GIBSON BANKRUPT ???

Gibson are $520,000,000 USD in Debt

NO GIBSON ARE NOT YET BANKRUPT

New models were more about old models with gimmicky add ons or funny paint jobs.
The quality has slipped so bad that even young first time buyers do not need an education
not to miss it.
Recently hundreds of Les Pauls have been shipped with a bridge that does not match or fit into the stop tail piece. The two anchors that the stopbar fits into are too wide so the stop bar leaning forward and the strings then drag across the back of the bridge causing rattles and minor damage.
This affects both the playability and look of the guitar. It also can cause minor damage. It is easy to see and easy to hear the buzz and rattle.
Therefore!!!!
Management has had to have not only known ....but approved of the sale of hundreds of guitars.

The prices on many of the more popular guitars have gone way beyond just a luxury tax to stupid.
Very high quality Korean guitars with niether a sloppy fit and finish or design flaws at REASONABLE prices have finally made Korea the NEW JAPAN!!!

PRS makes a reasonable alternative product with better design ...better fit and finish yet still respects the public's comfort with a traditional look and ascetic.
Which is a nice way of saying it blows the Gibson product out of the water.

One thing that comes absolutely free with every PRS that you can not get from Gibson.
Company integrity.

Well Kids Old Gibby Gibson is here to tell you about all the new features of the new 2018 Gibson's
lets talk about the new LP.
This year it is entirely made of triple A hand select recycled toilet paper
and with only a small increase in price from last year .....
This is done by Gibson's new Pay to Play
every month after you own it you pay a small fee to get the password that unlocks
the pickups for another month's playing enjoyment !!! 

I have a Korean made Airline myself...it not only is well made it  uses grade A woods. The fit and finish is superb. With an identical PAF pickup in it it sounds like my Les Paul with only a minor difference. The Airline has a easily noticeable longer sustain the the Gibson. LOL

Recent products like cheap made in the USA budget guitars are not only poorly executed. They have a very bad fit and finish.
They are made in China...then are then sent as parts to the USA for unskilled workers to quite simply screw together. This makes them LEGALLY MADE IN THE USA.

What is even worse in my book is that the necks are attached to the body flat so to make it impossible to get a low action on the guitars. Because the bodies and necks are made on a CNC machine it does not cost a nickel more to put the correct pitch. they dumbed down the guitar to encourage you to move up to a pricier version.
Thanks to the web bad news travels fast and there are guys like me that are hear to give you a heads up.
Greed got them into this spiral down.
.....the new greed will jet propel them into a crash landing!!!



  MY GIBSON LES PAUL REISSUE 

Like everyone who loves their OLD Gibson I do not hate Gibson guitars I hate what a profound mismanagement has done to the product. I bought this guitar in 2006 and although I do not like purposely distressed finishes I bought it. I got from an insurance claim I made because of a theft.
and although I think I would rather have got an LP Junior it was artificially priced much higher.

I have no issues with the guitar other then I have had both an SG and a Gold top with soapbars I do not like them. So I had the bridge PU changed to a Pearly Gates that I got from a guy who owed me money . I usually would put the Duncan 59's ....so I was not looking forward to the mod.
Surprise!!! This all mahogany guitar and the Pearly is beyond awesome. This is the best sounding guitar I have ever owned and I have owned 2 vintage 50's LP's and a 63 Strat!!!

AS MUCH AS I LOVE GIBSON DO NOT BUY A NEW ONE!!!!

It it just not worth the risk.
You should be able to walk into the room that your guitar is sitting on a stand and get a buzz just looking at it!!
If you can not because of issues with the instrument...it would be better to give it away then have it!!!

There are lots of other choices...
If you are ready for a bigger purchase then go for the PAUL REED SMITH (PRS) they are very similar to Gibson in so many ways.
BUT...the quality is as good or better than a 50's Gibson. The attitude and service of the company is stellar!!!

If you just want a great guitar ... buy a used GODIN ...many are
Gibson like in the basic look but are still noticeably Godin.

I just got one for less than $275.00 USD and the quality is better than Gibson for the woods ...and every aspect of fit and finish.
if you need to tailor the final tone you can start with a great brand name pickup bought and installed. At this point you have an amazing guitar for less than $500.00 USD. 

In fact you would have to spend at least another $1000.00 to even come close.

AMPLIFIER-QUILTER 45 Micro Block amp...at $150.00 USD this is a serious look at the shape of things to come

  QUILTER 45 MICRO BLOCK AMPLIFIER  

$150.00 USD

Simple a 45 watt amp in a standard B type pedal.
Into a 4ohm load it is 45 watts into the more likely load of an 8 ohm load it is 33 watts.
Just loud enough for a club.
(Remember that the Vox AC30 squeaks by)
Perhaps you are  think of running your FX in stereo?
Definitely a good a practice amp. Last but definitely not least ..a cheap back up amp.

It has 3 fixed sounds. A Dead clean Fender sound, a more mid range sound and a crunch sound.
The dead clean sound sounds good to me. The others ...Pro? No!
There are a few others amps that come in a relatively standard pedal size on the market but they are either toys like the EH or like the Duncan need a preamp and are more money. This has 'just' enough power. The Fender sound is quite usable and your pedals should/could take care of the rest.

It comes with PS-24 a pro 72 watt power supply. This guarantees some decent headroom.

Quilter have been making a series of small lunch box size guitar amps for a few years.
If nothing else they have a good record of solid build and reliability.

My only beef is it would be ideal if they offered a 50 watt RMS into 8 ohms model.
A compact amp cries out for an equally compact single 12 cabinet.
All the desirable speakers like the Celestion, Eminence and Jensen only come in 16 or 8 ohms.

OVERDRIVE-MYTHOS Erlking ...a transparent clean sound that is surprisingly huge!

 MYTHOS ERLKING 

$199.00 USD

So what's the big deal about this. Just another Tube Screamer? ..
Maybe. BUT.

A Tube Screamer made by anyone can NEVER give you an absolutely HUGE sound!!!
Can it???

Supposedly  based on the Nobels ODR-1 ....the Nobels was based on a Tube Screamer....







In Zach Broyles hands it has gone from the very ordinary to the exquisite.
I have owned 3 different TS pedals and ended up hating them all.
They all got 'Reverb-ed' LOL

With the Erking you can dial it up to give you a quasi Tube Screamer like tone.
BUT if you want a HUGE rich sumptuous and beautiful airy sound it can do that too.
In fact it does it BIG TIME!!!!
In short it is a total chameleon!

In comparison the Nobels seems overtly aggressive.
Mythos need not show their inspiration.
They have an original pedal. It is a damn good one too!!!

It can create a very etheral, mellow but clear and transparent tone especially ideal for accompanying a vocal.

There are legions that think that the Tube Screamer is 'KING'. No problem! buy this and own  two great but DIFFERENT sounding pedals!!!

Mythos is small Nashville company with Zach Broyles and his wife making the pedals. The pedal is exquisitely hand made without compromise on any of the parts.

Rob Chapman of Chapman guitars was so impressed he bought half the pedals that they offer.

JUST WHEN I THINK I HAVE HEARD IT ALL  

I am very impressed I can not think of any pedal this big sounding that has such a rich soft sound without it being weak and insubstantial . 

A Mammoth sound that is light as a cloud.

I have only had it 2 days. The video shows it off well. I do have the advantage playing it and both seeing how good it is too my touch and getting real world listen. I would say it is actually fuller sounding then the video. It is not an aggressive pedal and it seems even more laid back thru my rig. It has no annoying artifacts or overtones. The tone is as smooth as glass and as soft as velvet.

 One final thing. The fit and finish is simply stellar. If you are familiar with a Catalinbread box  

you will have a good idea. The artwork has been well thought out and executed.

MYTHOS SEEMS TO BE ALL ABOUT ATTENTION TO DETAIL!!!
And that is evident both on inside parts and the outside appearance.

A WINNER!!!!

WHAT RECORDING WAS RECENTLY VOTED BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC AS THE BEST EVER ????

WHAT NO BEATLES ??? LOL

WHAT ARE YOU GILMOUR FANS SMILING ABOUT ???

OVERDRIVE- BUFFALO TD-X ...the tubeless 'Gilmour' tube OD...surprisingly good

BUFFALO TD-X

$265.00 USD

Dave Gilmour once used the B K Butler Tube driver a OD with a 12aux7 tube in it.
The pedal shows up used and there are several unofficial copies out there.
Buffalo TDX set out to clone this pedal but eliminate the tube. Oddly enough what was lost in the translation was gained by eliminating the fizz and other anomalies and
adding some very nice headroom.
It it has a very balzy sound ...oddly un-Gilmour lol.
I quite like it.
Will I buy one.
I will try my best not to ...LOL

The down side is it is both big in both size and price.
It is in ways unique but there are a lot different sounding pedals that are around $200.00 USD.
There are others I would prefer that are both smaller and cheaper.

I quite like it!!!

OVERDRIVE- VAN WEELDEN Royal Overdrive ....Royal indeed!!!

 VAN WEELDEN ROYAL OVERDRIVE 

Not solely meant for styles leaning towards Jazz, Fusion or genres that are propelled by stellar improvisation ...but if you lean in that direction you best keep reading. lol

The first thing to keep in mind are the 2 switches at the top of the pedal. The manual will guide you thru how to use them. they are meant to make the pedal match perfectly to your amp. They work!!! it is not a goofy gimmick. Yes you could experiment but on the whole the wrong choices make the pedal sound like crap and the right ones make your amp sound great.
The pedal has a very broad level of gain from a light gain thru to good high gain.
so it is unusually versatile.

The pedal is the very best of any 'warm' sounding OD  I have heard.
It never sounds soft or mushy. The highs are very natural bright and clear
but firm without a trace of becoming emasculated.
The mids are rich and organic even with the mid boost on.

I prefer a bit of aggression but I can not fault this guitar for not having any as it was never the objective of the design. For Fusion and similar type playing styles it blows anything I've heard away. You can get a great Dumble 'thing' but it can get fatter and dirtier sounds that still complementary to the style.
In fact my only bitch is that so far it is only available in Germany with a price and straight forward
shipping charges and options. So for the vast majority of us non German residents you have to write to them for a price.
Finally... the price.

The pedal is a whamping $780.00 USD. WHOA!!!

Still if you are a Jazz guy and you want a quality modern voice for your sound.
It is worth it.

OVERDRIVE- FREE THE TONE Quad Arrow ....holy sh_t !!!

 FREE THE TONE QUAD ARROW 

$338.00 USD

Conclusion ...Astounding !!!!

Free The tone are a Japanese company that was established in 2002.
In short  ...they quite simply are aiming for state of the art.
Their product can not be technically  faulted.
Of course like any product it may often not meet an emotional response with many of us. Some of us will certainly not
want this Rolls Royce because only a Ferrari has the magic they crave.

What is not to like?
The unit is so flexible that you can get
any kind of classic Marshall out of it.
But it seems most like what passes as a gourmet JTM45.
If there is any criticism I can find is it has no rough edges.

It is Harmonically rich ...in fact sumptuous.
It is even quiet.The best signal to noise of any high gain pedal.
It is easy to get nice mids out of it.
The highs are clean and clear without a trace of harshness
I quite simply have never heard better lows! Ever!!!
It has an amazing dynamic range due to it's very high headroom.
It is dead easy to use.

It is definitely not cheap!!!
But impossible not to like!!
It can be ordered direct.
But if you have the money or not ...do you love it???
The Friedman BE-OD is $200.00 USD ...it is not as fat and has very little headroom
but is treat to play.
The Quad Arrow is a stellar pedal but lacks soul so I will give it a pass.
If you feel different the go for it.
there are no hidden defaults to haunt you and with it's awesome flexibility no situation on any tune it can not handle with totally pro results.
I do not think the best studio engineer with the best hardware could improve on it once recorded.

OVERDRIVE- CALINE CP-34 Head Room Vintage Distortion massive sound nano price!!!

 CALINE CP-34 HEAD ROOM VINTAGE DISTORTION 

$28.00 USD

Caline have always made good quality pro pedals. Arguably entry level pro but pro nonetheless.

This pedal is a quasi Plexi. A real plexi has a full low end but most distinctly huge lower mids.
The pedal is voiced with huge mids across it's total range.
But the sound is totally massive and the price is nano.

With 55 pedals and a board that can cram on 50
I will pass. Dammit LOL.