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Posts Tagged ‘gear find’

New Gear: Prestige Guitars Classic

Posted in GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear find, guitar, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, prestige guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 18, 2010| 1 Comment »

As you may know, I own a Prestige Guitars axe – actually one they no longer have in their current model lineup (though they list it in their models area) – the Heritage Elite, which I call “Sugar” because she actually smells sweet in addition to sounding sweet. The Heritage Elite is a very ornate take on a Les Paul copy; a lot of people actually don’t like how busy all the decorations are, which might account for why it’s not on their current model lineup. But the tone and sustain are wonderful, so that guitar is a keeper for sure. But I suppose in an effort to be a bit more “true to form,” Prestige has come out with a new axe, called the “Classic,” that I am sure will turn heads.

The Classic is a very nice take on a classic Les Paul design. It features a AAA flame maple top, on a super-light, carved, mahogany body and mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. As with the Heritage, it sports the classic Seymour Duncan 59/JB Neck/Bridge pickup combination, independent volume and tone knobs, and a 3-way selector switch. Not sure what the bridge is, but when I last spoke with Prestige, they were moving away from Gotoh Tone-o-matic to GraphTech. Sure looks like a Gotoh to me, but I’d have to see it up close to tell.

When I look at the picture, if it weren’t for the lower horn, I’d swear this was a Les Paul! I dig the mother of pearl inlays on the fretboard, and the graceful lines of the body; speaking of which, the back is contoured, so in addition to being light, it is apparently incredibly comfortable as well. Great combination!

Here are specs from the Prestige Site:

  • 24 3/4” scale length
  • 1 11/16” nut width
  • Carved mahogany, maple bound body
  • AAA Grade flame maple top
  • Mahogany neck
  • Bound rosewood fingerboard
  • Mother of pearl trapeze 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
  • Grover tuners
  • Tune-o-matic bridge & Stop Bar
  • All chrome hardware
  • Available in natural sunburst finish

And to top it of, here’s a Guitar World video demo of the Classic:

Even with the low quality video, you can hear how that guitar just sings. It has a sweet sound, but can also get really aggressive. That’s one of the reasons I love playing my Sugar, which is a great guitar. But I might just have to get me one of these classics to gig with… OMG! More GAS!!!!

For more information, check out the Prestige Guitars product page!

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Fewer New Overdrive Pedals? Pah! Here’s One from Wampler

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2010| 2 Comments »

A couple of months ago, I asked the question, “Where have all the overdrives gone?” in response to a trend that I was noticing that there seemed to be fewer new overdrives being released after a long period where new overdrives from different pedal manufacturers were coming out every week. I guess they were waiting for NAMM to come because “They’re BAAAAACK!”

The latest to arrive on the scene is actually a re-issue from Wampler pedals: The Limited Edition Pinnacle(2) reissue. Wampler is an effects company I’ve known about for a long time, but have never actually played or owned one – even though I’ve always been impressed with their tone. In any case here’s Wampler’s explanation for coming out with the re-issue:

The original Pinnacle(2) evolved into the pinnacle over the span of a couple of years. During that time, we’ve had a ton of customers ask us about coming back out with the original version which had a stomp-switchable gain boost. While the current pinnacle and the original pinnacle 2 were 95% the same circuit-wise, some felt that there was a certain ‘magic’ to it. Since we’ve had so many requests for it, we decided to come out with a limited version of it complete with the gain boost stomp switch. We are only building a small number of these so unfortunately when it’s gone – it’s gone. At this time, it is only available on this website.

So how does it sound? Well, it can do quite a bit, actually. But it is really known for its ability to cop a great “brown sound” tone. Here’s a great video that demonstrates this (this dude can cop EVH pretty good):

I find it amazing that the amp he used was a software amp. AmpliTube has really come a LONG way!

As Wampler mentions, there are only going to be a limited run of these pedals. But here’s the real winner for me: This pedal is only $179.00! I need to tie down my hand so it doesn’t reach for my wallet!!! 🙂 It’s definitely worth a look!

I really don’t know why I love overdrive sounds so much. I guess that there’s something really primitive inside me that loves that growling tone. Who knows? Who cares? I love ’em!!!

For more information, go the Wampler Pedals site!

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New Gear from NAMM: T-Rex Tonebug Distortion Pedal

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Oo-la-la! T-Rex will soon be releasing a new distortion pedal called the Tonebug Distortion. Not much info on it yet, but it is supposed to lay on tons of gain. I was fortunate enough to see a video from the folks at GearWire that quickly demonstrates what this pedal can do.

Admittedly, I’ve preferred overdrives over distortion boxes, but I’m really liking the tone from this puppy! Don’t know if I’d shell out $399 for it, though. But T-Rex pedals are premium pedals, so that’s not a surprising price.

For more information, check out the T-Rex site!

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A Different Approach: Eminence Flux Density Modulation Speakers

Posted in attenuator, gear, gear announcements, gear find, guitar, guitar attenuators, guitar gear, guitar speakers, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 8, 2010| 2 Comments »

or… Doc Brown in Back to the Future saying, “I finally invented something that works!” Speaking in reference to the Flux Capacitor. Nah, it’s nothing of the sort, but it is by no means less cool. The Flux Density Modulation Speakers are a new approach to attenuation where the attenuation happens right at the speaker! Giving you up to -9 dB attenuation, while keeping your tone, that is what I call cool, and something I must check out! You know me, I’m an attenuator fan, and something like this has me absolutely GAS-ing! From what I could tell from the videos below, the tone is really preserved. Now, mind you that -9 dB of attenuation won’t get you down to conversation levels, but it’ll sure provide enough attenuation to take the bite off the volume. If you need to go lower, hell! Get an Aracom attenuator, and get it down REAL LOW! Check out the NAMM vids!

and from GuitarWorld…

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A Few NAMM 2010 Eye-Catchers

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I was persuing YouTube today to check out some cool stuff from NAMM, so I got a few vids that I thought were worth sharing.

The first if from Fender (yeah, I know, it’s mainstream, but Fender has been doing some interesting stuff). This is Acoustasonic Tele, which is a half acoustic / half Tele. As you know, I have the Acoustasonic Strat, but this looks like it’s even better! Check it out:

Here’s a really cool thing for acoustic guitars – no more string pegs!

Ever wanted a Tube Screamer in an amp? Well Ibanez has come out with a 15 Watt amp they appropriately call “The Tube Screamer.” It features an authentic Tube Screamer circuit in the front end, and has a half-power switch (pentode-triode) switching. It will only cost $299. Probably mostly solid state, but it has 2 X 12AX7’s in the pre-amp stage and a pair of 6V6’s to power it up. Interesting. Here’s a demo… At least the amp sounds decent (read: I don’t necessarily like how it’s being played): 🙂

And here’s a new overdrive… the HAO OD-16, handmade in Japan. The NAMM vid I found on this was private, so I did a search for another. Apparently it has a street price of $300… yikes! I’ll do a bit more research on this one. Sounds very nice!

That’s it for now. If I find more stuff, I’ll post it here. There are lots of videos to wade through….

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Gear Find: Toadworks Ajax

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Toadworks AjaxBeing sick sometimes has its advantages because even though I’m half brain-dead with a head cold, I can take some time to surf the web in search of gear. This morning, I read a press release on Harmony Central about the new Toadworks Fat City Dual Overdrive. Being a big fan of overdrive pedals, I went to the Toadworks site to read about this new pedal.

I had tried a Mr. Ed distortion awhile back – it was okay – but I wasn’t thrilled – but I’ve always dug dual overdrives and stacking, so this looked promising. I read about the pedal, and it sounds really cool. All hand-wired with high-quality components. Also, a little out of my price range at around $300. Still, it looks like it’s worth checking out just to see how it sounds.

While I was on the site, I started looking at all the other pedals Toadworks offers, and the one that REALLY caught my eye was the Toadworks Ajax. Rather than try to explain it (since I’ve never even used one), here’s the product summary from the Toadworks site

Ajax is essentially a 2-channel line mixer, combined with a buffered Y-splitter, with the ability to invert (180°) the phase of one input signal, as well as one of the output signals.

Ajax has a wide range of uses, including:

– Two-channel mixer – With independent input level controls, Ajax can act as a simple 2-channel mixer.
– Multi-guitar interface – Ajax has two buffered inputs, allowing you to connect (and play) two different instruments at the same time.
– Input phase correction – When combining two signals, there is always the possibility that the signals may be out of phase with each other. Ajax can invert the phase of one input to eliminate unwanted frequency cancellation.
– Multi-amp interface – Ajax has two output jacks, allowing you to send the signal to two different amplifiers simultaneously.
– Output phase correction – When connecting the two output jacks to two separate amplifiers, you may find that the amplifier outputs are out of phase with each other. Ajax can invert the phase of one output to eliminate unwanted frequency cancellation.
– Stereo expander – when using two amplifiers (or recording direct to a stereo interface), it can be desirable to invert the phase of one of the amplifiers, creating an ‘expanded’ sound – this is especially useful with modulation effects such as chorus, flanger, etc. The output phase inversion is performed using the stomp switch, so this can be done on the fly.
– Effect Combination – If you are lucky enough to have two Ajax devices, you can split the output signal of the first unit, applying varying amounts of effects to each signal indepentently, and recombining the signal using the second Ajax. Using this method, you will have access to new sounds and effect combinations that are otherwise impossible.
– Simple buffer – Putting Ajax first in your signal chain will provide a simple buffer, eliminating concerns about signal loss in true-bypass effect chains.
– Clean boost – Both the input and output Level controls are capable of linear boost, making Ajax a simple clean boost with no frequency attenuation.

This pedal is very intriguing to me, as I’ve recently been experimenting with playing two amps simultaneously. I know, you can do that with an ABY pedal, and I do that, but I really like the phase inversion and the input and output boost. This has lots of possibilities. Funny though, this pedal has been out for a year, and there is very little information or reviews on it.

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How Did I Miss This?!!! Introducing the TC Electronic Polytune!

Posted in accessories, announcements, buying gear, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, gear find, gear reviews, guitar, guitar accessories, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitar pedals, guitar reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, pedals, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 1, 2010| 6 Comments »

Could this be the last tuner pedal you’ll ever need?

I don’t see how I missed this! I scour the ‘net daily for new stuff, especially from companies that are known to create really high-quality stuff – like TC Electronic. These Scandinavians are incredible inventors, and I haven’t seen or played one one thing of theirs that I didn’t like – though I could rarely afford it. But they’ve come out with a new tuner – yes, a tuner, of all things – that is completely different from any other tuner on the market. It’s called the “Polytune.” As its name implies, it is a polyphonic tuner; that is, the tuner can detect all your strings at once, and you can see which ones aren’t in tune at the click of a foot switch. Unlike traditional tuners that require you to check each string individually, with the Polytune, you strum your open strings. The LED’s will show you which strings are in tune and which aren’t.

In my experience, more likely than not, at any given time only one or two will be out of tune. So imagine the time you save by NOT having to check and tune each string – only the ones that need it! Check out this video to see how it works!

And at $99 bucks… SOLD!!!

Here are some features:

  • 0.5 cent accuracy
  • Standard size box
  • Tune by strumming
  • Can automatically switch between chromatic and polyphonic tuning (it will detect if you’re hitting a single string)
  • Customizable preference settings
  • Has a 9V output jack for powering other pedals
  • True bypass
  • Adjustable reference pitch from 435Hz to 445Hz
  • Supports drop tuning all the way down to B!
  • Works with 4 and 5 string basses as well

It may not have the accuracy of a TurboTuner, but who the hell gives a flying f$%k! .5 cent accuracy is nothing to shake a stick at, and the fact that you can see the tuning of all your strings at once is incredible! Can  you say KICK ASS!!! I’ve never even seen this thing and I want to give it 5 Tone Bones! Check out the TC Electronic web site for some detailed information!

Could this be the last tuner I’ll ever want? Until someone comes out with something better – and at a better price, for that matter, probably not. I want to get one right now. Unfortunately, they’re only available for pre-order. Hmm… oh well, I supposed I can wait. 🙂

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How’s It Hanging?

Posted in accessories, GAS, gear, gear find, guitar, guitar accessories, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 26, 2010| 3 Comments »

Your guitar, that is…

I dig cool, off-the-wall stuff. Remember the Harmonic Capo I wrote about? I actually never got one, but that never reduced its cool to me. But this new, cool thing is something I’m definitely going to have to check out. It’s called the Guitar Hanger, made by the guys at The Guitar Hanger company. As the name implies, this little contraption literally lets you hang your guitar, much like you would a shirt or a pair of pants. Check out the video:

Right now, I’ve got all my guitars in my studio in their cases or gig bags, lined up along a wall, taking up valuable floor space. But with guitar hangers, I can free up A BUNCH of floor space. With guitar hangers, you could do something like this:

How cool is that?!!!! For more information, go to the The Guitar Hanger web site!

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Newly Discovered II: Guitar Scale Magnets

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Wow! Two days in a row, and yet another e-mail received from a reader, and yet another pretty cool idea. This time, it’s from Guitar Scale Magnets located in Houston, TX. These help players learn scales by attaching a magnetic strip to the bass side of the fretboard. The premise is that learning guitar is a visual as well as tactile and aural experience, and having a visual cue as to where you should place your fingers in relationship to a particular scale will help you learn faster. Interesting indeed. Here’s a picture of the pentatonic scale strips:

There are 12 strips representing each note in an octave, so you can learn the five pentatonic box shapes in any key! Cool! Each strip is attached to the guitar via a “base” strip of magnetically receptive material (not metal) tape. The tape has a weak adhesive, to stick enough to stay in place, but not damage your finish. In any case,  very ingenious idea!

At this point, only 25 1/2″ scale length strips are available, but according to the manufacturer, slight variations won’t throw the strip off much.

Personally, I wish I had these strips for when I was learning guitar. I just memorized the box shapes, then learned how to connect them through osmosis. But if I had to do it all over again, I would’ve invested in stuff like this to help get me started! For you teachers out there, you might consider getting a few sets of these – you can pass the cost of them to your students. But then again, that might shorten the time it takes to teach your students to play the guitar. 🙂 Seriously though, if my teacher provided me with stuff like this, it would make learning a helluva lot easier!

For more information, go to the Guitar Scale Magnets web site!

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Newly Discovered…

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2010| 4 Comments »

As GuitarGear.org has gotten more of following, from time to time, I get random e-mails from folks who share gear and what-not. It’s cool. If it’s interesting stuff, I share it here, and like in the case of Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps, their contact initiates a close friendship.

Anyway, I got a notification from YouTube that someone sent me a private message – I’ve gotten those before and they’ve been from users with names like “PoleRider69” or something to that effect, telling me to go to their adult porn site – but this one was different because the person who sent it was sharing a video about a glass guitar pick. Ah-ha! Gear! Now, you know me, gear slut that I am, I just can’t resist checking out stuff related to gear; especially picks!

So without further ado, I’ll share the video. It’s very short, but how this pick was used really compelled me to share it and find out more about the pick.

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