This is SO AWESOME!!! I’ll let the videos speak for themselves:
Posts Tagged ‘Guitars’
Les Paul Documentary!!!
Posted in Guitars, tagged GAS, gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, les paul, Music, musicians on July 23, 2011| 1 Comment »
Gear Announcement: Pigtronix Class A Boost
Posted in Guitars, tagged boost, effect pedals, Effects, GAS, gear, gear announcements, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, pedals on July 18, 2011| 3 Comments »
I get lots of press releases, but there are some that compel me to share. This is one of them:
Pigtronix announces release of the Class A Boost – Elegance In Tone
Pigtronix Class A Boost is the final word in high performance guitar preamps. This pedal’s elegant exterior and single knob layout cloth an ingenious “Class A” J-FET design that will fatten up the sound of any instrument or sound source.
Featuring discreet transistor topology (no opamps) this device can boost passive or active pickups and even line level signals up to 20db without ever clipping. Perfectly flat frequency response from 20Hz to 20kHz ensures that your instrument’s tone and expressive character remain intact as signal power is increased.
The Class A Boost’s noise free performance allows you to put the effect anywhere in your pedal chain. It adds punch and extra output when placed after a classic overdrive or will happily push your gain pedals into new levels of saturation. The Class A Boost is also ideal for hitting the front end of a tube amp to achieve an added layer of sweetness and fat tone without unwanted clipping or noise.
The Class A Boost runs fine on a standard 9-volt supply, but ships with a Pigtronix 18-volt adapter in order to achieve superior headroom and maximum punch. Make your sound 1 louder with this handsomely dressed, J-FET masterpiece from Pigtronix.
“Pigtronix Class A Boost is crucial to my sound because it makes my guitar tone clearer and louder, without adding distortion.” – Eric Krasno (Soulive)
Pigtronix Class A Boost carries a list price of $149 and is available now at Pigtronix dealers everywhere. Check out the Class A Boost and the whole line of 2011 Pigtronix effects at http://www.pigtronix.com.
I’m a big proponent of boost pedals, especially when used to slam the front end of a tube amp to push it into full-on overdrive. What’s attractive about this particular pedal is that it is Class A – at least from an audiophile’s perspective – which means that it will not clip throughout its operating range. Don’t confuse this with the definition of Class A for an amplifier. They’re two different things. Here’s a great explanation of Class A operation with respect to amps.
In any case, this could be a VERY cool pedal to have…
For more information, visit the Pigtronix Class A Boost page!
There’s a Tele-bration Going On…
Posted in Guitars, tagged fender, gear announcements, gear find, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, new gear, telecaster on July 14, 2011| 2 Comments »
Just got an e-mail from Fender today, announcing the 60th Anniversary of the Telecaster. They’re calling it their “Tele-bration.” Nice. The beauty above is called the “Modern Thinline” Tele, and it’s an absolutely gorgeous guitar! Fender calls it a chambered body.
In any case, in honor of the 60th Anniversary, Fender is releasing special edition models throughout the year; some of which you can see here. One of the models that has particularly caught my eye is the “Old Growth Redwood” model. This is made from salvaged redwood from old buildings, and has the knots and nail holes from those buildings to give the guitar a really distinctive look.
MSRP on all these guitars is $2499, so count on street prices being around the $1500-$1800 price mark. That’s very attractive pricing for these models. 🙂
BTW, I found a GREAT video demo of the Old Growth Redwood model from none other than Andy @ ProGuitarShop.com:
Gig Report: EWS Little Brute Drive
Posted in Guitars, tagged distortion, Effects, GAS, gear, guitar, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, Guitars, Music, musicians, overdrive, pedals on July 11, 2011| 2 Comments »
I’ve never been much of a distortion box kind of guy; at least until recently when I got my EWS Little Brute Drive. I didn’t think I’d be using it all that much, but I have to admit, it is quickly becoming an indispensable addition to my pedal board. It’s as transparent as my Timmy, which is a HUGE plus in its favor, but the gain and distortion goes way beyond what the Timmy can do. But at the same time, it behaves insanely well with the Timmy. For instance, at my church gig yesterday, I was playing a song and had the Timmy engaged to give me some mild overdrive. There was a lead break in the middle of the song where I had to do a short 8-bar solo. But instead of switching the Timmy off, I just activated the LBD. OMG!!! I was immediately rewarded with tons of sustain, and singing, sweet distortion that was not at all over the top (I had the single gain knob set at about 11 am)
Amazing that all this comes from this little pedal that’s about 1 1/2 times longer than a 9 volt battery!
One thing though is that both the Timmy and the LBD are making me rethink how I approach my overdrive tone. Since getting them, I haven’t been cranking my amps near as much as I used to. I still love that saturated power tube sound, but tend to put my amps on just below the edge of breakup, then use my Timmy, the LBD, or a boost to push it over the edge. Mind you, I still have the Master volume up there. It’s just full out like it used to be.
Thoughts on the TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch
Posted in Guitars, tagged GAS, gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitar pedals, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, tc helicon, voicelive touch on July 5, 2011| 1 Comment »
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.
Guitars Are Better Than Women Because…
Posted in Guitars, tagged gear, guitar, guitar gear, guitar humor, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians on June 28, 2011| 7 Comments »
- You can play your Guitar any time of the month.
- Guitars don’t have parents.
- Guitars don’t whine… unless you want them to.
- You can share your Guitar with your friends.
- Guitars don’t care how many other Guitars you’ve played
- Guitars don’t care how many other Guitars you have.
- Guitars don’t care if you look at other Guitars.
- Guitars don’t care if you buy Guitar magazines.
- You’ll never hear, “Surprise, you are going to proud father of a new Guitar” unless you go out to buy one yourself.
- If your Guitar is flat you can fix it (well… that can be “fixed” on a woman too).
- Your Guitar doesn’t care if you never listen to it.
- Your Guitar won’t care if you leave up the toilet seat.
- You don’t have to be jealous of the guy who works on your Guitar.
- If you say bad things to your Guitar, you don’t have to apologize before you play it again.
- You can play your Guitar as long as you want and it won’t get sore.
- You can stop playing your Guitar as soon as you want and it won’t get frustrated.
- Your parents won’t remain in touch with your old Guitar after you dump it.
- Guitars don’t get headaches.
- Guitars don’t insult you if you’re a bad player.
- Your Guitar never wants a night out with the other Guitars.
- Guitars don’t care if you’re late.
- You don’t have to take a shower before you play your Guitar.
- If your Guitar doesn’t look good you can refinish it or get new parts.
- You can play your Guitar the first time you meet it, without having to take it to dinner, see a movie, or meet its mother.
- The only protection you have to wear when playing your Guitar is a decent pick.
- When in mixed company, you can talk about what a great time you had the last time you played your Guitar.
- You can mute your Guitar and it won’t complain.
- Your Guitar won’t mind if you bend its G-string.
A Scalloped Fretboard? I Don’t Know… Not for these ham hands…
Posted in Guitars, tagged guitar, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, yngwie malmsteen on June 27, 2011| 1 Comment »
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:”
Not as Much Love for the Les Paul Supreme?
Posted in Guitars, tagged GAS, gear, gibson, guitar, guitar gear, guitarists, Guitars, les paul, les paul supreme, Music, musicians on June 25, 2011| 2 Comments »
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.
The Importance of Noodling
Posted in Guitars, tagged guitar, guitar noodling, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians on June 16, 2011| 9 Comments »
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.
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