Features

For a small box, it sure packs in a lot of features! My only complaint with that was that I found myself, at least at first, playing with the knobs more than actually playing my guitar! I guess I should say that it is a good thing though because of all the different tones you can achieve.

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Guitar Center | Musician’s Friend | zZounds

Instead of telling you all about the different effects that this thing can produce, I would rather get into other aspects for this review. There are already tons of youtube videos and other write ups that do a fantastic job of showing every sound that this can do. Like this one for example:

This video shows a couple of the tones that I really enjoyed playing around with – the arpeggio effect called the Harpeggiator and also the Micropitch preset.

When I first plugged into the pedal, I spent a good week just playing around on all the different presets. I have to say that I really didn’t feel the need to stray too far from the presets – but then again, it’s much more fun to get tweaking things yourself so after I got the presets warmed up, I got my hands dirty and played around with my own settings. Dialing in different tones might look daunting at first when you look at all the controls available but it is really easy when you get the hang of it. The coolest thing is the display screen gives you an excellent idea on what you are doing in real time as you turn knobs – it actually changes as you make changes by the turning of knobs.

When putting together my own tones, I was really impressed with the amount of flexibility I had for each effect. Changing pitches, depths and other settings made for a lot of experimentation. This is where most of the fun came for me.

I always like to look at gear from a practical standpoint as well and one thing that I really like about the design of this is the nice big display on the front that tells you which patch you are set on (and more when you start turning the knobs!). Things like this really come in handy on a dark stage. The toggle switches aren’t too crowded either – nothing worse than crowded toggles on a pedal!

The only thing that I didn’t care for on the pedal where the swtiches themselves. They are the type that you stomp on but don’t actually feel a “click”. I like a big ol’ “click” — the old school in me I guess. This is a minor thing though and it’s just me being picky really. The toggles still work flawlessly.

Inspiration

Once thing about a piece of gear like this one is that the different effects and tones that you can play with give you even more musicial ideas to pull out of your brain. I found that once I got used to the different settings, I was really starting to adapt to some of the effects well and played things that I would not normally play. I like gear that helps inspire my playing and give me more avenues to expore the music I make with my guitar. Sure, there are some effects that I will probably never play with again but there are a lot that gave me some new ways to approach my playing.

I think that this is a great piece of gear for a guitarist that is looking to expand their playing a bit more and get mroe ideas flowing. Being able to sit down and compose entire pieces around some of the effects available on this pedal is something that I defintitely want to get around to donig someday soon.

- the Eventide Pitchfactor pedal
- a power supply (no batteries!)
- owners manual
- three cardboard quick reference cards

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Guitar Center | Musician’s Friend | zZounds

Features (as shown on their website at http://eventide.com/AudioDivision/Products/StompBoxes/PitchFactor.aspx)

* 10 of Eventide’s signature stereo or mono pitch+delay effects:
o Diatonic
o PitchFlex™
o Quadravox™
o Octaver™
o HarModulator™
o Crystals™
o MicroPitch
o HarPeggiator™
o H910 / H949
o Synthonizer™
* Up to 4 voices of diatonic pitch shifting and up to 1.5 seconds of stereo delay
* Studio quality sound
* Guitar or bass compatible
* Built-in Tuner
* Software upgradeable via USB 2.0
* MIDI control via USB or MIDI in, out/thru
* Instant program change
* Real-time control with 10 knobs, MIDI, or expression pedal
* Tap tempo and MIDI clock sync
* 100 factory presets, unlimited through MIDI
* True analog bypass
* Rugged cast metal construction
* Reliable metal footswitches for instant preset access
* Mono or stereo operation
* Guitar or line level inputs and outputs

As you can see, there is no shortage of features. I especially noticed how rugged this stompbox was made. Very heavy and sturdy with nice big toggle switches. I tend to get a little excited sometimes while playing live which sometimes causes me to stomp a little hard on a pedal – I thinkn this one can take a lot of heavy stomps with no issues.

At first glance, this pedal looks a little intimidating with all the knobs, three switches, 1/4″ jacks and midi jacks. I can tell that there might be a bit of a learning curve in order to get the most out of this thing but I am up for the challenge. Luckily, Eventide has everything well laid out and labeled on the pedal itself so that learning to use this thing will be that much easier. They also included a couple cardboard quick reference cards which chart out different settings to make things that much easier.

Over the next couple weeks, I am going to play with the PitchFactor and will report back on my findings and let you all know how much I like it. Stay tuned in a couple weeks!

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.

Check out some exciting deals on Carr Rambler amps.

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.

But how does it sound?

Think glassy American 60’s 6L6 with some headroom. Works well with any guitar I’ve tried and plays nice with pedals. The Bass/Mid/Treble knobs allows some tone sculpting. Especially with a Tele, I love this amp’s rich lows, broad mids and clear bright highs. If it were a mic preamp, I’d say it sounds like a Neve. The character of this combo is not necessarily aggressive but pretty, silky and well, milky!

Nice vintage sounding two-spring reverb. The tremolo is round, not choppy with dials for Depth and Speed providing a usable range. The punch of the Eminence Wizard 12″ speaker complements the lush, round warmth and clarity at the heart of the Rambler.

For versatility and volume control there’s a Triode/Pentode switch. Triode (14 watts) mode yields comfy, cozy, tweed tone with warm present mids, soft top and bottom. Pentode (28 watts) brings more volume and headroom, hi-end sparkle and tight bass to the mix. Clear and delicious. Notes leap out of the box. For rehearsals and those gigs where I have to watch the volume I use the Triode setting. If I miss the Pentode flavor while in Triode mode, I bump up the highs and lows and scoop the mids a touch. Big fat bright clean tone is where the amp excels so cranking the volume for overdrive is not really its intended use. If you need some distortion it can deliver though but benefits from rolling off some bass as you push it to the limits.

The only thing I wish it had would be the wattage attenuator feature from the Carr Mercury or Viceroy which is a handy practice and recording tool when the other band members start complaining about loudness.

SUMMARY
An amplifier and an electric guitar are one instrument; they complete a circuit. One cannot exist without the other. In this spirit, the Rambler makes me feel more connected to the guitar. It has made me a better player because of the hand-wired point-to-point immediacy. There’s no cloaked tone to hide behind. Transient attack and big dimensional sound come to mind. The tone is real with a paradoxical combination of warmth, color, clarity and snap. So now I’m spoiled. Playing a standard amp from one of the big manufacturers feels like a compromise. The Rambler has quelled my thirst for a vintage blackface combo.

Check out some exciting deals on Carr Rambler amps.

Click here for excellent deals on the Ernie Ball Petrucci model.

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.

If you haven’t played an Ernie Ball Music Man guitar of any model or any other guitar with an unfinished neck, you are in for a surprise. There’s something about the feel of bare wood that make for an awesome experience with playing these things. Your hand glides effortlessly along the neck and you almost find yourself playing a lot better right from the start! The neck is quite thin and the fingerboard is wide — shred fest!

Just like any other Ernie Ball Music Man, the build quality on this guitar is amazing. However, these guitars are pricy so you would expect that the quality would match the price. Yes, these are expensive but worth every penny.

When I had this guitar, I did a little bit of experimentation with the whammy bar (not a lot, I am definitely not skilled in he use of a tremolo bar) and I never found the guitar to go out of tune from the use of the trem. Alo, it is a floating tremolo that can be pushed down or pulled up like a Floyd Rose, but it doesn’t have all the annoying things like a locking nut that a Floyd Rose needs.

The Sound:

I had a chance to play this trough a few different amps with excellent results. At band practices and gigs, I ran it through a Genz Benz El Diablo 100C like I mentioned before. The two together were not very versatile but it produced an excellent tone for hard rock and metal. Then again, who buys an El Diablo and Music Man John Petrucci in order to be versatile? I also played it through a Vox Valvetronix at home practicing and it did an amazing job with all different types of tones that the Valvetronix can produce.

Truthfully, I do not have a whole lot of experience with these type of what I like to can shredder guitars for lack of a better term. What I can say though is that this Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Signature is absolutely amazing in every way possible!

Click here for excellent deals on the Ernie Ball Petrucci model.

Click here for exciting PRS CE-22 deals.

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.

The Good:

The first thing that I noticed when the guitar got to my house and in my hands was the super low action and ease of playing. It took a little time for me to get used to the bigger neck on this guy but after a few hours, I was fine.

Looking at the guitar closely, you can tell that it is a quality instrument that has had a lot of care go into the making of it. The finish is practically flawless, the neck is seated in the neck pocket very snug and the frets are perfectly set.

One thing that I really like about this guitar is the rather large strap pegs. I’m used to using strap locks anyway but with this guitar, it is definitely not needed.

I don’t really have an opinion on the trem because I don’t think I have had the trem bar in the hole since I got it! Not a trem user — I have a hard enough time just playing without having to think about trem as well!

As far as sound goes, it certainly delivers here. It sounds great plugged into almost anything (notice I said almost – not my Fender Super Sonic for some reason see my Fender Super Sonic review for more info about that). I’ve plugged this into a number of different amps and amp models on my computer and have been able to get some amazing tones in all types of musical genres. This is certainly a versatile guitar for musicians of all types.

This guitar can’t mimic anything that a Strat can produce for a tone but that’s not what it’s made for anyway. I have heard people say that Paul Reed Smith guitars are good for people who like Gibson Les Pauls because they share kind of the same type of tone. Not sure what is meant by that but I believe that they have a tone all their own.

The (Not Too) Bad:

I find the locking tuners kind of questionable. Don’t get me wrong, they work flawlessly and have never given me any issues. The guitar definitely stays in tune no matter how much abuse I give it. However, they seem kind of cheap compared to my other guitars with locking tuners. These ones have a kind of screw on top of the pole and it feels kind of flimsy. The locking tuners on my other guitars have a knob on the back which is a lot bigger and seems more rugged.

My only other complaint with this guitar is actually no fault of the guitar but just my preference. I hate the rotary switch for the pick up selection. It drives me crazy! If you are a person that tends to change pickup selection in the middle of solos/songs, this is not the guitar for you. Luckily, I believe that there are models what have a regular toggle switch as well.

Conclusion:

If you have been playing for awhile and are looking to step up to a more pro guitar, this just might be what you are looking for. I wouldn’t replace anything on this guitar (well, maybe the locking tuners like I mentioned before). It is a joy to play and sounds great!

Click here for exciting PRS CE-22 deals.

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American Musical Supply | zZounds

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.

The first thing that I like about it is that it is really rugged (just like every other Electro Harmonix stomp box that I have seen) and it is also small. For a pedal board, it isn’t going to take up much space at all. It is made entirely of metal and has what seems to be a really high quality footswitch that is going to take a lot of kicks before giving out, if it ever does give out!

Number two reason why I love this stompbox? It’s so simple to use. One knob and one switch. Set the desired boost level and you are done!

For the most part, this pedal will not “color” your sound too much. I have noticed, at least with my gear, that it will dirty up my sound a bit when engaged with the boost setting up fairly high. This is fine with me because the extra bit of distortion that this pedal brings to the table just makes my lead tone that much better.

I can’t think of any constructive criticism or negative things about this pedal at all.

Seriously, if you want a solution to getting your guitar solos heard over the rest of your band, this is the ticket. Too many times I have gone to various local band’s live shows to find the guitar leads to be lacking and this little “less than $50 fix” would have made all the difference in the world.

Click here to find a great deal on an Artec Big Dot Tuner.

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.

While it is in my guitar signal chain with my other pedals, this pedal does not seem to affect the tone of my guitar at all — got to love true bypass. My only complaint with it is that when I engage it by stomping on the switch, it give a very loud “pop” but when turning it on and off. Any other tuner pedal that I have ever used never did that – but maybe it just happens to be just the one that I happened to get. It does not make it unusable but it is a little annoying.

The coolest thing about this pedal is the array of 24 LED’s that make up the letters for the notes that you are playing. Makes it really easy to see on a dark stage even without your glasses on if you need them! There’s also lights telling you if you are in tune, flat or sharp. I would have to say that it is probably the easiest tuner pedal to use on stage. The LED’s are almost flush with the case as well — I would say that this definitely helps prevent them from getting broken by any possible over agressive stomps.

When clicking on the pedal, your guitar will also mute allowing you to tune without having to subject your audience and bandmates to the sounds of you tuning.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this pedal as a good economical tuner pedal for both the stage as well as practicing at home use.

Click here to find a great deal on an Artec Big Dot Tuner.

Click here to check out some deals on the Bad Horsie.

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.

The coolest thing about the Bad Horsie Wah pedal is the fact that the pedal is spring loaded. You know how on a Dunlop Cry Baby or similar wah, you need to manually rock the pedal back and forth to get the effect you are looking for? Well, with the Bad Horsie, you just need to step down on the pedal and the spring will bring it back up for you automatically. It got a little hard to get used to at first but once I got the hang of it, it was a lot easier. The only downfall of this is that when I used a Cry Baby, I sometimes liked to put the pedal in one position and leave it there for the tone — can’t do it on this pedal unless you have a steady foot and can manually keep it in one position. My wish would be that Morley could make some kind of way to switch between spring loaded and regular.

The other thing that I like about it is the fact that it has no off/on switch. Just press down on the pedal and it engages automatically. When you are not using it, it is automatically in true bypass mode.

As far as tone goes, this thing seems to like just about any set up that you put it in. Before I tried this (and later bought it), I tried the Morley Classic Wah. The Classic Wah was an excellent pedal but seemed to not be very effective with a high gain setting. This Bad Horsie was able to sound good with all different types of guitar tones — from clean, overdriven and high-gain.

I could go on writing about the tone but the actual sound would be better. Morley has a couple cool tone examples to check out — just click here.

All in all, this is an excellent wah pedal. Since I have had this, I haven’t used any other wah!

Click here to check out some deals on the Bad Horsie.

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.

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Music 123

Let’s look at the specs first:

Super-Sonic Head

Series: Fender Protube Series.

Type: tube amplifier.

Output: 60 watts.

Ohms: selectable at 4, 8 or 16 ohms.

Number of channels: 2 – vintage and burn.

Features: Made from 3/4″ birch plywood, two speaker outputs, effects loop, jacks for pre amp out and power amp in, 3 button footswitch, dual cascading gain preamp overdrive.

Accessories: Padded cover.

Weight: 32 pounds.

Tubes: 5 12AX7, 2 12AT7 and 2 6L6GC.

MSRP: $1699

412 Super-Sonic Speaker Enclosure

Series: Fender Protube Series.

Type: Speaker enclosure.

Ohms: 16 ohms.

Speakers: 4-12″ Celestion® “Vintage 30″, 16 ohm, 75 watt Speakers p/n 0041233000

Construction: 13 ply birch plywood, closed back.

Weight: 88 pounds.

Power Handling: 240 watts.

Accessories: Cover.

MSRP: $1099

Over the last couple years, I have had a chance to give this head and cabinet combo a good going over in the recording studio, on stage and at band practices. It always held up it’s end of the bargain.

Take a look at the front and back panels and all the controls that you have available to you. The front panel has separate bass and treble controls for each channel. There are two gain controls in the burn channel as well. My only complaint with the front panel is the lack of the on/off and standby switches. I like my switches to be at the front– but it is really not that big of a deal.

Now the back panel has all the usual back panel stuff that you would find — footswitch input, speaker jacks, effects loop, etc. You’ll notice very access to the tubes when the time comes to change them as well.

So that’s the amp at first glance.

Sound and Tone

Since the time that I have had this amp, I have used three very different guitars with it and each of them gave very different results.

1. Fender American Stratocaster.
2. Ernie Ball Axis Super Sport.
3. Paul Reed Smith CE-22.

By far, the Strat paired with the Super-Sonic was the best combination. Something about the two together just clicked and I found myself loving the tone more and more with every day that I played it. I play mainly rock and this was a perfect set up for our band’s music. Something about Fenders plugged into Fenders I guess.

Next came my Ernie Ball Axis Super Sport. While it didn’t sound as good, not by the fault of this amazing guitar, it was still good. I never was able to get a “perfect tone” from this guitar through the amp no matter how much time I spent tweaking. However, it was usuable and the Axis is the guitar that I used the most because it is such a fantastic guitar.

Finally the Paul Reed Smith CE-22. For the life of me, I could not get a decent tone out of that thing. Sure, it had tone but nothing that would work for me. Seemed always too dark and just kind of blah. That PRS through a Marshall JCM-800 sounds absolutely amazing. That PRS through a Mesa Lonestar sounds incredible. However, paired with this Super-Sonic set up – it just sounds like a wet fart. Disappointing there but it is true that some guitars just don’t play well with some amps. I’m all about pairing the right amo with the guitar and this pair wasn’t having any of it.

Is the amp loud?

I play with a very loud drummer who bashes drum skins like a madman. If any amp can keep up with his antics, we have a winner. This amp has no problems at all and 60 watts of tube goodness is more than enough.

What about dialing in a tone?

All the amp’s tone controls make it simple to hone in on a decent tone — well more than decent tone actually! The other thing is that this thing can manage a huge variety of different tones — from country twang, jazz, classic rock and metal. It can do it all!

The Bottom Line

Now, what is my bottom line opinion on this amp?

First of all, I am not a big fan of a head/cabinet combo. Just too much lugging. I’m not a big guy and a prefer to just have a smaller 112 combo. But this isn’t what this review is about. However, the amount of air that a 412 can push is insane compared to a 112 — two different worlds.

Over the past two years of owning this amp, it had one problem as well. The footswitch. During my second or third jam session with this amp, the footswitch just decided to quit working. Two of the three switches just stopped switching. Cheap toggles? Not sure. It was still under warranty but I really didn’t want to send it back, wait for god knows how long for a replacement or fix and then have the possibilty of it happening again. I opted to take it to my local music shop instead and have the owner/electronics whiz have a go at it. He pulled out the three switches out and replaced them with three more heavy duty footswitches. It works like a dream now! It was an $80 fix but well worth it!

Pros:
- Loud!
- Easy to dial in excellent tones.
- versitile

Cons:
- broken footswitch
- doesn’t sound good with all guitars

So all in all, a good experience with it. Excellent tone with the American Strat, loud as hell and just one problem with the footswitch.