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Move over OCD, the Holy Fire is where it’s at for me now…

Posted in booster, buying gear, clean boost, Creation Audio Labs, distortion, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Holy Fire, inspiration, Mk.4.23, Music, musicians, overdrive, pedals, playing live, reason amps, SM25, Strat, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 11, 2009| 2 Comments »

Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire Overdrive/Distortion Pedal

Fulltone OCD Drive Pedal

What do you do when you have two kick-ass overdrive/distortion pedals and don’t know which one to choose because both pedals bring so much to the table? The obvious answer is to use both. But my problem in choosing is exacerbated by limited pedal real estate, so I have to make a choice.

Actually, the choice wasn’t too hard to make once I started playing with the Creation Audio Labs Holy Fire. While I love the OCD, the Holy Fire wins hands-down for its versatility and total transparency. While the OCD is somewhat transparent, it can get kind of muddy and a little choppy at high drive settings, whereas the Holy Fire’s distortion section reacts a lot like a power tube at high gain settings producing a compressed effect that just rocks the house!

I still love the sound that the OCD produces. It really brings out harmonics and overtones, and set in a “sweet spot” produces a nice sparkly distortion that really sounds great. But as of late I’ve been gravitating towards retaining the natural sound of my guitar and amp, so the added artifacts that the OCD adds aren’t really what I want right now.

On the other hand, the overdrive on the Holy Fire is totally unique, and nothing like I’ve ever witnessed in all my tests of overdrive pedals (and believe me, I’ve tested a lot). The overdrive has what Creation Audio Labs calls a “wave shaping” circuit that evenly distorts the entire bandwidth of the incoming signal as opposed to creating a mid-range hump, or scooping the EQ. It really is completely even. You don’t lose any lows or highs, which is common in overdrive pedals. And the circuit reacts to both volume and pick attack, providing more wave shaping as you hit the front-end of the pedal harder. Simply put, you retain all the natural tone of your guitar! It’s insane! And it’s so special, Creation Audio Labs is trying to patent it!

I gigged with the Holy Fire for the first time this evening at my weekly Church gig. Make no mistake, this may be a church service, but we regularly hit above 100db in our sets, so there is plenty of room to let our amps breath, and take advantage of the higher gain settings on our equipment. Tonight, I made sure to pick music that would allow me to use the Holy Fire throughout my set. Talk about being inspired! I used it with my Strat and a Reason SM25 amp. What a combo! I set the gain to just above unity with the clean channel (about 10am), the overdrive at about 2pm, and distortion at about 3pm (so the distortion section would compress – it does this at around 2pm). The breakup was so smooth and delicious, I wanted to keep it on all the time! Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that with some songs, but where I had the entire band playing all out, the Holy Fire just made my heart sing!

The Holy Fire also plays well with other pedals. My mainstay overdrive pedal is my trusty green machine, an Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer. That’s one pedal that will NEVER leave my board! But here’s the cool thing: Running the Tube Screamer in front of the Holy First was like nothing I’ve heard before. I did this with my OCD as well, essentially getting a combined tonal effect that the TS and OCD produce. But the Holy Fire maintained the tone the Tube Screamer produces! On the other hand, it smoothed out and thickened the distortion. The result was the expected mid-range hump from the Tube Screamer, but with super-creamy distortion, plus the TS tone, that was like candy to my ears. No extra coloration that I came to expect by running my TS into the OCD. It was like playing a fatter Tube Screamer!

Believe me, despite playing in a worship service, the way I was feeling with both those pedals running together made it seem I like I was flying with the angels! I’m not exaggerating! There is absolutely nothing compared to the feeling you get when you’re playing with wonderful tone. It inspires and emboldens you, and you take your playing to places you didn’t think possible.

That was the feeling I got when I first started playing with the OCD, and frankly, I didn’t think it could get much better. But the Holy Fire has changed everything.

On top of that, I was using another Creation Audio Labs pedal, the Mk.4.23 clean boost, yet another amazing product from those electronics wizards. I used the booster to give me just a slight gain boost for when I was doing solos, or was in the refrain section of a song when I needed just a bit more volume. It too is a totally transparent boost, adding ZERO artifacts to your signal, so all the time I spent dialing in my settings wouldn’t be lost when the Mk.4.23 was engaged.

I swear, I must sound like a twitterpated, googly-eyed schoolgirl! 🙂 But it’s been a long time that I’ve felt truly inspired, like everything was totally right with my world of tone. I’ve finally (at least for now), found total balance in my tone. The circle is complete…

At least until I get a bad case of GAS!!!

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Gear Review: G & L Tribute Series Comanche

Posted in buying gear, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 7, 2009| 5 Comments »

4.75 Tone Bones - Almost perfect but not quite

G & L Tribute Comanche in AmberBurst

G & L Tribute Comanche in AmberBurst

 G & L Tribute Series Comanche
Summary: Super-affordable, production version of the venerable Comanche. Has the same swamp ash body and rock maple neck with Fender Avenue parts. Comes with either maple or rosewood fretboard.

Pros: This guitar is a great value! My eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw the price! Plays just like the original I played last year, and the Z-coil hybrid pickups produce a creamy-smooth tone with sustain for days. Bridge pickup is the most tonally balanced bridge pickup I’ve ever played!

Cons: I prefer a satin neck finish with maple necks (it’s that Strat thing), but the Tribute still sports the same vintage gloss neck finish as the original. It’s still very playable, but it’s a feel thing for me.

Price: ~$1300 list / $799-$899 street

Tone Bone Rating: 4.75 – This guitar would be perfect with a satin finish on the neck.

Back in March of last year, I had my first encounter with G & L Guitars in a little shop in Sacramento. At the time, I didn’t have any idea of the existence G & L company and how it was Fender Version 2 (I was still getting acquainted with the non-big-name manufacturers). But no matter, I picked up a Comanche off the rack, and instantly fell in love. So much so that I just had to write a review about it! But I had to temper that love with the reality that the street price for the guitar at $1700 was just way out of my price range. And having worked with Saint Guitars these past few months, $1700 is not that much to pay for a handmade guitar, but it’s still more than I can justify considering I have a mortgage and tuition to pay, not to mention food to put on the table.

So it came as a complete surprise to me yesterday to finally play a G & L Tribute Series Comanche and be completely blown away by the price of $799! All the feelings that the original guitar I played back in March came flooding back. This was the same, sweet-sounding guitar that made my soul just sing! The skies opened and I envisioned a chorus of angels singing sweetly to the music I was playing. All was right with the universe. Okay, I’m exaggerating… But a choir of angels should’ve been singing because my heart soared to even greater heights as the Tribute was over half the price less than the handmade version, and it still sings as sweetly!

So why the big price difference? The Tribute series of G & L guitars are their mass production versions of their original makes made in Korea. Using overseas production but the same parts typically lowers the price point of items assembled this way. However, that doesn’t mean that build quality is sacrificed. A good example of this is the SE series of PRS Guitars. These guitars are also produced in Korea, but their build quality is practically flawless! I totally dig the SE Soapbar II that I have. It plays like a dream, and has a nice, aggressive, yet expressive tone. G & L didn’t skimp on quality with respect to the Tribute series. The Tribute Comanche I just played had no build flaws that I could detect, and the guitar in Amber Burst is GORGEOUS!!! So looks great, sounds great, and affordable is a great combination!

From what I’ve been able to find out in my research is that G & L actually researched doing overseas production in Japan, but Korean production quality is now on par with Japan, and costs far less to produce there. G & L also spent two years teaching the Korean facility the correct way to construct the guitars. The end result is a very high quality instrument!

Fit and Finish

From a distance, I couldn’t tell an original Comanche from a Tribute. They look the same, though closer inspection yields slightly different hardware, but  you would swear they’re just different styles of the same model of guitar. The Amber Burst finish is absolutely gorgeous! And I detected zero build flaws. Nothing was misaligned, and all the joints were perfectly matched and mated. This is one well-built and guitar!

Playability

One might expect a production model guitar to be a little less refined with respect to playability. Not so in this case. The narrow neck with the jumbo frets make playing the Comanche a dream to play! You can be light to the touch or really dig in, and the guitar just responds. And especially for me right now, where I’ve been gigging a lot as of late, having an easy-to-play guitar is simply wonderful.

How It Sounds

At first blush, since the Comanche looks so much like a Strat, you might think it sounds like a Strat. It kind of does to a point in that tonally, it’s thinner sounding than a guitar with humbuckers. But the tone is much thicker than a Strat. Furthermore, the tonal character between the different pickup combinations is not as dramatic as with a Strat. For instance, with a Strat, positions 2 and 4 produce that distinctive, ringy and jangly Strat tone. With the Comanche, you get the ring, but it’s definitely not as dramatic; especially in position 4 which is the middle/bridge combination.

With position 4, the less jangle has a lot to do with the bridge pickup, which is a hell of a lot fatter sounding in the Comanche than it is with the Strat. Frankly, I love the tone of the Comanche’s bridge pickup. It’s really the first bridge pickup I’ve found to be truly useful. It’s brighter-sounding than the other pickups, but not nearly as tinny sounding as a typical Strat bridge pickup. But then again, it’s just different; it has its own unique character.

If I could pick a single word to describe how the Comanche sounds, I’d have to say, “smooth.” Everything about the tone the Comanche produces is silky smooth. I love the tone it produces.

Overall Take

On value alone, the Comanche gets a 5 Tone Bone rating. But as I stated above, I prefer a satin finish on the neck – it’s more of psychological thing – so I took a quarter point off. But make no mistake about it. This guitar kicks ass!

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It’s That Time Again…

Posted in amplifiers, amps, aracom amps, gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitar lifestyle, guitarists, Guitars, instruction, learn guitar, Music, musicians, reason amps, songwriting, style, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2009| 1 Comment »

New Year's ResolutionI normally don’t make New Year’s resolutions. Haven’t done it in years. I’ve always felt there was something innately dishonest about making resolutions like “I’m going to be a better person,” or “I’m going to do something nice for someone everyday.” Not that those aren’t noble pursuits, but in a lot of cases, they demand an enormous amount of self-discipline, self-sacrifice and changes in normal behavior that most of us can’t persevere. We’re good for a few days or maybe a couple of weeks, but something will happen and it all goes to pot.

In lieu of lofty resolutions, I’ve instead set concrete goals that in order to achieve, require changes in behavior and changes in thinking. I’ll share some of these goals here:

  • I will continue on my five-year plan of getting on the road and touring. I’m just starting my third year in the plan, and it’s going pretty well. I’ve release an album, and am working on my second one; a few of the songs of which I’ve entered into an international songwriters competition. I don’t expect to win, but the feedback that I get will be invaluable. Furthermore, going on the road will require that I get in shape, so I have been eating better and getting exercise in anticipation of going back on stage. I love to eat, so this has been a tough thing for me, but I’ve lost 25 lbs so far, so I’m well on my way.
  • I will study more music theory; especially scalar modes. I already started doing this a few months ago, but really want to master it in the coming year. First, because I want my improvisation to be better, and with an understanding of the intervalic nature of music, I’ll be able to move around the fretboard much easier. I don’t want to necessarily learn patterns that I chain together, I want to get to the point where I can jam in any key, and be confident that the next note I hit works well harmonically and musically with what I’m improvising. Also, mastering scales and modes will make me a better teacher. Don’t get me wrong, I have a very firm intellectual understanding of music theory, and can actually cold read charts, but in actual execution, I feel I’m lacking, so my aim is to meld the two.
  • I will have a custom amplifier built for me. I’m currently working with Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps to build me an amp around his RoxBox 18 Watt design. I’m “going off the reservation” with this one because I want a different speaker than what he offers, a bigger cabinet and a reverb tank, plus a built-in resistive attenuator for low volume applications. If you haven’t checked out the RoxBox, I suggest you do. It’s a great 18 Watt design that’s also a great value stock.
  • I will purchase a Reason amp. Not sure which will come first: Having Jeff finally construct my amp, or purchasing a Reason. I love the SM25 I have right now, but since I’m a StackMode freak, I’m also leaning towards the SM40 head. We’ll see.
  • I will have Adam Hernandez at Saint Gutiars build me a guitar. I’m so grateful to be able to test Adam’s guitars. We’ve already talked about what I might like in a guitar, but I really want one of my own.
  • As far as GuitarGear.org is concerned, I will rebuild the site to make it a lot easier to find things. I’ve already started doing this, but I really need to rethink the design of the site. I will probably go to a three-column layout so I can get more things “above the line” that is, the part of a page that you first see when a web page loads. Right now, the site is a bit narrow, so lots of things fall below the line that I’d like people to see; especially the companies I personally endorse.

Okay, that’s it for me. Anyone willing to share?

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A Conversation with Dave Skowron, Maker of Red Bear Picks

Posted in buying gear, gear, gear reviews, guitar lifestyle, guitar picks, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, picks, plectrum, Red Bear Trading, style, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2008| 1 Comment »

Red Bear Trading CompanyRunning a blog like mine is always rewarding; not just because of all the gear I get to play with but because of the incredible people I get to meet. Among them is Dave Skowron, maker of Red Bear picks and co-owner (with his wife) of Red Bear Trading company. If you read the previous article I posted today, you’d know I’m truly excited about these picks! They look and feel great, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d swear they’re natural tortoise shell. In fact, when Dave made his first prototypes for some friends in Nashville, they all said he was full of it when he told them they were made from a polymer made of animal protein that looks and feels just like tortoise shell. I’ve never had a tortoise shell pick, but I have felt antique stuff made of natural tortoise shell, and this stuff is close – damn close!

But whatever it’s made of, who cares? These picks are special. You wouldn’t think a guitar pick could make a difference in how you’d sound and play, but you’d be wrong. I know I was because I’m now a convert. But I’m also not any big name, so let me drop one: Dweezil Zappa swears by these picks! He shared a story with Dave about how he spent seven days a week for a year and a half woodshedding to learn his father’s songs in preparation for the “Zappa Plays Zappa” tour. He related to Dave that if he’d had been using Red Bear picks, he would’ve learned them in a few months. The point is that these picks not only make you sound better, they make you play better. I can personally attest to that! Whether you play acoustic or electric or both, you can’t go wrong with one of these picks. In fact, you can use the same pick for both types of guitars! I do.

In my excitement about Dave’s picks, I gave him a call to interview him. Funny thing, I really didn’t have to ask many questions, as Dave is a garralous and talkative guy, who’s got no problem speaking his mind. It was a real joy speaking with him. Here’s a transcript (a lot of it paraphrased) of my conversation with him:

So Dave, what’s your story? How did you get started with making picks?

I was a programmer by trade, specializing in Oracle DBA stuff, but I was also really into playing guitar. One thing led to another and I started building guitar. I made a couple, then started getting into building parts for guitar. I was hanging out on the Vintage Guitar forum before it closed, and met a bunch of other guys who were into building guitars. When that forum closed down, I started the 13th Fret web site. One of the guys that hung out there was a luthier who was looking for some tortoise shell-like material for making pick guards, and he came up with a compound that looked just like it, and he made some picks from it. The problem was that it worked great as a material pick guard, but horribly sucked as pick material. So he searched and found a company that made tortoise shell-like material that was great for picks, but horrible for pick guards, and asked if I could shape some.

It took a long time to refine my technique, but I was able to get some good results. So I sent some out to some friends I knew in Nashville for them to give them a try. They called back asking for more, and telling me I was full of shit that these picks weren’t made out of tortoise shell. I swore to ’em that they were made of a polymer made from animal protein. But the end result is Red Bear Trading Company.

How’d you come up with the name?

My dog’s name is Bear, and he has red hair, so “Red Bear.” [And here, I was thinking it was some Native American relationship!]

Without giving away your secret sauce, how are your picks constructed?

I get sheets of the material and use special laser cutters to cut the shapes, then use some precision sanding to get them to size and polish them up.

Sounds pretty involved.

Yeah. The stuff’s not easy to work with, which is why we charge the price we charge. In fact, some guy complained that the picks were way too expensive, so I sent him some of the material and told him to go ahead and try to fashion picks out of it, then tell me how much I should charge. <chuckle> He never did get any picks made…

[That really cracked me up!]

Did you have any idea that your picks would be such a hit, and that you’d get such a glowing endorsement from someone like Dweezil Zappa?

I never even thought we’d get that kind of response! It has been awesome! When we first started, as a bluegrass guy, I was really focused on the acoustic guitar flatpickers. I didn’t even think about the electric guitar community. But they found their way into that community. Mostly, it was the Nashville guys. These were players who were awesome guitarists in their own right, but they played for big names, so when you’d drop their name, people would say, “Who’s that?” I’d have to say that he played in so-and-so’s band. Then the light would go off, and they’d know who I was talking about. But when one of my picks found its way into Dweezil’s hands, and then he called me to get some more (which I didn’t believe at first when my wife said he was on the line), I knew we had made it. We’re so thankful to have his endorsement. He mentions our picks all the time. It is very cool.

——-

Very cool indeed. Our conversation actually went on for a long time. But I thought I’d just include the best parts. Like I said, it was a joy to speak with Dave. He’s the kind of guy that you could shoot the breeze with all day and talk about pretty much anything. He’s immediately personable and warm, and isn’t afraid of cussing when necessary – in other words, he’s real people.

This kind of stuff – the relationships I get to form with folks out there is what makes me keep on going with this blog! Cheers!

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Review: Red Bear Picks

Posted in buying gear, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar lifestyle, guitar picks, guitarists, Guitars, inspiration, Music, musicians, picks, plectrum, style, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2008| 3 Comments »

Red Bear Style B Heavy with Speed Bevel

Red Bear Style B Heavy with Speed Bevel

Does a pick really make a difference? For years, I’ve read about guitarists using custom picks made from tortoise shell or other special materials, seen all the ads from handmade pick manufacturers, and eschewed even the thought of getting one of them because I just couldn’t justify spending up to $40 for a freakin’ guitar pick! For instance, when I’d see an ad for one of these, I’d ask myself, Who in their right f’-in mind would get one of these? It’s just a gimmick – it’s all bull! It don’t make a damn bit of difference.

I couldn’t be more wrong. Playing with a great, handmade pick makes a difference; a HUGE difference in how you play and how you sound.

For the last 30 years, I’ve been using medium Dunlop Tortex picks – the orange ones. They’re cheap, and they get the job done. They’re strewn all over my studio, in my pockets, in my laundry – all over the place. And I don’t care if they break, scratch or if I lose them. They’re replaceable and of little consequence. Not any longer. Once I started playing with a Red Bear pick, I’m never going back to cheap picks unless it’s absolutely necessary (for instance, if I happen to break a good pick and need to get another).

So what’s the story? A good friend of mine was so very kind, and gave me a gift certificate for Christmas to a great guitar store in Palo Alto, CA called Gryphon Stringed Instruments. It’s a shop that specializes in acoustic guitars, but has all sorts of stuff, like parts. It just so happened that I needed to replace the pickup selector switch on my Epiphone Explorer, and as luck would have it, Gryphon had the switch in stock – what better way to spend at least part of my gift certificate?!! So I drove down to Gryphon, got the switch, then started looking at other stuff to spend on my gift certificate.

I got a few packs of strings for both electric and acoustic, and started looking at picks. It then occurred to me that they might have handmade picks. So I asked the fellow behind the counter if they had any, and he said they carried Red Bear picks. Then I asked the operative question, “I’ve read about handmade picks in the guitar rags, but like most people, don’t see what’s so special about them. So what’s so special?” He simply replied, “Once you play with a great pick, you won’t want to play with the cheap ones any longer. It’s hard to explain. They feel so much better, and you just play better with a great pick.”

Folks, that wasn’t a selling job. The look on the guy’s face said it all. But still, I was a bit incredulous, and he must’ve seen the look of disbelief on my face, so he said, “You’re welcome to try one out on any of our guitars. You’ll see the difference.” So I picked out a shape and bevel that I liked, grabbed mid-range Martin off the rack, sat down on a stool, and went through an instant transformation to complete and utter bliss! The pick felt so great in my fingers, and it glided smoothly over the strings. The sound that was produced was so milky smooth, I couldn’t believe my ears!

I thought it had a lot to do with the guitar – it was a nice one. But, being the good guitar gear tester and gear freakomaniac, I always have picks in my pocket, so I did an A/B test. With my standard Tortex, the guitar still sounded good, but not nearly as good with the Red Bear striking its strings. It was uncanny, to say the least! I was dumbfounded, and completely awestruck that a pick – a pick, for God’s sake – could make a guitar sound so good! I must’ve been grinning when I returned to the counter because the guy just said, “See what I mean?” I replied, “Oh yeah… I knew this was something special when strummed with the pick the first time. And doing those lead riffs was effortless.” The sales guy just grinned…

Needless to say, I had to have one, so I bought two, at $20 apiece. It was so well worth it! I had a gig last night and was able to use my new Red Bear, and was in heaven ALL NIGHT LONG! I was so enamored with how my acoustic sounded, that I played as many songs as I could with the pick, and played with the pick on songs I’d normally fingerpick.

So let me attempt to describe what it’s like to play with a great pick. First of all, it just feels great. It doesn’t slip. Next, handmade picks are thick. They don’t flex at all, but they glide over the strings so easily that it makes it easy to play – almost too easy. And because of their thickness, they force you to hold them lightly, and the expression you can get in your playing dynamics by holding the pick looser or tighter is nothing short of amazing. A great pick also makes the strings ring much better.

But the most important thing is that all those things together make it inspiring to play, bringing you into that other-worldly state of pure expression. It’s amazing that a pick can do that, but I’m now a believer. I won’t be going back to cheap picks – EVER.

Check out the Red Bear site for more information!

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!

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Gear for the Home Studio

Posted in amplifiers, amps, buying gear, GarageBand, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar gear, Guitars, Home Studio, inspiration, instruction, mac, Music, musicians, recording, songwriting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2008| 2 Comments »

Home Studio There are different schools of thought around this subject, but I thought I’d throw in some of my own thoughts, since I’ve been at it awhile. Note that I won’t be talking about techniques necessarily, though I will include some tips and tricks… So without further ado…

First, let’s establish something here: You don’t need to buy super-expensive gear to sound good, and you don’t need a lot of equipment. I’ve found that in a lot of cases, while more expensive gear will afford you convenience features, and a better sound quality, for the home studio enthusiast, a lot of times this gear is overkill. I’ll go into some details below, but in my opinion, recording technique is far more important. So with that said, let’s start talking about what I think are essential pieces of equipment:

Computer Equipment/Software

You probably already have a computer, but it should be configured to handle digital recording. While drive speed is important, it isn’t necessarily critical. My MacBook Pro’s hard drive spins at 5400 rpm, and I have no problems recording stuff. But what you do need is space. I’d recommend getting two hard drives: one for programs, and the other dedicated to saving data. It’s just a cleanliness thing. Also, get as much RAM as your machine can handle. I’ve got 4GB on my machine. That’s even more important than a hard drive. You don’t need a super-poweful machine either, but dual-core machines really work well.

Okay, Mac or PC? Go with what you’re comfortable with. There are lots of programs out there; among them is a neat little program that works great on both PC and Mac called Audacity – it’s free! Todd Rundgren recorded a lot of his latest album using Audacity, so it’s definitely doable.

What about ProTools?

I’ve got it. It’s great. But the learning curve is super steep. In fact, when I first started recording, I spent more time learning how to use the damn software than getting my ideas down and that just frustrated me to no end; so much so, that I lost my taste for recording for several months – I just didn’t want to mess around with the software! I just wanted to get my freakin’ ideas down! I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s complicated, and you’ll have to spend a lot of time learning the ins and outs of the program. With the home studio, what you’re after is getting your ideas down with reasonable quality – and fast. That, at least, is my opinion. In light of that, I use GarageBand to get all my ideas down. It has built-in rhythm loops so I don’t have to use a click track, and there are lots of add-ons, both free and affordable, that you can use in GB. The sound quality is excellent, and it even has some mastering presets that work amazingly well!

Digital Interface

There are lots out there. I happen to use the DigiDesign MBox 2, which has two analog inputs, MIDI, and a couple of others I don’t use. Very handy little box. But there are lots of solutions out there in the $300-$400 range. Most use USB, though FireWire is probably the optimum – it also costs more.

Microphones

Now this is just my opinion, but you’ll need at least two mics: One ribbon mic, and one dynamic mic. I have a Nady RSM-200 ribbon that cost me less than $200, and it works superbly! I also swear by my trusty Sennheiser 835 stage mic, which is a workhorse similar to the Shure SM-58, but I think it’s warmer and has a much flatter EQ response than the SM-58 which can get kind of boomy.

MIDI Controller

Being also a piano player – not nearly as good on this as I am on guitar – having a keyboard to trigger MIDI and add MIDI-based instruments is another essential. You can go the small route (2 octave) or go the full-size keyboard route. I use an M-Audio full-size stage keyboard myself only because it doubles as my MIDI controller as well as my gigging keyboard. It was also cheap at $300 new. Nice.

From my standpoint, this is all you need as far as essential equipment for recording. Now let’s get into some techniques and some nice-to-haves:

  1. Always record acoustic guitar using mics – and use two of ’em. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? I’ve tried going direct into my computer, and the sound is horrible. But using two mics works great. I usually place my ribbon mic about six inches from the sound hole, then place my dynamic mic pointed at a 45 degree angle at about the 3rd fret to capture sounds coming off the neck. Also, to take advantage of the ribbon mic’s rear pickup, I have a board, or hard, reflective surface placed about two to three feet in front of me to reflect sound back. It gives just a sligh reverb effect that really fills out the recorded tone.
  2. If you can swing it, get a couple of low-wattage amps. In particular, I use a Fender Champ 600, which is a 5 Watt amp with an 8″ speaker. Another one I’ve used, but don’t own is the Epiphone Valve Jr.. What a nice little amp! Since you’re recording at bedroom levels, a small amp that puts out less volume works wonders. Now here’s the trick I’ve found to recording with these small amps. You can make that sucker sound HUGE by close-mic’ing the amp. I use a dynamic mic pointed at an angle along the cone of the speaker, and place it no more than 2″ away from the grille cloth. Then I use a variety of overdrive and distortion pedals to get grind or searing distortion, then in my software boost the low frequencies. The end result is that it sounds like I’ve just recorded a full-size stack! You have to play with your settings, but it’s definitely achievable. The other nice thing about using a small amp for recording is that the naturally bright voicing really works well in a digital recording environment.
  3. For vocals, always use a pop filter. I’m an experienced singer, and even though I have great mic technique, nothing is worse on a recording than picking up those oral transients that your mouth makes when making consonant sounds. Pop filters cost less than $20 and believe me they’re a life saver.
  4. While we’re on the subject of vocals… Avoid using a compressor on vocals as much as possible. When you’re singing a louder phrase, move away from the mic. It’s that simple. Compression is good to a point, but there’s a lot to be said about having volume dynamics in your vocals. You get a lot more emotion coming through when you have it. If volume is pretty much the same throughout a song, it’s well… boring in my opinion, no matter how good a singer you are.
  5. Avoid EQ as much as you can. Dial in the EQ on your instruments before you record, then only do wholesale volume adjustments later to make mix corrections. What you’re trying to do is capture the natural sound the instrument makes as closely as possible. The only exception I make to this is when I’m recording a low-wattage amp and want to boost the lows. Otherwise, I just do volume adjustments for the mix.

These are just a few things I’ve learned over the last few years of doing this. I’m sure I’ve missed some stuff, so if anyone else wants to add to this, please feel free!

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Gear Review: Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Combo

Posted in amplifiers, amps, aracom amps, buying gear, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, recording, Tone, tubes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2008| 2 Comments »

4.75 Tone Bones - Almost perfect but not quite. Still way above average!

Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Combo Amp

Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Combo Amp

 Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Combo

Summary: The RoxBox is an ideal small to medium size venue amp. Don’t let it’s diminutive size fool you. This amp is LOUD, and packs a real punch. Oodles of clean headroom in Channel 1 and capable of super-sinister drive in Channel 2 due to the “hidden” extra gain stage. Very pedal friendly.

Pros: Crystal-clear clean tone in either channel, though the second will break up earlier. Switchable from 18 Watts down to 9 Watts, so you can use this on stage and in the bedroom. Master volume kicks ass, and acts very similar to an effects loop attenuator. At 18 Watts, it’s loud enough to blow your ears off! Very pedal friendly.

Cons: Only a nit, but I wish this thing had a spring reverb. Also, overdrive can be a bit harsh at lower volumes, especially with single coils, though it’s gorgeous at louder volumes and moderate volumes using hubuckers.

Price: $895 direct

Specs:

– (2) EL84 Power Tubes
– (2) 12AX7 & (1) 12AT7 Preamp Tubes
– S.S. Rectifier with “sag” circuit
– Hi/Low B+ voltage switch (18/9 watts)
– On/Off Switch
– Indicator Lamp
– Custom Heavy Duty Aluminum Chassis
– Custom Wound Transformers
– 4, 8, 16 ohm Speaker Jacks
– Custom Handcrafted
Turret Board
– Handwired
– Weight: ~35 lbs

Combo Cabinets
Standard Tolex: Navy Blue Levant (as tested)
– Dimensions
1×10 Combo: 18″w x 19h x 10″d
1×12 Combo: 18″w x 19h x 10″d
– Weight
1×10 Combo: 36 lbs
1×12 Combo: 39 lbs

Tone Bone Score: 4.75 On value alone, this would get a 5, but the mildly harsh breakup at lower volumes gives it just a slight mark off. Still, it’s a great amp!

Jeff Aragaki, the owner and designer/builder of Aracom Amps is on a mission to transition from his telecommunications business entirely into his amp building business. I’d say that based upon playing just this one amp (both the head and combo versions), and having a look at a couple of other amps in his line (which I will probably review in time), he’s well on his way to successfully completing that mission. And Jeff’s not alone in this quest. A few folks I know here in the Silicon Valley have preceded Jeff, moving from their high-tech careers into the music equipment business; and while they may not have become super-wealthy off these new endeavors, they’re certainly living their dreams.

It’s like that in the Silicon Valley which, for decades has been a hotbed of innovation and dream-chasing. And while its star has faded somewhat as the global technology leader and the market has opened up allowing more players to the tech scene (China and India, for instance), the spirit of innovation and going after your dreams upon which “The Valley” was built remains alive and well, as evidenced by guys like Jeff. And true to Silicon Valley form, what these guys produce is quality stuff, and Aracom amps definitely follows suit!

When Jeff and I first hooked up, I was really excited about his 18 Watt RoxBox. First of all, I just dig the EL-84 tone, and secondly, I was amazed that he could offer this amp for less than a grand, and it’s a hand-wired amp, for goodness sake! I knew I had to check it out. And lucky for me, the city where Jeff lives is a half-hour away (if the traffic’s good), so two days after I first spoke with him, he personally delivered a head and a combo. I’ve been playing with both since (though I was so excited, I let my buddy borrow the head for a couple of days to see how he likes it). I’ve tested both amps in the studio as well as at gigs, but I’m writing this review about the combo. If you want to hear how the head sounds, check out this clip:

My Tests

For my tests, I used my Strat, my PRS SE Soapbar II with P-90’s, and a Saint Baritone Messenger that I’m also testing. The amp performed excellently with all three guitars, but was especially responsive to the baritone which has active humbuckers in Channel 2. But before I get ahead of myself, let first me go over the amp’s features apart from its technical specs.

Controls and Equipment

The RoxBox features two independently voiced channels, each equipped with a volume and tone knob. The Tone control functions similarly to a high-freq sweep. It also has a Master volume which is available to both channels. The Master volume is very cool as it functions as an attenuator between the pre-amps and the power tubes, so you can slam the front of the amp with tons of input gain to get that sweet, mid-rangy pre-amp distortion while keeping the output volume at bedroom levels. Great for edgy blues and classic rock tones. The combo I tested also sports an Eminence Red Fang Red Coat 12″ speaker. Operating at 30W, this sucker has a lot of balls! As expected, the sound was a little harsh when I first tried it out, but after several hours of playing, it’s starting to break in and the tone is starting to become a lot more smooth. Now with that out of the way, let’s get into some details.

Channels

Channel 1 would be considered a normal channel, while Channel 2 is a drive channel that will break up a lot earlier. But with Channel 1, the name of the game is “clean.” With my Strat plugged in, this channel has so much clean headroom that I had to really dig into the strings to produce even a slight amount of grind. My PRS with P-90’s and the Saint Messenger could only produce moderate amounts of grind when the volume was dimed. That’s pretty impressive, and definitely not what I expected. With so much clean headroom, Channel 1 is VERY pedal friendly.

Channel 2 on the other hand definitely breaks up early and is voiced just a tad brighter than Channel 1. But it also has a lot of clean headroom as well. With my Strat, I had to turn the volume knob past 7 to get some decent grind, and had to peg my guitar volume. Believe me, that’s not a bad thing either. On the other hand, My PRS SE Soapbar II and the Saint Messenger had no problems producing grind. I could get breakup at around 4 with the Messenger, and around 5 with the PRS.

To get earlier breakup, Channel 2 actually has a third “hidden” pre-amp gain stage in series behind the pre-amp you plug into with fixed settings. It’s voiced a bit hot, and as Jeff puts it, it’s like having a built in tube overdrive. The end result is you get breakup a lot earlier. I have to say that while I like Channel 1’s tone, for pure versatility, Channel 2 really does it for me, as it is lively and responsive to changes in attack and guitar volume. And putting a booster in front of this Channel really brings on the growl that this channel is capable of producing.

How It Sounds

Tonally, this is definitely an EL-84 amp. It’s bright and chimey, and with the Red Fang, it also has lots of balls. For sweet, clean tones, Channel 1 produces a lush clean tone, and my Strat in the Neck/Middle position sounds gorgeous through this channel. As I mentioned, it’s a bit brighter than Channel 1, which made me tweak my guitar tone knobs a bit, but not so much so that it’s unusable. And where this amp really shines in the tone department is when it’s moving lots of air. Plugged into Channel 2 with the volume turned up around 12-2 o’clock, and the Master past three, the amp simply sings its heart out, though at those volume levels in an enclosed space like a home studio, the assault on your eardrums can get a bit uncomfortable.

And while I don’t want to say anything negative because I truly dig this amp, I have to say that at lower to moderate volumes with a Strat, a driven Channel 2 (Volume around 8, Master around 2) seems a little flat sounding. At this level, the pre-amps are distorting with little contribution from the power tubes. Don’t get me wrong: It’s not bad sounding, it’s just a bit uninspiring. But turn the master up so that the second gain stage starts clipping and the power tubes start getting hit, and the world is made right again. I did, however, find a couple of workarounds to this. The first was easy: Just engage my Tube Screamer to add to the grind produced by the pre-amps at lower volumes; instant sweetness. Also, slamming the front-end with input gain from my booster worked wonders as well. The best solution I found that will also engage the power tubes was to use my Dr. Z Air Brake Attenuator. The world definitely became right with that in the signal path.

Versatility

The RoxBox is very versatile and is comfortable on both the stage n in the studio. I really dig the master volume on this because that’s really what makes this amp so versatile. And one feature that is mentioned in the specs but something I’ve found incredibly useful is that the amp is switchable from 18 Watts to 9 Watts with the flick of a toggle switch underneath the amp chassis. For home studio use, this is a godsend as the lower wattage allows the tubes to saturate earlier, which means you can get grind at lower volume levels. Some people think this means lower volume – it doesn’t – for any variable wattage amp. All it means is that the amp breaks up earlier. But having this capability means that you can gig with it at 18 Watts, then bring it into your home studio and get some great tube distortion without keeping the neighbors up late at night while you’re wailing on your guitar.

Also, as opposed to having a single output jack for external speakers, the RoxBox sports three, for 4, 8, and 16 ohm extension cabs.

Overall Comments

This is an amp that I’ll definitely be considering to add to my arsenal because of its tonal similarity to the classic Vox AC15, plus its gorgeous and plentiful clean headroom in Channel 1, but also for its value. At $995 for the combo the tonal versatility you get for the price is well worth the expense. If I had a nit, it would be the same nit I have with the Reason SM25, and that is the absence of a nice spring reverb. But that is just a nit because both amps sound great without it – it would just be icing on the cake.

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Gear Find: FH(fx) Algal Bloom Fuzz Pedal

Posted in buying gear, effect pedals, Effects, fuzz, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, pedals, Tone, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2008| 10 Comments »

Fuzz pedal? Me? GoofyDawg? I know, I know… I’m an overdrive and overdrive/distortion pedal kind of guy. I usually prefer soft clipping pedals that throw just a hint of clipping and lot of input gain at an amp to make the amp’s tubes saturate and overdrive. And up until this point, I haven’t even discussed any fuzz pedals. But after hearing some of the sound clips from the new Algal Bloom from FH(fx), I have to say that I’m now rethinking my predeliction for overdrive pedals only. But don’t let me do the talking. Check out the clips on the Fuzzhugger.com site!

This pedal looks awesome! And from what I could tell from the sound clips, it’s capable of producing some gnarly fuzz and, as the guys at Fuzzhugger.com say, “[the Algal Bloom’s] name is inspired by its tone – thick and destructive – but very alive.” From the sound clips, I’d say that’s a pretty accurate description of the Algal Bloom.

It’s weird isn’t it? I’m normally not into that kind of sound, but it’s so ugly, it’s lovable! I had a little dog like that when I was growing up. It was a mix of Chihuahua, Toy Poodle, and Wire-haired Fox Terrier. Ugliest freakin’ dog you ever saw – like a little rat. But I loved that dog! He was smart and playful and so loving! Sorry, reminiscing… not that I could say that about the Algal Bloom, but there’s something about how it sounds that I just dig! Check it out!

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First Impressions: Saint Guitars Messenger Baritone and Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Amp

Posted in amplifiers, amps, Amps/Amplification, aracom amps, buying gear, custom guitars, gear, gear reviews, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, performing, playing live, reason amps, Saint Guitar Company, SM25, Tone, tubes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2008| 1 Comment »

Saint Guitars Messenger Baritone

Saint Guitars Messenger Bariton

Saint Guitars Messenger Bariton

Just wanted to share some initial sound bites that I created with a couple of new pieces of gear. The first is a Saint Guitars Messenger Baritone. Before now, I had never played a baritone, and really didn’t know what to expect. But after playing around with it for a few days, I have to say that I just love how this thing sounds. Baritones have been getting more and more popular as of late due to their very low, natural tone, and several metal players have started using them because of this. But I truly believe that a good test of a guitar or an amp is how it sounds clean. Played clean, you can’t hide mistakes. So here’s a clip that I created this morning to demonstrate the beautiful, clear tone the Messenger Baritone creates.

The guitar was played through the Normal channel of a Reason SM25 amp. As you can hear, the tone is deep, but surprisingly chimey due to the bright-sounding walnut body and neck, Adam Hernandez’ tone wood of choice. It took awhile to get used to playing the wider frets, but once I got a handle on it, I just started loving how this guitar plays and sounds!

Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Head

Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Head

Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Head


You know me, in addition to just digging on overdrive pedals, I love low-power amps! When Jeff at Aracom initially contacted me, I had never even heard of Aracom amps! And I pride myself on knowing about these things! Yikes! So when I perused his site, I was immediately taken by the RoxBox. And after just a day of using it, I have to say that I LOVE THIS LITTLE AMP!!! First, because it’s a low-wattage amp, which makes it very versatile, and secondly because it comes equipped with EL-84 power tubes! There’s a brightness in the EL-84 tubes that just makes my soul reverberate, and I just dig the sounds that this amp can produce. But just as with the Messenger above, the big test for me is how the amp sounds clean. And baby, it sounds great clean! The sound bite I have here uses the same clip above, but layers on a lead part using just my Strat played through Channel 1 of the RoxBox. Channel 1 has TONS of clean headroom, and even ‘buckers have a hard time making this channel grind. This will definitely score well with the pedal freaks like myself. Anyway give it a listen:

This little amp is nothing short of impressive, and priced at $895 for the head, it’s also an incredible value!!! Kudos to Jeff at Aracom for creating an attainable hand-wired amp! Looks like I’m going to be shelling out bucks for both the Reason SM25 AND the Aracom RoxBox.

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Gear Find: Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Amplifier

Posted in amplifiers, amps, Amps/Amplification, buying gear, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, musicians, Tone, tubes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 19, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Amp

Aracom Amps RoxBox 18 Watt Amp

I love writing this blog. Not only do I get to share my passion for guitar and guitar gear, in the couple of years since I started this blog, I’ve met and encountered some really great folks who also share the same passion. After all, it’s why you visit, and I thank you for all the support you’ve given me! When I started GuitarGear.org, I didn’t have any idea of where I’d go with it. I just started writing; not very often at first, but then it just kind of took on a life of its own as I found other great gear blog sites, and started interacting with the general blogging community, and the people I’d meet on other sites would visit my site. That’s what has kept me going, and it’s just an amazing thing!

Of course, it’s really cool to review gear, whether I own it or test it, then share my findings with folks. And speaking of reviewing gear, in this article, I’m introducing what looks to be a real promising, new amp company, called Aracom Amps! They have a whole line of reasonably affordable, hand-wired amps modeled mostly after classic Marshal amps. From what I could tell from the sound samples, these are very nice sounding amps, and the few reviews I’ve been able to find have all been exceedingly favorable. So like I said, there’s a lot of promise in this relative newcomer to the custom, hand-wired amp space.

Jeff from Aracom contacted me the other day to see if he could buy some ad space on my site. I replied that I had never even considered doing that because I didn’t want to commercialize the site. The most commercial thing I’ve done to this point is to put “click-throughs” to Musicians Friend on some of my review pages so people could buy gear directly, but I never actually expected to make any serious money from the site. However, I did tell him that at the very least, I’d review some gear for him, and if I really loved it, like I do with Reason Amps and Saint Guitars (by the way, I just got a new baritone yesterday to test, and IT ROCKS!!!), I’d make a banner for him and put it on my site.

So I am now awaiting delivery of what I think is a very, very cool EL-84 based 18 Watt amp called the RoxBox. It’s completely hand-wired on turret board, and it comes in a head version (which is what I’ll be initially reviewing), and in two different combos: A 1 X10 and a 1 X 12. Nice. It has two individually voiced channels with independent volume and tone control, and is also switchable down to 9 Watts. So this promises to be a very versatile little amp. To say I’m extremely excited about receiving this amp is putting it mildly. The reason why I’m so excited is because the most you’ll pay for one of these is $995.00!!! Imagine that! A hand-wired amp for less than a grand! It’s unheard of! And all Jeff’s amps are very reasonably priced.

Let’s look at some features:

General Specifications:
– (2) EL84 Power Tubes
– (2) 12AX7 & (1) 12AT7 Preamp Tubes
– S.S. Rectifier with “sag” circuit
– Hi/Low B+ voltage switch (18/9 watts)
– On/Off Switch
– Indicator Lamp
– Custom Heavy Duty Aluminum Chassis
– Custom Wound Transformers
– 4, 8, 16 ohm Speaker Jacks
– Custom Handcrafted Turret Board
– Handwired

Head Cabinet
Standard Tolex: Black Levant. See options below for other colors.
– Dimensions: 19″w x 8h x 8.25″d
– Weight: 23 lbs

Combo Cabinets
Standard Tolex: Black Levant. See options below for other colors.
– Dimensions
1×10 Combo: 18″w x 19h x 10″d
1×12 Combo: 18″w x 19h x 10″d
– Weight
1×10 Combo: 36 lbs
1×12 Combo: 39 lbs

Introductory pricing:
Rox Box Head $895
Rox Box Combo with 10″ Jensen ALNICO Speaker $995
Rox Box Combo with 12″ Jensen Ceramic Speaker $995

Pretty impressive!

I had a great conversation with Jeff this morning about his amps’ price points, and he said that considering today’s economy, he wanted people to be able to buy his amps, and since he does all the work himself, and has done a tremendous job with planning his manufacturing (for example, all his amps use the exact same chassis template), he can keep the price down. With the RoxBox, he was able to keep the price point down further by using a solid-state rectifier that simulates a rectifier tube’s voltage sag rather than using a tube rectifier. Now before you dismiss this, remember that the venerable Fender company has been using solid state rectifiers in their amps for decades, and no one complains about their gorgeous sound! But besides that single piece of solid state componentry, everything else is hand-wired and tube-based.

Check out the RoxBox and other Aracom Amps at the company web site!

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