Future Vintage: What instruments will be hot in the next decade?

We all love guitars and gear, right? That is why you are reading Gear-Vault and that is why I am writing this article. Those of us who have been doing this for more years than we might care to admit have seen the guitar market rise and fall and many different pieces of gear fall in and out of favor with the musos, collectors, and fetishists out there. Of course, the real vintage stuff, like 50’s and 60’s Strats, Teles, and Les Pauls, have risen to obscene levels of value that have put them into the realm of fantasy for most of us. Read more

Fender American Special and Standard Strat Review

It was 55 years ago that Leo Fender and his Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing company brought to the market the groundbreaking Fender Stratocaster, the solid body, three-coil wonder that would help re-shape the course of popular music. Never content to rest on its laurels, Fender has continually looked for ways to improve upon the successful Strat formula. This year’s crop includes brand-new American Special Series–a budget-minded line of U.S.-made guitars that sports many of the key features found on the prototype American Standard–not to mention some new variations on the old classic Strat itself. Read more

Life & Death of Stevie Ray Vaughan

To understand what made Stevie tick, to get the whole story of the man behind the music, we have to turn to his closest confidants, the people who knew him best and miss him most. Given the opportunity to tell Stevie’s tale and open up, revealing things they’d never revealed before. Read more

Iron Maiden Dave Murray’s 1957 Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar

“There’s a little bit of history behind the guitar,”says veteran Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray of the 1957 Strat he used to produce the wailing sounds heard on each of Iron Maiden’s first eight albums. “It used to belong to Paul Kossoff of Free. I bought it in 1976, a year after he died. Read more

5 Best Selling Electric Guitars

Guitars arouse my crazy obsession, therefore, I am obliged to compile 5 top selling electric and electric/acoustic guitars for our readers. Guitar companies manufacture a wide variety and styles of guitars and sometimes produce junk that’s barely worth firewood, and other times produce the ultimate guitar that we can all appreciate. However, finding that perfect guitar is not always easy, but it’s fun searching for it. If you are one of those players that is searching for a guitar that provides that sensuous feel that fills your pulse with vibrations of rhythm and melody; yet easy on the wallet, then read on. Read more

Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor Pedal

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.

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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

Totally Tubular

In this day and age, products are so specialized that purchasing anything can make your mind spin. Guitar gear is no exception. There are so many options on the market that buying something as simple as a distortion pedal can be confusing. Do you want a new pedal or a vintage model (or a new reissue of vintage model)? Do you want a unit that dishes out grungy rhythm sounds or smooth, vintage-sounding leads? If you know exactly what sound you’re looking for before you even plug in, there’s a stomp box out there that offers it. But what if you don’t?

Fortunately, the folks at Hughes & Kettner haven’t forgotten that versatility is still important factor in anyone’s purchasing decision. Their ingenious Tube Factor is a simple (two footswitches, three knobs) pedal that uses a 12AX7A tube to produce a variety of tones.

The two footswitches on the Tube Factor are an on/off switch and a switch to toggle between the two basic effects: Factor 1 and Factor 2. Factor 1 is more of a tone-shaping tool than a distortion effect. It does a wonderful job of adding definition and punch to clean rhythm tones and can also be used as a boost for clear, bluesy leads. Factor 2 activates the drive mode, kicking out some serious gain and boosting the extreme and low ends for heavy lead and rhythm tones (the user’s manual describes it as “much like the trademark guitar sound of AC/DC”).

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The three knobs used to shape the sounds in either mode are Drive, Output and voicing. The Voicing control is not so much a traditional EQ: instead, it boosts different characteristics depending on which Factor and how much drive you’re using. Shaping your sound this way, as opposed to with a more conventional tone control, takes a little getting used to. But once you experiment with it a bit, you’ll quickly find the sweet spots where the effect complements your rig. The manual provides suggested settings ranging from Neutral (a Factor 1 effect) to Ultra Lead (extreme gain offered by Factor 2). Depending on your guitar and amp setup, they’re pretty accurate, but the Tube Factor’s simple controls make it so easy to experiment and find your own sounds.

The End Line

The Tube Factor is really two separate effects in one box. Factor 1 is subtle, but it does a nice job of fattening up the thin Strat sound or adding a bit of a kick to a clean tone. Factor 2 is a wonderful versatile distortion effect capable of everything from creamy blues tones to dirty rhythm sounds to screeching leads. If you’re looking for a distortion device that won’t limit your tone options, the Tube Factor is absolutely worth a stomp. Listen to the Tube Factor Demo.

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Jackson Adrian Smith model

With the ongoing history that is being built between Iron Maiden’s Axeman Adrian Smith and Jackson Guitars, it’s no surprise that the two are teaming up to populate Adrian Smith’s Signature Custom Superstrat Read more

PRS CE Alder Guitar Review

PRS presented the CE line in 1988 as a high-quality, yet, less expensive bolt-on alternative from their pricier set-neck guitar models. PRS have gained quite a following fan base in the past 20+ years for their familiar feel and superior driving tone as well as for their competitive price point. Read more

Sweet Voices of EV 368 Electro-Voice 468

A few decades ago, Electro-Voice set the audio industry on its ear when they introduced the NeoDymium (N/DYM) line of durable and affordable dynamic microphones, which boast response and performance characteristics comparable to costly condenser mikes. Read more

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