Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘musicians’ Category

Gear Review: IK Multimedia Amplitube Fender

Posted in AmpliTube, amplitube fender, buying gear, Effects, GarageBand, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Home Studio, IK Multimedia, Music, musicians, recording, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 17, 2009| 9 Comments »

4.75 Tone Bones - Almost perfect but not quite
Amplitube Fender Edition		 IK Multimedia Amplitube Fender Edition

Summary: Modeling 12 of the most famous Fender Amps, Amplitube Fender is pretty amazing. It’s scary how close to the real thing this software gets!

Pros: Super-easy to install, and super-convenient to use in your DAW software. The package comes with TONS of presets that require very little tweaking.

Cons: This is just a little nit because it sounds so good, and I don’t want to take that away from this excellent piece of software. But it doesn’t quite respond like a real amp.

Price: $229 Full Version / $139 Studio Version

Specs (from the IK Multimedia site):

Tone Bone Rating: 4.75 overall, but for a recording plug-in, it gets a 5.0

Being a snobbish purist about “real” gear, 🙂 I’m not easily impressed by emulation software. But when I heard clips of the Fender Edition of Amplitube, I knew I had to check this software out. A million thanks go to the folks at IK Multimedia to letting me evaluate this software because I am definitely impressed by Amplitube Fender! It’s not everyday that you have access to 12 awesome Fender amps, and to have them literally a mouse-click away is just insane! I don’t think amp software will ever replace a real amp, but this software comes so close to sounding like the real thing that especially for recording, I’d be hard-pressed to NOT use it for recording lots of guitar parts!

I used an earlier version of AmpliTube a few years ago, and was not at all impressed by how it sounded. But being in the software development world, with time, software gets better, and I have to say that this software is absolutely incredible!

Now and then, I go off for a weekend alone, and I lug a couple of guitars, a couple of mics, an amp or two, and my MacBook, along with my MBox 2 interface to just do some writing and recording. With Amplitube Fender, I don’t need to lug my amps! I can just load my laptop and MBox an a couple of cords and a mic, and I’m home free! Hey! Not having to lug any extra gear is HUGE! I’m sold on using this software! Not only do I have my four real amps, I now have 12 other amps to choose from when I record! It’s really exciting!

How It Sounds

Imagine that! No need to write a section on fit and finish! 🙂

In a word, it sounds AWESOME! Right after I installed the software, I plugged my Strat into the DI jack of my MBox 2, opened up GarageBand, started a new project, added a new track, and selected “Amplitube Fender” from a plug-in drop down. It was literally that easy! I randomly picked a ’57 Deluxe Dual Mic, then started to strum this little ditty in Am. Before I knew it, I was adding drum and bass tracks, to record the riff.

I’ve played through a ’57 Deluxe in the past, and I was amazed at how the software emulated that warm, bright and crisp sound that that amp is known for! I kept on thinking to myself, “This couldn’t be software – it sounds to friggin’ good!” After I recorded that rhythm track, I took out the Goldtop to play a lead. I ended up playing for over an hour this evening just tooling around with different amps. In the end, I wanted to get a sample out, so I chose a ’59 Bassman with a Fender Fuzz-Wah plug-in to get some fuzz, then recorded the following sound bite:

I don’t know about you, but I really can’t tell the difference between the real thing and software. Maybe because I’m starting to lose my hearing and my ability to discern audio fidelity is kind of going south. No matter, I think this software ROCKS!

Overall Impressions

Amplitube Fender does a fantastic job of amp emulation – there’s no arguing that at all. But there’s a certain “mojo” about a real amp that just can’t be captured with software, no matter how close to the real thing that software sounds. That said, however, even one as snobbish as myself, and other gear freaks I know would be hard-pressed not to seriously consider adding this to their arsenal of recording plug-ins!

Read Full Post »

Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps: Vintage Guitar Builder Profile

Posted in amplifiers, amps, Amps/Amplification, aracom amps, guitar, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »


I’ve been very fortunate to have met some really awesome people in the industry. One of them is my friend Jeff Aragaki. Jeff contacted me out of the blue one day to buy advertising space on my site. I replied that I didn’t do that because I didn’t want to commercialize GuitarGear.org, but I’d love to evaluate one of his amps, and if I truly loved what I played, I’d put up his banner for free. That evaluation led to testing several amplifiers over the past several months, and we’ve established a growing friendship.

Jeff is one of the most humble people on the planet. He has a warm and unassuming demeanor, and never has anything bad to say about anyone. He’s just an all-around great guy. And the man is very smart. He has a successful electronics business that he’s converting into the amplifier business that is Aracom Amps.

Recently, Vintage Guitar did a “Builder Profile” on Jeff Aragaki that Jeff was kind enough to share with me. It’s a PDF, and you can view it here.

I’m so jazzed for Jeff! He’s the kind of guy that you can totally trust, and he’s got a real passion for the amps that he makes. Way to go, Jeff!

Read Full Post »

Gear Alert! Aracom Amps to Release a New Model!!!

Posted in amplifiers, amps, Amps/Amplification, announcements, aracom amps, buying gear, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 14, 2009| 1 Comment »

The Dawg always has his nose to the ground, trying to pick up the scent of new gear. And for the past few months with the economy in a deep recession, new gear has been tough to find; especially from the small-run manufacturers. Well, I just picked up the scent of a brand new amp from Aracom Amps, and despite the recommendations of its maker, Jeff Aragaki to wait until he updates his site, sorry Jeff, this alert just can’t wait!!! 🙂

The new amp is called the Vintage Rox Series, and is based upon his absolutely kick-ass RoxBox series, which is an EL84-based, 18 Watt head or combo. The Vintage Rox, or VRX, series on the other hand, uses the same chassis and layout as the RoxBox, but is 6V6-based, producing 22 Watts of output. Now you have a choice in low-wattage solutions from Aracom!

Time to come clean…

Okay, I’ll admit it: I didn’t just discover this amp. I was actually the primary tester for the amp (there are distinct advantages to being local to a manufacturer), and I have been literally waiting weeks and chomping at the bit to announce it. I’ve hinted at its existence in previous article, but couldn’t provide any details.

Why am I so excited? For lots of reasons. But I’ll name two. First, with this amp, I think Jeff has definitely hit the sweet spot for low-wattage amp solutions! With the RoxBox 18 and the VRX 22, players have a voicing choice that not many boutique builders offer. But even more special, both the RoxBox and VRX amps sell for significantly less; in many cases more than half as much as other boutique amps at the same or similar wattage.

Secondly, the tone this amp produces is freakin’ marvelous! So much so, that I’m taking delivery of the first production amp. When Jeff brought the first prototype to me several weeks ago as an “experiment” he was working on, my immediate feedback was that this was a special amp, and I couldn’t wait until he had a production model because that was the amp I wanted to get from him.

I’ll have a full review of the amp once I get some pictures from Jeff, but for now, start checking out the Aracom Amps site for the VRX 22 announcement. It should be up by tomorrow!

Folks, I haven’t been this excited about an amp since I reviewed the Reason SM25! It’s one special amp that really deserves your attention. Also, if you subscribe to Vintage Guitar mag, you should see a review of the Aracom Evolver there in the newest issue!

Read Full Post »

I am a…

Posted in amplifiers, amps, Amps/Amplification, buying gear, custom guitars, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar lifestyle, guitar pedals, guitar picks, guitarists, Guitars, inspiration, Music, musicians, pedals, performing, picks, playing live, plectrum, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 13, 2009| 2 Comments »

Gear-aholic. Tone Freak. Gear Maniac. At least that is what I have been called. I like to think of myself as a “Tone Crusader.”

I comb the ethers in search of implements to try to catch the unicorn called “Tone.” And since tone has so many faces, I need different kinds tools to help me catch the unicorn.  Thus, I have an arsenal of axes, both custom and commonly available; a bank of sound amplification devices to announce my presence with special foot pedals to alter my sound to affect a different response.

I spend hours upon hours developing and honing my skills, and learning how to most effectively use my tools. I am a warrior who must constantly be at the ready to perform.

And like the Crusaders of old, my quest for the tone unicorn is a life-long pursuit that has been fraught with both times of extreme joy and with days of dark dispair. But despite its ups and downs, I cannot even begin to imagine abandoning this pursuit! I’ve seen the unicorn! I have even come close to touching it! And until I do touch it, I will never give up. Never!!!

I fully realize that I may go to my grave without ever catching the unicorn. But it is not the goal that matters to me in any case; it is the journey that matters.

Read Full Post »

Gear Announcement: Red Bear Trading Releases the Tuff-Tone Line of Picks

Posted in announcements, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitar picks, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, picks, plectrum, Red Bear Trading, Tuff-Tone, Tuff-Tone Picks, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2009| 3 Comments »

Red Bear Trading Tuff-Tone Classic H

Red Bear Trading Tuff-Tone Classic H

I occasionally browse Red Bear Trading’s web site to see if Dave Skowron has come up with anything new, and much to my surprise, he has! Red Bear has come up with a new pick line called the Tuff-Tone line that apparently sound just as good as his originals. But the big difference is that these picks are made of a material that is much more durable than the Tortis material of the original Red Bear picks! Apparently, they also sound just as good as the originals. Could this be a death knell for Tortis? I doubt it. Dave’s Tortis picks are the absolute bomb, and the natural feel of the Tortis when you’re playing is absolutely to die for!

In any case, here’s an excerpt from the Tuff-Tone web page:

Are they tough enough? You bet. These picks aren’t going to warp or break on you anytime soon. They will pick up some discoloration from your guitar strings. When this happens, simply wash them with soap and water. Go ahead and run them through the washer and dryer! No problem! Keep them in your pocket full of change – see if we care! These picks are really tough!

Not only are the tougher, they cost half the price of a regular Red Bear pick at $10.00! This is something I’m going to have to check out – and soon! For more information, check out the Tuff-Tone information page at Red Bear Trading!

Read Full Post »

Gig Report: Prestige Guitars Heritage Elite

Posted in GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, prestige guitars, Saint Guitar Company, Worship Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2009| 3 Comments »

Prestige Heritage Elite - Lite Sunburst

Prestige Heritage Elite - Lite Sunburst

It’s one thing to test gear in a controlled environment, it’s an entirely different matter to use it for a gig. After receiving the Prestige Heritage Elite, I took it through its paces in my home studio, and it performed quite well; so well that I gave it very high marks, reflecting the excellent build quality as well as how it sounds, which was awesome in the studio. The operative word here is “studio.”

As I mentioned above, it’s an entirely different matter of testing gear in a gig situation. After all, during a gig, you don’t have the luxury to stop to make corrections on the fly. Furthermore, during a gig, an instrument’s tone interacts and reacts completely differently to the environment than in the studio.

Hope that little section above doesn’t make you nervous about how the Heritage Elite performed 🙂 because it worked great! I played the guitar at my weekly church gig with a full band. Now before you dismiss this venue, let me say that playing in a church is one of the most sonically challenging environments to play in because you don’t have the luxury to crank it up, and churches have pretty high ceilings so dealing with sound bouncing around a big space makes it even more challenging. In light of that, you have to rely a lot on the natural tone of the gear you’re playing. Especially with something like a guitar, it has to sound great at lower volumes, and have voicing that won’t get lost in the ambient.

In this, the Heritage Elite really excels. Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t have the deep ballsy voicing you’d expect from a Les Paul-type of guitar. In fact, the voicing is much brighter, but from the standpoint of playing live, that’s a good thing, and something for which I’ve always praised Saint Guitars. But like a Les Paul, it has that distinctive chirp – that kind of hard to describe, subtle sound. It’s very pleasing to the ears – I dig it!

The other great thing about playing at my church is that I can play a variety of musical styles throughout the course of the service. I played some hard driving rock as well as some soft, finger-style music. Whatever the style of music I played, the Heritage Elite performed great. I especially dug its clean tone while finger-picking.

I also forgot how fun it is to play with independent volume and tone controls. I usually peg the tone controls, then use varying amounts of gain between the neck and bridge pickups to dial in just the right tone for a song. I actually played most of the service in the middle position so I could take advantage of both volume controls, though I used the treble position for leads – the SH-4 JB in the bridge position rocks!

So, whether you use it in the studio or on the stage, the Prestige Guitars Heritage Elite will do the job handily!

By the way, I found out why these boutique-like guitars come in at such a low price point compared to their more expensive counterparts: The guitars are cut, built and finished in Korea, then shipped to Canada to have hardware added and set up. For people who care about build location, this might be an issue. But PRS does _everything_ in Korea for their SE guitars, and they sound and play great! And I guess that’s the point I’m trying to make. Who the hell cares where Prestige guitars cut and constructed? All I know is that the guitar I’ve reviewed has no finish flaws, and more importantly, it sounds and plays great! I’ve even lent it to my close friend, and he’s diggin’ it! He’s amazed at how well it plays and sounds! That’s the most important thing with any instrument.

Read Full Post »

Pick One! A New Article on JemSite!

Posted in GAS, gear, guitar, guitar picks, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, picks, plectrum, Red Bear Trading, V-Picks, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2009| 2 Comments »

Every once in awhile, I contribute blog entries to JemSite, the largest Ibanez gear site with over 750,000 members. It’s an old board. With this installment, I talk about the virtues of using a high-end pick. Check out the article!

Read Full Post »

Gear Review: Prestige Guitars Heritage Elite

Posted in gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, prestige guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 7, 2009| 9 Comments »

clean-both4.75 Tone Bones - Almost perfect but not quite

Prestige Heritage Elite - Lite Sunburst

Prestige Heritage Elite - Lite Sunburst

 Prestige Guitars Heritage Elite

Summary: Is it possible to build a better Les Paul. Prestige Guitars thinks so, and I think they’re on to something with the Heritage Elite. With its stunning looks and gorgeous voice, this is a great, all-around versatile guitar that will fit any style of music.

Pros: Very full and rich sound, and all the accoutrements make this guitar a real looker. Very nice treble pickup with higher gain settings.

Cons: This is just a little one. I’m not fond of the abalone outlining on the the neck as to me it takes away from the gorgeous vine inlay. But that’s just me. Also the intonation was off on the 6th string – again, it wasn’t a big deal – I just fixed it and went off to the races.

Price: $1800 Canadian / ~$1450 US

Specs:

  • 24 3/4” scale length
  • 1 11/16” nut width
  • Abalone bound mahogany body
  • Carved AAA Grade quilted maple top
  • One piece mahogany neck
  • Abalone bound rosewood fingerboard
  • Floral vine fingerboard inlay
  • Mother of pearl prestige logo & decal
  • Seymour Duncan SH1-59 (neck) SH4-JB (bridge) Humbucker pickups
  • 2 Vol. / 2 Tone / 3-way toggle controls
  • Tune-o-matic bridge & stop bar
  • Grover tuners
  • All gold hardware
  • Available in natural sunburst & ebony finishes

Tone Bone Rating: 4.75 – 6th string was slightly off in intonation, and I had to adjust it. Weird, because all the other strings were perfectly intoned. If it hadn’t been for that, the guitar would get a 5.0 rating.

Didn’t I just write a First Impressions? Well, I haven’t put this guitar down all day because I was having so much fun with it, so I decided to just go ahead and write the review. I’ll do a gig report once I’ve played it in a gig setting – which will be tomorrow. 🙂

Fit and Finish

What can I say? This guitar is gorgeous, and except for my little nit, everything is perfect on this guitar. I love the stain burst finish that really accentuates the quilted maple top. There’s no glue marks or finish mistakes to be found on this beauty, and the abalone binding around the body and ebonized head stock is to die for! The neck joint is perfect as well, and is nicely set with no extra bulk, so reaching notes in the upper registers is an absolute breeze!

Prestige really thought out the design of this guitar really well. The gold hardware is a nice touch, and the Grover tuners are the bomb. Even though they’re not locking, the guitar stays in tune. I’ve only had to hit the tuner twice all day due to temperature changes in my garage/studio. The vine inlay on the neck is oh-so-stunning, and reminiscent of high-end guitars I’ve seen and played that cost a helluva lot more than this beauty queen. How Prestige was able to build a great-looking guitar with so much boutique bling at a fairly reasonable price is beyond me, but hey! Who’s complaining? Definitely not me.

Normally, I can’t stand pick guards, but somehow, the pick guard on the Heritage Elite is really unobtrusive. This guitar just “works.” I dig it.

Playability

I have to admit that after playing “Goldie,” a Saint Guitar Company Benchmark that has a wide profile neck, it was tough to get used to the comparatively narrower neck profile of this guitar. But once I got my hands dialed in, I gotta say that this guitar is very easy to play. The C-shape neck is a joy to play, and the rosewood fretboard is nice and smooth, yet with enough texture to give great tactile feedback.

The thin body makes positioning very easy – especially for a big guy like myself that has a middle-aged gut, so how it hangs from the strap is important. I didn’t have to make any positional adjustments with this guitar, which is something I have to do with a lot of guitars.

The shorter scale was something I also had to get used to, but that’s not even a nit. Again, once I got my hands dialed in to play this guitar, it was so very easy to play. The action was perfect out of the box – nice and low, which is how I like it. They strung it with D’Addario 10’s to boot, which is my preferred gauge and a brand I’ve used for years (though I’ve lately been using almost exclusively DR strings), so the strings were instantly familiar-feeling. As I mentioned, the only ding that the guitar got was the intonation on the 6th string. I understand that this could be due to shipping, but it was off enough where I had to get my micro allen wrench and adjust it. That always makes me nervous with these demo guitars because I don’t want scratch them out of respect for the manufacturer’s hard work. But all went smoothly, so no harm, no foul.

How It Sounds

In a word, “gorgeous.” It has that classic Les Paul fatness, but it’s also brightly voiced, like a Saint Guitar. It’s not as EQ balanced in its brightness like a Saint is, but for what it offers, this guitar really kicks ass tonally. The Heritage Elite packs tons of nice harmonics and overtones that add complexity to its tonal presentation. And another thing that I really dig about this guitar is that it has tons of sustain, which really comes out in the treble pickup, especially at high gain settings! I’ve played tons and tons of guitars, and most have ear shattering treble pickups. The Saint Guitars and this Heritage Elite have the most usable treble pickups I’ve played. I think this is due to the guitars’ inherent, natural sustain. In any case, check out some sound samples I made:

Clean – Both Pickups

Clean – Neck Pickup

Clean – Bridge Pickup

Dirty – Both Pickups

Dirty – Neck Pickup

Dirty – Bridge Pickup

Clean clips were played in the Clean channel of my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, while the dirty clips were played in the Drive channel. For the dirty treble pickup clip, I slammed the front-end of the amp with a wide-open Creation Audio Labs Mk.4.23 clean boost, the best clean boost on the planet. That brought on tons of overtones and rich harmonics! Sweet.

Overall Impressions

I really like this guitar. It looks great, it sounds great and it plays great! By the way, this is their top of the line model, and at $1800 Canadian, it’s an incredible value proposition. Believe me when I tell you that you’re getting a boutique-quality guitar for a great price with the Prestige Heritage Elite!

For more information, go to the Prestige Guitars Web Site.

Read Full Post »

Guitar Demo: Vinni Smith Demos a Saint Guitar

Posted in buying gear, custom guitars, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, Saint Guitar Company, Saint Guitars Benchmark, V-Picks, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 6, 2009| 2 Comments »

It’s a huge step for that little shop in Fresno, CA called Saint Guitar Company. I’ve really gotten involved with Saint Guitars over the past several months, and I think Adam Hernandez on the verge of making the big time with his guitars. So to help him out, I asked Vinni Smith of V-Picks if he would do demo video of a Saint Guitar guitar to help get the word out, and he’s given it an absolutely glowing review! Check it out:

For more information go to the Saint Guitar Company web site.

Read Full Post »

New Gear: Orange Amplification launches ‘Limited Edition 2009’ White Finish’

Posted in amplifiers, amps, Amps/Amplification, announcements, buying gear, GAS, gear, guitar, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Orange Amps Limited Edition 2009 White FinishI love writing this blog. In order to keep my content fresh, I have to top into a lot of resources. No doubt, I get A LOT of announcements and stuff. Most of it I just let rot in my inbox, but there are some, like this press release from Orange that really catch my eye. Here’s the verbiage:

British amplifier manufacturer Orange, have for decades produced their instantly recognisable, brightly coloured Orange Amplifiers and picture-frame cabinets and more recently offered Black as a standard option. Their revolutionary styling, have not only set them apart, but literally helped guitarists the world over, stand out from the crowd.

Orange can now announce a ‘limited edition 2009’ white finish on their UK built, valve amps and cabs. The cabs have a stunning white finish, complete with black fittings and come with the classic Orange front grill cloth, Orange logo and crest. This finish has previously only been available for artist’s special orders and is now being offered as a special limited edition for the duration of 2009 and will cease to be obtainable thereafter.

The white finish has already been used by artists as diverse as Madonna, Monte Pittman and The View and following numerous requests, Orange are able to offer this for a limited period only at the same price as existing Orange amps and heads.

For further information contact:

UK and rest of world info@omec.com  and for the USA info@orangeusa.com

home


Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »