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Archive for the ‘guitar effects’ Category

Gear Find: Tonic Amps

Posted in amplifiers, amps, Amps/Amplification, announcements, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear find, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 28, 2009| 4 Comments »

Tonic Amps

As you know, the Dawg spends a lot of time sniffing around to find gear, but sometimes, manufacturers find me. Recently Tonic Amps contacted me, and I checked out their offerings. Tonic builds some nice reissue amps with their own twists, but they are also the North American distributor for Fane Speakers, the noted UK amp speaker manufacturer.

As you’d expect, if they sell speakers, Tonic probably builds cabs as well, and that is definitely the case. Darin (owner/builder of Tonic), has some very nice custom cabs in a variety of configurations and woods, all solid board cabinets: no pressed sawdust here, my friends. Tonic also offers custom cabs in a variety of hardwoods (though of course, you’re going to pay a premium for these, but hey! they’re available).

In any case, Premier Guitar has run a couple of videos that demonstrate Tonic Amps. You can check them out below:

From the 2009 New York Amp Show:

From the LA Amp Show:

These are some nice-sounding amps with some nice features! One thing that’s totally awesome for me is that Tonic Amps is literally ten minutes away from where I live! I can’t wait to try out Tonic’s amps and cabs!

Another cool thing is that Darin shares a shop with GeekMacDaddy, who makes a line of very cool pedals. Maybe I’ll get a chance to give ’em a whirl, in particular, his British Ball Breaker, which is touted as a Marshal stack-in-a-box. Yummy!

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How much do you need? Just one more…

Posted in amplifiers, amps, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 24, 2009| 3 Comments »

Here’s a hypothetical situation we’re all familiar with…

Imagine your wife or significant other walking into your music room or space recently…

“Honey,” she said, “You have a studio full of gear, and from where I’m standing, I can see six amplifiers. Just how many do you need?”

“Just one more,” was my facetious reply.

“C’mon! You can’t possibly play all of those amps at once,” she retorted with a slightly annoyed tone at my sarcasm.

“I know, but when I need a particular sound for a track I’m recording, I can pick out one of these little babies, and get the tone I need,” I said.

“Oh yeah? What about when you gig? You usually only bring one amp with you. So Mr. Picky Tones, if you’re so sensitive about your tone, why don’t you lug a few amps with you?” she said with a smirk.

“That’s why I have these pedals!”

At that she rolled her eyes, gave me a stern look and said, “You’re absolutely hopeless.”

Yeah… that about sums it up…

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Put Balls on Your Pedalboard

Posted in effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear find, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Electro-Harmonix Riddle: Q-BallsQ-Balls, that is… Introducing the new RIDDLE: Q-Balls from Electro-Harmonix, an envelope filter for guitar. The RIDDLE also has a brother for bass called the ENIGMA: Q-Balls.

So what exactly is the RIDDLE? As EHX put it, the RIDDLE is an “envelope controlled filter for guitar.” Synthesizer players have long known the beauty of adjusting a signal’s envelope or volume profile by emphasizing or limiting certain frequencies to create wholly unique sounds. Now, apparently, that is available for guitar with the RIDDLE. Check out this very cool demo video:

Damn! He did all that with an acoustic guitar!

I’ve grown to appreciate EHX over the last couple of years as they’ve come up with some really cool, thinking out-of-the-box pedals, like the Q-Tron, and of course, the POG. Yeah, they have your basic overdrive, distortion, delays, reverbs, etc., but stuff like the RIDDLE that open up the tonal possibilities of your guitar are quite commendable.

I’m not sure if the RIDDLE is something I’d use, but I’m writing about it here just because of its cool factor. Maybe I’ll take some time this weekend to see if I can’t check it out at a store.

For more information on the RIDDLE, go to the EXH web site.

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New Gear: Elite Tone Smooth Boost

Posted in announcements, buying gear, distortion, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear find, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, overdrive, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 18, 2009| 1 Comment »

Elite Tone Smooth BoostIf I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. The market cannot have too many overdrive pedals. 🙂 As you know if you read this blog with regularity, I just love ’em. I know… there’s nothing like the sound of a cranked amp, yada-yada-yada… But to get to the type of amp drive that I like; that is, with both pre-amp and power tubes contributing to the distorted sound, the volume levels will make your ears bleed. Enter the overdrive pedal, which gives you that breakup tone at any volume level! And the reason I love OD pedals so much is because I personally haven’t come across any two from different makers that sound exactly alike. Sure, many cop the tone of some original design – can you say Tube Screamer – but even the “clones” have voices all their own as their manufacturers add features or make the original circuits more efficient.

The brand-new Smooth Boost from Elite Tone promises to be a VERY interesting take on the overdrive pedal. Don’t let the name fool you: This is not a pure booster pedal. Even Elite Tone categorizes it as a distortion/overdrive pedal. Here’s the description from their site:

Brand new offering from Elite Tone a simple subtle unique boost effect pedal. The Smooth Boost features a circuit architecture that supports, enhances and optimizes your existing tone with delicate transparency. This simple yet multifaceted effect, achieves hi fidelity tube like signal boost, compression, sustain, overdrive and even mild distortion. The smooth boost can also be adjusted remotely with guitar volume and produce a lush twangy tube like sound as the volume is rolled back. With the signal maxed it adds mild harmonic overdrive and a touch of distortion.

What really intrigues me about the pedal from the description is the phrase “The smooth boost can also be adjusted remotely with guitar volume…” Wonder if that’s actual mechanical control through a specific input, or it’s functioning like other OD pedals that respond to input gain. I’m going to have to do more research.

Holy GAS Attack, Batman!!! This handmade pedal only costs $99 direct!!!

Dammit! I wish I hadn’t gotten wind of this pedal. It’s bad enough that my natural curiosity makes me want to check this pedal out, especially with that “remote adjustment” bit. But that combined with the price is giving me a serious case of GAS! Crap! 🙂

Anyway, the Smooth Boost includes the following features (from the Elite Tone site):

  • Engineered and constructed all by hand
  • True bypass
  • Battery Included
  • 2.1 mm diameter DC jack adapter (like boss style, etc…)
  • Extremely low ambient noise ( Not audible with effect full on and strings muted in many cases)
  • LED On/Off indicator

Okay… I’m sold. Sight unseen, sound unheard. Well… I am a bit more reasonable than that, but this is VERY COOL! At the very least, I need to find out more about this pedal!

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New Gear: Tone Freak Effects Severe High Gain Distortion Pedal

Posted in buying gear, distortion, effect pedals, EL84, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear find, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 2, 2009| 1 Comment »

Tone Freak Effects Severe High Gain Distortion PedalReleased in May (how did I miss this?), the Severe is “Tone Freak Effects’ answer to high gain distortion.” Oh man… This looks like a incredibly mean pedal. Set up like the Abunai 2 with a 3-way clipping switch, with level, gain, and tone, the Severe also sports a 3-way bright switch so it can be used with different amps. Very cool.

As Derek Tabata mentions on his site, the Severe will never turn your tone into a compressed mushy mess. The distortion can be laid on thick but, remains open. I can attest to this with the Abunai 2. You can lay on thick overdrive with that pedal, but it’ll never turn super thick.

With the Severe, Derek has taken high-gain distortion to another level! I’m amazed at how it sounds in the sound clips! Check ’em out!

Severe Demo Clip

Les Paul

Les Paul

Tom Anderson

Personally, I’m not a high-gain type of player, however, as I’ve gotten more and more comfortable soloing, I’ve found that I’m pushing more and more into high-gain territory. The only problem is that to achieve that with an amp means it has to be LOUD. That’s why I love pedals like this! You get the effect you need at far lower sound levels.

And you can’t go wrong with Tone Freak Effects! You just can’t! For more information, visit the Tone Freak Effects web site!

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Gear Announcement: TC Electronic Nova Repeater and Nova Drive Now Shipping

Posted in announcements, buying gear, delay, distortion, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, overdrive, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2009| 1 Comment »

Nova Repeater

The Nova Repeater news is a tad old, as it started shipping a couple of weeks ago, but retailers are still only taking pre-orders on it. I’ve been waiting for the Nova Repeater to come out for awhile, ever since I heard about it from Winter NAMM news. As TC Electronic puts it, this pedal is “No frills, with a sound that kills.” It truly is no-frills. There’s no programming of the pedal. It has a few features and that’s it. But what it has that I’ve not seen with other pedals is a feature TC calls, “Audio Tapping.” Essentially, you hold the tap tempo button down, then strum your guitar, and the delay is set based upon the strum. I can’t wait to try out this delay pedal! Here’s a demo video:

Nova Drive

Next up is the Nova Drive, which is an analog overdrive and distortion pedal that is controlled with a digital interface. Not sure how that works, but it does sound very cool. This is the same drive/distortion circuit that is in the Nova System, so if you know about that tone, you know it’s very nice. There are a couple of things that stand out about this pedal for me. First, you can change the order of the drive and distortion, making drive first, distortion second; and vice-versa. Second, you can also run the effects in parallel, which is totally – it provides a completely different dimension in the tone this pedal produces. It also has a MIDI input that you can hook up to a G Major system to program it. Not bad. Anyway, here’s another demo video:

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Low-wattage fun with the Fender Champ 600

Posted in 6V6, amplifiers, amps, effect pedals, Effects, fender, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitar picks, guitarists, Guitars, Hardwire, Music, musicians, overdrive, pedals, picks, plectrum, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 4, 2009| 7 Comments »

Fender Champion 600 Re-issueI forgot how much fun this little 5 watter is to play! I just put in new tubes to make it have more headroom, as this is an incredibly pedal-friendly amp. The tubes I got were as follows: NOS JAN-Philips 12AT7 and a JJ 6V6. The idea behind this is that the 12AT7 has about half the gain of a regular 12AX7, so it won’t push the power tube as hard as a 12AX7. The JJ 6V6 has tons of gain, and is much harder to break up; thus, I hoped to attain more clean headroom with this combination.

While I like the breakup of the Champ 600, it’s a little weak, but the clean tone is spectacular with this amp. And hooking it up to a 1 X 12 extension cab really expands the depth of the tone it produces. Combine that with a couple of pedals, and the result is like candy to the ears.

Some people might frown upon this diminutive amp, but I used it throughout my first album, and for good reason: It’s so damn versatile! I can play pretty much any style with this amp, and miked properly, can make it sound much bigger than it actually is. And at $200 bucks (that’s what I paid for it), it was a total steal!

Here’s a simple clip I recorded using one of GarageBand’s “Magic Garage Band” backing tracks. It’s a slow blues in E. The first part of the song is played with the neck pickup of my Prestige Heritage Elite, into my Tone Freak Effects Abunai 2, into my Hardwire RV-7 Reverb, then into the Champ and out my custom Aracom 1 X 12 extension cab with a Jensen P12N (damn! that totally sounds like name dropping! Yikes!). In second half of the song, I switch to my bridge pickup and stack my Tube Screamer on top of the Abunai 2. Oh my freakin’ gawd! This was fun. In any case, here’s the clip:

Sorry for the mistakes. I actually didn’t care because I was having so much fun! And by the way, I played the lead parts with my brand-spankin’-new V-Picks Psycho pick, a 1 3/4″ wide, 5.85 mm thick monster of a pick. I’m in tone heaven right now! You just gotta check this pick out!

And I almost forgot! I just can’t believe who incredibly awesome these Wyres strings sound and play. They’re so pliable, so resonant, and they sustain so well that they send my inspiration through the roof! Like the Psycho pick, I just can’t enough of these absolutely wonderful strings!

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Gear Review and Announcement: IK Multimedia Releases the new StealthPedal!

Posted in buying gear, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear reviews, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, IK Multimedia, mac, Music, musicians, new gear, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 4, 2009| 10 Comments »

5 Tone Bones - Gear has stellar performance, value, and quality. This is definitely top of the class, best of breed, and it's a no-brainer to add this to your gear lineup!

IK Multimedia Stealth Pedal

 IK Multimedia Stealth Pedal

Summary: It’s official, IK Multimedia’s StealthPedal has just been released! The new StealthPedal is a lesson in packaging up familiar components to produce something totally unique. This is the first of its kind: A USB-powered guitar audio interface/software controller that you can use for recording or playing live as well as controlling any “Powered By Amplitube” software (or any MIDI-controllable software). With the StealthPedal, IK Multimedia completes the picture in providing an end-to-end computer-based guitar performance and recording solution.

Pros: Truly plug and play, it is automatically recognized by “Powered By Amplitube” software, and requires very little configuration.

Cons: None

Price: $199 Standard Bundle / $399 Deluxe Bundle

Specs:

• USB powered audio interface and pedal controller
• 2 balanced / unbalanced audio inputs (hi-Z or line level)
• 24 bit A/D and D/A conversion
• 44.1/48 kHz operation
• 2 balanced audio outputs
• Headphones output
• Volume control
• Built-in expression pedal and MIDI foot-switch
• Multiple LEDs can operate as Tuner or Level indicators with AmpliTube
• External double switch and expression pedal inputs
• Classic, rugged metal Wah-style construction
• High-quality, low-noise input stage (109dBA /104dB RMS S/N ratio)
• Control all “Powered by AmpliTube” software/plug-ins

• Control any MIDI controllable software/plug-ins

• Standard Bundle includes AmpliTube 2 Live standalone and plug-in, AmpliTube X-GEAR, Ampeg® SVX UNO standalone and plug-in, Sonoma WireWorks Riffworks™ T4, and AmpliGrooves Loops by Sonic Reality
• Deluxe Bundle: AmpliTube 2, Ampeg SVX, AmpliTube X-GEAR, Sonoma WireWorks RiffWorks t4, AmpliGrooves
• Compatible with all the most popular DAW software supporting ASIO and Core Audio drivers on PC and Mac
• Endless software expandability with AmpliTube modules

Tone Bone Score: 5.0 – I love enabling technologies that make anything that I do easier, but also add a ton of value. That can definitely be said of the new StealthPedal from IK Multimedia. A quick glance at picture of the unit, and you may think: Okay, just another pedal-style software controller. It is that, but it is also so very much more!

The StealthPedal is also an extremely easy-to-use, full-functioning analog-digital audio interface that you can use for recording or running modeling software live through your computer. And with 24-bit analog-digital, digital-analog conversion, and 44.1/48 kHz operation, you can count on the SteathPedal to produce high-fidelity sound in the studio an on the stage.

The StealthPedal looks just like a mere expression pedal from the top view. But look at the sides and the input and output jacks belie its humble appearance. On the left side of the pedal are ¼” jacks for right and left output, an 1/8” for headphones, another ¼” jack for a dual-switch external switching unit (extra), and the USB jack. On the right side of the pedal are ¼” jacks for inputs, a volume control knob, and a ¼” jack for plugging in another expression pedal. In other words, this “pedal” packs a punch and is so much more than what it appears!

Wah, wah, wah

It took me awhile to figure out that I had too early versions of X-Gear / Amplitube Fender to be automatically recognized the StealthPedal. My bad entirely. But once I had the right versions installed, adding software stomp effects and controlling them via the StealthPedal was a total breeze! The software automatically assigns the StealthPedal to control the first effect with some default behavior. For instance, with a wah effect plugin, the foot pedal is assigned to the wah effect and the switch is assigned to bypass. But you can change behavior simply by clicking the “setup” button at the top-right of the application window. It can’t get much simpler than that!

In the Studio

But before I even tried using it to control the included Amplitube software, I wanted to see how it performed as an audio interface. In this usage, I was totally blown away! Whereas other audio units such as those from DigiDesign require a software driver to operate (yes, even on the Mac), at least on the Mac, the StealthPedal follows Apple’s lead in design: Plug it in and it just works! So in a very real way the StealthPedal is aptly named as it just does what it does without you knowing how – or having to know how it works! Note that you do need a driver for Windows. But on my Mac, the process to be up and running took less than 5 minutes! That’s incredible!

Launching GarageBand, I just went into the preferences, and selected the StealthPedal as my input and output devices. I ran an unbalanced line from my mic pre-amp into the first input jack of the StealthPedal, added and setup a new track, hit record and started jamming on my guitar that was plugged into my amp. The StealthPedal worked as expected – actually a lot better than I expected because I was expecting only “okay” signal quality, considering the price point of this unit. Boy, was I wrong. The recorded signal was just as clean as my MBox 2, with no apparent shading of any kind. That put a smile on my face. And another thing that really blew me away was that lag was virtually non-existent. There was tiny bit, but nowhere in the realm of the lag that I normally get with my MBox 2. Amazing!

Then plugging my guitar directly into the StealthPedal, I fired up the Amplitube Fender plug-in, selected an amp, and started playing. This was truly the first time I could switch on track monitoring and not get thrown off from the lag!

What’s Not Obvious Is Usually Where the True Power Lays

Think about this carefully because it’s important: The real impact of the StealthPedal is not necessarily in its features, but in what it provides as a solution. As I mentioned above, the StealthPedal completes the picture for IK Multimedia to provide an end-to-end computer-based guitar performance and recording solution. I don’t say this lightly. Not only do they have totally kickass amp and effects modeling, with the StealthPedal, they now have a high-quality, high-fidelity guitar audio interface and software controller! Add to the fact that the StealthPedal requires ZERO setup to use (Mac only, sorry folks), and you’ve got a complete solution for all your computer-based guitar audio. And because the StealthPedal was built to work specifically for “Powered By Amplitube” products, you never have to worry about compatibility problems! I don’t know about you, but that’s just incredible to me. But wait there’s more!

Because it is a MIDI controller, the StealthPedal can also be used with other amp sim software via MIDI. So this just isn’t a solution for the AmpliTube user, it can be used by virtually all recording guitarists, and other musicians as well!

Overall Impressions

What can I say? I dig the StealthPedal! In the next couple of weeks, I’m going on a trip. Guess what’s coming with me? A guitar, the StealthPedal, a mic pre-amp, a mic, and a couple of cords. That’ll be enough to record any song, and besides the guitar, all that will fit into my computer bag!

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Gear Announcement: Quantum Mechanics in an Effect Pedal? You bet!

Posted in announcements, buying gear, distortion, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear find, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, overdrive, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 2, 2009| 1 Comment »

Acoustic Imaginearing Quantum DriveBrand-new from what appears to be a brand-new kind of overdrive/distortion, Acoustic Imaginearing has just released its new QuantumDrive, overdrive/distortion pedal. Folks, this appears to be totally new technology; the first and only that employs quantum mechanics tunneling to produce its distortion sound!

I’m no physicist, so I’ll let you do your own research on what quantum tunneling is. But this is a totally new twist on distortion! Here’s the press release:

“The QuantumDrive, A.I.’s flagship product, is a versatile and unique overdrive and distortion unit that uses a patent pending process to dynamically shape the sound of the guitar by means of a quantum tunneling device. Quantum tunneling is a curious physics principle which allows matter to “pass through” other matter which would normally be impenetrable. A.I. has developed a means of using this effect to modify a guitar signal in unique and previously unheard of ways. The quantum distortion appears to add a vowel sound to the signal as well as emphasizing the consonant, fricative guitar distinctiveness. Affecting the edge of the waveform and not just the peaks, the result is a very expressive tone when played “in the zone.” Of course the pedal is also capable of wild and quirky, outside the norm distortions — each distinctive to the instrument processed by the Quantum Drive.

The effect is well suited for both guitar and bass, as bass frequencies are retained without becoming muddy. It has been used by Tony Levin on the latest King Crimson tour.

In addition to the distortion channel, the pedal has a solid overdrive channel, also uniquely designed, that can be used independently or chained together with the quantum channel.”

I gotta tell you, I love this kind of stuff! And the fact that this is an overdrive/distortion pedal (you know OD is my favorite kind of pedal) is even better! I’m very excited when inventors add a new twist to something familiar. It just goes to show that there’s no shortage of creativity and innovation in the world!

How It Sounds

There are very limited sound clips available on the site, but the interface to listen to them is a bit screwy. I was able to do a debug trace to figure out the sound clip file names. The following clips were done with a Les Paul with the rhythm pickup into the QuantumDrive and output through a Peavey Classic 30. The clips actually aren’t that good, as the massive amounts of reverb kind of mask what could really be a great sounding pedal. But from what I could here, this is a real open sounding distortion, with just a little fizz. What I like is how the signal tails off.

Light Quantum Drive

Medium Quantum Drive

High Quantum Drive

Note that this pedal also has an overdrive that you can mix with the quantum drive as well.

Where to Buy

You can get this pedal on EBay for $165 as a “Buy It Now” or bid on it for $160 starting bid/$225 Buy It Now (in another auction).

This pedal is so new, they only have two dealers. This is a great find!

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New Gear: IK Multimedia Stealth Pedal

Posted in AmpliTube, amplitube fender, amps, announcements, buying gear, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear reviews, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, IK Multimedia, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

IK Multimedia Stealth Pedal

For those computer-based DAW jockeys, you know about IK Multimedia’s Amplitube software. I recently wrote a review of Amplitube Fender Edition, and loved it. Now I have an even bigger reason to love it, and that’s IK Multimedia’s StealthPedal which looks like an expression pedal but is actually a fully-functional, USB-powered audio interface WITH a built-in expression pedal. How friggin’ cool is that?

Folks, this thing works, and it works well, as my full review, which will be released in a few days will bear out. As an audio interface, it may not have a lot of bells and whistles, but for the home recording studio buff, this is a great, affordable, high-res audio device that can take a direct in from your guitar or pedal board, or a line out from a pre-amp to use for layering tracks.

But because the pedal has the ability to act as a controller for any “Powered by Amplitube” software or plug-in, you may not even need an amp to record your guitar parts! There are enough fantastic-sounding amp models packed into the various Amplitube packages that you’ll be sure to find a model that works for you. Plus the software effect plug-ins that the StealthPedal can control give you added tone shaping abilities.

In my impending review, I’ll have more clips to share, but here’s a “torch song” that I’ve been working on that features the StealthPedal in action as an audio interface:

Except for the drum loop, all the instruments were recorded using the StealthPedal as the audio interface. I did a line-in directly for the electric piano. For the guitar parts, the amps are both software amps! For the rhythm part I used a Fender Champ 600 with a virtual compressor rack plug-in and my Strat plugged directly into the StealthPedal. For the lead part, I plugged into my pedal board and used my Tone Freak Effects Abunai 2 overdrive, and a Hardwire RV-7 Reverb. For the amp, I used a ’59 Bassman model. Imagine that! Software that sounds this good!

I know, nothing sounds like or feels like a real amp, but the convenience and the general sound quality of these models, plus the high-fidelity of the StealthPedal isn’t lost on me. It’s a nice, compact audio solution that combined with the software, will definitely make a difference in how you approach recording guitars.

Stay tuned for my full review!

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