My trusty DigiTech Vocalist Live 4 is pretty much on its last legs. It has lasted four years of regular gigging – at least two gigs a week – and things are starting to become loose or not function at all. That’s okay because it was expected, so I’ve been slowly saving my pennies for a new TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch. This is a great harmonizer that not only will harmonize using guitar, but also keyboard; something that my Vocalist Live 4 could not do. It also has a built-in looper, which I had the opportunity to see in action a couple of months ago at an in-store demo with singer/songwriter Christine Havrilla. Check out this link in which Christine shows how she builds up a song using the VoiceLive Touch.
Pretty cool, huh? TC Helicon has placed A LOT of emphasis on the VoiceLive Touch’s looping capability. Even during the demo I saw, Christine focused on the looper. Now I’m not knocking it, but using a looper can be somewhat limiting, especially if you’re looping a chord progression. I have a small looper that I use occasionally, but I typically just use it for creating underlying rhythms. In that respect, it’s VERY useful. I’ve tried to use it with chord progressions for songs, but it’s difficult because songs have different parts, so it can be a bit impractical for that.
But as a harmonizer, this unit rocks! It has over 200 factory presets, and customizing harmonies on the fly is a snap. You simply hit the buttons on the right side of the unit to add or subtract harmonies. Very cool! The keyboard harmonization is a huge selling point for me, as I can hook up a digital piano and get harmonies that way as well.
All in all, this is a great little unit, and at $499, it’s pretty affordable, considering what it does – though you do have to pay an extra $50 for the foot switch controller, which is an absolute necessity for live work. I should be getting one of these within the next couple of months.
Summary: Nice, moderate vowel-tone envelope filter box for guitar. You can get downright funky with this pedal. While it may not get as “vowelly” as competitive products, it certainly has a lot of tone on tap.
Pros: Great features and tone, and the pedal’s super quite when active. The controls are super-easy to manipulate.
Cons: While I love the sound of this pedal, its physical footprint is just plain big, making it impractical to put on my pedal board. Also, the plastic enclosure makes me a little “iffy” about its gig-worthiness.
Features
21 Filter Sounds including 2 Pole Low Pass, 4 Pole Low Pass, Single Peak, Triple Peak, Peak and Notch and Phasers.
Positive and Negative filter sweep with variable range and sensitivity.
Dual range speed control allows equal adjustment of Attack and Decay speeds, or alternatively, a fixed, fast attack and adjustable Decay.
Modern Design — a thoughtfully designed box that features rugged construction and sleek looks.
State-of-the-art DSP — our proprietary 56-bit Digital Signal Processor, the SA601 and crystal clear 24-bit converters.
Motion Control — all Soundblox™ pedals are “Hot Hand® Ready” and can be used with any Hot Hand motion sensor to extend the capabilities of the unit.
Active Analog Bypass — bypass is fully routed around the DSP and active input ensures zero signal degradation.
Dimensions: 7 in/17.8cm (length not including 1/O jacks) x 4 in/10.2 cm (width) x 2 in/5cm (height, including knobs).
Price: ~$120 Street
Tone Bone Score: 4.75 ~ On tone alone, I’d give this a 5, but its size and plastic enclosure give it a lower mark.
A few months ago, I was thinking that the next tonal territory I wanted to tackle was using an envelope filter. I love that “auto-wah,” vowel tone. I’ve tried out a few over the months, but I got a chance to spend a good deal of time with the Source Audio unit in my studio, and I have to say that tonally, it’s a real winner for me.
Out of the different envelope filters I’ve tried, this one has just about the most features I’ve seen to date, with 21 filter sounds, which means you can get A LOT of different tones out this box. But despite the amount of tweakability, it’s super-easy to dial in tones, and to be completely honest, though I’ve had this unit for a couple of months to play with (thank you Source Audio – and no, this is just demo unit, though I’ll probably buy it), I have yet to touch the manual. Source Audio even sent me a wired “Hot Hand” controller that allows you to manipulate the signal with a ring that’s wired to the pedal. But I haven’t used it yet – the Hot Hand-less configuration has just worked for me.
There are only a couple of things that really irked me about the pedal. The first, and this goes for all Soundblox pedals in general is its large footprint. For me to use it at gigs with my pedal board, I’ve had to remove my wah pedal. It’s 7″ long, for goodness’ sake! Plus the plastic enclosure makes me a little nervous. I gig a lot, and I’m not sure just how well this would hold up getting banged around in my car.
But despite those little annoyances, I still dig the pedal – A LOT. For one, it’s insanely priced at around $120 street. Plus, it’s dead quiet on or off due to the analog true bypass switch, which is a great feature for a lower-price-point pedal.
How It Sounds
Of course, its sound is what sold me. But it’s even more than that because the pedal also reacts to input gain. So in addition to getting the 21 different voicings, by adjusting your input volume and pick attack, you can affect the tone of the pedal. I’ve literally spent hours playing around with this pedal, and every time I play it, I discover something new. Love it!
The following clips were all played with my Fender American Deluxe Strat into my trusty Roland Cube 60, set to a clean “Blackface” setting. I didn’t want to color the tone with any kind of drive or distortion. Note that I don’t remember any of the settings that I used on the pedal. In fact, when I recorded these, I just set the pedal to what I though would sound good, then hit “record.” 🙂
First off, is a little ditty that I put together with a clean rhythm track, and doing a lead over it.
Second is another lead track, but I added in some reverb and delay to give the tone some space.
Next, it’s just my guitar and the pedal. The first part of the clip demonstrates the pedal’s response to pick attack. Then I just play a random lead and some fast funk chords.
Finally, I set the pedal to extremes. I was after the most raunchy tone that the pedal can produce without going over the top (which it can), and this is the result:
Overall Impression
This is a fantastic pedal! Even with the misgivings I have with its size and construction, there’s no denying that the tone it produces really moves me.
Usually I just don’t go for super-fast playing. It seems to me to be just too much information to process. And with lots of guitarists who are speed players, their phrasing doesn’t seem to make much sense to me, as if the only message they’re interested in conveying is, “Look! See how fast I can play.” But if you add musicality to speed, to me, that’s amazing. In my previous article, I had a video of Yngwie Malmsteen. But in this video, I’m showcasing Michael Angelo Batio. This dude is from a completely different planet.
I’ve played scalloped fretboards in the past, and to tell the truth, to me they feel pretty awesome. A few years ago, I almost bought a Tele that had a scalloped fretboard. But after playing primarily acoustic guitar for 25 years before making the switch to primarily electric guitar, my touch is simply way to hard to play a scalloped fretboard.
Believe me, I’ve tried to lighten up my touch, but I still unconsciously dig in. Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot better with my touch but I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point where my touch is light enough to play a guitar with a scalloped fretboard. But who knows? Maybe if I try one in a few years, I’ll like it.
In any case, there are several fairly famous guitarists that have used scalloped fretboards. Most notable – at least to me – is the great Yngwie Malmsteen. Here’s a video of him playing what he calls “Arpeggios from Hell:”
So much focus in the Les Paul world seems to be on the Les Paul Historics; especially the R7 through R0 models. Perhaps rightfully so, as those Custom Shop models are built to those specs. I myself have an R8, and it’s my go-to guitar. But before I got really interested in the Historics, I totally dug on the Les Paul Supreme – actually still do. I dig the look of it from the headstock logo to the brass hardware to the striped mother-of-pearl inlays. Plus, the AAAA figured maple top and back are simply gorgeous to me. I’m normally attracted to plain top bursts, but that figured top and back just ooze tons of mojo to me. I love the thick binding all around. This is a beautiful, artistic guitar.
Yeah, I know, I’ve heard the complaints about the Supreme not having control access panels on the back. I suppose that’s a big inconvenience for tweakers who’ll want to swap out the stock pickups. Personally though, I have no problem with the 490R and 498T pickups. They’re ballsy and expressive. I have a 498T in my 2009 Nighthawk, and it rocks.
One thing that’s important to me with a Les Paul is that it has a 50’s-style neck; to be more precise, a ’58 or ’59 neck, and the Supreme has that style of neck – not the ’57’s baseball bat neck.
In any case, to me, it’s a fine instrument, and one that I would like to own sooner or later. Here’s a great video I found on YouTube showcasing the Les Paul Supreme:
I might’ve posted this before, but here’s a great video of the making of a Les Paul Supreme.
Barron Wesley Guitars AlphaSummary: From new luthier Russell comes an amazingly affordable custom guitar that’s a joy to play, and has a unique sound without losing that classic tone that you’d expect from a PAF-equipped guitar.
Pros: All hand-made. I’ll estimate its weight to be around 8 lbs, so it’s easy on the shoulder. Position of the neck is perfect, making it easy to get into the high frets. Tung Oil finish is wonderful, giving the wood a real natural feel.
Cons: This is just a nit, but it would’ve been great to have independent volume controls for each pickup.
Features
Scale length: 25″
Frets: 22 (medium)
Color: Natural
Top Wood: Quilted Maple
Back/Neck Wood: African Mahogany
Finish: Hand-rubbed Tung Oil
Fingerboard Cocobolo Rosewood
Nut Material: Bone
Bridget TonePros AVT II
Pickups: Manilus Vintage/Modern PAF+
Controls: Master Volume / Push-pull Master Tone for coil splitting / 3-way Toggle
Tuners: Gotoh Magnum Locking
Build Completion: April 2011
Price: < $2000 (Yup, that’s right. A handmade guitar for less then 2 large)
Tone Bone Score: 4.75 ~ I’ve been testing out the guitar for the past couple of days, and it is a player, that’s for sure. This is just a super-comfortable instrument, and I could see myself logging several hours with it!
There’s always room in this world for someone who’s good…
About 25 years ago, I got kicked out of college for a year to get my act together. It wasn’t that my grades were bad, it was that I had three consecutive quarters of minimal progress, so my dean told me to take a break. When I was ready to come back, the dean was reluctant to let me back in. I was dumbstruck. “Why won’t you let me back in?” I asked him.
He replied, “Because as you know, I see you perform all over town. I’m not sure that the sciences are right for someone with your passion and talent in the arts. My son was in the same boat you’re in now and I told him, ‘There’s always room in the world for someone who’s good.’ He left his major, went with music and he’s now playing his horn in Les Brown’s Band of Reknown.” Long story short, I ended up getting back in and completing my coursework in Biology; didn’t do me much good as I’m now almost 20 years into my software engineering career. But those words have stuck with me since, and I’ve used them as a battle cry for both myself and others who may have doubts in their abilities.
Enter Russell LaRoche of Barron Wesley Guitars. He’s a newcomer to the luthier scene, and has only formally been in business since the beginning of this year. He’s the epitome of the saying that there’s always room in the world for someone who’s good, and I think he’s onto something with his guitars. If the model I played is any indication, I have no doubts that he should see some success.
Fit and Finish
There’s really nothing like a handmade instrument. Even though I don’t play my own handmade “Goldie” any longer, there’s a certain “mojo” in the look and feel of a handmade instrument, and the Barron Wesley Alpha has tons of mojo on tap. The quilted maple top is to die for! And though finished with oil and not lacquer, it still retains that three dimensional quality. Personally, that Tung oil finish is sexy as hell!
For those unfamiliar with Tung oil, it is the oil that comes from the nut of the tung tree, and is what is generally called a “drying oil” in that it cures and hardens upon contact with air. It also ages very well, and doesn’t darken over time, making it a perfect finish for fine woods. It is also used as a sealant for marble to protect the stone. For wood, it gives it that satiny, wet wood look. I love it! I imagine that the finish will wear, and unlike lacquer, will be susceptible to scratching, but the cool thing is that the finish can be re-applied (not sure how often, but I don’t anticipate that it would need it that often).
Russell’s attention to detail in the finish of this guitar was spot on. No crooked or uneven joints; everything fits well together. The guitar also “feels” sturdy, though it’s probably only about 8 lbs. in weight. This is a guitar that could be gigged with on a regular basis.
Playability
In a word: Awesome. The neck shape is much like a 50’s Les Paul neck, so I was right at home with it. Mind you, if you don’t like that deep C, then Russell can probably shape it to your specifications.
The cocobolo rosewood fretboard is a dream. Though harder than Brazilian and Indian rosewood, to me, it feels like ebony as it has a lot of oil content, but with a rosewood texture. This makes it VERY easy to move around the fretboard.
The body shape is also perfect, and it is super-easy to get into the high frets. I like the 25″ scale length as well. It’s very close to a Les Paul, so again, I felt right at home playing this guitar.
How It Sounds
Of course looks and playability mean nothing if the guitar doesn’t sound good, and this is where the guitar absolutely shines. The Manilus Vintage/Modern PAF+ pickups are a bit more aggressive than traditional PAF-style pups, but that’s okay. It’s clear that this guitar was meant to rock. But being that they are PAF-style pups, they have that honk and a bit of bite to them that’s absolutely pleasing to the ears. In fact, the tone reminded me of my ’59 Les Paul re-issue, but with a deeper tone.
Here’s a clip I recorded of it. The rhythm riff was played in the neck pickup, and I played the lead in the bridge pickup with the ‘bucker tapped to get a slightly spanky single-coil tone. My Timmy pedal provides the drive for the lead, and both tracks were played through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe in the clean channel – completely clean, mind you. I added a bit of spring reverb from the amp to each track.
Man! What a sweet sound! In fact, I had been playing the guitar over two hours before I decided to record that track. In fact, the main riff has inspired me to write a new song. You gotta love how a great instrument can sprout the seeds of creativity!
Overall Impression
Fantastic guitar from a new, talented luthier. It’s a great combination!
Summary: Proving the old adage that “big things come in small packages,” the EWS Little Brute Drive is an absolute distortion machine, capable of mild crunch to face melting distortion. Don’t let the “drive” in the name fool you. This ain’t an overdrive – but who cares? 🙂
Pros: Though it has output level and treble controls inside the enclosure, the pedal is set to unity gain, so no need to mess with output volume. You just set the gain knob where you want it, then turn it on. It’ll instantly turn your guitar a fire-breathing dragon!
Cons: None. Absolutely none.
Features
Single gain knob. All the way left gives you about the max overdrive of a soft OD pedal like the Timmy. All the way right is evil – very evil – distortion. 🙂
True bypass
Runs on either a 9V battery or 9V power supply (I use a 1-spot).
Price: ~$129 Street
Tone Bone Score: 5.0 ~ I could barely pull myself away from playing this evening to write this review! I was having way too much fun with this pedal!
I have to admit that I haven’t been too much into distortion pedals in the past, but since I got a Strat, none of my overdrive pedals could give me the kind of creamy crunch that I love for playing rock songs. It’s not a problem with my Les Paul, and though my new Strat does have some higher-output pickups, it’s still not the kind of gain that a Les Paul produces. So I figured that I’d try a distortion pedal. Enter the Little Brute Drive.
After watching some very good videos and listening to some sound clips of the pedal, I knew it would do the job. I wasn’t mistaken. This freakin’ pedal has more gain than anything in my arsenal. I was amazed that at even with the gain all the way down, it was more than the gain that my beloved Timmy produces! But the even cooler thing is that even at the highest gain setting, note separation is incredible! I was concerned about that because my past experience with distortion pedals is that they get really muddy and compressed at high gain settings; not the LBD. The distortion is tight, but it never gets muddy, and the EQ response is pretty flat to boot.
Fit and Finish
Though it is diminutive in size, it’s built like a tank, and it is definitely gig-worthy. It has a nice red powder coating – almost like a warning that this thing breathes fire!
How It Sounds
Make no mistake: This is NOT a low-gain pedal. It is meant for crunch and face-melting. So if you’re looking for something milder, best stick with an overdrive pedal. But if you’re looking for lots of gain and sustain AND clarity, this is a pedal that will do the job in spades.
I recorded a couple of quick clips to demonstrate the pedal. I had the gain knob set to noon on both clips. I used a Barron Wesley Alpha with humbuckers – though I played both clips in split coil to at simulate a single-coil guitar, and I used my Fender Hot Rod purely clean. With the first clip, I do a comparison riff. The first part is the guitar with no effect, then I switch on the LBD. The second clip is just me noodling.
Yowza! I really had to have a much lighter touch on the fretboard playing this pedal, and since the guitar I was playing is so resonant, I had to mute the strings I wasn’t playing because the pedal picks up EVERYTHING! It’s incredible! And to think that I was able to get that kind of gain with the gain knob set at noon!
Overall Impressions
I love it. ‘Nuff said. The sustain, the drive, and most importantly the note separation and clarity make this pedal a winner.
I just got done practicing some new material for tomorrow night’s gig and was about to put my guitar on a stand and call it a night when I started playing a chord progression – just a couple of simple chords. Then I added a bit more to it, and my creativity sort of took on a life of its own. Once I had the full progression down, I immediately recorded it so I wouldn’t forget it, then I layered a lead to explore various melody ideas. Here’s the result of my noodling:
Frankly, it’s nothing special, but it occurred to me that it’s important to noodle because it sometimes takes you to places – a musical dreamland, you might say – that you’d normally not explore, and you discover musical phrasing that your normal alpha-wave, mind on work, mind on life waking mind wouldn’t allow you to think about.
I may never turn that “idea” into a song, but just from that little noodling session, other ideas have surfaced, and I’ll definitely be doing some exploration of those ideas.
Bear in mind that when you’re noodling, you should detach yourself from self-judgment about what you’re playing and especially how you’re playing. It doesn’t matter. The point is to explore. You never know what may turn up.
I recently sold one of my guitars “The Ox” (’59 Les Paul replica), and have been getting it ready to ship. Luckily I had a Les Paul box on me that had some of the original packing material in it, so I could use it. The rest, I packed with wadded newspaper. If you’re curious about how to pack a guitar, check out this great video:
My trusty DigiTech Vocalist Live 4 is pretty much on its last legs. It has lasted four years of regular gigging – at least two gigs a week – and things are starting to become loose or not function at all. That’s okay because it was expected, so I’ve been slowly saving my pennies for a new TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch. This is a great harmonizer that not only will harmonize using guitar, but also keyboard; something that my Vocalist Live 4 could not do. It also has a built-in looper, which I had the opportunity to see in action a couple of months ago at an in-store demo with singer/songwriter Christine Havrilla. Check out this link in which Christine shows how she builds up a song using the VoiceLive Touch.
Guitar Gear 
