Electro Harmonix POG2 Video Review
June 25, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
Back in 2005, Electro-Harmonix unveiled the original POG, a polyphonic octave generator that enabled guitarists to conjure everything from the surreal jangle of an 18-string guitar, to rich, thick walls of symphonic sound. Read more
Reinhardt Amplification Willard Distortion Pedal
April 28, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
Reinhardt Amplification has released the Willard distortion pedal. The pedal is based on a 1981 big box Rat. “I originally started playing in the early to mid 80′s, and this was my favorite old pedal. I wanted to try to recreate the old tones from that time, and this is what we came up with,” said company owner, Bob Reinhardt. These pedals feature true-bypass and are hand assembled with top of the line components for reduced noise and better sound quality. One thing about the original circuit that Reinhardt says he would never change is the rare NOS LM308N chip. “That op-amp is such a key to the thick, natural tone of this circuit. Modern substitutes just don’t measure-up,” said Reinhardt.
If you are looking to recreate the tones that were heard so widely in 80′s rock and metal the Willard may be just the ticket. It packs all of the 80′s they could get into one box!
Visit their web site at reinhardtamps.com for more information.
Vox Joe Satriani Big Bad Wah
April 27, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
Joe Santriani contributed numerous ideas that were unheard of in existing wah pedals, endowing the Big Bad Wah with an unparalleled range of sounds from vintage to modern, as well as those that are totally original. Read more
Electro-Harmonix Announces New Deluxe Memory Man In Die-Cast Chassis
April 20, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
The original Deluxe Memory Man is considered to be the finest Read more
Voce Spin II Rotary Speaker Simulator
March 15, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
Guitarists and keyboard players may forever battle over who gets to play the longer solo during “Whipping Post”, but they do agree on one point: there’s nothing like the rich, swirling sound of an instrument plugged into a big old Leslie cabinet, with its whooshing, rotating horn and speaker.
Problem is, who wants to cart around a mammoth cabinet that contains two speakers and a motor?
That’s where the Voce Spin II comes in. Orange and dangerous, this stereo, AC-powered stop box produces an admirable simulation of the sound produced by the horn and lower-rotor speakers of a Leslie cabinet.
Unlike low-rent boxes of the same ilk, the Spin II provides speed controls for each of the two simulated speakers, as well as adjustable acceleration that lets you regulate how quickly the effect ramps up when kicked from slow to fast speed. These nifty features allow for and almost infinite number of tweakage as possibilities, and make it a snap to dial in the desired amount and character of swirl. Other features that put the Spin II at the top of its class include a selectable line-level/high-impedance input switch and an adjustable output level.
While the Spin II sounds good when used mono, the unit truly comes alive when operating in its full, stereo glory. Plugged simultaneously into a Marshall Super Lead and a Fender Vibro-King (both cranked to high heavens), the Spin II produced an uber-Leslie sound so full and rockin’, I dare say it outdid and certainly outmaneuvered our old Leslie cabinet.
Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor Pedal
March 10, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
The Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor is a high-voltage booster/overdrive pedal. By feeding ample juice (upwards of 300-volts) to its tube-based preamp tone circuitry; this unit supplies you with the real deal: a warm tube clean sound and a blazing, saturated-tube lead sound. Both are selected from the press of a switch. The Tube Factor is the key ingredient to producing the most desired lead sounds from vintage amps and genuine tube tone from solid state combos. In effect, it expands any amplifier with an additional channel.
Due to the pedals high-voltage capability, a broader range of responsiveness occurs between the guitar and the amplifier. *Read More
Average price: $300 – $350
Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer Review
February 6, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
When the word got out that we are reviewing Electro-Harmonix’s reissue of their Micro Synthesizer, reactions were decidedly mixed. Some exclaimed, “It’s about time they reissued it!” Others muttered quietly, “Yeah, I had one once, but I couldn’t tell if it was working right.” Love or confusion, indeed.
Perhaps some clarity will emerge by first clearing up the “synthesizer” misnomer. Unlike other guitar synthesizers, the Micro Synth is really a pedalboard’s worth of stomp boxes rolled into one, allowing your guitar (or whatever else you plug into it) to emulate the phat tones of vintage Seventies synth. Imagine feeding your guitar to three fuzzboxes, an automatic volume pedal and an automatic wah, and you’ll begin to get the picture.
The Micro Synthesizer is housed in a sheet-metal enclosure measuring 8 x 6 x 2 inches. A trim pot on the back of the pedal sets the unit’s sensitivity to either single-coil or humbucker pickups, but all the important controls are in the form of sliders on the unit’s face. The controls are in two groups, voice and filter sweep, with a couple of sliders to control the note attack, and entry of the filter characteristics.
In brief, the voice section consists of three forms of distortion and a clean tone. The suboctave voice adds a tone one octave below the guitar’s pitch, sounding very much like the Boss Octave pedal. The guitar voice is a dry signal, somewhat colored by the Micro Synth’s preamp circuit, and the only voice that will tolerate chords without generating wickedly erratic distortion. The octave voice could go head to head with Roger Mayer’s Octavia pedal, and the square wave voice is a fuzz box tone of Sixties vintage, full of crackle and fizz. These four voices are processed in parallel, allowing you to mix their various idiosyncrasies as you please. Is that octave tone a little too bright? Mix a little suboctave in. Is the guitar voice in need of just a touch of background static? Tweak that square wave to taste.
Whatever odd little swarm of buzzes you raise in the voice portion can be shaped with the attack delay control. This functions like an automatic volume swell, sensing your pick attack and dropping the output accordingly. This allows you to emulate everything from subtle bowed effects to those backwards tape solos so overdone for about six months during 1969.
The filter sweep section consists of four controls: resonance, start frequency, stop frequency and rate. Think of the start and stop frequencies as vowel emulators and the resonance control as an added boost. The rate control determines the velocity at which the filter sweeps from the start frequency to the stop frequency. Lower settings create percussive quacks and grunts while higher settings summon vocalesque “awwww” and “mewhhh” sounds.
Pretty exciting stuff in theory, but the Micro Synth is a box of quirks. To name just a few:
1) Technique is critical. Pick too soft and notes disappear; too hard and they blat like a foghorn.
2) As noted above, you can only play single-note lines on most settings. Two or more notes will either screech or disappear.
3) Tracking is uneven. What works on the lower strings won’t work higher up, and vice versa.
4) The background noise and leakage between voices is very high. Add this together, and you might question the sanity of anyone who owns a Micro Synth.
And yet, the variety of distortions (including deliberately overdriving the preamp) would please any connoisseur of Edge City tone. The filtering would sit well in a hip-hop or techno mix, and the background noise is just the kind of thing Beck would pump up in a scratch break. And for a couple hundred bucks for a used one, it’s cheaper than the equivalent collection of individual stomp boxes.
The End Line
One wishes that Electro-Harmonix would have upgraded the Micro Synth to current technical and construction standards. As it is, you’ll either love it for its quirky low-tech peculiarities or avoid it for, uh, its quirky low-tech peculiarities.
MXR Announces M-288 Bass Octave Deluxe Pedal
January 30, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
NAMM – MXR Bass Innovations announced, yet, another phenomenal bass pedal, the M-288 Bass Octave Deluxe. This pedal offers bass players true analog tone, pure bypass, and a large array of tone-shaping options. A single 9 volt battery powers this insanely phenomenal pedal. MXR’s 18-volt Constant Headroom Technology provides studio-performance headroom and superior tracking.
Utilize the “Dry” knob to mix your direct bass signal with the octave effect, or hit the “Mid+” switch to add up to +15dB of internally adjustable low-mid punch and midrange pop, all this helps produce your killer sound.
Bass players will be enthralled with its two separately processed and individually voiced octave controls, deep growls, throaty lows, midrange below-tone and a girthy smooth octave sound. The MXR Bass Octave Deluxe comes a rugged aluminum casting and, as all MXR pedals, you can expect the same high-quality jacks and switches that the company is renown for over 30 years. The Bass Octave Deluxe is totally gig-ready and should be a standard on any bass players pedal-board.
For more information, visit jimdunlop’s official website at www.jimdunlop.com.
Tech 21 Releases Boost D.L.A. with Tap Tempo
January 28, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
NAMM – Tech 21′s popular Boost D.L.A now features Tap Tempo, Trails and Triplets. The pedal offers an abundance of useful features with easy-to-use, intuitive controls in an incredibly rugged compact pedal chassis— battery operable as well.
There’s an individual footswitch dedicated exclusively for the Tap Tempo function (this helps avoid confusion during your performance). The pedal also gives you the ability to set it, even when the unit is in bypass, which aids coordination with your drummer.
Triplets works in conjunction with the Tap Tempo. When engaged, it shifts the timing so triplets play in sync with the actual tempo. Trails works in conjunction with bypass and allows the natural decay of the delay signal rather than cutting off instantly. The Feedback control has much greater sensitivity and can be thrown into a state of self-vacillation.
Other features include Boost, for up to 9dB of additional volume when it’s time for your blazing solo. 100% analog Mix, Tone, Feedback and Level controls to produce a more warm and organic sounds. Mix control ranges from 100% wet to 100% dry. A single, continuously-variable Time control provides a full sweep of delay, (up to 1,000 milliseconds). Flutter introduces modulation which adds a slight shimmering/chorus-type effect of a vintage tape echo.
User-tweakable “lo-fi”analog technology infuses degrees of warmth and life characteristic of vintage delays. This circuitry intentionally injects the inherent imperfections of vintage units, which is what makes this pedal so thoughtful yet so seductive. The Boost D.L.A.controls are designed so that you can explore and custom tailor such delay styles as digital, bucket brigade and vintage tape.
For additional information, visit TECH 21’s official website at www.tech21nyc.com.
Boss Unveils ME-70 Guitar Multiple Effects
January 21, 2009 by Chaz · Leave a Comment
NAMM 2009 – Boss’s new ME-70 is a floor-based processor that offers the compact design and simplicity of a stompbox. With dedicated knobs for each section, a new, high-quality COSM® engine derived from the GT-10, and added EZ Tone and Phrase Loop features, the ME-70 is the ultimate easy-to-use floorboard powerhouse.
In addition to its superb Overdrive/Distortion section, the ME-70 now features a new Preamp section with the latest sound-modeling COSM engine for the most natural response and sound quality. The ME-70 is made to play, and the hardware now adds a fourth footswitch for even more real-time effects control.
The ME-70′s dedicated knobs for each effect section allow full, fast control over sound creation, just like a stompbox. The knobs make the ME-70 incredibly easy to use compared to traditional multi-effects units. Users will also love the new Phrase Loop function for sound-on-sound creation, with up to 38 seconds of recording time. Its EZ Tone function allows for fast and easy tone creation via simple effects presets, so players of any level can create superb tones of any genre within seconds.
With a friendly design and unprecedented tone creation capabilities via COSM and EZ Tone, the ME-70 will be an essential live performance piece for guitarists. Plus, it will bring a diverse array of world-class COSM tones to any studio recording.
- Dedicated knobs for each parameter for fast, friendly operation
- New COSM Preamp section derived from GT-10 and Legend series
- EZ TONE for quick, easy editing
- Four footswitches and Expression pedal
- PHRASE LOOP function in DELAY section, with 38 seconds of recording time
Amazing amps, preamps, and FX
In addition to its stellar COSM amp models and effects, the ME-70 is fitted with a new COSM Preamp section derived from BOSS’s GT-10 and Legend series. With the ME-70 you can dial up a world of tone, from classic to cutting-edge, with simplicity and speed.
Stompbox ease
It’s powerful and potent, yet the ME-70 offers the ease of a stompbox. The simple knob-based controls for each effect section makes dialing in tone easier than ever, especially with the innovative EZ Tone feature. And when you want to kick in an effect, just step on one of the four footswitches. Think of it as an array of stompboxes melded into one convenient pedalboard.
Phrase Looper
The ME-70’s Delay section is equipped with a dedicated Phrase Looper, which offers a lengthy 38 seconds of recording time. Play a riff, capture and loop it, and solo over it, all in real-time onstage. Amaze your audience with live multi-layered magic.
Extra Expression
Breathe life into your performances with the built-in Expression Pedal. Simply dial up one of the six pre-programmed pedal-control destinations (Wah, Voice, Octave 1, Octave 2, Mod Rate, and Delay Level), put your foot down, and express yourself.
For more information, visit Boss’s official website at www.bossus.com.
