For a long time, I’ve had this thing for getting a big guitar sound in my recordings. I’ve done a bunch of different things like doubling, overdubbing, signal splitting between two amps, and the like. But recently, I got a couple of pieces of gear that is allowing me to explore yet another way to get a big guitar sound: Re-amping. Re-amping is essentially taking an already amplified guitar signal, and running it through another amplifier. This is not like adding a gain stage because that usually involves multiple pre-amp sections. With re-amping, you’re building on a fully amplified signal that has passed through the power tubes. The result is VERY different in tonal character from just moving the signal through another gain stage.
There are lots of ways to re-amp, so I won’t go into a lot of detail. But I will share how I do it. Ever since I got my Aracom PRX15-Pro, I’ve been contemplating this very thing because of its line out which could be used in a variety of ways; such as running the signal into a PA (since it’s unbalanced, you need a DI box), or taking that line level, and running it into another amp to re-amplify the signal yet again. The cool thing about the PRX150-Pro is that I can simultaneously run an output to a speaker, then the amp that’s doing the re-amping can also have it’s own audio output.
Now here’s something even more cool! I have a Reason Bambino, which also has a line out. It’s a balanced line out, so it can go directly into a board, and doesn’t need to be hooked up to an external cab. The tone coming from the line out of the Bambino is very nice. I suppose that I could’ve miked the Bambino from another cabinet, but I did want to test the line out.
In any case, here’s a diagram of how I had everything hooked up:
In a nutshell, I plugged my guitar directly into my Aracom VRX22, which ran into the PRX150-Pro. I hooked up an external cab to the attenuator, placed a mic in front of the cabinet that ran into Channel 1 of my audio interface. Then, I ran the line out of the attenuator to the input of the Reason Bambino. From there, I went directly from the Bambino into Channel 2 of my audio interface.
I set up a clip from a song I wrote and added two tracks that took input from the two channels. I also panned Channel 1 full left and Channel 2 full right. Once I had the levels worked out, I recorded a solo over the existing music. Once the recording was finished, I took the Bambino’s signal slightly out of phase with Channel 1, to make it sound like two guitars are playing simultaneously. The effect is totally cool, and it creates a very in-your-face, big guitar sound! Here’s the clip:
Note that this is a kind of a different way to employ re-amping, which basically runs two amps in a series then out a single output. The way I employed it, the re-amped signal is a component of the overall package.
I’m falling in love again with my Aracom VRX18. This was the amp that first got me introduced to Aracom and my good friend Jeff Aragaki. My amp is actually a tweaked version of the stock VRX18 as it sports an EZ81 tube rectifier, plus a tweaked circuit that adds a bit more sag and sustain. The result is just a gorgeous overdriven tone that really brings out the best of the EL84 power tubes.
One thing about EL84 amps is that if they’re done right, they have a distinctive overdrive tone that creates a subtle top-end fizz when they’re overdriven. I’ve played others that drive the power tubes too much, and they sound very harsh and incredibly compressed. Jeff did this amp right, and while the power tubes do indeed compress a bit, the overdrive tone retains its open character, while adding that nice top-end fizziness that EL84 amp lovers have come to appreciate.
The clip below is an excerpt from a slow blues song I wrote. It features my beloved Goldie plugged straight into the Aracom VRX18, and it also features the insane Aracom PRX150-Pro attenuator! Believe it or not, the amp was recorded at just above loud conversation levels! We’re talking less than 1/10 of a Watt, and the amp still retains its tone and dynamics! Anyway, here’s the clip:
Summary: For what it brings to the table, this is a great little amp. While it’s mainly touted as a practice amp, you can easily gig with this at small venues, or attach an external cab to it, and you could easily keep up with a drummer!
Pros: Classic VOX ACx cleans, and nice, warm overdrive via the Class A EL4 power section.
Cons: 1/4 Watt setting really narrows the bandwidth. The amp sounds pretty lifeless at this level, but that’s why I have a great attenuator. I would play this at 4 Watts all the time. No need to ever use the built-in attenuator.
Valve/Tube Complement: 1 x 12AX7 (pre) / 1 x EL84 (power)
AC4TV Dimensions: 13.78″ x 8.46″ (D) x 14.76″ (H);
AC4TV Weight: 19.84 lbs.;
Power cable included
Price: ~$249 street
Tone Bone Score: 4.75 – I was very surprised by this little amp. The 10″ Celestion speaker really packs a nice punch, and the controls are dead simple. I would easily add this to my growing stable of amps!
I’ve been on this low wattage amp craze for awhile, and it’s wonderful to see all these great low wattage amps entering the market! Orange has the Tiny Terror, and VOX also has the Night Train. Those amps just mentioned are all pretty much modern styling, but I should qualify my craze. I love the old vintage styled low wattage amps.
It all started out with the Fender Champ 600, which I reviewed awhile ago here. I was looking for a low wattage tube amp that I could get some serious overdrive tone from without making my ears bleed. I immediately fell in love with that amp, and since I’ve had it have only made some minor changes, like putting in NOS tubes. But other than that, this amp has served me quite well, both in the studio and even in small venue gigs (using a 1 X 12 of course).
So it was a very nice surprise to encounter the VOX AC4TV in a store yesterday. This is a sweet looking little amp, with the classic TV type of box harkening back to yesteryear. The blonde vinyl is a very nice touch!
How it sounds…
The AC4TV is little tone monster. This single-ended amp packs quite a punch, despite its diminutive size and 10″ speaker. Surprisingly great tones are to be had with this amp, from your classic VOX EL84 cleans to some very nice crunch and grind when you push it. As a single-ended amp, it’s simple as expected, just a volume and tone knob, plus a selector switch for choosing 4, 1 and 1/4 watt output.
At 4 Watts, the amp puts out a great clean tone. With a Strat it starts mildly breaking up at about noon on the volume knob, and at about 10 o’clock with a humbucker – for that, I used a gorgeous sunburst finish Gibby ES-335 – damn I wish I hadn’t sold mine! Cleans with the ES-335 were incredibly lush as expected from that semi-hollowbody, yet they were also very chimey due to the natural character of the EL84 power tubes. It was a very good combination!
Going into grind, you get that classic EL84 crunch, but it’s obvious VOX must’ve installed a filter cap to prevent the power tubes from over-saturating and creating a compressed, squishy mush. The overdrive remains nice and open, with great dynamics and touch sensitivity.
At 1 Watt, the amp still retains a very nice tone, though the tone bandwidth is slightly narrowed. It’s not bad at all, and at this power setting you can crank the amp up (but keep in mind that sonically, 1 Watt is still pretty loud), but the volume will be fairly reasonable.
The 1/4 Watt setting was not really pleasing at all, though in a pinch, if you really have to be quiet, it’ll do as a reference point for practicing. At this setting, the tone gets muddy and the dynamics are abysmal. Were I to get one of these, I’d get the head and cabinet version so I could use a proper attenuator with this, and keep the amp in its 4 Watt mode to get all the gorgeous tones that the full power setting has to offer.
I any case folks, this is classic VOX tone. The EL84 are bright and chimey as expected, and when pushed, the amp doesn’t produce over-the-top overdrive. It’s nicely controlled and surprisingly smooth.
Overall Impressions
The rating says it all. I love the tones that this amp produces, and I love that classic blonde look. At a street price of $249, it’s a very nicely priced amp to boot! You can use this for practice or, with an external cab, there’s no reason it will not fit right in at a small venue gig. The custom power transformer has a lot to do with the power handling here, and it helps the amp produce a big voice for such a small package. Definitely a thumbs up for the VOX AC4TV!
This morning, the guy who’s painting my house came into my garage/studio to ask me a question, and being a guitar player himself said, “Dude… you have a great setup.” So the conversation turned to my favorite topic, and of course, that involves talking about guitar gear. 🙂 During the course of our discussion he talked about how he loves Vox amps, and so I demonstrated my Aracom VRX18, which is actually based upon a classic Marshall 18 Plexi, but it had EL84’s. I wanted to give him a reference tone. He just smiled and said, “That’s yummy.”
He had to get back to work, but after not playing that amp for awhile (probably a couple of months), I forgot how much I love its tone. My VRX18 is quite special in that it’s a custom VRX18 that has a tube rectifier, which is an option when you get one of the VRX series amps. Jeff has it tweaked quite nicely, and the amp has tons of sustain, and gorgeous sag without getting mushy and compressed when driven. That’s probably a reason why I haven’t really used EL84 amps that much. My experience has been that they compress a lot when they’re driven hard.
But not this one… Jeff also adjusted the extra gain channel so it wouldn’t compress the power tubes too much. You get lots of dirt, but you maintain the clarity of your notes. This is a great little amp! In any case, I recorded a clip where I have the Master at 3 o’clock, and the Volume at 2 o’clock. That produces some serious grind, but as you’ll hear in the clip, there’s very little compression.
The drive tone the VRX18 produces is absolutely magnificent! When I recorded the clip, I couldn’t believe all the overtones and subtle harmonics that the amp was producing! Jeff really got the tone nailed with this amp!
In addition to the amp, I played through Goldie, running her straight into the amp, then through the insanely transparent PRX150-Pro attenuator set at variable attenuation mode at about 3 o’clock, then into a custom Aracom 1 X 12. Output volume was just yelling level. 🙂
Here’s a list of the Aracom VRX18’s features as a review:
– Channel 1: Volume and Tone Controls
– Channel 2: Volume and Tone Controls
– Master Volume Control (PPIMV)
– On/Off Switch
– Indicator Lamp
– Hi/Low B+ voltage switch (18/9 watts)
– (2) EL84 Power Tubes
– (2) 12AX7 & (1) 12AT7 Preamp Tubes
– Cathode Biased Power Tubes
– S.S. Rectifier with “sag” circuit
* EZ81 Tube Rectifier – Optional
– Custom Heavy Duty Aluminum Chassis
– Custom “Black” Plexi Front and Back Panels
– ARACOM Power Transformer: hand-wound and interleaved
– ARACOM Output Transformer: hand-wound, interleaved on a paper bobbin
– 4, 8, 16 ohm Speaker Jacks
– Detachable Power Cord (IEC320-C13 Socket)
– External Fuse Holder
– Custom Turret Board (G-10/FR4 Flame Resistant)
– Handwired and Handcrafted in the USA.
This little tone beast is such a value as well! At $895 for the head, it’s an absolute steal, and a real hidden gem in the boutique market, as is the VRX22, which is based on 6V6’s.
Last Friday before I left for work, I went to my garage/studio to fetch my trusty acoustic guitar for my weekly solo acoustic gig, and I couldn’t find it! After a bit of searching, I finally found my guitar – buried under a pile of stuff my wife had taken out of her van! OMG! I unpiled the stuff rather unceremoniously, picked up my gig bag, opened it up, and pulled out my acoustic. Upon initial inspection, nothing seemed amiss. But when I strummed a chord, I could hear a slight buzz issuing from inside the guitar. I shook it to see if something was loose, but nothing rattled inside the body, which led me to believe that the weight of the stuff on the top of my guitar was sufficient enough to loosen up the glue to one of the bracing spans. That’s fixable. I could live with the buzzing if it didn’t show up when I plugged in the guitar. So much for my rationale. The buzzing was even worse when I plugged it in, as the vibrations from the top were transmitted to the under-the-saddle pickup.
Surprisingly enough, I didn’t freak or get pissed off at my wife, partially because the fault was mine for placing it in an area where that could happen. But I had a gig that night, and I had to figure out something – and fast! To make a long story short, I ended up buying what has turned out to be a surprisingly versatile value-priced guitar from Fender, the Stratacoustic Deluxe. I recently wrote a review of this guitar, so I won’t go into details. But after I bought it, the thought occurred to me…
Is it really a case of GAS, when you have an obvious need?
Part of me says that I just acquired more gear, so it’s technically GAS. But the other part of me says that I was replacing a critical component, so it’s not GAS.
In any case, I’m very satisfied, but thought I try to get some feedback. Your thoughts?
I’ve spoken about him before, but Mark Wein of Mark Wein Guitar Lessons really knows his stuff, and I’ve gotten a lot mileage from his free video tutorials. One set of tutorials that I found as a real useful review, plus learning some new stuff as well, is his series on Partial Chord Shapes. Really great stuff!
I’ve been on this blues thing lately with my music; not going all out with the blues, but definitely having a huge blues influence on the music I write. But one thing that I was sure of was that I didn’t want to just learn blues licks – the same licks practically everyone plays. I suppose you could say I want to play with a blues style, and I’ve been searching far and wide to learn the blues. In my search to learn the blues, I’ve come across several instructional series and video tutorials, but many focus on playing blues licks, without really getting into learning or more importantly, acquiring a vocabulary to express the blues. Technique I can learn, but really what I want to acquire is an intellectual “sense” for what works in a particular phrase, if you catch my drift, then learn technique as a secondary thing.
I know, a bit confusing, and I’m having a hard time articulating what I’m after, so I supposed the best way to explain it is that I want to intellectualize my playing, then practice the hell out of what I learn. The only problem with this approach is that once I’ve mentioned that to teachers or others, they jump right into modal theory. Sure, that’s really useful, but in many ways, it’s also really abstract. Enter Chuck D’Aloia, who has come up with a wonderful series called “Blues with Brains.”
Blues with Brains is a two volume set. I’ve only gotten through half of the first volume so far, but what I’ve learned in just this short amount of time has really made me leap light years ahead in how I approach doing solos. I’ve always played by feel, and have fallen back a lot on the minor blues scale – mainly because it’s easy. But after I wrote my last song, I realized that while it sounds pretty good, and I have some interesting ideas, there was part of me that knew I could do so much more with it.
And by pure chance, I happened to read a thread on a popular guitar forum where this dude was demonstrating his new MIM Strat. His technique was absolutely flawless, and his presentation and tone were simply to die for! So I clicked on one of the links in his signature, and came to this site: Chuck D’Aloia Music. I read through the explanation, and saw that he also did Skype lessons, so I immediately contacted him about taking his lessons. In my email I explained about how I felt I could do more with my music and attached my latest song. He replied back several days later with exactly what I was thinking that ideas and tone were good, BUT rather than jump into lessons, I’d get a lot more out of his Blues With Brains series. It would be stuff that I could learn at my leisure, and once I digested the material, then we could explore the Skype lessons.
How cool was that? Rather than taking the higher money route, he just pushed his video series. So I downloaded both volumes for $40. When I got home that evening, I launched the first volume, and within the FIRST FIVE MINUTES, Chuck had effectively changed the way I looked at playing solos! That’s all it took! Obviously, I’ve had to apply and practice those concepts as I don’t have the fingering down completely, but the mere fact that I was able to attain a sense of what to do in a relatively short amount of time was just amazing to me!
Chuck’s approach is simple. He plays over a chord progression first. Then he takes apart the progression, and discusses and demonstrates what is possible to do at that particular point. The cool thing is that he also intersperses modal theory into the explanation, but doesn’t make the central to the discussion. It’s like, “Here are the notes you can play, and here’s what you can do with these notes…” It’s a very straight-forward approach, and while I realize I have a lot of practicing to do, I’ve gotten more out of the 40 minutes I’ve spent so far in these lessons than I have poring over books of scales and modes. The most important thing that I’ve gotten out of these lessons is that Chuck doesn’t teach licks. What he teaches is possibilities. He leaves it up to the student to express themselves! That is EXACTLY what I have been after all these years!
Without a doubt, I’m a total believer in Chuck’s series! If you want to learn the blues, and not just blues licks, and you want to really understand what you’re playing, you owe it to yourself to get this series. You will not be disappointed in the slightest!
Summary: An extremely pleasant surprise from Fender with both electric and acoustic properties. Shaped like a Strat and a sporting a Strat neck, for any Strat player, it’s immediately familiar!
Pros: Amazing tones. First electric acoustic I’ve played through an amp that didn’t sound like an acoustic guitar plugged into an amp. Very natural acoustic tones, and Strat-like electric tones.
Cons: This guitar was obviously designed to be plugged in. Unplugged, it really doesn’t sound all that good. But that’s okay, because my particular application of this guitar is always plugged in.
Features:
Body Style: Stratocaster
Top: Spruce
Back: Solid Mahogany
Sides: Laminated mahogany
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood
No. of frets: 21
Scale Length: 25-1/2″ (647.7 mm)
Bridge: Rosewood
Inlays:
Finish: Gloss
Electronics: Fishman Classic IV MT (with tuner and blend controls) and Fender Mexico Telecaster pickup
Tone Bone Score: 4.75 – Talk about versatility! If the Stratacoustic sounded good unplugged, it would get a 5.0.
Sometimes It Takes an Accident…
As I shared in a previous article, my Ovation Celebrity had a bit of an accident that made me look for a new acoustic in a hurry. What I ended up with was a guitar that simply blew me away! The moment I plugged it in, I was completely sold. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It sounded like a miked acoustic! Now granted, I was playing through an acoustic amplifier when I was evaluating the guitar. But nothing would prepare me for the same, natural tone through a regular tube amp! I’ll have a clip in a little bit, but let me tell you, it’s nothing short of amazing. First I’ll talk about the guitar.
Fit and Finish
For Strat players, this guitar will be instantly familiar. The Stratacoustic has a bolt-on maple Strat neck with rosewood fretboard. The body is shaped like a Strat, though of course, with a wider body for the resonance chamber. I’ve got the black model as shown in the picture above. This is a gorgeous guitar! One would think that as it is made in China, the build quality might not be very good. But amazingly enough, this is a really well-made and well-constructed guitar. If I only had one complaint, it would be the 2nd string’s saddle peg, which turned out to be a little loose on my guitar, and required really pressing it in. That could be problematic later on, but I could probably rectify, so it’s just a little nit.
The neck on this guitar is absolutely perfect – at least to me. It’s a classic Strat C-shaped neck in all its maple glory. I love it! And the cool thing is that even though this guitar is technically an acoustic guitar, it takes electric strings, so not only is the neck a Strat neck, with the electric strings, it plays EXACTLY like a Strat, with a nice, low action.
The tuners are totally cool! They’re vintage-style Fender tuners, where you measure and cut the string first, then insert the tip into a hole on the top of the tuner. You bend the string down into the slot then start winding. The result is a nice, smooth finish, with no string stubs that can poke you. They also look cool with their slightly relicked, tarnished chrome finish. It’s a nice retro touch!
Did I mention that this guitar is light? I haven’t weighed the guitar, but it can’t weight much more than seven pounds! I gigged with it twice over the weekend, and it is absolutely comfortable to play! It’s a winner!
How It Sounds
This is the really special part of the guitar. It features a Fishman Classic IV MT acoustic pickup under the saddle and a Fender Mexico Tele single coil at the base of the neck. The Fishman comes with a tuner with individual controls for bass, mids, and treble, and a blend control to blend the Tele and Fishman. In full acoustic, the guitar sounds just like a miked acoustic guitar. With the Tele pickup isolated, the guitar sounds just like a Strat, but with a slightly hollow, acoustic tone. It’s gorgeous! When I play it for acoustic voicing, I’ve actually never gone fully acoustic. In fact, I lean more towards the Tele pickup. The reason is that the Tele pickup adds a nice chime and top-end shimmer to the tone with subtle harmonics and overtones. But don’t take my word for it, here’s a short song that demonstrates what this guitar is capable of:
The song was recorded with three overlayed parts. The base rhythm track is played fingerstyle with the guitar set dead center in the blend, and the tone controls centered as well. The strummed rhythm leans just a bit towards the Tele side, and I bled off a little of the base. The result was that strummed chords sounded like a piano! Very cool! The lead track was recorded with the blend at about 90% Tele, and just a tad bit of the Fishman. For the lead, I also ran it through my wonderful KASHA Overdrive pedal. The result was a gorgeous, dirty Strat tone!
I almost forgot to mention. All the parts were played through my trusty Aracom VRX22! It’s an electric guitar amp, for goodness’ sake! Acoustic amp? We don’t need no stinkin’ acoustic amp.
Overall Impressions
As you can tell, I love this guitar! It is so incredibly versatile, giving me acoustic and electric tones with a touch of a slider. Interestingly enough, I wouldn’t call this a hybrid guitar, though it is technically a hybrid. I’ve played several hybrids, and this guitar really has a voice all its own. It really is an electric acoustic, and for the most part, it sounds like an acoustic. But it’s easy to configure it to sound just like an electric as the song above proves out.
But despite being able to configure it as an electric guitar, the most amazing thing about the Stratacoustic is how natural and organic – acoustic – it sounds when plugged in! Unlike a lot of acoustic guitars I’ve played and heard plugged into an amp, which isn’t at all very pleasing, the Stratacoustic sounds like it’s supposed to; like an acoustic guitar. I have a feeling that the body has a lot to do with this. Yeah, it doesn’t sound all that good unplugged, but it’s evident that the designer had this guitar pegged for being plugged in and was willing to sacrifice its unplugged tone for simply gorgeous plugged in tone.
Before I got it, I had actually never heard of the Stratacoustic. I just saw it on the rack, thought it was cool, and picked it out as one of the guitars I was evaluating. As soon as I plugged it in, I was sold. It’s quite simply a great guitar. It’s funny that the unplugged tone is really uninspiring, and it might turn away lots of players. But once you plug it in, it’s a completely different story. I thought I was done with buying Fender equipment, especially after they upped their prices significantly a few months ago – I just didn’t see the value. But this guitar sells at a great price. I got it for a deal, but at $629, it’s still a great value. I highly recommend this guitar!
A few days ago, I announced the new Vintage Series model from Saint Guitar Company. At the time, Adam sent me pictures, but few details, so there wasn’t much to report on. However, I’ve since spoken with Adam, and was able to get some juicy details on this guitar and his vision for the Vintage Series.
This first guitar sports a solid mahogany body and neck.
The pickups are Seymour Duncan Vintage p-90 Soapbars.
Rosewood fretboard with Saint Logo on the 12th fret.
Volume and Tone knobs, and a Three-way pickup selector switch.
Dark burst finish (natural stain to black)
Custom, flush pick guard.
Here’s the best thing about this guitar: It will range in price between $1300 and $2300, significantly less than Adam’s Benchmark and Messenger models which start at $3300 and go up from there. That in no way means lower quality. Said Adam of the price, “I still make the guitars by hand with custom templates and jigs, but the difference is the flat top. Because I don’t have to shape a carved top, the guitar is a lot less labor-intensive to build. Also the dark burst finish is a lot less time-consuming as well. So because I’m saving on time and labor, I want to pass that savings on to my customers.”
Since I already have a Saint Guitar, I know this will be special. I should be getting a test drive of this baby in the next few weeks. I’ll keep you posted!
Fridays are solo gig days for me where I play at a restaurant doing a variety of tunes on both piano and guitar from the Beatles to Puccini (opera, that is). My shtick has been the ability to perform a variety of styles and genres of music, and for the classic rock, folk and country stuff I do, the guitar has been an integral part of my act.
As you might now, if you’ve been to my rig page, you’ll see that my acoustic has been an Ovation Celebrity Elite. I’ve been playing that guitar pretty much continuously for the past 16 years. That guitar’s been on the road with me and in the studio, and has always had a special place in my heart… until yesterday…
I won’t go into the particular details about exactly what happened to “Sunset,” but suffice it to say that she got a crack somewhere under her top that didn’t have a bad effect with her unplugged, but became very magnified once I plugged her in. Not good. I found her in this state yesterday morning (Friday), and while I didn’t freak, I knew I had to solve the problem! So I called the wife to explain the situation, and since I had to own up to putting the guitar in a place where she could get a crack – however inadvertently – I shared that I’d pay half for a new guitar out of my gig money.
I wasn’t too hopeful about finding a new guitar yesterday, considering the acoustic guitar store that I was originally going to go to mainly dealt with high-end acoustics; right, big money. But a chance call to B Street Music in San Mateo, CA where I work as I was leaving changed all that. I called them up to see if they carried Ovations, thinking that I’d just replace Sunset with another Ovation, and they said they carried them! Yippee!
Anyway, I got to the shop and started pulling guitars that looked pretty cool off the racks, and lining them up on guitar stands so I could do evals. Among them were a couple of Ovations Celebrities, a Godin (very nice looking), and the Fender Stratacoustic that I ended up buying. Mind you, I wasn’t at all interested in how the guitars sounded unplugged, though I love the Ovation acoustic sound. Since I use practically all my guitars in gigging situations, I really needed a guitar that sounded great plugged in.
As expected, the Ovations performed incredibly well. There’s something that Ovation has down with their electronics. After I tested the Ovations, I plugged in the Stratacoustic – it didn’t work. Luckily, it was just the battery that was out. Once I had it all set up, I took a few minutes to familiarize myself with the guitar. It really didn’t take that long because what I felt I was holding was an acoustic Strat! The Stratacoustic features a shallow acoustic body with a Strat neck, so from a feel standpoint, it felt completely familiar. I closed my eyes and felt as if I was playing my trusty “Pearl!”
The dude at the shop was helpful, and explained that the guitar was equipped with a Tele single coil, and a Fishman acoustic which you could blend with the Blend slider on the control panel; speaking of which, the control panel features independent controls for Bass, Mid, and Treble, a Volume slider, and a Blend slider. It also has a pretty decent built-in tuner. Nice features for sure!
Mind you, I was still a bit dubious of the acoustic sound of the guitar. It was flat and tinny, and was something I’d never play unplugged. Here are the sales guy’s own words, “Don’t be fooled by the acoustic, unplugged sound. It sounds like shit. Just wait till you plug it in. Fender’s done something really special with this guitar.” Yeah, right, I thought. It’s production line Fender after all! But I’ve learned to keep an open mind with respect to new gear.
Anyway, after I got familiarized with the controls, it was time to plug her in. So I plugged her in and WAS IMMEDIATELY FLOORED BY THE TONE! I had the Blend set dead in the middle, with both pickups contributing to the overall sound. Kind of hard to describe what I was hearing but it truly was a mix between an acoustic and electric; rich in mids, and not too much bass, but with a chimey, top-end finish. The Fishman provided a nice, organic acoustic tone, while the ring and chime I was hearing had to be coming from the Tele pickup. I proved that out by isolating each pickup.
I played through it for a couple of more minutes, and then turned to the guy and said, “Sold.” He just smiled… Not because he got a sale, but because he shared that as a Strat player himself, this was a total unsung hero in the shop. I commented that the guitar had a bunch of fingerprints all over it, and there was a tiny, tiny scratch on the top near the bridge, so would he give me a deal for it? And he did! I got the guitar for $499 plus a gig bag and a nice 3.5″ wide leather strap! The guitar normally retails for $629! Was I jazzed or what?
So now I am the proud and exceedingly happy owner of a very weird, but full of Strat mojo guitar, the Stratacoustic!
Gig Report
Of course, as I started today’s story, I had a gig last night. The real test for any device is playing it in a live situation. So how did it do? In a word, FANTASTIC!!! As I mentioned, each pickup contributes to the blend, and even though the guitar sports a Tele pickup, with the Tele pick isolated, the guitar still retains its acoustic qualities. So the gig for me last night was utter heaven! Plugged into my DigiTech Vocalists Live 4 then right into the PA, I was amazed at the incredible tones this guitar produces.
How It Sounds
I was going to end this article with my gig report, but I got inspired to record the guitar and provide a clip. This is a short song that I quickly put together that features the Stratacoustic. The left channel is a fingerpicked rhythm. Then in the right channel, I layer the same riff but strumming – it almost sounds like a piano! Nice. I used a light reverb effect on both rhythm parts using my Hardwire reverb. Then I do a solo dead center with the guitar in the Tele position, and playing it through my KASHA Overdrive in the Classic channel to get a real nice, slightly dirty Strat tone. Almost forgot to mention: I played all the parts through a regular amp, my Aracom VRX22! It is absolutely amazing how natural and organic this guitar sounds through a regular amp! I’m in heaven! Anyway here’s the clip:
Excuse the 60Hz hum from the single coil in the solo… 🙂 I wasn’t turned the right way to eliminate it while I played… 🙂 The guitar was recorded through a miked amp! The rhythm sounds are unlike anything I’ve ever heard plugged in! At least to me, it sounds as if I miked the guitar, then added reverb in production. But in reality the guitar was plugged into my board! I just can’t get over the plugged in tone of this guitar! And the Tele pickup is just to die for!
If you’re looking for a stage acoustic that sounds absolutely KILLER plugged in, look no further. You get all the benefits of the feel of a Strat, but in an acoustic, but you can also use this thing as a straight electric as well by just using the Tele pickup! Simply amazing!
x 8.46″ (D) x 14.76″ (H);
A few days ago, I announced the new Vintage Series model from Saint Guitar Company. At the time, Adam sent me pictures, but few details, so there wasn’t much to report on. However, I’ve since spoken with Adam, and was able to get some juicy details on this guitar and his vision for the Vintage Series.
Guitar Gear 