The second mini toggle allows you to choose the readout in beats per minute or milliseconds. Just one more feature that you do not see in other delays out there. The Chrono really is in a class of its own.

All in all...

Once we got past checking out the feature set it was time to test the Chrono. Crystal clear delay time and precise tap times lock right in. Amazing sounding clarity. The hard control really morphs the pedal into really any type of delay tone you could ever need. You could buy 3 well known delay pedals for your board and not have the tone and features of the Chrono delay.

If you are looking for the ultimate feature laden delay for your board that sounds stellar the Chrono is a very strong contender.

To buy in the USA please visit Godlyke. Direct link is here

http://www.godlyke.com/providence-guitar-effects-pedals/providence-s-series-guitar-effects-pedals

CHRONO DELAY FEATURES:

DELAY: Delay time is adjustable from 1 to 2700 milliseconds. The current delay time is accurately shown on the 4-digit 7-segment LED display

SWITCHABLE DISPLAY MODES: Delay time can be displayed in milliseconds (mSec) or beats per minute (BPM). the BPM display is not simply a "rough estimate." BPM delay times are as displayed with metronome accuracy.

TAP TEMPO: The delay time is precisely set according to the tempo tapped on the TPA switch.

A/B PRESET MEMORY: The A/B preset memory allows two different delay times settings to be memorized and recalled via the footswitch as needed.

BEAT SPLIT: With the specified delay time as a quarter-note reference, seven delay time variations ranging from half-notes to eight-note triplets can be directly selected via the BEAT SPLIT knob. Rhythm-based delay time settings that previously required tedious calculations can now be made in an instant.

ANALOG CIRCUITRY Featuring the VITALIZER®: Bothe the VITALIZER® that prevents degradation of the direct signal and the mixer that combines the direct signal with the delay signal are analog circuits that have been designed and built to the highest possible sonic standards.

EXTERNAL TAP INPUT: A momentary ( non-latching ) type footswitch can be connected to the EXT.TAP jack to allow remote tap delay operation. When this function is used the A/B - TAP footswitch on the CHRONO DELAY unit is dedicated to A/B preset switching, so that tap delay and A/B preset switching operation are simultaneously available via separate footswitches.

POWER SUPPLY: Use only the supplied AC power adapter to power this device: - PAP-712DCJ for North America and Japan.
- PAP-712DCE for Europe.
INPUT: 100 to 240 VAC, 50 to 60 Hz (auto select)
OUTPUT: 12VDC, 0.5A, to DLY-4

Pete Thorn talks gear, touring, and influences

2011-12-15T23:46:00.000-08:00

INTERVIEW: Pete Thorn

By Tony Cole

Pete Thorn

MGS- Welcome Mr Pete Thorn. Thank you so much for doing this interview.

PT - My pleasure!

MGS - For those that are not familiar with your work can you give us a recap of your pro career?

PT - I attended M.I. waaaay back in 1990. Then I worked in various original bands, writing and recording and playing gigs. I was in a band called Surreal McCoys and we got a deal in Japan around 1996... made an album for the Japan and Southeast Asia markets. That was my first foray into being a professional, full-time musician. I was also in 2 other original bands- Snapdragon and Forty Foot Echo- that made albums for major labels. Around 1998, I started touring as a sideman, first with Adam Cohen, and then with artists such as Evan And Jaron, Robi Draco Rosa, Jewel, and eventually with Chris Cornell, Melissa Etheridge, and Don Henley. I also started doing sessions, working with producers like John Fields and Linda Perry, recording with artists such as Alicia Keys, Pink, Courtney Love, Daniel Powter, Peter Cincotti, and others. In 2011 I put out my first solo album, "Guitar Nerd", an instrumental rock guitar album.

MGS - What has been your favorite tour and why ?

PT - Too hard to pick! Playing with Chris Cornell was incredible- you really can't beat playing those intense rock songs for huge festival crowds in far-flung places like Europe and South America... Even though we were still sideman technically, we got to play rockstar I guess. Run around on big stages, egg the crowd on, you know. It all felt very "big time". And at the same time we were really a band- we played like a band, hung like a band, fought like a band. I think we played something like 300 shows. And he's a great guy, Chris. But Melissa Etheridge has some amazing songs too, and on that gig I really get to stretch and improvise, she encourages that. It makes me a better player. She's also just fantastic, an inspiration and a friend. And playing with Don- you feel the weight of those great songs- "I better not suck on this". I could listen to him sing all night. Sometimes I almost forget I'm up there playing, I feel like I should have bought a ticket, you know? He's such a legend.

Pete on tour with Melissa Etheridge

MGS - Funniest thing to ever happen to you on the road?

PT - hmmm... well, lots of mishaps come to mind......my favorite is when the tech accidentally hands you a guitar with one string tuned off a 1/2 step from where it should be. There's a chaotic sound for you! Especially if its the low E or A string. It's happened a few times to me, once in front of about 60,000 people on live TV. Awesome! Also once, my Axe FX just decided to mysteriously go into full bypass mode, in the middle of a pretty hard rocking Melissa Etheridge song. The sound I was left with was basically guitar into D.I., clean and dry as a bone. I kept playing, I couldn't figure out what the hell had happened.... the drummer later said "you did the right thing, of course, to keep playing, but it sounded totally hilarious...."

MGS - Your new CD is killer. Can you tell us about the recording process and where it was recorded including a gear rundown?

Pete Thorn's New CD

PT - Well it all started as an experiment in "let's see how far I can go with this recording at home business". I Bought a computer and a simple interface, and a nice mic pre and compressor (a UA 6176) around 2004. I started learning about these devices and how to use them- I had lots of recording experience on analog 24 track machines and old consoles and whatnot, and later on ADAT's and DA88's, I knew the basics, but working with a laptop and Logic was all new. So I'd write and demo things, and as computers advanced, I'd upgrade. I went from a laptop that I could maybe get 12-15 tracks going with a few plug ins, to an Imac in 2006, and that was faster. I Could now do more sophisticated production, like 24 tracks plus, with more plug ins, etc. I moved into a place that had some space for me to isolate a 1-12" cabinet with mics on it, and bam- all of a sudden I could record some pretty happening tones. My amp collection was growing, so I had some variety. And I could use programs such as BFD and Steven Slate Drums to get some cool virtual drum tracks happening, although these programs would bring the old Imac to it's knees. But all of a sudden I was tracking things that sounded like, quite professional. My engineering and mixing skills were improving also. in 2009, I moved to a Mac Pro 8-core tower, and that made the sky the limit. I moved into a bigger space, and by this time,

"Guitar Nerd" was taking shape. I'd been inspired by the Steve Stevens album "Memory Crash", a great guitar album, and I thought, I should do one of these, to the best of my ability, with the resources I have at hand.

The amps on the album include the CAA PT100 (my signature amp), and the Suhr Badger 30 and Badger 18, a Top Hat Emplexador, the Marsha from Dave Friedman, the Komet Concorde, Divided By 13 RSA 31 and FTR 37, a 66 Bassman, and Probably some others I'm forgetting. All through a Bogner 1-12" with a Scumback M75 or a Celestion G12H30 Heritage. Guitars were a 58 LP Historic reissue, a couple Suhr Classic S models, a couple Suhr T models, an EVH Wolfgang, A Suhr Modern, a few other Gibson LP's (a custom and an R9), a Hiro Ebata 6 string acoustic, a Fender electric 12 string, a 63 Gibson ES335, a Gibson J180..... a 1964 Fender Strat... that's all I can remember! I used a bunch of pedls- the Eternity Overdrive, the /13 Dyna Ranger, a Mojo Vibe, EVH Flanger and Phase 90, anEVH wah (a gift from from Ed!) and the Axe FX Ultra from Fractal was also used.

I usually mic'd the cab with a Shure 57 and then one other mic- either a 421, or a Heil PR30, or PR20. I used a Groove Tubes GT55 on the cab a bit too, and also for acoustics. Also a Neumann KM184 on acoustics. Mic pres were the UA and mainly an API A2D, into an Apogee Ensemble interface, and my DAW is Logic Pro. I use a slew of Waves plug ins, as well as Steven Slate Drums and his new VCC (Virtual Console Collection) is awesome- I wish I'd had it when I was mixing the album. I mixed 7 tracks, and Bob Clearmountain mixed 3. It was mastered by Ross Nyberg up in Seattle.

Pete Thorn with Suhr Guitar

MGS - What is on your the horizon for you? New tour ?

PT - I'm headed to Europe with Melissa Etheridge in February, and she has dates in New Zealand and Australia later in the year... I'm also doing some gigs with my buddy Steve Stevens in January, should be a blast!

MGS - I love your gear demos and your Eruption tutorial. How did you get into doing it?

PT - You know, that's a funny story- Chris Cornell would say "let's get together and you can show me some stuff on guitar", and it was a particularly busy time, and we just never were able to come up with a time to do it. So I made him this video lesson, and he really dug that. Then he could pull out the guitar and his laptop wherever, when he had a second, and just go to it. I just used my mac with the built in isight cam. And recorded into imovie... bam, easy. So I just had some spare time, and I really like teaching, I used to teach 35 kids a week back in Canada, it was my job when I was 17! But the scheduling of lessons, people canceling, etc, I just didn't want to deal with that any more. So I thought, this youtube thing, that's a way I can teach and reach lots of people. I'll record lessons just like I did for Chris... It's not about making money or anything, it's purely because I enjoy it.

So the Eruption thing, I just thought, that'll be fun, for myself and for others to tackle, you know? I didn't really think it through- haha it's hard to teach that piece, one note at a time, with no tab or notation! You have to describe each and every note! So I had to break it into 5 parts, because the maximum length video youtube would let you upload back then was 10 minutes. But It's gotten a nice response, I really did it just for the fun of it, and I'm happy people seem to dig it! I had a guy on the street in Portugal come up to me, point right at me and say, "YOU taught me "Eruption!!!" That blew me away. I love that we can do things like this these days with no middle man- power to the people. It's cool.

The gear demos- that was just an accident too. There was all these videos on youtube of guys playing their amps and guitars but recording them badly, you know, with the camera mic on a handycam or whatever, very distorted. ANd playing a million notes usually. Well, when I try an amp or a pedal, I usually play a G chord and let the fu&*er ring! So you can REALLY hear what's happening. That's it. So I got this Suhr Badger amp, and they gave me a great deal on it. I thought, how can I help these guys out, make a nice gesture for the nice deal on the amp? And I thought, I'll record a nice demonstration of the amp and it's features, recording it really well, and playing very simply. Not alot of flash- let things ring, so you could really accurately hear what the amp was doing. People seemed to really respond right away, the reaction was very positive. And I thought, I'm onto something. These smaller companies, they aren't Fender, aren't Marshall, they don't have dealers maybe everywhere. And the gear in many cases is made in America, old school, and is priced accordingly. So for a guy in Nebraska, it's difficult to plunk down a couple grand on an amp that he hasn't heard, and can't find locally, you know? So I realized, if I can try and take some of the anxiety off the buyer, by trying to show them what they are getting into, with an accurate demo.... it'd be providing a great service to both the manufacturer of the gear, and the prospective buyer. And it just went from there.

MGS - Name your top 3 favorite guitars, pedals, amps and gadgets of the moment.

PT - Guitars- My Suhr Classic S (the green one.. I also have a new "roasted body" olympic white one coming next week, can't wait), my EVH Wolfgangs, and my new Taylor 12 string, which sounds amazing... OK honorable mention go to my 64 Strat and my 63 ES 335!

Pedals- The Strymon Timeline delay, the Suhr Koko Boost, and.... hmmm toss up between the Carl Martin Compressor and the Carl Martin Plexi Tone

Amps- My PT 100 of course, and my Suhr SL68 is pretty devastating... #3, I'd say toss up between the Friedman Brown Eye and my /13 FTR37, which is just a great sounding amp, a modern classic really.

Gadgets- Is the Axe FX a gadget? I guess so. A GREAT gadget. And the Apogee JAM is really cool, a bonehead simple way to use your laptop, ipad or iphone with your guitar.. and I love my AKG digital wireless, it works flawlessly and sounds just great.

MGS - What is your ultimate goal as a musician ?

PT - Just to make the best music I can, til the day I croak. I love music and I love the guitar, and like Jimmy Page said in "It MIght Get Loud"- "one day we may not be able to pick up the guitar, and we are all just trying to keep that day far far off in the future and out of sight".

MGS- Can you detail for us your top 3 favorite / proudest live gigs ?

PT - We had a great one with Robi Draco Rosa in Bogota, Columbia, Oct. 2004... 140,000 people, we closed the Rock Al Parque festival. And it really felt intimate, like a club gig. A crowd like that can of course get the butterflies going- Draco walked out, and started playing some unfamiliar riff, just jamming something... we looked at each other, confused... he looked at Toss, the drummer, and said, "well, are you gonna come in, or what?" It was brilliant- just knock us out of our anxiety a bit, throw something random at us... we all crept in jammed for a few minutes, got comfortable, then winded down, and he went into the 1st song on the setlist. And we killed that gig, all on rental gear. Taking requests at one point! We had people coming up after, crying, it was really special.

Chris Cornell in Santiago, Chile, 2007- 10,000 people in what looked like a hangar, all going apeshit for 2 hours plus. Chris had never toured South America, so this was the first time those people had a glimpse of him, and they sang absolutely every word to every song. It was stellar. Here's a pic from the end of the night:

And I'd say for a 3rd show, maybe Melissa Etheridge in my hometown of Edmonton, Canada, in February 2011. Just because It's really fun to go back home and play gigs with these great artists... lots of friends and family there, and you always just feel really loved. It's a blast.

MGS - What gear are you currently lusting after ?

PT - I'm trying to build a new pedalboard, and I need this Musicom Mkiii midi switcher pedal, it has 8 loops for stompboxes, as well as 4 function switches to channel switch amps, etc. There's nothing else like it on the market, and they are difficult to get. So
I'm waiting on that so I can get things going with this board. I'm also waiting on my new Suhr Classic S, with a roasted body and neck- they are dried right out, so the theory is that it'll sound like a great old guitar, it'll ring like crazy. I can't wait! Also I just got an EVH Wolf Custom, the set neck model. It's a really cool axe, it's all black and looks killer! Been waiting on that one for awhile!

MGS - Name the top 3 artists you would love to work with and why.....

PT - I'm so stoked right now, working with Melissa, Don and Chris, that I'll just say them and count myself very lucky.

MGS - I know you are a huge VH fan as am I. I read you got to hang with him ? Can you give us the entire story ?

PT - Maybe someday. Not today, haha. He's a great guy, I really adore him, and he's a private person, so I'll respect that and mum's the word. Well, ok- one story. The first time we met, he had me up to his house, where he's lived since 1980 or so. I'm of course nervous as hell driving up there, winding up into the hills, up this long private road and finally up to the gate. He buzzes me in, and I drive up, by his garage... he comes walking out, with a big grin, and meets me in the driveway, there I am, face to face with one of my heroes, with a part of my childhood, so to speak. He says "come in the house, I'm starving, gotta eat something", and we go inside. We are in the kitchen, and as I said I'm a bit nervous. Now I've had a lazy eye since birth- my right one is just not pulling for the team, as they say. So I'm kind of cross-eyed. Ed looks at me and straight away says, "Ok- so which one do I look at?" Well, I about fell over laughing. He claps me on the shoulder and says "I didn't mean anything by it, I was just trying to get it outta the way!"... I loved that. Talk about an ice breaker. No B.S. People will beat around the bush about things like that, and it'll come up 6 months after you first meet.."so about your eye..." Not Ed. There's alot of fake people in LA, and EVH ain't one of them. He's seriously one of the nicest, most genuine guys I've met in this business of rock and roll, that's my experience. He's gone out of his way to do nice things for me, very kind. And he still positively smokes on guitar. I'll leave it at that.

MGS - You are one of the only people to hear the new Van Halen tracks. Cmon man give us some info. What was going through your mind listening to it? Did they scrap all the John Shanks Nashville recordings ?

PT - I cannot offer any info here. I have NOT heard the album- Ed played me some rehearsal recordings of the 3 VH's jamming on new material. Well before they started tracking. It sounded fantastic to me, I loved it. Wolf on bass- he tears it up. People should remember, he's now close to the age Ed was at when he did VH1! He's got a style, and chops to burn... and he smokes on drums too! Talk about a bright future....

MGS - Who would be the members of the Pete Thorn guitar driven Super Group?

Pete on tour with Chris Cornell

PT - Ah! I'd have... Matt Laug or Blair Sinta on drums, Jorgen Carlsson or Jon Button on bass, Steve Stevens on guitar... but I'd just step back and let him play all the good stuff, haha! Oh and Jason Freese would have to be there too- he mainly plays keys, which there really aren't any of on my record, but he's the most fun guy to have in a band ever so he needs to be there too.

MGS - If I had to guess you either drive a sweet 70s muscle car or something green. Which is it?

PT - No, I'm a BMW man. I did own a green one! I like boutique stuff that works flawlessly... Suhr is like the BMW of guitars and amps. I do love old muscle cars though... and my dad drove a 57 T - bird and a 73 Mustang Convertible, so there you go...

MGS - What is the dumbest thing a fan has ever asked you?

PT - Awww if they are a fan I love em. God bless the fans, because we'd all be scrubbing toilets without them, so they can say whatever they want.

MGS - We always end interviews with you responding with only 2 words to each of these phrases GO !

EVH - my hero!
Michael Anthony - awesome talent
Chris Cornell - good friend
Brazilian Rosewood - overrated maybe?
Guitar forum know it all - annoying, very
Can I get some picks ? - absolutely, sure
Tony Cole - Cable Guy
Hotel California - don't forgetthesolo (only 2 words!)

MGS - Pete as a fan of your work thanks so much for taking the time sir.

PT - Thanks Tony!

Interview by Tony Cole and originally published on Music Gear Source Blog. Please do not reprint without consent of author.

Phil Taylor talks about tubes and circuit design

2011-12-13T17:16:00.000-08:00

INTERVIEW: Effectrode founder Phil Taylor

MGS - Welcome Phil Taylor owner of Effectrode Tube Effects.

PT - Thanks, it's a pleasure to be here.

MGS- Can you start us out with a history of how music came into your life
and how tube driven gear was part of it?

PT - I began playing guitar at age 15. In those days I had no inkling how
important tubes were for tone. This was during the early 80's when gear
was rapidly evolving, becoming more complex, sophisticated and technical.
Digital effects were coming in vogue and all the rage. A setup that looked
like Houston mission control were essential accessories for the modern
guitarist in those times! I rememeber constantly working my way through
countless effects pedals, processors, equalisers and guitars in a quest
for a richer, warmer, less clinical sound. Some great music came from that
era and it was a revolution for some amazing new synthesiser based sounds
from bands like Human League, Gary Newman, etc. However tube gear was
considered out of date and past it's time. At the time I was using a
Gallien-Krueger 2000CPL preamp, an awsome looking piece of gear, but the
elusive tone I was looking for just wasn't to be found anywhere inside.
Later, I remember, testing out many amps in the music shops in Denmark
street, London and the Soldano SP-77 preamp, jumped right out - the tone
on the clean and gain channels was beautiful, extremely musical,
responsive and useable. It was literally impossible to get a bad tone out
the thing. Once I'd got hold of one of these machines, it wasn't long
before I removed the top panel, started poking around it's internals and
began drawing a circuit diagram; the secrets of Mike Soldano's
'constant-clipping' design were slowly revealed to me! From my experience
I would say that tubes are naturals at delivering great tone whereas
transistor based designs struggle and must be
coerced into performing well. For example, a tube preamp input can be
overloaded without damaging the tube and it can actually sound pretty
good. A overloaded transistor input, on the other hand is likely to burn
out and sounds terrible. I'm convinced my playing improved, became more
natural and fluid once I was back on track with tube based gear. All those
great sounds you hear on recordings or imagine just seem to fall out
effortlessly because tubes are responsive and work with you.

MGS - Who are some of your musicial influences?

PT - Alex Lifeson has been a huge influence since I began playing. He's an
extremely versatile and emotive player and gets an incredible, B-I-G tone
from his gear. Also, Todd Rundgren, Andy Powell & Knopfler have been
inspirational in their structured and melodic approach to soloing. Finally
some of Jimi Hendrix's beautiful and haunting interpretations of Dylan's
songs.

MGS - Do you remember your first tube driven amp?

PT - As a teenager I was lucky enough to stumble across a beat-up Laney
60W head. I used it with an even more beat-up Marshall 4 x 12 cabinet and
an Arion distortion pedal. For some magical reason this setup produced a
huge, raw tone which sounded very close to Lifeson's and Jimmy Page's
early tones. The distortion pedal must have been overdriving the tube amp,
which is how a lot of the transistor based booster and tube screamer
effects work. They're relying on the great all-tube electronics in the
amps input stage to produce the crunch and sustain that we guitarists
seek.

MGS - How did Effectrode get started? Can you tell us about the company?

PT - By my mid-twenties I'd become fascinated with tube amps and taught
myself everything I could about the physics of vacuum tubes. This
knowledge came from dusty old 1950s & 60s texts, I uncovered from the
darkest recesses of backrooms in small, secondhand bookshops. I began
repairing, modifying & 'hot-rodding' tube amps - Fender Twin reverbs were
a specialty and a
pleasure to work on. Other projects included complete rebuilds and
modification the original Watkins 'Copycat' tape echo units and designing
audiophile gear such as tube phono preamp stages. I then began work on an
ambitious project to build an 8-stage phase shifter in pedal form. It was
all point-to-point wired and even had a 'magic-eye' indicator tube
(remember
those?) for the speed and depth of phasing. There were come pretty exotic
tubes in there and built-in custom wound transformers for the high and low
voltage power supplies. I remember thinking,'Okay you've proved you can
build it, but can you design it for manufacture?', after all who's going
to pay 2000 bucks for a phaser, no matter how good it sounds!

Things moved up a gear when I started modelling circuits on computer,
designing circuit boards on computer and getting them manufactured
professionally. Also, I began dreaming up new effects designs and thought
how great it would be to have a company that specialised only in building
no-compromise tube based pedal designs. My passion for designing tube gear
culminated in the formation of effectrode tube effects company in 1996.
The design philosophy is to build outstanding effects pedals in the true
spirit of innovation; complete redesigns that fuse traditional pride of
craftsmanship with the best modern components available.

MGS - The Tube Vibe is amazing. How did that come to be? First one of its
kind correct?

PT - Thanks for that, it's a pleasure to see someone enjoy something
you've created. A substantial R & D effort went into Tube-Vibe to get the
sound balance just right. I couldn't simply rely on the warmth and
transparency of the tubes to get the tone, a great deal of time was spent
tailoring the response of the phase shifter section to integrate it
smoothly with range
of electric guitar. The aim was to produce a vibe tone that is much deeper
and richer than any available. The tube based signal path is the first
thing that makes the effectrode vibe stand out as being unique, however
the bulb driver is also highly configurable. Current models of the
Tube-Vibe come configured for pseudo triangle and square wave; the square
wave is
very similar to the original Univibe. I'm now looking to develop other
wave shapes to drive the bulb. For example sawtooth gives an interesting
hypnotic lopsided effect. I'll be putting sound samples of these new wave
shapes on the website and free modifications will be available to give
Tube-Vibe users the ultimate in custom tone.

MGS - The tubes get warm just like an amp. Am I to understand there are 350
volts running thru the tubes?

PT - Yes, the tubes are operating at real amplifier plate voltages and the
heaters are DC powered for low noise. Efficient power conversion without
the use of specially wound transformers is always problematic and boosting
12VDC to over 300VDC was a big technical achievment for me. It took many
months of development (and electric shocks!) to work through the design
until
I was completely happy that it was stable and quiet enough for audio. It
also runs nice 'n' cool, which is good because the tubes run pretty warm!

MGS - Besides the Tube Vibe what else is in the works?

PT - Well, I'm working on the 'Twin Drive', which is a pure class-A
all-tube distortion/overdrive pedal. Dual-tone operation offers two
entirely different voicings. Mode 1 faithfully reproduces classic 70's
overdriven tube amp tone. Mode 2 utilises three triode tubes to produce a
creamy, super-saturated and sustaining tone. I'm also working on a revamp
of the
original phaseomatic vacuum tube phaser pedal and have ideas about a
simple tube clean boost pedal. Over the much longer term, I have a project
to develop a tape based tube chorus/flanger, which will sound phenomenal
when its completed.

MGS - Is there anything you would like to mention in closing?

PT - Seriously, there is one thing, I'd like to talk about. It goes along the
lines about how people think about pedals. Effects have traditionally been
regarded as, well, special effects to be used sparingly or
conservatively. My philosophy is to build very usable and musical effects
pedals that integrate seamlessly into players rigs, amplifier/guitar
setup. The effect should complement and enhance tone, there should be
shouldn't be issues with 'tone-sucking', transparency, etc and the effect
should do it's job without any of these 'artifacts'. Once you get past
that hurdle then the effect becomes part of your signiture sound. I mean,
I'm using the Tube-vibe practically all the time for chord work. With the
blend control set at around 10 o'clock and a slow speed and it works like
a subtle chorus pedal adding a little swirl and depth. Sometimes I'm not
even aware it's on until I hit the bypass and then it sounds flat.

I hope that we're building pedals that players will value and keep for
life, you know, like some of that classic studio tube gear that you hear
about but never see being sold second hand - it's so good people just hang
on to it . . .

Also, I'd like to thank all our customers for their interest and
enthusiasm. We really do appreciate your support.

Phil Taylor owner of Effectrode speaks about the Tube Vibe on his forum

" The Tube-Vibe internals are pure vacuum tube signal path, which means there no transistors or ICs between your guitar and your amp - your guitar is basically seeing a very high quality tube amp input stage. So yes, they are intergral. I know there are quiet a few manufacturers who use the tubes as buffers in effects and run them in starvation mode at 12Volts. Our practice is to use tubes throughout the signal path to do buffering and audio-processing. The tubes operate at true amp plate voltages too at 300 Volts!

The tube signal path loosely follows the original transistor path in the original Univibe, however its quieter and purer sounding. The phase shifter section has been optimised to sound great with guitar - the Univibe was designed for organs.

The bulb driver is completely different from the univibe too, much smoother and more flexible."

DLS effects owner talks with Musicgearsource

2011-12-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

INTERVIEW WITH Dave Sestito from DLS Effects

MGS - First off welcome Dave Sestito owner of DLS effects to musicgearsource.
Youve been a supporter of our site from the beginning, we appreciate it and its great to finally do an interview.

DLS - Thanks Tony, our pleasure. Musicgearsource is a great site and a great resource for musicians.

MGS - How did you get started into the effects business?

DLS - Like I said in our company profile, it all started around 1998 when my young daughter playing guitar wanted a distortion box (thanks a lot Korn). I said sure that would be fun, and I proceeded to make her one. It forced me to dust off my old gear and play a bit. Then I got to thinking, why not design an echo unit? After all my EH Memory man did not work well and I thought I could make a better one. After spending 8 months on my fist delay design, I scrapped it in frustration because it did not meet my expectations. I can remember being in the basement on Christmas morning trying to get the effect over the hump and when it did not happen, I threw the whole thing in the trash… true story. It was so close, but not good enough. Being completely stubborn, I came up with a totally new design approach and 5 months later… wow it sounded great! Digital power combined with analog circuitry never sounded warmer and with no noise. That delay was the Echomaster delay. Then I designed the Ultra Chorus which had similar design basics and it came out beautiful sounding. Those two effects allowed me to launch DLS Effects in the year 2000

MGS - Can you give us a history of DLS and how you got to where you are today?

DLS – It’s been a long road, but we stayed the course and never sacrificed quality in sound or construction in any way. That’s always what DLS Effects has been about. We sent Musictoyz an Echomaster delay and an Ultra Chorus back in 2000 and Teddy loved them. Musictoyz was our 1st large customer and today we have over 20 dealers world wide and growing. After more and more musicians got to try our effects, dealers started contacting us to carry DLS products (we do very little advertising). I designed the Chorus~Vib in 2002 to fill the need for a great sounding, but versatile chorus at a price point more musicians could afford. That gave us a boost in volume and a greater presence in the market. Also, Brad from Aerosmith put the Chorus~Vib on his pedalboard right away. After many requests for a Tap Tempo delay, we designed the EchoTAP delay which is a wonderful sounding delay and is our #1 selling product. We recently came out with the RotoSIM as well which is doing quite well. We design an effect per year, and we have a great product scheduled to be designed this fall. So to sum it up, the business started out slow (we thought we would have sales galore right away but it does not happen like that). However, as more musicians used our products, our business has almost doubled year after year. Also, more professional, well known musicians are using DLS Effects world wide.

MGS - For our readers that are not familiar with the DLS line can you give us a brief overview of the effects?

DLS – First of all, all of our effects keep the instrument analog signal analog, and we blend in the processed effect sound with it. That allows the instrument to remain sounding as is.
EchoTAP: the EchoTAP is a dual delay, one side is a tap tempo delay with it’s own echo volume, and the other side is a panel settable delay with it’s own echo volume. The tap tempo just needs at least 2 taps and it learns the tempo you want the echoes to be (it’s so easy and so addicting). The tone control can be adjusted to make clear echo replications or VERY tape delay sounding echoes. This delay is very warm sounding and has a delay form 50ms to 3 seconds. Hookup can be mono in/out, mono in/stereo out, or stereo in/out.
The Chorus~Vib is a warm analog sounding chorus with 7 positions of Delay to tighten or widen the chorusing. People find it strange that we talk about delay with chorus, but delay is a huge part of it along with modulation. With our Chorus you can easily dial any type of chorus sound you want from pristine, TC style, to milky CE-2 sounds. The Blend allows the musician to dial in the amount of chorus they want from heavy to very subtle. The Chorus~Vib accommodates mono in/out or mono in/stereo out.
RotoSIM: The RotoSIM is a rotating speaker effect. The musician can adjust Slow Speed, Fast Speed, Tweeter level, Bass rotor level, Ramp time, Overdrive, blend, bass lag, tweeter intensity, and input and output volumes for channel A and channel B. There is also an Expression pedal input so the musician can control the speeds and ramp of the effect. Whoo, that’s a mouth full. Anyway, you get the picture. The RotoSIM accommodates mono in/out or mono in/stereo out.

MGS - Walk me through a typical day at DLS. What aspects of the business do you handle?

DLS – This is a labor of love, but it’s still a ton of work and long hours at times. A typical day will be to get up, grab a cup of java, and get our employee’s going on whatever line of products that needs to be built. After that I check for emails and enter dealer orders. Then I will order parts if necessary and contact suppliers to make sure raw materials are coming in on time. After that I begin any final testing that needs to be done. I insist on final testing our effects, because I will not trust anyone else’s ear in this matter. I handle research and development for all new products from the electronics all the way to the enclosure, paint color, silk legend, and packaging design.

MGS - Ive seen alot of big names using your gear. We interviewed Brad Whitfords guitar tech and Brad was using your pedals on the last Aerosmith tour. Its got to be cool getting calls from those guys.

DLS – Yes, more and more top musicians are discovering and using DLS Effects. Aerosmith has been using our EchoTAP delay and Chorus~Vib for years. Greg Howard is Brad Whitfords’s guitar tech and really likes our products (thanks Greg). Greg is a seasoned tech and a great guy. I was invited to see Aerosmith back stage last year and Green Day recently. Other musicians such as Greg Howe, Deano George, Zane Carney (guitarist for Jesse McCartney), Glenn Pierce (Michael Smith guitarist) and Carlos Santana have also been using our products. We recently Air shipped an EchoTAP to Seal to be used on his new CD. There are some top names over seas using our products as well.

MGS - I just saw something about Santana using your new Rotosim. Very cool. Did you get to talk with him?

DLS - Yes, Carlos Santana got 2 RotoSIMs (probably one for each pedal board, but I’m not sure). We also heard he used the EhcoTAP at the last Namm show in January 2005. We often get contacted by the guitar techs or dealers, but sometimes get to speak with the musicians directly.

MGS - Speaking of the Rotosim, please tell us all about it. What do you feel sets it apart from other Leslie sims?

DLS – In short, the RotoSIM allows the musician to dial in the type of rotary speaker sound they want. As you can see from the several paragraphs before, the RotoSIM is VERY versatile. What we found through the beta testing is that everyone’s definition of a rotary speaker effect is a little different. The RotoSIM is small, quiet, does NOT loose your instruments natural sound, and is extremely tweekable… oh yea, it sounds VERY warm and rich as well. We actually sold out of the 1st production lot in 2-1/2 months. Besides the US eating them up, Japan, Norway, and Italy have embraced the RotoSIM for guitar and keyboard.

MGS - If you could get your stuff into anyone’s pedalboard, who would it be and why?

DLS – This is easy, I would love to have Alex Lifeson of Rush, David Gilmore of Pink Floyd, and the Edge of U2 to use our effects. Why? Because our effects can sound even better than the sound these guys have now from their rigs. DLS Effects can get all these sounds, but even deeper and richer sounding.

MGS - Whats the biggest challenge staying ahead in the guitar effects business?

DLS – There are soooo many companies making guitar pedals these days. There are some good ones and some not so good ones. However, there will always be a market for the high quality boutique effects like DLS Effects.
At a lot of bigger effect companies, the engineers don’t even play… that’s just not right because they don’t know a decent sound from a great one! We are Engineers that are also musicians so we KNOW what sounds good and what doesn’t.
A big challenge is listening to what musicians want and keep innovating; keep changing for the better. Another challenge is to maintain the highest quality as the business grows while keeping costs under control. We insist on keeping the highest quality effects at a reasonable price. Managing time is always a big challenge as the business grows.

MGS – What’s your guitar and amp of choice? What guitars and amps do you use to test the pedals out with?

DLS – I am actually a Marshall kind of guy, but like many other amps as well. We use Marshall, Fender Twin reverb, and a Peavey to test on. For guitars we us a Gibson SG, Fender Strat and a Hamer Flying V.

MGS - I know the Rotosim has been the main goal in the recent past and now its out. Anything new in the works or plans?

DLS - Yes, our next design for 2006 will be to re-design the Ultra Chorus. This is one of the warmest sounding chorus units in the world. It will be a dual channel chorus unit with a multitude of input/output options.

MGS - Anything you’d like to mention to the pedal nuts before i let you go?

DLS – Yes, I would like to thank all the musicians out there for using guitar effects to get unique sounds and make music beyond the imaginable. You guys have demanded what you want and we at DLS Effects make every attempt to deliver what you want. You tell it straight good or bad and it’s our job to listen and make adjustments along the way. Thank you all!We at DLS Effects want to treat every customer like an upscale musician, because this is how we would expect to be treated. We have taken pains taking hours in Research and Development to bring musicians the type of effects we would personally be proud to have on our pedal boards. Our effects are ALL about the quality in sound and construction at a reasonable price. This is NOT all about money to us. We really want everyone who uses a DLS Effects products to like them as much as we do and for a win-win situation.

MGS - Dave thank you so much for your time and support of musicgearsource.

DLS – Our pleasure Tony. Musicgearsource does musicians a great service and we are honored to be apart of it.

Jack Deville drives it home with new overdrive pedal

2011-12-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

New Gear Day - Jack Deville Deuce Coupe overdrive

Looks like a pedal, feels like an amp!

Deuce Coupe is a tone machine specializing in the overdrive realm,

with a wide range of amplifier-breakup, boost, crunch, and distortion.

Deuce Coupe is open, dynamic, and touch responsive due to the

high headroom offered by 18 volt operation, even though it operates

on a standard 9VDC power supply.

This is the type of pedal that you can leave on and control your drive

tone with just your guitar's volume control. With your drive tone set,

double tap the switch to engage the Ultra Boost for up to an additional

+16dB clean boost!

See www.eclecticsoundspdx.com for more info

Look Ma no extension cords !

2011-12-11T15:06:00.000-08:00

GEAR IN REVIEW - Sanyo Pedal Juice

My biggest beef with taking a pedal board to a gig is trying to find an orange extension cord to snake around half of the stage to get power for the board.
Half of the time you can not find an outlet or an extension cord. It makes set up time longer and more frustrating. And when you do finally get it set up you have to worry about your band members tripping over it . I would rather think about playing guitar than praying your drummer will not trip on it and kill your entire signal.

Enter the Sanyo Pedal Juice.

Sanyo has 100 percent solved this problem ! Enter the Sanyo Pedal Juice. A lithium Ion rechargeable pedal board power system. In roughly 3 hours you can charge the Pedal Juice up to full charge.

Keeping it simple.....

2 9volt power power taps and daisy chain is included in the box. It can power your board for several gigs before you need to recharge. An included wall cord plugs into the adapter input to recharge the Pedal Juice. No need to read a manual it was very simple to get going on our test board.

A power switch on top turns the unit off and on to save the charge for your next show. Great feature there. When you are done with your gig just click off to save power for the next one.

We powered a Rockbox Boiling Point , a MojoHand Rook , TC Electronic Vortex , Corona Chorus and a MXR CAE MC 404 wah. We mounted these on a Pedaltrain board using Lava Cable Mini ELC solder free cables . The test guitars were a Reverend Reeves Gabrels signature guitar and Yamaha Ty Tabor signature guitar. The Amp was a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x12.

All fairly high end gear and the Sanyo fit right in. The Sanyo velcroed right to the board and performed without a hitch. No noise no power cables.

Will I know when its low ?

Sanyo did a great job with this.

Actually you will know long before it needs recharging. A light above the power button has 3 color stages letting you know where you are in the charge range. When you are red it is time to juice up. The nice thing is that at a gig if you see red during set up you normally have plenty of time to juice up before start time.

No cords or noise.

Powering your board this way is actually cleaner power than wall warts or conventional power supplies prone to AC ground loop noise.

Testing this with our board the charge up times and discharge times were right on spec with Sanyos ad copy. It was dead quiet , performed flawlessly and with NO extension cable ! Perfect !

I have never seen a water proof pedal or power supply but according to Sanyo this unit is ! Guitarists playing cruise ships and resort beaches rejoice ! In all seriousness I have seen first hand friends drying out full pedal boards that got wet in a basement. Better safe than sorry. Maybe not a selling point to you but added value for sure.

Sanyo also reminded us that this not only supplies pedals power but ANY 9VDC power tap can use the Pedal Juice. Drum machines , mixers etc. Good to know and very handy.

All in all ......

The Sanyo Pedal Juice solves 2 big problems with using a pedal board live. Finding power at the front of stage and possible AC noise from being tethered to the wall.

While it is not set up to do higher voltage or odd powered pedals if you have a straight forward board this is an amazing solution. I personally would rather lose a pedal or 2 to use this power supply.

Very simple , well thought out and does exactly what it is supposed to. A perfect pedal board powering solution from Sanyo.

For more info visit http://us.sanyo.com/pedal-juice

Modern meets Vintage in this Reverend Hot Rod

2011-12-11T08:13:00.001-08:00

GEAR IN REVIEW - REVEREND REEVES GABRELS SIGNATURE GUITAR

Reverend guitars teamed up with Tin Machine / David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels to build Reeves his ultimate guitar.

Reeves is a very forward thinking guitarist and this guitar that bears his name follows that mindset. Unique is a word you simply can not use these days with new guitars. 99 percent of what is out there is only a take on a guitar from the past. This is a brand new rocketship that does not rely on the designs of yesterday. Reeves and Reverend have designed a modern gigging guitar that deserves a lot of props. This is a unique axe kids.

Initial impressions....

Right out of the box it was a thrill at first glance. You know that WOW moment ? The highly flamed maple top gets you right away. Binding on the body and neck give it a very high end look. The body shape really is its own thing. While the control plate borrow from a tele it seems this guitar is in a class of its own design wise. It almost felt like an adventure was getting ready to take place because this is not a standard guitar. Hmmm What is this knob? Ok that's different. There are some very unique features here. Lets take a closer look!

This tremolo rocks ......

Growing up in the 80s my first guitar had a Floyd Rose tremolo. I thought every kid had to learn to change strings and set up a Floyd like I did. I grew to love a locking tremolo system but as I grew older I grew tired of the maintenance involved and the string breakage issues. The idea of this Reeves model having a floating Wilkinson trem intrigued me right away. My first thought was that there is no way this will stay in tune not being a locking trem. I can tell you after weeks of testing abuse , full dive bombs , step and a half < that is 3 frets kids > pulls UP in pitch that this tremolo DOES stay in tune. It even does the Brad Gillis style chirps when smacking the bar. Very impressive. Frankly I am floored with it. This bridge is the perfect choice for Reeves bombastic playing and with zero locking tremolo issues.

There is a body route under the bridge to allow the minor third pull up. Everything about this guitar is high performance and set up for the serious lead player.

Another amazing fact about this bridge is that it sits perfectly level but is full floating. Which means even though it is capable of diving down and pulls up you can rest your hand on it without any pitch issues. You can play it just like a regular strat trem until you decide to use the tremolo. Simply unreal and something I have never seen on any other guitar. Major Kudos Joe.

Modern features.....

In the middle of one of my dive bombs I flipped the guitar over. Whats this? Ahhhhh Reverend pin locking tuners ! These tuners work very well and do a great job of keeping things in tune and makes string changes a breeze. So far I am thinking every single detail of this guitar is hot rodded.

These sturdy locking tuners, the high quality Wilkinson bridge and killer factory set up make whammy abuse up and down in pitch possible and free of all of the pitfalls of a locking system. This has been on my wish list for a long time. Tremolo mayhem can be had without hunting for that metric allen wrench I can never find.

Not your standard nut .....

Upon inspection of the nut Reverend is using graphite, another huge plus for whammy freaks and part of why it stays in tune so well. They say it is all in the details and this guitar is full of surprises.

Pickups ......

A good part of the 90s I spent as a strat player. The strat neck pickup has always been a favorite of mine for smooth singing leads. The Dimarzio Fast track neck single coil is amazing. I can get that smooth strat sing with this guitar ! The Dimarzio has ZERO 60 cycle noise and has a lead cutting mid bump that makes this the perfect neck pickup for this guitar.

The Reverend Hot PAF humbucker has a nice grind with clarity and also sounds great blended in the middle position along with the neck pickup. The 2 pickups are balanced very well and work seamlessly together. Killer tone.

Bass how low can you go .....

A couple of years ago I had a Les Paul that no matter what I did had too much low end and always flubbed any amp I played I just could not dial it out. I would try another guitar and instantly hear how bad that guitar sounded just too much bass. So I finally sold it. Joe Naylor has found the perfect solution to this and it is the knob on the top of the body.

Reverends Bass Contour can roll off or add in as much bass as you need. Very simple to dial in and can make all the difference in the world playing through different amps to get a balanced tone. Pure genius.

Switches and knobs ....

The control layout will be instantly comfortable to a tele player with the 3 way toggle switch and vol and tone controls. The 3 way toggle can be rotated so a Les Paul player can be more comfortable with the up and down pickup changes. Another detail that is overlooked that can make the difference in a player feeling awkard and feeling right at home switching pickups. Nice to have that option.

Just a phase.....or is it ?

The tone knob doubles as a push pull phase/out of phase switch. This allows the guitar to get that Brian May / Peter Green out of phase tone. Between this and the Bass Contour you can cop strat, Les Paul, 335, and many more classic tones.

There are many different ways to vary the tone on this axe that you just never see from other guitar companies.

Modern feel and vintage look......

The neck with its 25.5 inch scale and 12 in radius fit very comfortably in your hand. The medium oval shape to the neck is a great balance of meat and speed without even hinting at baseball bat or shred thin. The satin finish on the back of the neck is a smooth fast ride. Just a great feeling neck. The neck binding is a cool vintage looking touch.

This guitar is a treat to play. Everything feels well balanced , smooth and just a well thought out and comfortable design. Nice medium weight to the guitar and the jumbo frets make bending a breeze. Right away this guitar feels like you are in control of a sonic Cadillac loaded with the high roller package. Pinky ring included. Humor aside I feel this is the most versatile instrument I have had the pleasure of playing in my 24 years of playing.

Not all bodies are the same .....

The solid Korina body with its highly flamed top is a treat for the eyes. This guitar seems to be made for modern guitarists that like vintage features but like modern feel and comfort. The tones you can get out of this Korina bodied guitar are almost endless. Single Coil, humbucker, out of phase, thin and funky , bass heavy Doom .....its all there.

Check out Reeves himself demoing one for Wildwood Guitars who sells this exclusive color....

All in all......

It does not matter if you are into signature guitars or not this is a wildly versatile guitar that has all the features I personally love in a guitar and several features I had not thought of. Joe Naylor and crew have some amazing guitars in their line up and this model blew us away. My other guitars are looking very nervous.

Check one out at your local Reverend dealer.

Thanks to
ReverendGuitars.com
Wildwoodguitars.com Video and pics

REEVES GABRELS SIGNATURE SPECIFICATIONS
BODY	flame maple top, solid korina body. Black back and sides with cream binding.. 16-1/2" x 13" x 1-3/4"
PICKUPS	one Reverend humbucker (bridge), one Dimarzio Fast Track 1(neck).
NECK	bolt-on, maple, amber tinted satin finish.
TRUSS ROD	dual-action, access at headstock.
SCALE	25-1/2".
FINGERBOARD	rosewood, 12" radius.
FRETS	22 medium jumbo.
NECK PROFILE	medium oval.
NUT	1-21/32" (42 mm) width, graphite.
TUNERS	Reverend Pin-Lock Tuners .
BRIDGE	Wilkinson WVS 50IIK fulcrum tremolo.
CONTROLS	custom volume, tone (w/ push-pull phase switch), Bass Contour, 3-way toggle.
STRINGS	10-46.
LIST PRICE	$1199.

TC Electronic has some cool new dirt for your board.

2011-12-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

GEAR IN REVIEW - TC Electronic Mojo Mojo and Dark Matter

TC Electronic widely known for rack effects has gotten into the overdrive pedal game with the Mojo Mojo and the Dark Matter.

The Mojo Mojo is a low to medium transparent gain pedal featuring bass , gain , treble and volume controls. Having seperate bass controls give you much more tone shaping choices than the standard tone control you see in so many overdrives. The Mojo also has a voice switch that shifts the low mids to give you even more tone shaping control.

The Mojo is not another TS mod this is a flat EQ , low compression , open and amp like gain. In our tests we find it behaves best on a lightly breaking up amp but sounds great on a clean amp as well. The Mojo gives it a nice open harmonically rich gain push. Great for heavy rhythm comping or singing leads. The voltage increase inside the pedal increases headroom and dynamics.

The gain blends with your amp not changing your base tone. It can be dialed in for classic American overdriven amp tones. I found myself wanting to play Tom Petty and Clapton tunes. Awesome amp like bite. Any amp gain lover will like this drive and be able to find his or her own sweet spot.

The Mojo is a serious contender in the high end overdrive market but comes in at far less than 150.00 bones.

MojoMojo Overdrive Features

True Bypass - zero loss of tone

Drive, Level, Bass and Treble controls - total control of your overdrive sounds

Voicing switch - for an awesome mid-shift

Easy battery access - makes changing batteries fun! (well, almost)

Small footprint - save precious pedalboard space

High-quality components - only the best will do when it comes to tone

Road-ready design - ready to follow you wherever your playing takes you

See Tore TCs Product Manger put the Mojo Mojo through its paces....

The Dark Matter is more distortion based and is rooted in low to high gain plexi territory. With the same dual EQ, voltage ramp up and voicing as the Mojo where the Mojo was more of a natural American amp style drive. The Dark Matter nails low gain plexi type gains. Very amp like it is hard not to think Angus in the lower gain registers. As you ramp up the gain EVH brown sound and classic plexi tones are easily found in the Dark Matter. Where this trumps many distortions on the market is that it sounds more like an amp channel instead of a pedal masking the amp. Pick dynamics and volume rolls off on the guitar retain the tone and give up the rock.

Tore demoing the Dark Matter

Dark Matter Distortion Features

True Bypass - zero loss of tone
Gain, Level, Bass and Treble controls - total control of your distortion sounds
Voicing switch - for an awesome shift in bass response
Easy battery access - makes changing batteries fun! (well, almost)
Small footprint - save precious pedal board space
High-quality components - only the best will do when it comes to tone
Road-ready design - ready to follow you wherever your playing takes you

TC says the key to both of these drives acting amp like and having tons of dynamics is a voltage increase inside the pedal that is unique to both of these drives. With the the dual band EQ and mid switch both pedals share serious tone tweakers can shape the gain as needed.

They both sound amazing. Both amp like and full of dynamics. Both very unique tonewise but sharing layout and features. After trying both they both earn a spot on the pedal board.

For more information see TCElectronic.com

Dunlop and Bob Bradshaw make a tweakers wah

2011-12-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

GEAR IN REVIEW - C.A.E. Dunlop MC-404 wah

In the last decade there have been wahs that have extra features making them more versatile than a standard wah.

This Bob Bradshaw designed CAE MC-404 takes things to an entire different level.

This is the only wah we have seen that has 2 Fasel inductors to choose from 2 different classic wahs tones. The red kick switch on the side of the pedal toggles between the two. There are 2 LEDs on the side one red one yellow showing which inductor you have engaged.

The yellow inductor cuts hard and emphasizes the highs. The red inductor is more of a low mid growl. It is a killer feature to be able to choose between these two tones on the fly depending on where you need the EQ sweep. The LEDs are super bright so a quick glance shows you exactly which one you are on.

As if that was not enough this pedal also features the CAE boost installed inside this wah !

Yes this pedal is installed inside this wah.

The red kick switch on the right side engages this boost and there is a rotary knob top right where you can preset the amount of boost you want. This is a perfect feature. Lets face it most times when we hit the wah we are wailing a lead. The boost here saves you from having to hit another lead pedal. Very slick feature and makes this one of the most versatile and toneful wah pedals on the market. There is an LED for the boost on the side as well so you always know the status.

The case is built like a tank and the smooth black finish along with the LEDS make this look amazing on any pro pedal board like this one below.

The switching is True Bypass and they use a high end CTS pot inside for years of trouble free use.

Inside there are adjustments for the sweep of the pedal so you can fine tune and tweak to your taste.

See the MC-404 story and hear it in use.....

All in all...

After some clean and high gain testing the CAE proved to be one of the best sounding and feature laden wahs we have had the pleasure of testing. Just flat out sounds amazing and would be at home on any pros board looking for a high end feature packed wah.

This could be the last wah you will ever need to purchase.

www.jimdunlop.com for more details.

Red Dawg gets a signature overdrive from E.W.S

2011-12-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

E.W.S. Signature Eric gales brute drive

This special edition of the EWS Brute Drive pays tribute to Brute Drive user Eric Gales. This version is limited to 500 units and comes with a very slick presentation.
From the signature box to the signature Eric Gales pick and Erics silver signature on the pedal itself this is a must have for the die hard Eric Gales fan.

This little tone tool screams ! Very natural organic gain can be had and it works equally as well on a driven or a clean amp platform. With the boost feature the Brute Drive can easily be used as your only gain box. This is not a wimpy tube screamer clone this is a harmonicly rich complex gain pedal with a killer built in boost.

This is one of those drive pedals that makes you want to PLAY. Hitting it with the boost can get into fuzz territory if you crank the gain that way and can sustain until the Dawgs come home < Red Dawgs that is >. With this signature Brute Drive and working your guitars volume knob you can cover low to high gain ranges with toneful ease.

There is nothing wimpy about this drive. It is a tone powerhouse with a rough harmonic edge but can clean up with the best of them.

Click here to listen to Eric talk about and play his Brute Drive.

Eric is one of the most toneful dynamic players out there and this signature Brute Drive is just as tone laden and dynamic.

Key positives points

- sturdy aluminum casing and true bypass switching
- the build quality is stellar clean and neat
- large EQ range making it very versatile
- jacks on top for maximum board space
- mini pot on the inside for further tweaks to frequency response
- mid range bump to the boost function to make solos POP through the mix

This is a very limited edition and is shipping now so Gales fans get one while you still can. This pedal is one of the most versatile and sturdy drives we have tested. Having it wrapped up in this Eric Gales collectors edition is a fitting tribute to a player that wrings the life out of it live while making it sing.