The gibson guitars that tanked...he also invented 3 unsuccessful guitars??? BUT!!!

THE MODERNISTIC GUITARS

 Ted McCarty felt Gibson needed guitars to compete with Fenders especially their biggest seller the Stratocaster!
The V was first and then the Explorer ...they held back on the Moderne as sales were very weak and the whole idea lost it's initial enthusiasm.

1958

1958

The first one was not made until 1982.

THE FENDER STRAT WAS $275.00 and the Tele was $250.00
In today's money all these guitars were around $2000.00
The V sold 30 and later the Explorer sold 19.

I find it interesting to note that that today if you have accomplished a skill set worthy of a pro guitar it is unlikely that you can not afford one. Yes they may come from the east
but in the 50's you were stuck with a less then adequate 
or by today's standards a near unplayable guitar.

Archtops like the ES125 were doing over 1500
Fender were selling equally big numbers with the Strat.

Not until they came up with the SG did Gibson have a consistent
solid body big seller.

So both Fender and Gibson only sold a pro guitar
for $2000.00 USD
Hard to create a valid argument about high prices when today
a valid pro can squeak in for around $800.00 USD
A PRS SE is a good example.
the materials and construction, fit and finish
are totally pro.

FENDER...In the near future the only MIA guitars you can get will be from the Custom Shop !!!

The hottest pro guitars at the moment all come from SHUR.
They are really just Fender Custom Shop type guitars with prices a little cheaper because they are produced mostly in limited choices in medium size quantities,

Fender will do the same. The $1200.00 to $2000,00 type models will move to Mexico.

The 2018 Custom Shop Models can give you some idea of where they will get the ideas for new models. A few that seem to sell well as Custom Shop Models will be sold as Custom Shop Standard models. First as limited editions. The limited editions that sell out fast will become standard models.

This will keep up the high profile of the company but allow the company to downsize substantially.

The really big bucks profit comes from  the Squier models. The Mexican models still make a good profit. The USA as it stands now do squat!

Already some serious quality Squier models are being made. These will take over when the MIM are only making the MIA. The price on the MIM will all go up. So will the quality.
The average Mexican  worker at Fender Mexico is a guitar player. They are making guitars that are 90% of the quality but are given 50% of the time to do the handmade part of the work. In short the standard of workmanship in Mexico is second to none!!! They blow away the US workers who are given twice the time but are not players so they miss details that a player would notice the minute they picked it up! Roughness on the neck that needs a bit more hand sanding and small misalignment's etc.
Easy to fix if the guitar is caught in time.

Will this happen???? YES!!!
WHEN...a guess is in 4 to 10 years tops!!!

OVERDRIVE- GREER AMPS Lightspeed Organic Overdrive ...big in Nashville ??? but nothing "Country" about it!!

 GREER AMPS LIGHTSPEED ORGANIC OVERDRIVE 

With Greer's Nashville reputation ...there location in Georgia and even the "Ol' Timey" ...script on the pedal have made me ignored this box for a long time.
Bad idea!! Even stupid on my part. The Boost sound in this alone can turn a relatively lame amp into a power house!!!
( go from 8:55 to 10:00 on the video and prepare to be very impressed)

An incredibly versatile pedal. On a really low setting you get a huge clean sound that if you hit hard gives you a really nice light crunch.
Not to much.. but not like every other pedal I have tried it does not
fragment but stays even across the edge of your signal. If all it did was this it would be the very best light gain I have ever heard!

Now from there you can move it into a really aggressive mid gain pedal. All the notes stay separated so you can get a bit intricate with arpeggios or finger style playing. In spite of this even in this mode the pedal has balz plus big time. Then with this same setting go into a really rocking rhythmic groove and it adds more punch then your drummer!

This pedal has been a fave in Nashville territory forever so there are a bounty of video's on You Tube. But Rabea Massaad's take from both an English and a Metal player is refreshing. His objectivity

gives those that might think "Country Music" and their ears would be flying north. LOL

In short it shows you what this pedal can do ...and just how well it can do it!!!

CONCLUSION

It is definitely one of the very best transparent OD's you can buy.

A lot of guys use it as an always on pedal teamed with a Fender amp set to clean.

A big thanks to Andrew Hayward for putting me on to this dead cool OD.

OVERDRIVE- PedalPalFX Pal 800 GOLD ...F. ing awesome! Period!!!

PedalPalFX PAL 800 GOLD Overdrive

$185.00 USD

If you have read my review on the PAL 800 and the PAL 959 you know that P.P.FX makes quite literally what you get with a state of the art digital modeler.
BUT... they do it all with hand made pedals using only analog parts. I quite honestly thought this impossible.
I also thought then when a maker said they did it that the statement was bullshit!!!
WRONG! I have owned a real PLEXI ...I still have a real JCM 800.

Their PAL 800 and PAL 959 not only nail the sound they nail the response of the amp and the sound you get by backing off your guitars volume.

I have both!

GOLD IT IS !!! 

The Pal 800 GOLD is really their hot rod version. But it sounds so damn good
I just ordered one.
To me buying 3 OD from one company is unthinkable because every maker has an identifiable 'sound' to their pedals. In short think of Wampler having a blue gloss to the sound of all their OD's and EH having a red gloss to the sound of all their OD's etc.
BUT ... P.P.FX sounds so real they do not have an identifiable sound.

All three pedals are a major achievement.
BUT the PLEXI is even more impressive because their are literally a hundred other choices to get a PLEXI sound!!

I just checked with Luis ... about the Gold
I will soon have all 3 pedals.

THE PAL 800 GOLD
Basics ...it has some straight forward knobs to dial in your overall tone.
bass, middle and treble ...presense to put some zing on your highs.
There is of course the usual gain to control the dirt.
Lastly the volume control???
Yes but not last. On the side is a 3 way switch to set the dynamics and the range to your touch and taste!!! The lower you go on the switch the more growling bass you get.
The last two video's show you how it works. Not only that using them is easy!!! No learning curve!!!
But the results will knock you over.

Making full use of the dynamics ...go to 3:00 and listen for a minute.

F. ing amazing!!!

CONCLUSION
In 10 days it arrived. It met my every expectation. I have been using it for a few weeks now.
I prefer the Plexi but this is the pedal I would recommend for everyone else. It's authenticity of tone
is arguably less then the Pal 800 Emulator but I feel it will meet everyone's expectation from experiences they have had with the majority of what others offer. In short it is a bit larger than life.
To be honest I am sure I too will use it even more then the Emulator.
In conclusion let me just say in general the actual overall tone of all 3 of P.P.FX pedals is just plain damn superior to nearly every pedal out there. I would never part with any of them. All 3 pedals are keepers!! Virtually one of the bestOD's on the planet.

 The SLASH settings 
 Along with others including PedalPal we set about finding Slash's settings.

GAIN, MIDS & PRESENCE at 2 o'clock
TREBLE at 1 o'clock
BASS at 10 o'clock
VOLUME 10 to 11 o'clock
Switch in the down position

It could vary with your amp and guitar but its a great starting point even if it is try out the pedal when you get it.
I found I needed to nudge up my mids to not quite 3 o'clock

For my personal settings I nearly dime the lows and cut the highs to noon.

Keep in mind I am in a 3 piece so I can fill more air... hence the lows give the band a bigger sound
with a second guitarist or keys ...my lows would muddy the sound.

Hey... you guys that already have your PPFX Gold should send in your settings too.
Lets get something going here!!! Everyone will be a winner if we do.

Almost FREE!!! buy while you still can,

MADE IN KOREA

All the American manufacturers making guitars in the east that offer American famous brand name pickups in their guitars do not offer you an actual Made in America pickup.
The pickup is actually made in Korea by company's like Artec.
The con is they don't tell you!!!
On the other hand the difference in design, parts fit and finish and quality is ZERO.

These pickups are not offered to the public for obvious reasons. They are intended for OEM only!
Why pay a lot more for an identical Pickup???

BUT !!!!
Sometimes a few slip through the cracks.

These matched pair of Seymour Ducan SH-1 59
PAF's have!!!

You can get them while they last on AliExpress
from Iva Musical Shopping Store.

You get both. A matched pair for. Yes 2 PU's.

$38.00 USD

Yes of course I did :-)

OVERDRIVE-GUYATONE Mighty Micro HDm5 Hot Drive Distortion ...it must be good lol

 GUYATONE MIGHTY MICRO 

 HDm5 HOT DRIVE 
 DISTORTION  

With a name like this it just has to be good!!! LOL
The $130.00 USD doesn't hurt either.

Guyatone are a Japanese guitar company that started in 1933. They got into electric guitars in the 50's. By the late 50's they were selling under the Kent name in the U.S. The first Ibanez guitars were Guyatones.
By the '70s they were into pedals. The pedals have always sold very well in Japan. They have never made serious inroads into the U.S market. They have had a healthy following in Europe.

The HDm5 is a medium gain pedal.
First released in 2009.
First about the MICRO bit. ...it is really a standard 'B' size box
like most of the MXR pedals come in. It is just as wide but it is
almost an inch shorter.

It has an input control pot.
I can only guess it is to match up any level from high           
output active pickups down to a low output Lipstick Tube.
(more on this later)
There is a 3 position 'voicing ' switch '
  Mode1- Bright Drive a silky bright tone
  Mode2- Edge Drive a little raw
  Mode3- Deep Drive it cuts the highs it is dark and balzy
Finally the usual level, tone and gain.
It is not another Brit pedal. It has a sound of it's own.
It has a hollow resonance that fattens the tone but does not overly thicken the tone ..instead you have a very open and airy sound. (more on this later too)
It also has a nasty and wonderful growl. (even more on this later)
This pedal is aggressive and punchy yet still has some great tone and a lot of personality.
This pedal has really been under the radar. There are a hell of a lot of brand names selling for double this that can't touch it!

Oh my ...here I go again. Another gotta have...lol

update
So I resisted for 3 weeks...yep...I ordered one!!!
Well my spending is not so bad this week the only other thing I ordered was a Marshall lol

LATER THAT DAY
They refunded my money!!! They are out of stock ...no word when and if they will have more.
Bought a used one on eBay from Japan $114.00 USD ...free shipping.
The pic of it looks good but the store has 3 of them ???
If it looks as good as the pic...I have got one nice pedal for a steal.

SHIPPED MAR.10/18 ...Japanese mail is very fast so I should have it in a week.

 HANDS ON 
Well the delivery took exactly 10 days.
This used pedal had some very minor scuffs near the base of one side. Sitting on my board it will look new.
It came with the orginal box some little rubber feet and an instruction sheet (In Japanese LOL)

So I quickly set it up playing my Guild/ DeArmond Bluesbird in effect a Les Paul Custom.
Well the best I could get out of it was a very modest, generic & bland OD sound. So I had recalled that the manual had 3 diagrams that looked very much like sample settings.
I tried 2 of them ...nothing special ...but the 3rd had the input level control full open and the patch was labeled FUZZ.
It wasn't anything I wanted from the pedsal but it got me tinkering with the input control.
Oh my... the statement  that it was an input control was vague on the vid that I heard and unfortunately I took this statement for granted. In fact all the time I was trying to get a good sound I had that control turned off.
Well in a half a minute I was getting some half decent noises from the thing.

So what's up?
I am sure this knob controls an Op Amp... they are used to give a dirt pedal a fuzz like tone. If the pedal also uses FET's the combination can be very cool. A lot of builders feel the whole sound should be made with FET's only. Well if you want to copy a real amp sound like a Marshall ...yes they ARE right.
But if you want a raw and aggressive sound and a Fuzz is overkill an OP AMP can be dead cool!
There is another thing that I feel is important. In the first vid what I loved was the great resonance tone. Well that was not quite all from the pedal. It was from the middle PU of the guy's Strat.

CONCLUSION...

The pedal does have a damn good tone but for Strat players.
It uses the Strat sound to it's advantage ...in short it will not make your Strat sound like you are playing a cheap and thin sounding hummie.
 I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT FOR A HUMMIE!
It may also sound great on a Tele but I will have to try it that on the weekend as my Tele is in the city.
So one thumb up. LOL

OVERDRIVE- M.I.AUDIO Super Crunch Box ....the original fights back!!!

$150.00 USD

 M.I. AUDIO SUPER CRUNCH BOX 


The original Crunch Box schematic has been cannibalized by everyone big names and small.

The most noticeable candidate for taking the backlash is JHS with the JHS Angry Charlie & the @.

It doesn't end there. Others accuse M.I. of ripping off the original Marshall Guvnor pedal. LOL

A couple of years ago M.I. fought back with the 'SUPER'. It really is a great pedal and great value for the price.

FENDER Jag-Stang .....readers request

I got an E from a reader asking if this guitar even existed etc.

Sooooo.....

 FENDER JAG-STANG 

Designed by Curt Cobain and made by Fender Japan. It was finally produced in 1995 (alas after his death). They sell used depending on condition between $800.00 USD and $1200.00 USD

The PU's were designed by Fender. Medium output PAF type and Strat single coil.

24" scale Mustang neck'

1994          ... prototype ...Curt used it on 5 gigs

1995-2001 ...MIJ but imported to USA

2003-2005 ...re-issue

Very, very tempted to get one.I have a Duo-Sonic and love the neck!

I made a low ball offer... since it is a bit hard to justify buying it otherwise

The price can only go up. I expect it to go as high as $3000.00 USD in about 5 years.

.

A NEW FENDER?

This recent Ltd. Edition Fender Meteora

soon to be released ...shows influence's from the Jag-Stag

OVERDRIVE- T-REX Nitro Hypergain Distortion ...just another OD ...maybe not!

 T-REX NITRO HYPERGAIN DISTORTION 

$180.00 USD

A high gain distortion. It has the usual gain and level. It started life
as an 80's Marshall with a mild scoop but can do a lot more.

Because of it's 3 way EQ the mids are nicely voiced with a great tone and yet make it easy to punch through the band.

It goes from a blistering crunch for tight and chunky chord work to a flat out modern quarter note chugging groove.

At present there are more genres and sub genre's of Metal styles then there are bands to play them. In all fairness this is not a bad sounding OD. With so many good ones available in just a few years we are all looking for better... But this like many could be perfect for both your style and natural way that you play and express your music. Is this the OD is the one that works for 'you'?

On one hand many sound similar but they all sound and respond
different enough that I have 14 of them. The right one is magic!
It will not be technically the best or even the most expensive.

.

OVERDRIVE- BARBER ELECTRONICS Gain Changer

 BARBER ELECTRONICS GAIN CHANGER 

$150.00 USD

Barber have been around a long time. Their pedals have for the most part have been about light to medium OD's that focus in on the subtle content and richness of the harmonics. A big fan have been players that lean towards Fusion style playing.
I feel this is the very best of it's king. Rich and full unaggressive without being lifeless. A fine line
to walk as they could get too tame even wimpy.
The controls are the classic 3 volume, tone and gain. You have 2 switches one fattens the mids the other gives you a choice of harmonic content,

A pleasant change over the many light to medium gains with so-call transparent sound that is to often lifeless, colourless and weedy.

Not bad for pedal at a $150.00 USD.

MODELER- FRATAL AUDIO SYSTEMS AX8 Amp modeler...to say there is better is to lint pick

FRATAL AUDIO SYSTEMS AX8 Amp Modeler/Multi FX Processor


This is the first Modeler to achieve high end sonic capability at an entry pro price.
Modeling has come a long way. On a recording it is seamless. Keep in mind that the average listener hears there music at MP3 quality. Sonicially the only difference between this and an antique cassette deck is it does not have tape hiss. LOL
I swear ..this is neither a joke or an exaggeration. The MP3 technology was invented to send large chunks of verbal data quickly. It was meant for University lectures, business meetings etc.
Actually it does sound good even on Blue Ray BUT... it doe not even border on the dynamics of a tube amp.

$1100.00 USD

In this day of free music and live concerts being quite profitable. All levels of recording are looking for digital ways to do everything. The cost is relatively low and the results are stellar.

When it comes to coloring sound... reverb, delay, modulation etc. digital is realistically the way to go.
But to actually create a sound ...like analog dirt pedals and tube amps it is arguable better to stay analog.

UNTIL
One day Modeling will have hundreds of times more power and speed and then analog will cease to be manufactured in any form for the consumer musician.

I think you will see a few very,very serious Modeler amps and Preamps ...that have a quality second to none.  The sounds will be downloaded so you have a lot of choice ...BUT they will only store one or 2 amps in them.

I also think it probable to have a standardized modeler stomp box that talks to other stomp boxes much like MIDI. These boxes will clip together and can be run from a common power supply.
This standard will eliminate cords and switching systems any analog signal problems.

Midi solved endless problems for Keyboards. The time for the guitar has come.

OVERDRIVE- TOP SECRET OD ...thousands of Marshalls were sold because of it!!!!

 BOSS DS-1 DISTORTION 

$50.00 USD

OK ..OK Don't laugh. When in 1978 the first one came out it was
quickly scooped up by high gain players.
Ironically 99% of guys who bought a Marshall did so because they loved some 'Star' player who used the DS-1 with their Marshall. They had no idea from the recordings that so impressed them that the
DS-1 was half the sound.
In those days even the very few magazines that might interview guitar players talked about the music and the players influences etc. NOT the guys gear. I must state the obvious. The internet was nonexistent.

So this pedal was the very first serious OD that was NOT a Fuzz.
The Tube Screamer came later and was designed with the clean sound mixed in with the dirt. It sold more as a boost to push an amps natural Crunch into distortion. On it's own going thru a dead clean amp the ts
in my opinion is bleak at best! The amp must be set to a nice crunch.
The RAT is an OD but it had a weird filter set up for the controls and was sold as a Fuzz.
In short the Boss, the Ibanez and the Rat were 'it' all else were Fuzz boxes.

The DS-1 is STILL popular because it allows the guitars natural sound to come thru and when used with a good tube amp the combination can still give you a totally pro result!

BUT THE FIRST ONE WAS GREAT AND THE NEW ONE IS CRAP!

Don't believe it! First some history.
The 1978 was indeed good.

The second was in 1994 it had less gain and was noisy.
and started the 'Hate Boss' campaign
.
The third was in 2000 and was loud but very noisy, fizzy and just poorly designed.
It started the 'Kill' Boss campaign. LOL

The current one came in 2006. It was the Boss  'SAVE OUR REPUTATION' model .

In 2006 Boss went back to the first one only changing the defunct Toshiba TA7136PA to a Japan Radio NJM2904L. Whats the difference? Not a lot and they have to sit side by side to hear ANY.
As Brian Wampler proved take if you were to take 10 of either one of these parts and put them on the meter and you will get 10 different readings. Pedal parts were never made with high tolerances needed for sound. You might find the same parts used for a garage door opener LOL.
So if in the video you had 10 of new ones to compare with the original. One of the 10 would sound even closer then the video. On the other hand you might pick the newest one because to my ears it is just a tad fatter. lol

Boss even laid it out on the circuit board to make it easy for others to modify.
Actually considering the price ...they have offered up a fair deal. At least a 9 out of 10 ...and as cheap as $50.00 new and it can be modded easier than the first one.

Stevie Ray Vaughn put the Tube Screamer back on the map. The rumor is he had one of the very good ts909's. ...Actually he had a Ts 10.
It is considered the first of the really crap ones. LOL
So you get my point... if the basic design and sound is good it can even put 'your' sound on the map.

At the price most of us can get one just to use for a change from our gourmet OD.
First timers can get a really high standard OD that is still cool CHEAP!

Keep in mind it is how they work overdriving a real 'tube'. Stacking them in front of a Marshall Plexi OD will not work to give the sound you want. I expect in the next 2 weeks to be ordering the new Marshall ORIGIN 50H this amp is virtually a 50 watt PLEXI.

I just negotiated a deal for a used one in mint condition for $35.00 USD. Do the same. If it doesn't work out you can sell it easily get your money back.

FENDER PEDALS- another sneak peak & quick review

FENDER FINALLY GETS SERIOUS WITH PEDALS!!!
Is it too little too late or did they get it right?

 FENDER PEDALS 

Yes ...another sneak peak and quick review. They are to be released very soon so we should get some serious reviews of individual ones soon.
Unless a company specializes in modulation, reverbs or delays or even compressors and tries to do it all chances are they will fail if they DO NOT get the Dirt pedals right. SO... I for one want to see a few reviews on Fender's new OD's.

APRIL 2018

Another more detailed overview.

OVERDRIVE- CARL MARTIN Tod Overdrive ...a high gain OD with a story

CARL MARTIN TOD OVERDRIVE

 THE DIZZY DRIVE 

Tim Christensen of the Danish band Dizzie Miss Lizzy came to Carl to see if they could make him a better OD. At the time he was using a Boss Turbo OD pushing a  Marshall stack.
The goal was a fatter sound and more headroom.
From that came the LTD. ED. Dizzy Drive of which only 500 were ever made.
The demand for more became quickly apparent so with perhaps a tweak or two

the TOD was born.....

              $150.00 USD 

Carl Martin has always made a quality product. It is hard to fault this pedal. I feel like all the C.M. drives it lacks a bit of character and just a rough edge here and there to make it 'real'.

But these gripes are quibbles and lint picks.

Definitely a contender.

FUZZ- CRAZY TUBE CIRCUITS Constellation ...every classic 60's Fuzz in one pedal

$280.00 USD

  CRAZY TUBE CIRCUITS CONSTELLATION 

You get a FuzzFace, Vox Tone Bender, Solasound MK.1.5 and MKII, Fuzz pedals and the RangeMaster treble booster plus the
Fuzz Face stacked into the treble booster all in this one pedal.
These are all classic 60's pedals. Any one of them is a great pedal.
CTC makes excellent pedals used by many pro players. 
Pete Thorn uses 2 of their OD's.

OVERDRIVE- 6 DEGREES FX Amplitude Eleven Class A Overdrive...a lot of everything ...but?

 6 DEGREES  FX AMPLITUDE ELEVEN Class A OVERDRIVE 

The company is famous for its no expense spared point to point handmade dirt pedals.

Always looking for new sounds so they often simply do not compare with other makes who are usually trying to make a better Marshall. You love them? Or you hate them? LOL.

You have a choice of a smooth or aggressive voice. Great EQ and 2 switchable channels. It is both an OD and a pre. In short a channel strip.

There is no denying the quality. But you better love it ...because you could get 2 very decent OD's for the price!!!

OVERDRIVE- LUNASTONE Distortion 1

 LUNASTONE DISTORTION 1 

$160.00 USD

I have done Lunastone's True OD 1 and 2. The Danish company seems to specialize in OD's.
They all have a distinct Lunastone sound stamped into the pedals. Often their pedals have 2 models that are really the same but one is voiced to be a bit more aggressive or voiced with a heaver bottom end. In short on one hand it becomes too much of 'more of the same' but if you like the company's overall sound it can be argued that they are like a car manufacturer giving you
the same car but with options you prefer.

The Distortion 1 is so new the paints wet so there are only a couple of videos.
The Distortion 1 is in my mind straight to the point. A B size pedal with their take on a classic Plexi.
I quite like the unruly low end with a gasping kind of 4x12 stack type sound pumping out a low end with a sound like the speakers might blow. LOL
The controls are as simple as it gets so a few tweaks and you are done.
They have zeroed in on the classic sound and added a bit guts to the whole sound. Hard not to like but there is no novel take on what is indeed a classic sound. It is a case of 'If it's not broke!!!
Don't fix it!!!
It is priced in the low end of the 'around $200.00' popular price of most of the better pedals. Not very many pedals under $150.00 are impressive. At $225.00 though things can often get very enticing.
Well worth checking out what a little more can offer,
Still the pedal sounds good. A lot of guys just want a quick tweak and then on with the show.
I for one often took a couple of weeks tweaking on some pedals and ending up with something not much different from this. LOL

On the other hand the PedalpalFX PAL 959 is in the same price range  ...and does this or anything else beat it???

OVERDRIVE-PEDALPALFX PAL 959 Plexi Emulator... sounds like the actual amp!!! SERIOUSLY!

 PEDALPALFX PAL959 PLEXI EMULATOR 

$149.00 USD

Just like the PAL 800 a pedal designed by virtually taking the schematic and replacing the tubes in it with transistors. Well almost. LOL
The bottom line is this guy Luis pulls it off. First on the JTM 800 and now on a Plexi!!!

Do not expect screaming leads and long sustain. The early Marshall's never had that.
We all got that idea from old recordings where in every case the amp had a Fuzz or later a Boss DS-1 pushing the amp.

I have the PAL 800 and I will say it again. Ever time I put it on I smile. It really truly sounds like an honest to goodness real amp. So real that I feel if I looked over my shoulder I would see a stack not my humble 1x12 cab with an open back. LOL

I expect this will be like the '800' absolutely stellar on pulling of riffs, hooks and bridges with a detail in the sound that deifies the fact it is a pedal and not an amp!!!
It is handmade and every transistor and for that mater the voicing has an endless amount of nano adjustment that has to be tuned by ear meticulously to zero in the exact voice/sound before shipped to your eager hands.

So I ordered the pedal and it arrived about 10 minites ago. Using the Pal 800 as a template I had the velcro pre cut and the pedal on my board in a minute!!!
So how is it??? 
Well I put a few knobs in positions that I guessed they should be in and played it for 5 minutes.
.
I WAS TOTALLY DISAPPOINTED. 
WHY???? 
BECAUSE DIDN'T ORDER TWO!!!!

THIS PEDAL JUST BLEW MY MIND!!!! 

IN THAT SHORT OF TIME I NEW IF FOR ANY REASON I DID NOT HAVE IT I WOULD WANT TO HAVE IT REPLACED AT LEAST 5 MINUTES BEFORE I NEEDED IT REPLACED!!!

OK FIRST ...THEY HAVE CAUGHT THE SOUND DEAD RIGHT !!!!
THE REAL KILLER IS WHEN YOU PLAY A REAL PLEXI AND YOU HAMMER ON A NOTE IT SWELLS!!! ...NAILED!!!
IF I HAD TO GET BY WITH ONLY ONE PEDAL?  Yes it is unthinkable ...BUT!


IF I WERE YOU I WOULD NOT WAIT UNTIL A FEW REVIEWS GET THE WORD OUT!!!
 ...and as usual with Pedal Pal FX the price makes this a is a total STEAL!!!

THIS IS A KEEPER!!!

JAN.2019 ....NEW VIDEO

GUITAR MODELER SIM1 Xt-1 ...impressive ...but will it transfer your expression???

SIM1 XT-1

NO PRICE HAS BEEN ANNOUCED

Modeled guitars are not new. What is new is a box that you can plug in any guitar
and without any latency, digital hash or an unconvincing  sound get a selection of 12 guitars including both the Gibson and Fender favorite electrics and Martin and Gibson acoustics.

Once you plug your guitar in you play a prescribed scale on each string. This allows the pedal to both track and compensate for the voice of the guitar you are playing to give you a seamless performance and an authentic sound of the modeled guitar chosen.

There will be more voices in the future to download via your smart phone.

Cool idea and it may sound convincing but will it transfer your playing technique so that you feel you are playing these guitars not just 'triggering' notes.

The acoustic thing could be good because of all the impractical and major hassle of using the real deal.
I have my doubts about the electrics. Can you put them thru your dirt boxes without any problems. The short demo using a ts was crap.
This is perhaps one pedal that I need to actually play before coming to any conclusion.

So I will be back when I have a price and some more info.

OVERDRIVE- Joe Gore Pedals Cult Overdrive...a beefed up Rangemaster/light Fuzz...Tony Iommi sound

JOE GORE PEDALS CULT 

$199.00 USD

The idea was to beef up the classic Rangemaster Treble booster 

which was an upper mids thru high end booster pushed by a single geranium transistor early Fuzz.
The first serious Fuzz was the Tone Bender. It was based off of the Maestro Fuzz Tone which had very little sustain. The Tone Bender
was a big improvement.

This arrangement captures an early Sabbath sound. Because amps at the time especially the PLEXI had a heavy low end and lower mid sound and very little gain.

The Cult pedal was carefully voiced to nail the two pedals it is based off with a bit of  modern
polish.
Hence it was thought only a gain control is needed.

FUZZ- (for bass) DAREDEVIL PEDALS Almighty Bass ...revolutionary a Fuzz that actually 'works' lol

$170.00 USD

  DAREDEVIL PEDALS ALMIGHTY BASS  

What an incredible idea LOL
A simple bass Fuzz with only one sound BUT it doesn't suck the low end out of your bass, It doesn't splutter and fart and make flashy but unusable sounds.
All you really NEED and nothing more.

I am impressed! Works great ...gives the player an alternative USABLE  sound to playing clean.

YES!!! ...all you NEED and nothing more!

OVERDRIVE- PETTYJOHN Gold Pedal ...

 PETTYJOHN GOLD PEDAL 


Pettyjohn's newest ...the Gold Pedal is a  straight  ahead take on a Brit pedal. But which one? Not a Plexi for sure it doesn't have a serious low end.
It is not a bad sounding pedal but it sounds more like an American amp then a Brit ...unless you are thinking of the JTM 45 which is a modified Fender Bassman.

I thought it worth a listen as these pedals are very well made with quality parts and a reasonable price.

But there are lot of great choices out there once you call your pedal a
Brit!!!

At $250.00 USD it is competitive.

CONCLUSION


With the Custom Tones ETHOS TWE-1 entering the picture I find this pedal tame without any convincing dynamics ...and very little versatility.

I hate to slam you over the head with the TWE-1 ...but if you have not read the post and heard a vid I think you should compare the two.

At $225.00 USD it is in the same ballpark.

HISTORY LONDON 60's-70's THE FENDER SOUND HOUSE-The Seymour Duncan Interview

HISTORY
I lived in London just after Duncan left I frequented the Fender Sound House. At this time near by you could visit the Orange Amps store ...yes ...they had there own store and sold 90% of their amps from it.

The Fender Sound House was a huge store with a large mezzanine over the second floor with a large round coffee bar and a big magazine rack beside it.
You could often meet not yet famous players here from bands playing the same clubs as 'All' the famous Brit bands and talk gear. This is the store Seymour Duncan got his start.

The Fender Sound House Building from the 60's 70's

As for me I shopped at Selmer because they had great deals on used gear like Marshall amps.
Steve Howe of Yes ...was a regular customer.
A really nice guy too.
It catered to mostly Jazz Players as they had all the Sax and horn product.


I got a PLEXI 50 watt head there for about $350.00 USD in mint condition.
Marshall have just brought out a NEW Plexi 50 watt!!!

NEW PLEXI

The ORIGIN 50H
at $650.00 USD ...I already have one on order!!!