Posted in amplifiers, amps, doug doppler, dumble, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, Guitars, Mullard, musicians, tagged amp, amplification, amplifiers, amps, doppler, doug doppler, dumble, dumble amps, dumble overdrive special, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, overdrive on May 14, 2010| 6 Comments »
Dynamics. It’s what separates a mechanical and boring piece from something that can move an audience to tears. In this episode, Doug talks about the incredible dynamics of the Dumble Overdrive Special.
This is the last video in the series of Doug Doppler on the Dumble Overdrive Special, but it’s not the last. I’ve got many more “Doppler on…” videos to come, so stay tuned!!!
Posted in doug doppler, dumble, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitar reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, nighthawk 2009, tagged amp, amplification, amplifiers, amps, doppler, doug doppler, dumble, dumble overdrive special, GAS, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians on May 12, 2010| 7 Comments »
That’s right! As I mentioned in episode 1 of the series, the Dumble can shred, and it sound unbelievable. In this part, Doug talks in-depth of the tonal capabilities of the Dumble amp and demonstrates it versatility by shredding on it!
Posted in Guitars, tagged effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitar pedals, guitarists, overdrive on May 11, 2010| 2 Comments »
 Click to enlarge |
Doodad Guitars Check-A-Board RED Overdrive Booster
Summary: Two independent, true-bypass pedals in a single “bastard-proof” enclosure that can be used standalone or together. Overdrive is based upon the classic Tube Screamer, but has a voice all its own, and the booster is nice and transparent. Pros: Fantastic overdrive tone! The overdrive is super responsive, and the sustain at high drive settings is killer! Cons: I just keep the tone pot wide open. But the cut can be dramatic when you want to reduce some highs. Just a nit. Features:
Price: $139 street Tone Bone Score: 5.0 ~ I admit it, I’m partial to overdrive pedals, and while I love every single one that I have, I just never get tired of them. This pedal is going on my board! I’m buying the eval unit! |
Holland Produces More than Just the Dire Straits
I’ve been wanting to review gear from European companies for awhile; that is, European companies that don’t have much of a US presence, so TC Electronics was kind of out. So when I discovered Doodad Guitars by accident through some research on Marble amps – another Dutch company – I knew I had to find a way to check out their gear. So hooking up with Mal Stich of the The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company in Southern California got me the Check-A-Board RED overdrive/booster. I’ve been having TONS of fun with this pedal since I got it for review. So much fun that I’ve decided to keep the pedal. 🙂
Gig Report
Not wanting to lug my full rig to the church this past Sunday – which usually includes an amp head, cabinet, PRX150-Pro attenuator, my pedal board, plus a couple of guitars – I opted to go a bit more sparse. This time, I loaded up my Champ 600, a 1 X 12 cab, my Squier CV Tele; then threw the Check-A-Board RED pedal and my TU-2 tuner in a gig bag. Setup time: Less than five minutes. 🙂
This past Sunday, my drummer was traveling on business, but even without a drummer, I like to have a little dirt at my fingertips. And since I wasn’t using an attenuator, an overdrive pedal was my only option, so what better way to test the RED pedal?
I needed to pop in a 9V battery, and I have to say that I dig the battery compartment in this pedal! As opposed to many pedals that have a separate lead wire that you have to attach the battery to, then place into the battery housing, the RED pedal’s housing actually swings out completely! You just slide the battery into the compartment, swing the housing back into the pedal, and you’re off to the races! Nice and convenient!
For volume setup, I first adjusted the Champ’s volume to my normal gig volume which, in a church as most worship players will attest, isn’t very loud; especially when you’re sans a drum kit. By the way, my guitar was also set to just above half-way on its volume knob, so I’d have some wiggle room. Once I had that dialed in, I set the RED pedal’s drive to about 2pm, tone wide open, and set volume at just above unity. That gave me a nice rhythm grind, and with the drive set where it was, if I added more volume on the guitar, it wouldn’t produce too much more volume – just more dirt, which is what I wanted.
At those pedal settings, the RED pedal really sustains. That’s what you’d expect from a Tube Screamer-like pedal. But as I mentioned in my “first impressions article,” it has a voice all its own, foregoing the huge mid-range hump, and presenting a much flatter EQ response that brings out the highs and lows a bit more (just so long as you keep the tone wide open as it is a high-cut filter).
While it responds dynamically much like a Tube Screamer, its voicing is darker and has more “balls.” That’s a great combination, especially when you’re playing through a naturally bright amp like the Champ 600. It provides an overall tonal balance, and that’s very pleasing to me. 🙂
There were two things that struck me during the service about the RED pedal: First of all, even when I was wailing on the strings, the string separation was phenomenal! This pedal doesn’t know how to get mushy! Even on our closing song where I cranked the Drive – and we could play with more stage volume because the congregation gets LOUD 🙂 – my sound never turned to mush, and I was able to weave in and out of power chords and little fills and not worry about producing just a wall of sound. KILLER!
Secondly, where I had the pedal set up for most of the service, the RED pedal’s dynamic response was much like an amplifier’s, and it responded incredibly well to volume and knob and pick attack. For instance, there was one song near the beginning of the service where I stepped into the aisle to egg on the congregation to sing with the band. When I stepped out, we were in the middle of a nice, driving section of the song. I kind of got a bit carried away 🙂 and lingered there a bit too long and couldn’t get back to the RED pedal to switch off the overdrive before the softer verse section. So I turned my guitar volume down just a bit, and used some light hybrid picking for the verse section. The pedal cleaned right up, and had just a tad bit of dirt on the high-end which served as some shimmer. Needless to say, I pretty much kept the pedal on for each song we did, with the exception of a meditative, prayerful song where I had to play absolutely clean.
Funny thing, while I set up the booster, I didn’t even use it this past service. I’ll definitely use it when I use my regular rig, as I’ll have my attenuator and can set my amp to its sweet spot. Then I can take advantage of slamming the front end with some gain. 🙂
I DIG THIS PEDAL!!! At $139 from The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company – and I don’t say this often – but this is a must-have pedal for me! Looks like I’m going to have to buy the evaluation unit! Yeah, I know, I’m adding yet another overdrive pedal to my collection, but as Tony Stark said in “Iron Man,” “I gotta have it.” But unlike Stark, I won’t box it up and put it in storage. This pedal is going on my board!
How It Sounds
I’m using the clips I recorded for my first impressions article again. I’m actually working on a video review of the pedal, so I didn’t want to record more clips. But here’s a sampling for your listening pleasure. For this, I’m using my Aracom PLX18BB 18-Watt Plexi clone.
Aracom PLX18BB By Itself
Overdrive Engaged
Booster Engaged
Here’s a video to whet your appetite:
For more information, go to The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company and talk to Mal Stich. You will not be disappointed!
Posted in Guitars, tagged blues with brains, chuck d'aloia, guitar, guitar gear, guitar instruction, guitarists, Guitars, instruction, learn guitar, Music, musicians on May 10, 2010| 2 Comments »
Guitar teacher and guitarist extraordinaire Chuck D’Aloia has just added some new material to his instructional video arsenal, and I have to say that again, Chuck has hit another couple of homers. The first video, “Modal Studies,” covers the 7 modes of the major scale, the melodic minor, lydian b7, alt and the diminished scale. And in typical Chuck D’Aloia style, he teaches the concept then immediately demonstrates how it can be applied, with little “tricks” to help remember them. For me, I’ve always had a bit of a mental block with learning modes mainly because while I could intellectualize the note structure of each mode, I couldn’t immediately match that up with how it actually sounds and how to apply it. Chuck makes it easy! For instance, when explaining the Lydian mode, Chuck spelled out the note sequence, but he said something that really stuck: “…to get a Lydian sound, one way of getting it really easily is to take the root and play the triad one step above it.” Now THAT’S useful information, and easily remembered!
The other lesson he has available – and I haven’t gotten to it yet – is called “Playing over One Chord Grooves.” As Chuck writes, “The material is designed to open doors and present different options when playing over one chord grooves. Using pentatonic scales, triads, substitutions, chord scale relationships and other devices you will be using some of this material on your next gig as well as having new concepts to study.” How cool is THAT?!!!
In any case, each of these lessons is only $25. I highly recommend checking them out! For more information, go to Chuck’s site!
Posted in doug doppler, dumble, Guitars, tagged amp, amplification, amplifiers, amps, doppler, doug doppler, dumble, dumble overdrive special, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, overdrive on May 9, 2010| 5 Comments »
Wow! I’m having A LOT of fun editing this series because I’m just blown away by Doug’s incredible talent! What a gift! In any case, this part of the series has Doug discussing tone shaping with the ODS pre-amp section, and talking about playing a Strat through the amp. Plus, there’s a little surprise at the end. 🙂 Cheers!
Posted in dumble, Guitars, tagged doug doppler, dumble, dumble overdrive special, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians on May 7, 2010| 2 Comments »
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the privilege and honor to spend some time with one of the great guitar talents in the world, Doug Doppler. I originally was just going to just do a behind-the-scenes look of his new, upcoming DVD series, “Get Killer Tone,” and it kind of took on a life of its own, much to my surprise and pleasure. One of the highlights of our first meeting was having Doug demonstrate the Dumble amp he has on loan for the DVD. After we did the first taping, Doug contacted me and said he wasn’t satisfied with what we did for the first Dumble demonstration, so he invited me back to do a more organized and focused session. How incredible is that?!!
As it turns out, I’ve got enough footage to do a mini-series just on our single Dumble session, so that’s what I’m going to be providing over the next few weeks. This first video is just a quick overview of the Dumble Overdrive Special’s features, plus Doug demonstrating how incredible it sounds clean with a classic archtop guitar. Enjoy!
Sorry if you could hear my breathing in the video. Had the camera a bit too close to me… 🙂
Finally, what is a very positive fallout of this series is that it provides a much more in-depth look at the performance characteristics of a Dumble amp as opposed to just doing a “demo.” I think Doug wanted to share why the Dumble is so special, and not just by doing clips, but by providing demonstration as well as discussion. That’s not something anyone has done – at least not that I’ve seen – and I’m completely overwhelmed by the opportunity to provide this!
Many, many thanks to Doug Doppler!
Posted in Guitars, tagged effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, overdrive, pedals on May 5, 2010| 3 Comments »
Click to enlarge
You know me… I LOVE overdrive pedals! I have several, and amazingly use them all, depending upon the voicing that I want, as I don’t think I’ve ever come across any two that sound exactly alike. But since I’ve been playing through really nice tube amps, I’ve come to really appreciate a great booster pedal as well. So it was very pleasant surprise to discover Doodad Guitars’ Check-A-Board RED overdrive-booster pedal that combines both OD and boost in a single pedal.
You might be thinking, “So what?” I certainly did, until I found out that you could operate either one separately or both in tandem to not only add some clipping before your amp, but to also slam the front end with more gain. That really piqued my interest!
I discovered this pedal through Mal Stich over at The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company (“Alternative” for this discussion) as I was searching for more information about Marble Amps, a Dutch company that makes vintage Fender clones. “Alternative” is their US dealer. I called up Mal to get info about the amps, and we had a great conversation. He shared that the amps were fantastic, but it was tough to sell them here in the states because shipping and duties are so high for such heavy gear that it makes it hard for Marble to compete in the boutique amp marketplace in the States. Then he mentioned that he was working with another Dutch company that had just released a brand-new overdrive-booster combo pedal. That got my ears up! So he graciously offered to send one to me for review.
So as a first impression, what do I think? This is a killer pedal, folks! I love both sides of the RED pedal. While the overdrive is supposedly based upon the classic TS-808 circuit, it doesn’t sound at all like a Tube Screamer (remember, I have one), but that’s a good thing, as it has it’s own voice. It can go from slightly gritty to super saturated and sustaining. But the coolest thing I dig about it is that it doesn’t compress your signal much with the drive set high. But like the Tube Screamer, at high drive settings, it sustains for days!
With respect to the booster, I dig it. It doesn’t give me as much boost as my Creation Audio Labs Mk.4.23, but very importantly, it doesn’t add any artifacts either; in other words, it boosts as expected, and does it transparently. And it comes in handy when I need a slight volume jump for a lead. I guess you might compare it to the VOX Satchurator’s “More” toggle, but with this booster, the gain is adjustable. Nice! While I really love the overdrive side of the pedal, I’ve found myself using the booster a lot more because my amps just loved to be slammed with gain on the front-end! 🙂 The booster really brings out the best in these low-wattage amps!
For controls, the RED pedal has four knobs: Three (Drive, Tone, and Volume) control the overdrive section, while the four controls the amount of boost the pedal produces when the boost is engaged. The Tone control is more of a high-cut filter than a true EQ, but that’s okay. I prefer that with overdrive pedals as I usually want all my tone, so I normally have it all the way up, or if I’m playing a naturally bright amp, like my 18-Watt Plexi clone, I just dial out a tiny bit of the highs. One thing that I noticed immediately with the overdrive besides its sustain, is the incredible note separation, even at higher drive settings. That makes it a no-brainer to use when I want singing lead tones! As I mentioned, the signal doesn’t compress that much, so having that note separation is killer!
In my short time using the pedal, I’ve actually preferred to use the overdrive and booster separately. My little low-wattage amps provide enough dirt that slamming them with overdrive AND boost is just overkill. If I had higher-wattage, high-gain amps, it probably would make more sense to use both. In any case, I have some clips of the pedal. I’m using my Squier CV Tele plugged straight into the RED pedal then into my Aracom PLX18BB Plexi-clone.
PLX18BB By Itself
Overdrive Engaged
Booster Engaged
I have some more playing to do with it before I do my full review, but I will be giving this pedal a pretty high rating!
For more information, go to The Alternative Guitar and Amplifier Company site!
Posted in Guitars, tagged doug doppler, gear, get killer tone, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Music, musicians, top dawg on April 30, 2010| 2 Comments »
Nestled in the hills in a small town east of the San Francisco bay lies the house of Doug Doppler, a man so unassuming and humble and possessed of such a warm heart that it’s easy to forget that he is just about one of the greatest guitar talents in the world. Last Tuesday, April 27, my close friend, Jeff Aragaki and I had the privilege to spend the day with Doug at his house for a behind-the-scenes look into the making of his upcoming DVD series, “Get Killer Tone.”
This meeting came about because Jeff lent Doug his incredible Aracom PRX150-Pro attenuator so Doug could use it on “Get Killer Tone” (I’ll have a video regarding this coming soon). Doug has since purchased the unit because in his words, “It’s saving my ears!” And taking advantage of Jeff’s relationship with him, I threw out the idea of getting a behind-the-scenes look at Doug’s process of creating the series; something Doug excitedly agreed to, much to my delight.
And a delight it was! My initial thought about the meeting would be that I’d just do a simple video interview with him that wouldn’t take more than an hour or so. But that hour turned into another hour, then another hour, then another hour, to the point where my video camera ran out of juice! Luckily I had brought my AC adapter! Needless to say, Doug had a lot to say, but it wasn’t at some 
condescending, “I do this and that, and look Ma! See how well I can play” level. What Jeff and I were treated to was a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse into the life of a musician who graced us with his passion, knowledge, and wisdom. All in all, we spent almost six hours with Doug, and honestly, I’ve had to let that experience sink in for a couple of days before I wrote anything about it.
It’s a given that Doug is simply an incredible talent on the guitar. That man can shred like there’s no tomorrow, but he can also play tons of different styles, and in his various demonstrations, he switched in and out of styles both seamlessly and effortlessly. I could go on all day about that, but frankly, that’s not what impressed me the most. What had the biggest impact on me was who Doug is as a person.
If I were to distill down my various observations of Doug to a single word, that word would be “genuine.” Doug is genuine about pretty much everything, and never in all the time we spent with him did I detect even the slightest air of falseness. When you spend time with Doug, it really is WYSIWYG!
Doug is also a very deep and passionate man, and he’s not embarrassed to share his philosophical or even moral views on various subjects; and it came through in our conversations. Even on the simplest subjects, Doug imparted a depth that went far beyond just surface chit-chat. This isn’t just some “Yo dude! Look what I can play” musician who leaves it at that. Doug is a deep thinker, and when you watch and listen to him play, he’s not someone who’s going to just do a bunch of “linked licks.” There’s real depth to the phrases he plays which is in turn a reflection of his personality; in other words, with Doug, there’s always more than meets the eye, and I mean that in a good way!
Doug’s enthusiasm about everything is contagious, and combined with his natural warmth and friendliness makes it easy to rap about anything; and he undoubtedly falls into the someone-you’d-love-to-hate-but-can’t-because-they’re-so-nice category because he’s such a nice guy that easily draws you in. He talks a million miles per hour, but it’s so incredibly engaging, you never get tired of talking with him.
As a guitar player, what can I say? It’s no accident that he was chosen to track the Guitar Hero game. His technique is absolutely incredible, and he weaves in and out of styles of playing seamlessly. Just watching him play was incredible! But the interesting thing is that he just did it. No pretentiousness, no attitude of having to prove anything. Doug’s confident about his playing without being condescending. Yeah, he’s a self-professed shredder, but after watching and listening to him play for a couple of hours, there’s not much he can’t play.
If you ever get a chance to see him (he does clinics for Ibanez and will be doing stuff for Orange as well), don’t hesitate to speak with him personally. Like me, you’ll find out just how great a guy he is! I’m very honored to have been able to spend so much time with him!
Posted in Guitars, tagged guitar, guitarists, Music, musicians, new song on April 26, 2010| 3 Comments »
Twist the Knife is my first foray into writing allegorical lyrics. What I wanted to achieve with the lyrics was have them stand on their own from the surface point of view, but really represent an entirely different thing. On the surface, Twist the Knife is about a lover’s betrayal, but it’s also an allegory of how many were betrayed in the recent financial crisis at the hands of the huge investment firms. The fact that firms like Goldman Sachs recommended risky investments in mortgage-backed securities to their clients, then betting against those same securities – seemingly know that they’d tank – and making a HUGE profit was like stabbing someone in the heart, then twisting it to add insult to injury.
Amps: Aracom PLX18BB for left-channel rhythm, Aracom VRX22 for right-channel rhythm and lead
Guitars: Squier CV Tele 50’s on the left, Gibson Nighthawk 2009 on the right and for the lead
Bass: Ibanez GSR200
Recording Notes: I dig the rhythm guitar parts as they sound like they’re coming from much bigger amps. Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps totally “gets” the vintage Marshall tone with that sweet and smooth overdrive. All guitar parts were recorded with no effects whatsoever, and I just added some reverb and a little presence to the guitar tracks to make up for the crappy ribbon mic I used to record the guitars.
LYRICS
To simplify your life that’s what you wanted
Our complications only bring you down
I set you free to satisfy your longing
to find what you’ve been missing
and recover what you’ve lost
I gave a lover’s trust as you turned away from me
thinking you’d be coming back to my arms
But all I’m holding now is this blade you thrust in my heart
You cut me down
My love runs out…
Then you twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Nothing’s as it seems with your deceptions
Your love was a veil you hid behind
I let myself be fooled that there was more to us
I guess it’s true when they say
love is deaf, dumb and blind
I gave a lover’s trust as you turned away from me
thinking you’d be coming back to my arms
But all I’m holding now is this blade you thrust in my heart
You cut me down
My love runs out…
Then you twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
I thought we’d journey to our promise land
where our hearts and spirits unite
but you’ve left wanting
and I keep on calling
you’re just not to be found….
Then you twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Twist the knife
Copyright (C) 2010 Brendan Delumpa
Posted in Guitars, tagged amp, amplification, amplifiers, amps, aracom, aracom amps, attenuator, GAS, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians on April 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I’ve never hid from the fact that I own Aracom gear, and as I’ve said in My Rig page, I’m a faithful customer who just digs the stuff that Jeff Aragaki, Aracom’s founder, comes up with. I’ve extolled the wonders of his attenuator, the PRX150-Pro, and I’ve mentioned my Aracom amps, the VRX18, VRX22, and PLX18BB several times.
One thing I’ve learned over the years with respect to gear is that you go with what works for you, and my Aracom gear simply works for me! In fact, my Aracom equipment has had a lot to do with me using less pedals, and relying on the raw sound of my guitar and amps; especially when I’m playing straight rock and roll.
I have yet to play a bad-sounding Aracom amp. When they’re cranked to the hilt, they have such an incredible mojo that’s just too hard to describe. Of course, I couldn’t crank them without the PRX150-Pro attenuator. No matter, there’s magic in Jeff’s creations! To demonstrate this magic, I’m going to share an excerpt from a song that I’m working on. I just finished laying down the instrument parts. Give it a listen:
The rhythm part is played with my Squier CV Tele in the middle switch position, and running straight into Channel 2 of the PLX18BB, which was cranked up all the way. Talk about cranked Marshall-esque tones! It sounds even better live! The lead was recorded with my Gibson Nighthawk 2009 into my VRX22. Master was at 3pm and Volume was at 2pm. This setting gives me a sweet, singing lead voicing that sustains for days due to the awesome solid-state sag circuit! Again, the guitar was plugged straight into the amp – no frills whatsoever. I did add some reverb to both parts, but other than that, that the raw sound of the guitars/amps with no EQ. Pretty killer tones!!!
To top it off, both parts were recorded at bedroom level as both amps ran into the PRX150-Pro! We’re talking conversation level, so if you heard some transient clicks in the clip, it’s stuff that was making noise in my garage/studio!
You gotta check this stuff out. Jeff is a true wizard with amps! Both the VRX amps start at $895, while the PLX18BB combo starts at $1750 ($1350 for the head only). If you’re after vintage Marshall tone at a non-vintage price, you owe it to yourself to check out these amps!
Guitar Gear 
