GUITAR- SIRE Larry Charlton S3 HSS- hand made at Squier Classic Vibe price!!!

SIRE| LARRY CHARLTON S3 HSS 

First it is handmade in Indonesia and the owner of Sire runs the company hands on in a factory he owns. Nothing is farmed out! You get a Mahogany body, not poplar, and real rosewood finger board with rolled edges and meticulous detail in dressing the frets and setting it up.

They also offer you a Tele too. Same wood etc. Same price. Lefties? YES!!!

$445.00 USD

FUZZ- FENDER Hammertone Fuzz... PART TWO??? ... and for a good reason!

$80.00 USD

FENDER|

HAMMERTONE FUZZ 

I did a full review when the pedal had came out a short time ago. 

It is a very good Octave Fuzz that holds its own with the best. 

Today a new video did a shootout against the German Vahlbruch 

Octavia. A pedal that has been out for years and is endlessly sold 

out as it is very true to the original 1967 Roger Mayer.

Holding your own against the best is one thing but 

pulling a 'William Tell' and splitting the arrow 

is a very different thing.

CONCLUSION

It is hard to argue that the Fender is not in the running for 'Best Value for Money' winner for 2022. __I saw a used Fender for $55

$200.00 USD

The fine print 

Why is the Fender purple?

Naughty boys?  😳

_______NEW ______ METALLICA AETERNA ______ REVIEW ______

 NEW METALLIA

With all the Black Friday and Thanksgiving frazzle dazzle I expect many of you missed this. I have the 'official' video and Ric Beato's break down and review.

The think I like most about Metallica is their music is accessible without being contrived to simply empty your pockets. It also is the product of about 20% natural talent but 80% is a lot of hours of hard work, followed by assessment and even more hardwork.

WHERE DO THESE THINGS ALL START? 

IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU CAN NO ONE ELSE WILL

AN ARTIST SEES HIMSELF AS ONE, FIRST ...IT IS AN ARTIST's RIGHT TO MAKE THAT 

ASSUMPTION.

ALL OTHERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO JUDGE OR EVEN RIDICULE YOUR WORK  BUT THEY 

HAVE ZERO SAY IN ANYTHING ELSE. 

RIDICULE IS FLATTERY NO MATTER HOW CYNICAL. IF YOU ARE SIMPLY CRAP 

YOU WOULD BE IGNORED MENTALLY AND DISMISSED BY YOUR CRITICS.

MUSIC IS BEST JUDGED BY HOW WELL IT TAKES YOU TO YOUR SPECIAL 

PLACE, BUT YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE ANY LANDMARKS ON THE JOURNEY.

 

REVERB- RED PANDA LABS Context v.2 ...incredibly powerful yet servile to the music

RED PANDA LABS CONTEXT|

$280.00 USD

The company started in 2009 to create high quality reverb, delays and other effects focusing on sounds that are rich in detail but not overtly busy with sonic complexity. 

Their aim was to enhance the source material which they saw as the picture that they needed to beautifully frame. Many modern effects often become the picture and the source is secondary. This in effect has the result of the tail wagging the dog.

This pedal was inspired by 1978 Ersa Major SST-282 Space Station. It was break through rack unit that took effects to a totally new level.

The layout is Blend, Predelay, Decay, both High and Low cut and Modulation. 

A second level gives you Balance between the reverb and delay, Delay time, Delay feedback, Ducking and the dynamics of it. This allows the source material to control the effect dropping when a note is played but rising in any space between the notes, and finally the modulation's rate.

Your choice of voices is Room, Hall, Cathedral, Gate, reverse, Plate, Spring and Grain.

The upgraded v.2 does not tamper with the voices but allows more control over expression.

CONCLUSION

I am 100% plus impressed. When you play a solo it could be wonderful to put it through such a dream land. At the end of that solo a listener should remember the music the not the effect. Having tried others and even bought two only to sell them. This is the first unit that leaves you remembering the man wearing the hat. Not hat the man wore.

GUITAR STANDS- IS DIFFERENT BETTER????

ROK-IT RI-GTRAUFX 

DOUBLE A FRAME GUITAR STAND 
With playable cheap guitars at prices 

below $200.00 USD collecting a few is as cheap as buying a few gourmet pedals. A lot of guys these days have a few guitars. Even gigging many guys take a few. Maybe one just for back up, or an acoustic and an electric or indeed something to cover Humbuckers, and another for single coils, perhaps a semi and a solid etc.

I have gone totally crazy with 10. I want the Fender thing covered with Strat & Tele PU sounds the Gibson thing with P90 and humbuckers, then there is the Gold Foil sound and even Ric. I am only missing Firebird and Burns to cover what I want to hear.

I take 'em all to the gig. It has become 

$40.00 USD

part of the'show' and the crowd love it. One tip however is crazy shapes and/or colors are a must. From the middle of a club a sunburst looks like a guitar shaped turd.

One needs a compact unit with durability, portability, stability and a practical footprint.

I could go on for pages of all the different types but they ALL have problems that can cause damage. The whole thing falling over is often not the biggest problem. On multiple stands it is one guitar colliding with the other by twisting or sliding out of place or indeed finding that you have bumped 

two together when taking them in and out.

ROK-IT or NO

So on the down side there is no neck support so you could tip over the guitar. They are also no good with crazy guitar shapes like V's and Explorers. They take up footprint that won't fit in any awkward or irregular shaped floor spaces like on small stages.

All 'A' shaped stands do have a low center of gravity. Paired they have nice boxy footprint. What I like is set sideways you can line them up like an all in a row multi stand and add others as your collection grows or even add a matching ROK-IT single stand to keep the clean ascetics of them matching.

HERCULES GS405N SHOKSAFE 

GUITAR STAND

$70.00 USD

This gets a lot of great reviews.  It looks small and inconsequential to be worth the price. The funny twisted yoke looks awkward to use and a bit goofy. Users say it does not twist around in the yoke and it's center of gravity is good enough to not tip even with a more than average bump. It apparently has a shock absorbing post. It has a small footprint. It is overbuilt and all steel. Most stands have many if not all of the key joints made of plastics. 

<>^

CONCLUSION

You just can't win.

They all have their 'BUTS'. The ever popular $20 cradle style specials always fall apart or the cheap plastic tightening knob slips etc. The hanging ones even with manual or automatic spring loaded locks on the yoke either tip or need a very large foot print for the legs used for the base. I have them all LOL That said I have not tried this Hercules. 

It looks like a light weight Sax stand. The bigger is better syndrome scares us all when we see this little thing at a cool $70 ouch, price. BUT? It may indeed be the best. The durability thing is worth some extra outlay and the small size and foot print are really appealing.

 

OVERDRIVE- EMERALD OX FX Chimeric Percolator ... neither a Fuzz or an OD, no bull!!!

 EMERALD OX FX CHIMERIC PERCOLATOR 

NEED TO KNOW SH@T

INTERFAX HARMONIC PERCOLATOR

In the 70's a company called Interfax made a pedal called the Harmonic Percolator. The companies main business was making  analog electric office machines. Things like an adding machine. They went out of biz a few years later when the first of the digital calculators hit the market. Yes, and I do mean the calculators the dollar store sells, lol. 

OK ...I actually made all of that up.

But it more interesting than a repair guy from Wisconsin called Ed Guise with an electronics repair shop having a clever idea. It was to use both a Germanium and a silicon together instead of a pair or the same transistors. The result was very crude. The Uni-Vibe was meant to sound like a Leslie tone cabinet with rotating speakers and it doesn't. 

$150.00 USD

My point is that like the UniVibe the Percolator is just totally its own thing.

Ol' Ed was said to have his lights left on but no one was home. He sold from his shop and a few local stores and simply vaporized after a few years.

EMERALD OX FX CHIMERIC PERCOLATOR

Every 3 or 4 years someone reinvents the pedal and once the curious and nut bars like me have one sales tank and it's gone again, lol.

The layout has 4 toggles and 8 knobs. I will not write a 10 page manual to explain what they do. Why??? Because there is nothing on the site but several paragraphs of baffle-gab about it, LOL. Since it only would 'need' two knobs like the original to function than I simply have to say "WTF !!!"

CONCLUSION

Well one knob or 50 in the end if a pedal sounds killer, then WTF!!! 

It takes home first place in the home made cookie back off at the Fall Fair.  

The pedal sounds great. Love it!!!

If you are having a bad day go to Emerald Ox and read the entire site. 

It is worth the price admission. But if admission is free does that mean...???

I will have to get back to you on that one.

the fine print

As you all know I am down sizing

my board so I am waiting on the

soon to be released mini pedal.

FUZZ- AMI EFFECTS Old School Universal Fuzz ...shades of the Gilmour thing

AMI EFFECTS 

OLD SCHOOL UNIVERSAL FUZZ

$235.00 USD

Today we visit France for one of its gourmet meals pedals. It is a hybrid
Fuzz with both germanium and silicon transistors. The layout gives you. volume, presence & gain with a switch to boost the lows and another gives you more definition on your attack. A second foot switch kicks in some mids and an internal pot lets you set it to balance when the switch is off.

CONCLUSION

The pedal leans into the Dave Gilmour thing. Preferring a Fuzz that is very much like an OD instead of in the untamed beast' department. Both are damn useful but we all have our preference.

FUZZ- SUPER COOL '77 Fuzz Blender ...it actually delivers ...not just says it will

SUPER COOL|

'77 FUZZ BLENDER 

$145.00 USD

The pedal takes the old '77 OpAmp Big Muff and then uses both of the 

two different OpAmps that were used over it's life span in the market. 

You get both the JC4558 and the LM741. 

The layout gives you level, gain, tone and a blend control that can bring 

in some clean sound to give you more definition. A toggle brings in a 

mid boost. 

CONCLUSION

You get a lot of tone shaping. You are not just stuck 

with just one sweet spot.

OVERDRIVE- WESTMINSTER EFFECTS Piper Drive V3 ___NEW___ vultures have landed!

$150.00 USD

WESTMINSTER EFFECTS| PIPER DRIVE V.3 

I can not help but laugh. Last week Fulltone ran out of product and they said when 

they were sold out they would lock their doors. This week however we have this 

pedal. SURPRISE!!! It's an Fulltone OCD clone.

To be fair the OCD is really a modded Tube Screamer. So is the nearly as old 

Boss SD-1. The OCD  certainly sounds more SD-1 than a Tube Screamer.

The Piper is cleaner and has more headroom?😇 

It also goes further on a gallon of gas, WTF😒 

CONCLUSION

So it must be good ?? Yes? No? 

It's $20 more than the OCD so it must be. But didn't the OCD come in  

steel custom made enclosers? This pedal only has a standard Hammond 

type 'B' off the shelf box. OK ...It's every man for himself so lets all buy  

the Moogoo $45.00 USD version. I heard even the guts are identical.

......OK I've got mine! Yup, same in, and out!!!  🙈🙉

Moogoo OCD
forgery :-)

AMT ELECTRONICS Legend Amps O2 ...vintage Orange-in-a-Box ....Monster!!!

AMT ELECTRONICS|LEGEND AMPS O2 

$140.00 USD

All the AMT classic-Amp-in-Box are designed from the real amps to accurately nail the sound. This is not based from current Orange Amps that have their own thing with a near Fuzz pedal vibe. This one is from the era where guys were switching from Marshall to HiWatt if they wanted to a cleaner transparent vibe or to Orange if blowing patrons out of their chairs and tearing their face off was not enough but they wanted the wall behind those chairs to come down too, LOL.

I will go direct to the layout as there is a lot to this pedal. I will start with the 3 outputs first because they explain a lot. The top one is your standard out to the front of your amp.The one under can be used to go to the input of your amps effect loop return if you want eliminate the preamp in your amp and use the pedal to be your only pre virtually turning your actual amp into an Orange amp. The 3rd out goes to a analog type of ir or speaker simulator you can use to record direct or to send to the sound system instead of having a mic on your speaker. What is really cool is you run all 3 at the same time :-) You have a standard volume control that needs no explanation but you also have the CL level to match the bottom lower 2 outputs and a boost switch to add more output if you need to match those signals to where you choose to send them. It doubles as a biting boost. You of course have gain and a full EQ of treble, mid and bass.

OK ..if you are like me I just use 90% time normal on my board with the CL control and boost off. The pedal has more than enough level on it's volume control. But if you need extra bite and cut you will have all you can handle and a bit more. The coolest thing for me is the EQ. It is stupid good. You can get really really different sounds from the pedal. You can have a massive scoop sound, a super fat mid sound or even a mid sound with a really nice poke that you need a Tube Screamer to give you otherwise. Finally if you have a very dark amp you can use the CL boost to cut thru.

CONCLUSION

First you just have to have one OD with this much aggression!!! It not only can 

tear your face off but rip your nuts off at the same time, LOL!!!

There is lot on this pedal but the EQ is worth the price of admission. It allows 

me to sound great thru my Marshall but damned if it doesn't sound as good 

thru me cheesy and cheap practice amp. All it needs is a clean sound, from 

any amp to get a great sound. It's a nobrainer buy if you want

insurance that you won't be disappointed.

The best part is the damn price!!!! It's a total steal!!!! 

Anything not better but close will cost you another $100.00 USD 

the fine print

You can get this from Only Pedals. The every day prices on this site make every one's Black Friday prices look like Pink Sunday and I DO NOT exaggerate. 

Robert is your man there. Not only do you get a great price but you get better service than any store I have dealt with on the planet. Your pedal goes out right away. He does not gouge on your shipping either!

He is never to busy to help you if you have a problem. I had a big problem when I bought my first pedal there . It turned out to be a virus on my end but he straightened out the whole mess for me that I had with Master Card. Trust me Master totally tried to F. me over too. On a scale from 1 to 10 Robert gets a 15!!!   

One last thing, This pedal has been around 9 years and in Europe it 

sells out fast even after all that time. Thinking it over is not an option

NEED TO KNOW __1970's OpAmp Distortion __A DUMMIES GUIDE TO DIRT PEDAL TECH

THE DUMMIES GUIDE TO DIRT PEDAL TECH

GERMANIUM TRANSISTOR

In 1947, (the year I was born) Walter Brattain and John Bardeen invented first transistor made from germanium crystal. It did the same job as a tube. Small, it didn't burn out or break like a tube and was relatively very cheap to make. The transistor is probably the most important invention in the whole of the 20th century. No transistors NO smartphone, Laptops's no anything, lol.

The Fuzz is the first dirt pedal. Basically to over simplify you can run one transistor into the other and overload the circuit and distort the crap out of a guitar signal, lol.

The basic sound is warm and grainy. Not a lot of clarity.

SILICON TRANSISTOR 

In 1954 Morris Tanenbaum invented the silicon transistor.

It did not leak like the germanium transistors, it was much easier to make consistently the same with not a lot of waste etc. So that made it cheaper then a germanium.

The basic sound is bright and tighter than a germanium. Reliable and problem free. They can get ice picky.

MOSFET TRANSISTORS 

In 1959 Dawan Kahang invented the MOSFET transistor. For us the big deal about it is it sounds, very, very close to a tube. So if you clone a guitar tube amps preamp section replacing the 12Ax7 tubes with FETS you just might create a convincing MIAB. Yes? WTF!!! YES!!! 

They sound like a tube but a just a bit less smooth, sweet or rich.

THE DREADED OP-AMP

In 1967 Karel D. Sharzel invented the OpAmp.  All transistors increase the level of the incoming signal. The big deal with the opamp is they are in comparison like tiny clean sounding preamps totally finished and built into a miniature box and stupidly dirt cheap to make.

They depend primarily on the diodes put after them for their basic dirt sound so they vary a lot. They lend themselves to simple cheap to make pedals so they are virtually always used on crap pedals and naturally get associated with amateur sounds. They need not be. The best OpAmps can sound virtually transparent.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE

The big deal for us is that with tubes you have to string them together and make a preamp to increase the the level of the PU signal and shape and colour the sound. With transistors it can be smaller but it is the same deal. With an OpAmp it is already done in the chip. Like anything electronic even the the clean sounds are NOT clean. They have distortion even if it is perhaps just 5%. It is either a pleasant colorization or an unpleasant one. I would describe an OpAmp as having a mild but perceivable strident metallic clean tone. 

WTF!!! We love the 'type' of distortion a tube makes and with good design a MOSFET will clone that. Soooo.... the best and most pricey pedals use them to make an Amp-in-a-Box.

With an OpAmp it is already loud (for its size) signal so if we put the signal thru diode which is like a funnel with lots in and less out we F.up the signal and it distorts.

THE BAD NEWS

OpAmp pedals are their own thing and with careful design and a really good tone control circuit can be shaped to deceive the ears that they are tubes as well but it is easier to do with high gain because that much distortion disguises a lot. The Rat is the best example of a good use of an OpAmp. 

The thing that gets up my nose is they are cheap to make and the whole design is not rocket science so they are, or after reading this 'were' easy to sell to you as some complex wonder box for big money.

The Tube Screamer variation has a genius simplicity to it. Because of this you can take it, ...F. around with the diodes even by trial and era as a beginner and come up with some cool sounds. Great ...but it is a F.ing Tube Screamer!  Skip the con job and price gouge!!! WTF!!!!

THE GOOD NEWS

OpAmps can make some very cool noise and we all own them already because they are cheap. Even a Klon is an OpAmp distortion. For me personally even though it cost bigger money I feel a really good sounding FET distortion by cloning a tube amp circuit blows even a real Klon out of the water in two seconds then leaves to go for lunch. Bit WTF I love my Fuzz pedals and my Rat too, LOL.😊

So enough of my pontification lets let ol' Josh Scott take us on a trip thru Op-Ampville.

1970's OpAmp Distortion 

 

AMPS- MARSHALL JTM45 VS. 1987x

 MARSHALL SMALL BOX PLEXI TIME

What's not to like. Two classic amps that started 

our total love of the dirt sound that countless 

makers of gourmet amps use as their blueprint 

and then mod it to make their own.

 

OVERDRIVE- VERTEX EFFECTS Steel SRV Mini ____NEW____ SRV-in-a-Box

VERTEX EFFECTS|STEEL SRV MINI 

$200.00 USD

A Dumble Steel String Singer clean channel-in-a-Box. Explaining this one would take some time. I owned and used the first Vertex Steel String Singer for a couple of years. It did not have the extra chime. Two things you need to know. First the sound has no sustain and secondly the effect gets dumbed down if you have a dark sounding amp. Ideally you need 

a classic Fender amp like a Fender Deluxe, a Super Reverb or a Twin Reverb. The only budget Fender that does a pretty good job is the clean channel of a Fender Hot Rod.

The layout is volume, gain a sweepable band pass filter mid control and a toggle for 

Rock or a Jazz voicing.

The video really is important to see what works and for that matter what you are up against.

CONCLUSION

Neither good or bad but specialized. It does really help nail the sound.

OVERDRIVE- PedalPalFX PLEXI Carrera____NEW____ anything else is 2nd best

$210.00 USD

PedalPalFX PAL987 PLEXI CARREA 

Every pedal these guys make shortly have a waiting list that puts your order up to a 

3 month wait. With the JCM800 v.3 it never slowed down for over 2 years. 

Why are they so damn good ??? 

Because they are a literal copy of the pre from the actual amp. The tubes are replaced with FETS and then they are tuned by hand on very single pedal to match the sound of the amp. It takes a damn long time to do this. I have heard the JCM 800 inserted into a real JCM 800 amp and with an A/B switch and the pedal sounds exactly the same. 

No sh@t I simply could not hear any difference.

This new pedal is a Marshall 1987x 50 watt Plexi. I have actual amp. It's my 3rd. I am 75 so over the years I 'had' to sell twice. Not anymore, LOL. The controls are virtually the same as the amp. The only addition is a 3 way switch to give you 3 voices. One is a 

poke in the upper mids. Quite simply because most guys, myself included use a Tube Screamer on the real amp to get that sound. Great idea, in fact brilliant idea.

CONCLUSION

The very best for those that can not accept anything less, unless you wanted the PAL 800 V.3 Gold. It has the 'Jose' mod you can click on and get the exact sound of Slash :-)  No bull!!!

FUZZ- HAGERMAN Tsar Face ____NEW____ exceptional germanium Fuzz :-)

HAGERMAN:TSAR FACE 

$160.00 USD

From his home in Hawaii ol' Jim brought us a new pedal. Those that follow the many Posts of his product know that all his pedals are creative, total overkill in their build and are priced unusually cheap for a handmade high end product. Hagerman are talked about in the esoteric HiFi world in hushed tones. In consumer Stereo world his products have the status of a Ferrari.

The unit is based from MP41A transistors both rare and pricey. Jim scooped them up from a blowout deal so we get the benefit of both the sound and a Fuzz that would usually cost much more. 

It is a low gain Fuzz. Think of instant 'The Wind Cries Mary' Hendrix clean tones.

The layout is level, tone, BIAS and sag. Jim came up with a stabilization circuit to minimize the problems with heat, and dropouts. The dynamics control its timing so you get a transformer like sag effect which cause the notes to bloom after your initial attack. Finally the tone itself is buffered so it gives you a wide range of useful settings. 

CONCLUSION

Just check the video. The pedal sells itself.

OVERDRIVE- MXR Prime Distortion ... 9 years old and still loved :-)

MXR| PRIME DISTORTION 

$60.00 USD

Give or take 10 years ago there was not an obsession for MIAB that literally struggled 

to nail that just perfect Super Lead or JTM 45 etc. It was enough to just get a great 

Brit sound which meant just a good  Marshall, HiWatt and Orange vibe. If it include the voicing to sound like it was being pushed by a Fuzz or Tube Screamer or even a Rat all the better, lol. Well good ol' MXR made just such a pedal. It is really a modified high-clipper Distortion, which means it is a Rat but a much more polite one, LOL. MXR still listed on their site but anything this old can easily fall thru the cracks since it's not this years new wonder OD. Who but me would go looking for lost treasures.

CONCLUSION

It really does a decent Brit/Fuzz type sound. It is fat and punchy and just plain nasty. It may be listed but it is probably out of production but many stores have brand new old stock. Guitar Center has it listed for just $60.00 USD. 

That is made in China priced :-)

OVERDRIVE- AXESS OBViouS Boost/OD___NEW___ should this be discontinued ???

AXESS OBVIOUS BOOST/OD

$200.00 USD

A new kid on the block. The guy seems to specialize in switchers, controllers, 

MIDI gadgets and problem solving hardware. He has an impressive list a mile long of who uses his come to the rescue boxes. This is however his first FX.

Apparently it's a MIAB. Ok MIAB inspired. Actually it is upper medium to more high gainish OD.

The layout is output, input which is usually gain, treble, and a 3 way switch for bass. You have a choice of 3 clipping diodes. The second stage has more compression and the third is both more dirt ad saturation.

CONCLUSION

First the thing screams gimmick if its an MIAB.

What's with the gain called input and the bass not just a knob so you can pick your own sweet spot. The boost is really just leaving gain back. In short it is another jacked up OpAmp/ts circuit. Fair enough but who needs the bullsh*t.

I own the 50 watt amp it claims to be 'inspired' by. WTF!!!!

If my amp had nothing but upper mids and strident highs with no balz 

I would have one major turkey on my hands. 

WHY?

The guy is an expert at getting an untampered signal from one spot to another with his interface gadgets. 

We need guys that can do that. Maybe however he should stick to that. At $200.00 USD the choices for OD's are at minimum over 1000. I have done over 2000 posts and at least half are dirt pedals and I never run out of another one. Do I ?  

Last week we got Mike Soldano's pedal. 13 prototypes and two years work and just $30 more. Need I say more?