Written by Happy NGD on September 4th, 2010
I recently had the joy of coming home to a new piece of gear sitting on my doorstep, am Eventide PitchFactor pedal. You have to love new gear days. I quickly ran inside and scrambled to get the box open. Upon opening the box, I revealed the following:
- the Eventide Pitchfactor pedal
- a power supply (no batteries!)
- owners manual
- three cardboard quick reference cards
Features (as shown on their website at http://eventide.com/AudioDivision/Products/StompBoxes/PitchFactor.aspx) … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on August 7th, 2010
Submitted by Jay Manley of Double Decker Bus Music, Inc.
For guitarists looking for a stellar warm, clean tube amplifier combo, the Carr Rambler is a nice fit. From the trapezoidal TV front grill cloth to the robust hospital grade power cord, this non-master volume amp is truly hand built in the USA.
Carr Amplifiers are dedicated to producing forward thinking, innovative designs steeped in vintage tradition and vibe. Not just old schematics recycled here: Steve Carr has cast each model from the ground up. Unlike the vintage pieces we all know and love, the consistency here is beyond the standards of yesteryear. From what I understand, the tube matching at the lab is more stringent than many of the vendors in the industry. A critical listening test is done with every reverb tank, tube set and each finished amplifier. They’ve developed new ways to reduce or eliminate cabinet and tube rattles. I looked under the aluminum chassis of my Rambler at some impressive true point-to-point hand soldered wiring with custom Euro space agency components and transformers. Even the rectifier is voiced nicely between the sound of tube and solid state. The Class A, cathode bias 6L6 output section is built to last. Also, the solid pine cabinets are constructed, covered and assembled by hand in house. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 21st, 2010
Back a few years ago, I had this really nice white Fender American Strat. That guitar was damn nice but I felt the need to get a little more into a “shredding guitar”. Luckily, my friend just happened to have this Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Signature guitar sitting around and he and I decideed to trade my Strat and a laptop computer for the Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Signature. Quite a trade!
Back then, I also had a Genz Benz El Diablo 100C that was a perfect match for this guitar.
The Guitar:
My Petrucci was the regular six string version in black, no piezo, DiMarzio humbucker pickups, birdseye maple neck (unfinished bare wood) with a rosewood fingerboard, basswood body, Music Man floating trem, and locking tuners by Schaller. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 20th, 2010
Back a few years ago, I was looking for a new guitar to add to the collection and decided it was time to own a Paul Reed Smith. I didn’t have a lot of experience with them at the time and had one played a couple at the local guitar shop. On a bit of a whim, I bought one off a guy online who lived about 6 hours away from me. He shipped it up to me on the bus. It is probably the best guitar purchase that I have ever made online!
Actually, I got it about a few hours before a gig that my band at the time was playing. I actually ran home to pick it up while setting up for that gig after my girlfriend had gone to the bus stop to pick it up for me – exciting day! I didn’t play it for the gig but it was cool to have a PRS as a “back up guitar” for that night!
First, let’s talk about the features of this guitar. Bolt on wide fat neck, 5-way rotary pickup selector switch, locking tuners, 22 frets (there’s a 24 fret model too!), two Dragon humbucker pickups, alder body with a sweet maple top, PRS tremolo and a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 17th, 2010
Awhile back, I decided that I need to find something in a guitar pedal that would give me a bit of a power boost during lead breaks. With the set up that I had at the time, I was finding that my solos were sometimes getting a little buried in the mix during rehearsals and live shows. And I couldn’t have any of that!
After checking out a bunch of different ideas — everything from EQ pedals, distortion and overdrive pedals, and anything else I could think of, I settled on the perfect solution – an Electro-Harmonix Nano Linear Power Booster LBP-1. This has to be one of my favorite pedals in my signal chain. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 15th, 2010
Awhile back I found myself in need for a new guitar tuner pedal so I started doing a little research for a good one at a decent price. Tuners can seem to range in just about any price but while looking I came across the SE-PTN Matrix Pedal Tuner from Artec so I bought it.
Just like all other tuner pedals, this one has the usual input and output so that you can put it in your signal chain. Takes a 9 volt battery that is easily accessible from the bottom of the pedal or you can use an AC adapter.
The build itself seems very sturdy. I’ve abused this quite hard on stage and it has never failed me over the past year or so that I have had it. It’s pretty much made entirely of rugged metal. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 14th, 2010
I have had this wah pedal for a little over a year and have had a chance to use it a lot. Using it for anything from funk, rock and everything in between! Completely built to Steve Vai’s specs as well! Let’s look at the pedal first:
The first thing I noticed about the Bad Horsie Wah pedal was how rugged and well built it is. Absolutely nothing flimsy about this piece of gear. Everything is made of solid medal and is built to last from what I can tell. Over the last year, I have stomped on the thing like crazy and it never disappointed me. The rubber feet on the bottom of the pedal kept it in place too!
The Bad Horsie Wah pedal is also a simple piece of gear. No knobs, just an input, output, indicator LED to tell you that it is on and the pedal itself. It is powered by either a 9 volt battery that can be easily inserted on the bottom or you can use a 9 volt AC adapter. … continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
Written by Happy NGD on June 9th, 2010
After getting the Fender Super-Sonic head and 412 speaker enclosure home, I quickly unpacked the boxes, set the head on top of the cab and basked in it’s glory. Blond amps definitely will have more fun!
Just like every other head and cabinet combination, you are going to get a workout whenever you have to move it. Luckily, I have a dedicated space where I keeps it 90% of the time so it doesn’t have to move much. Also luckily, it has some smooth casters on the bottom of the cab making it easy to transport.
… continue reading ⇒
Posted in: Gear Reviews
