Archive for the 'FX' Category

Behringer Super Flanger SF400

Published by
Harry Lincoln
May 11, 2009 in FX, Guitar, Hardware and Review. 0 Comments

sf400-pedal

This Super Flanger SF400 is straight out of Behringer’s new pedal series of ‘Real Sound Modelling Pedals.’ That’s all very well and good but does this flimsy flanger deliver?

Now, those who are at home to the genius of Behringer will know that among the newly fashioned pedals they produce, they churn out all sorts of speakers, headphones and other pro audio equipment. The foundations have been laid and I can’t wait to shake them down, using their own Flanger.

Keeping the cost down has meant that the chassis is made from plastic. You will have to be light when stomping the… well… stompbox, ironically. There is a huge upside to this though, it’s incredibly cheap for what it is.

Flange is arguably regarded as a bit of a dated effect, the classic and misconceived sound of a jet inspired Dopper-effect. Behringer have included all the classic tweaks as to not dismay guitarists looking for marginalisation. You get your depth, rate and resonance controls but there’s the all important switch that sets this pedal apart from others, the mode switch. This allows you to choose between a standard effect, a much deeper ‘ultra flange’, a gate/pan effect and a momentary flanger. With some tweaking you can get a forced chorus. Accent it more by cutting it in and out. Something Mike Einziger, Incubus lead guitarist would love in his pedal arson.

Affordable and fantastic, adaptable sounds and from a brand who really know their stuff… what are you waiting for?!

The Behringer Super Flanger SF400 retails at just £36.

Zoom H4N review

Published by
Harry Lincoln
May 8, 2009 in Accesories, FX, Hardware, Recording and Review. 0 Comments

zoom-h4-in-hand

Raising the standard again… Zoom’s H4N (H4 pictured) proves to be an amazingly useful little device.

Not only does the H4N have integral X/Y stereo condenser microphones but it also can double up as a multitracking recorder. With it’s four track recording base giving the portable recorder the qualities of a professional studio, the integrated effects can be used to buff out the individual tracks to give a huge sense of space.

You can also use the rubberised, shock resistant device in relation with the two microphones, giving a fantastic stereo spread. Even when the phantom power is switched on you will still be able to get a good ten out of the two AA batteries.

One of the first thing that I noticed watches the lack of input controls on the face of the recorder itself. Instead, the only thing that you get is a few switches – low, mid and high – via switches. It baffles me why there aren’t any easier switches that allow you to immediately alter the recording mix, without having to go through the tiny menus and miniscule icons to set things straight.

There is some good news in all this though. There is a fantastic function on the H4N where the MP3 or WAV setting can be changed in an instant by one button. What’s more is that the device will remember the last sample rate that you used making this device small and clever too.

The Zoom H4N retails at around £329.99.

Warwick Jonas Hellborg amp system

Published by
Harry Lincoln
May 4, 2009 in Amps, FX, Hardware, Recording and Review. 0 Comments

Warwick amp setup

Bass players will know that Warwick have always been at the top of their game. But is this newest installment too big for its boots; sporting higher functioning features than ever before…

The Warwick Jonas Hellborg amp set-up comprises of a lethal 2×250 watt power amp and the user-friendly, knob-galore preamp. When taking a look at it for the first time, it’s got a sense of urgency about it, despite its clean-cut looks. This is sure to be talked about in the same reverent breath as Trace Elliot’s pro equipment or even Eden’s hardware.

Whether it be in your recording rack at home or gigging, the Hellborg system’s preamp knobs and levels are all backlit for easy navigation. More clever design features are abundant with this reserved professional preamp. The input is XLR, there are bypass switches, mute switches, a fantasticly clear XLR DI output with a pre/post EQ/effects switch and even a tuner output.

Given that this set-up is very high end hardware, you can see that there has been no expensive spared to keep the tone paramount and unparalled. Warwick’s sublime EQ is one of the best features of this system. While being very comprehensive, this can shave whatever you need off the dry tone of your bass.

As for the treatment of tone, especially when bring the preamp’s gain knob into the equation, there are no holds bared. It certainly sounds a lot louder, mainly because it is down to the tremendous stereo or bridged Warwick power amp. However, when really going for it and wanting heavier stuff, use a pedal. While versatile, this preamp doesn’t have a thrash setting.

While arguably over-engineered, Warwick have shown that there can be no compromise when talking their language. This is what they do and if you want the best you’ll have to pay for it!

The Warwick Hellborg Preamp retails at £1,679

The Warwick Stereo Power Amp retails at £1,739.

Zenkudo Overdrive

Published by
Harry Lincoln
April 18, 2009 in Accesories, FX, Guitar and Hardware. 1 Comment

Zenkudo Overdrive

The Dumble Super Overdrive – a hyped, holy-grail of distortion tone, pioneered by Robben Ford and Larry Carlton – is not far out of reach with this pedal…

The Zenkudo Overdrive pedal offers four rotary controls an on-off footswitch and three sonic options (red, blue and green). All this thanks to a side switch on the pedal base.

Anybody using these types of distortion pedals with a clean amp setting, to create a crunch tone, won’t be disappointed. When moving away from setting all the knobs in the centre. Red aims for scope within that VOX AC30 territory whereas green brings out more of a Big Muff thickness. For blue it’s a must for Les Paul players because of the boost in the treble frequencies it produces.

Maxing the gain (bridge humbucker selected) the overdrive is saturated but never raspy or feeling limited somewhat; (Johnny Greenwood would love this setting)!  While maxing functions out you may want to try switching from a modern US amp to a boutique US model, the results are muscular and warm. If you ease down on the green function you’ll be mimicking Eric Johnson in no time.

If you’re a distortion nut and can’t bare the thought of leaving for a gig without your DS -1, this isn’t for you. You won’t get the harshness of the DS-1, more of a forceful rumble. This sleek pearly pedal designed by Japan’s Toshihiko Tanabe was built to be boutique. However, no Spinal Tap pun intended, the sustain is truly immense. Once you get on the green mode that’ll be the first and last you use!

The Zenkudo Overdrive is around £210, excluding shipping.

Digitech RP1000

Published by
Harry Lincoln
April 15, 2009 in Accesories, FX, Guitar, Hardware and Recording. 0 Comments

digitechrp1000big

‘Digitech: The Power to Create.’ Well, can’t argue with that, they certainly have that. However, is this RP1000 a product to fill a plug in the market?

The RP range is arguably merging into something the GNX range was always meant to be. This new RP1000 has many features that the GNX range already has. The pedal is very well priced in its field though, going up against big institutions like the Boss GT-10 or the Line 6 POD X3 Live.

Unlike others this new mutli-effects pedal boasts an ‘intergrated effects switching system.’ Basically meaning that unlike other Digitech designs of times past you have more power at your feet with 14 individual stomp-box switches. It also feels more robust than other designs before it -where if you stomped too hard you fretted you might break it.

When looking at the technical specs of the pedal it is hugely impressive. There ten effects modules with various options: wah, chorus/fx, distortion, compressor, amplifier, noise gate, EQ etc. However operating some of these effects through the expression pedal leaves something to be desired. It is just too small and therefore gives limited feel. When looking at the pedal it’s hard to see why they made it the size it is – there is plenty of free space.

Retrospectively this is a fantastic bit of hardware. It is meant for a gig, sporting as many footswitches, incorporating an amp loop and effects loop and having a larger physical presence than models before; the pedalboard market just got more competitive.

The Digitech RP1000 retails at £499.

Carl Martin Rock Bug

Published by
Harry Lincoln
April 13, 2009 in Accesories, FX, Guitar and Review. 0 Comments

Carl Martin Rock Bug

A fail-safe against amp busts: a breakthrough… the Carl Martin Rock Bug.

A strange unit, to say the least, but potentially a life saver when gigging. Essentially, a stand alone unit that a guitarist would plug his/her daisy chain into to monitor tone and effects through its headphone output.

Meant really for professionals, the Rock Bug would be ideally used with a FOH desk or mulitracking PA system. The round up of effects would be fed into its normal jack-in input and then fed out of the unit via its XLR output to the desk. However, when trying it out I thought that perhaps a Boss DN-2 Dyna Drive pedal would be a fantastic fall-back to counteract the lowered signal level that the Rock Bug introduces.

As far as home recording goes, it ticks all the boxes. Regardless of whether you include this in your pedal board during a gig, or just using it at home, the Rock Bug is hugely user friendly. With balanced outputs (XLR and L/R Stereo) it makes for a reliable practise tool and efficient unit for home mulitracking.

Cleverly, you can also select either a closed or open-backed simulation to further augment the tones via a dedicated microswitch. When trying it out with a Boss DS-1 benchmark overdrive pedal it favoured the open-back setting as it gave the overall mix slightly more presence.

In retrospect, the Rock Bug is a little pricey – at £119 – but if you’re into experimenting it could save those all important gig shares.

Dunlop MC-404 CAE Wah Pedal

Published by
Harry Lincoln
April 12, 2009 in Accesories, FX and Guitar. 0 Comments

Dunlop MC-404 CAE Wah Pedal

Straight away you can see this hardware is meant for tweakers: the protruding knobs and its arty circuitry design, and all before you’ve heard it. This is not only aesthetically pleasing to the eyes…

People who own an early Vox V847 or Cry Baby will be able to relate to having to pre-effect the wah-pedal in their daisy chain. Not so in this. Since Bob Bradshaw of Custom Audio Electronics and the Cry Baby guys from Dunlop joined forces, they have been able to spruce circuitry – giving it a custom designed CTS extended life low-noise potentiometer (brightness/presence control) – and improve tone by incorporating a MXR MC401 Boost/LineDriver in the pedal.

You get two main knobs on the Dunlop MC-404 CAE Wah Pedal – one for turning the MXR circuitry on or off and the other for switching between the wah-tone itself. The ‘yellow fasel’ (in relation to ‘red fasel’) wah setting sounds very tinny indeed with a clean signal going through it. However if you refrain from using the MXR circuitry with high tone single-coil pickups and instead stick to humbuckers, the sound is sublime. Full and warm in heel and choppy in toe. It also responds well to a Tubescreamer or Big Muff.

Stage uses especially will dig this. There is no need to bend down and adjust anything as there are kickswitches on either side of the pedal. Another fantastic, no-brainer design feature are the LED readouts to let you know if functions are on. Simple but surprisingly pioneering in this effects area… It’s hard to see why it has taken so long for effects manufacturers to realise how much free space was in a wah-wah pedal of times gone by. But it’s here all the same, and I for one am thankful.

Dunlop MC-404 CAE Wah Pedal price start at around £180.00 so not the cheapest of wah pedals but it’s certainly not the plainest.

Joe Satriani new signature amp and effects

Published by
Khriz
January 19, 2009 in Amps and FX. 1 Comment

Peavey JSX 50 Joe Satriani Signature Amp
Now that the Winter NAMM show is over it’s our turn to show the most interesting updates on the music market, and one of the most interesting ones are the signature releases by Joe Satriani on two companies that already have worked with him, so the result can only be excellent (theoretically). Both products will be available next month so stay tuned to hear when or definitive prices, but that will be later now let’s take a look at the features.

The first product unveiled by this tandem is the Peavey JSX 50 Guitar Amp an all-tube amp that features 2 channels (clean and crunch), five 12AX7 preamp and two 6550 power amp tubes, presence, volume and boost (with on/off switch) controls, 6-way attack control and pre-gain boost switch for crunch channel, built-in mic-simulated and line (with level control) outputs, effects loop and tube bias adjustments speaker output switch (4, 8 and 16 ohms) in the back. The amp comes with a 4-button footswitch to operate the amp, its MSRP is $1,500.

Vox Big Bad Wah Pedal Joe Satriani SignatureAfter the new signature amp, it’s time for the effects, the new pedal that makes bigger the Vox product line started with the Time Machine and the Satchurator is the Joe Satriani Big Bad Wah, as you already realized a wah pedal that has been build to recreate the wah effect used by Satriani in his songs. The features of this pedal are dual-mode operation (one mode allows you to have the classic Vox sound and the other the custom Satriani created sound) and drive knob, voice and wah mode switches and inductor button (that changes between a UK and a USA style). The price of this pedal will be around $200, great price for a good looking piece of gear.

Electro Harmonix Voice Box Harmony Machine / Vocoder

Published by
Khriz
January 12, 2009 in FX and Synth. 3 Comments

Electro Harmonix Voice Box Harmony Machine Vocoder
This is some really cool move from Electro Harmonix, their last effort is the Voice Box, an affordable harmony machine and vocoder that will allow you to create synth harmonies for your melodies, either vocal or played with any instrument. The result is like having backing vocals, overdub tracks or many instruments inside a compact box, and it looks like it is really useful and very fun to try some of its sounds, like we can see in the demo video.

The Electro Harmonix Voice Box features 256-band vocoder, 3 multi-harmony modes: low & high (low, 3rd and 5th below, and high, 3rd and 5th above), octave (2 notes ) and whistle (creates a whistle playing an octave above the note you are playing), 9 user presets, professional pitch shift algorithm, gender mod (that builds man- or woman-like voice), natural glissando, reverb effect with separated controls for dry and effected vocals, built-in mic preamp, +48V phantom power, gain switch and balanced XLR line output to use it with almost any system.

This device is powered by the supplied DC power adapter and comes with die-cast chassis that makes it hard enough to use it on stage. The Electro Harmonix Voice Box Harmony Machine / Vocoder is now available and its recommended price is $215.

T-Rex SpinDoctor Pedal

Published by
Khriz
December 30, 2008 in FX. 0 Comments

T-Rex SpinDoctor Pedal
Yesterday we were talking about the ToneBug pedals from T-Rex and today we introduce the new SpinDoctor Pedal that has been modified to have a more vintage sound, but you can ask “what kind of pedal is it?”. Well the SpinDoctor is an overdrive preamp stompbox that will bring the best analog tube-driven sound to your amp but with a huge versatility because of its many parameters to adjust and its huge tone range (from clean tube to dirty overdrive tone).

The features of the T-Rex SpinDoctor Pedal are 4 channels (where you can store your own configurations), 3-band EQ per channel plus presence control, motorized knobs automatically will go to channel’s last, or stored, configuration, 4 switches (A, B, C and D) to change between channels, level, drive tone, sim level and sim frequency controls, boost and store (to keep current configuration) buttons, jack input and output, speaker simulator output and MIDI connection.

The device is powered by a 12V DC adapter and T-Rex engineers say that is the best they have ever build, so it might worth to look at it. The T-Rex SpinDoctor Pedal is now available and its price is $899.

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