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Archive for December, 2011

My 2012 Gear Resolution(s)…

Posted in Guitars, tagged on December 31, 2011| 8 Comments »

One thing that I have hated about New Year’s resolutions is that many of them are about denial. For instance, one of my sons said, “For 2012, I’m going to stay away from fast food.” That’s not really a bad thing, considering how unhealthy fast food can be, but it’s still a denial. It’s like a year-round Lenten sacrifice. Bah-humbug!

Me? Since I don’t like the negativity of New Year’s resolutions, I haven’t made one in years. But this year, I’m turning 50 (on January 5), so I’m going to make a resolution. Actually, several… but on the positive side.

In 2012, I resolve to:

  • Buy a DV Mark Little 40
  • Sell my Les Paul Replica
  • Replace my sold Les Paul Replica with a Les Paul Standard Traditional Plus
  • Get all my tube amps that aren’t working serviced (there’s actually only a couple)
  • Buy a 2 X 10 cabinet and house it with Jensen Jet Electric Lightning speakers
  • Buy a Fender ProSonic head

Now those are resolutions that I can deal with! 🙂

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Can a “Travel” Guitar Actually Sound Good?

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , on December 30, 2011| 2 Comments »

If you’re Voyage-Air Guitars, it can…

When these guitars first came out, I was a little dubious about them. Sure, they offered a travel convenience with the folding neck, but at around $500 at the time, I kind of felt that what I’d be paying for was a premium for the hinging technology attached to a cheap guitar; no matter the repute of the luthier behind the guitar nor the artist endorsements that the manufacturer may have (which I’ve found are often dubious in many cases).

But Voyage-Air Guitars has been around for awhile now, and they have a much wider selection of guitars, including a Premium Series line which are actually quite nice. In particular, their VAOM-2C is a guitar that has caught my eye. This is their top-of-the-line model with a cutaway, and it seems to have everything I like in an acoustic guitar: East Indian Rosewood back and sides, Sitka spruce top, and solid mahogany “C” profile neck; plus a bright, rich, full tone from what I could gather from clips and videos.

Premier Guitar was very impressed with this guitar, giving it a 5.0 rating, which is a VERY rare designation.

Here’s their video review of the VAOM-C1, which was the preceeding model to the 2C:

By the way, I DIG that carrying case that not only has room for the guitar, it also has amp storage space to carry a mic, cables, and even a laptop!

There’s a VAOM-C1 over at Gryphon Stringed Instruments. I’m definitely going to check it out!

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Hehehe… Where Do I Spend My Christmas Money?

Posted in Guitars on December 26, 2011| 5 Comments »

My good buddy Phil and I each received a Guitar Center gift card for doing the soundtrack for one of his friends for a flash mob that her company was doing for a convention. The gift card arrived in time for Christmas, and it is literally burning a hole in my pocket. I could get a few pedals, I could get another nice Classic Vibe Tele (the semi-hollowbody)… But I think what I’ll do is layaway a DV Mark Little 40 L34 amp.

I dig this amp. Since I first discovered it a couple of months ago, I’ve played with it a few times at Guitar Center, and the more I play it, the more I want it. It has a great feel and tone, and the built-in features make this one heck of a versatile amp. The Continuous Power Control – which allows you to vary the output power of the amp – aside, I dig that I can put in a different power tubes, from 6V6, 6L6 and EL34’s to get different sounds; and the amp will automagically bias them and keep them at their optimum settings! NIIIICE! Here’s a nice video demo of the amp.

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