PICKUPS- PEGCITY ...high quality, handmade and cheap

PEGCITY  PICKUPS  

A Canadian company with a good selection of all the expected classic PU's. No shortcuts, everything hand crafted and really well made. The Big but are the reasonable prices for these PU's that do not use any budget parts. A good  example are the Firebird PU's. Most companies that make true authentic spec want double the money. Lollar are double the money for a Firebird. Kris is Pegcity, and the guy makes  the kind of product I associate with Lollar or Fralin and their stuff isn't cheap. 

I love my Seymour Duncan PU's but all but one are NOT handmade. They are computer made.

 

FIREBIRD PU for $100. 00 USD

I always wanted a Firebird PU in one of my guitars. They were originally
designed to sound like a Strat but being a humbucker at the same time. They sound like Brian May's favorite sound where he has a Burns Tri Sonic at the bridge but the middle PU has reversed windings and when put together you get his signature glassy shearing but full sound via a D.I.Y.  HB.

PEG CITY

has a PU for ....$100. It is a steal for a Firebird and with 20% off Black Friday it is $80.00 USD so WTF, Know is the time.

Peg City Pickups is in Canada. They have a rep for very high quality. They do a modern one and a vintage replacement one with every detail nailed. I went for the modern one with tight lows so it has more single coil vibe for the Queen thing. 

I have a 1999 Godin, that is a take on the Magnatone MKIII late 50's guitar. The PU is a single coil clone (see pic). The 'bird' will be a drop in.

The same PU at the bridge has already been pulled for a humbucker. A Duncan Pegasus Prog Metal PU. I added a Ric toaster cover to keep the 50's vibe of the guitar. The entire guitar is maple. The neck is a 24 fret incredibly thin Ibanez/Vai  like shape Metal jobbie. Incredibly fast. It is killer for Prog Metal.

The 'bird' will be great for flatpicking parts in a tune where it needs to be thinner but very bright to sound articulate.

FUZZ- BUZZING BUGS AUDIO DEVICES BB1 ____ NEW ____ Vox Preamp

$160.00 USD

BUZZING BUGS AUDIO DEVICES BB01

Dan's company is based in Truro Cornwall UK that is famous for its smugglers of recreational beverages. 

Vox started off with the AC15 and AC30 both famous tube amps. They were very difficult to get right and cheap to build using unskilled labor. Transistor amps were new and looked very promising as a better way. Keep in mind as far as straight Pop music was concerned it was all about strumming cowboy chords and singing a pleasant light weight tune with a clean bright tone. like any Pre if you push it past its headroom it will distort. Doing this was not mainstream but occasionally the sound was used but more as a novelty sound. Just like racing the family car the results are never a Ferrari, lol

So to the point what we have here is a take on a Vox Pre. The layout is your basic Volume, tone and gain.

This is Dan, He makes pedals

CONCLUSION ____

It is it's own thing and there are a few Pre like those taken out of other things the most obvious is the EchoPlex pre and the SUNN Model T amp Pre. They make for a change of sound especially in a band without a Keyboard player to add a contrasting color. 

 

OVERDRIVE- PEDAL PAWN Blues Print ___ NEW ___ Mayer & SRV-in a-Box

$365.00 USD

PEDAL PAWN BLUES PRINT

Basically a Tube Screamer ts10 and a Marshall BluesBreaker in a box. That said it is voiced for the BB to have a John Mayer vibe and the ts to have a Texas Twang SRV sound.

CONCLUSION ___

In both cases they seem to have added the amps these guys used into to the equation. The idea is if you put it through a neutral clean sound on your amp you can get these sounds closer than just using the pedals but not owning the amps.

A MUST SEE ___ GIBSON FACTORY TOUR

  ANDERTONS TV TOUR GIBSON 

I have watched all of them over the years and have finally noticed updates to new tech that has been standard in the big Asian makers. There is still too much unnecessary hand work which sounds all romantic etc. but it is also why so many guys get flaws in their guitar. Fine if you paid half the price. Don't get me wrong I have a Gibson SG Standard Ltd. Ed that is flawless. 

MULTI-FX- LINE6 HX One ___ NEW ___ worth considering?

$300.00 USD

LINE 6 

HX  ONE 

I am a well known Modeler hater, LOL. But that is when it comes to amps.

If there is a analog pedal let me try it. Big but. Some things can only be done well digitally. Reverb absolutely can not be done with any serious realism. Some things are obscenely pricy to be done in analog, like tape echo. 

The Line6 DL4 was bought and used on hundreds of records and literally used and sold for decades untouched. It simply did things never heard and in spite of the digital warts the low fi chips have they worked around them and made it part of the sound just like a germanium Fuzz sounds cool but as tech it is total sh@t, lol 

DL4 the one that put modeled FX
on a Pro's board

CONCLUSION ____

As a modeler in the sense of what we think of one the HX One is crap. BIG but. You get well over $300 worth of very Pro reverbs and delays just for a start. All else can be ignored and you can be $atified you got a great deal. Or, think of it as being 250 separate pedals. If you like 50 than it costs you $6.00 for each of those you like. A passable Reverb in a single

pedal is $100.00.

It has the best of the Line 6 FX from all their units. You get compression, reverb, delay, pitch, and all the various modulation pedals.  All have a history of being the winners cherry picked from their best with thousands of beta testers AKA customers. They picked them out for you, LOL 

 

the fine print

On a tune you only have one sound. If you need the 

reverb on for your whole tune or indeed a reverb is 

often needed on every tune. Then have a nice day. 

In short it simply means you have to cover all the 

must haves with other pedals. 

Add to that any category of sounds for example 

Reverb are given crazy names, are not numbered 

or in alphabetical order. If there are 20 maybe 

more you have to go thru everyone to find the 

one you want. Between tunes??? At a gig??? 

It means it becomes any pedal you want 

...but only that one pedal all of the time. 

You have my full permission to now have 

a WTF!!! moment, LOL.

OVERDRIVE- CHICAGO STOMPWORKS Legitimate Beef... Red Llama clone/cheap

$65.00 USD

CHICAGO STOMPWORKS LEGITAMATE BEEF

 

Basically a clone of George Tripp's Way Huge Design's 1983 Red Llama pedal. It was meant to give you a Tweed amp vibe. It doesn't by today's standards but it is a very nice hard clipper OD with a touch of a Green Russian Fuzz.

The layout is Volume and Drive. Finding the sweet spot quickly is its special feature, LOL. 

CONCLUSION _____

First and obvious the price. A steal for a new handmade pedal made 

in the U.S.  

A great pedal to use as a nasty boost, or to stack on an Overdrive. 

You can take a medium gain OD into a gutsy high gain. 

Then strangely enough at very, very low gain it can pass for half of the best transparent low gain pedals out there. It adds breadth to the whole sound and a nice crisp sparkle. Stacked on a Fuzz or OD it kills the mud 

and lights up a dark pedal. 

....It is how I use mine.😇

  

 

OVERDRIVE- FORTIN AMPLIFICATION Natas Distortion __ NEW __ damn impressive!!!

$300.00 USD

FORTIN AMPLIFICATION NATAS DISTORTION 

Not surprising this is the Amp-in-a Box for the serious Metal player. It takes REVV and other really high gain pedals to the next level.

The layout is Volume, Gain, Bass, Mids and Treble. A to toggle voiced the unit 

to a mid boost or a scoop. Grind adds just that and Girth fattens the sound. 

The kill foot switch adds more gain.

CONCLUSION ____

The goal was to nail the Fortin Amp sound. It has done that very well. 

It is what it is and a pedal like the Empress Heavy Metal Distortion is more versatile with more of everything but is voiced to be neutral not a specific amp brands name. Both are 100% valid. 

Pricy but if it is exactly your thing it can not be brushed aside.

FUZZ- WILSONS EFFECTS Octave Fuzz ___ NEW___ reissue ?

WILSON EFFECTS|OCTAVE FUZZ

$200.00 USD

Over the last 15 years Wilson have done a take or two or three of all the classics. Some came in the old E-H Muff styles boxes others in large Hammond enclosures and now they are done up as Hammond B box which is worthy of a new version number. It gets further complicated as many have had their name changed as well. 

Fifteen years ago Wilson pedals were loved by the 'Cork Sniffers' now they are just another company making clones.

The layout is a basic Volume, Tone, Gain and BIAS. 

CONCLUSION ____

I had their Marshall Guv'nor clone. It was good but suffered from low output and was noisy.  Even dimed the Level was weak. The original Marshall was as well so Wilson can nail a sound but it comes warts and all. The is very dynamic to your touch but requires some serious effort to make it behave. Everyone should have such Fuzz. Those that have the knack will make it stand up and bark. 

LOOPER- NUX Loop Core Stereo ____ NEW ____ best value for $ ...do it all

NU>X 

LOOP  CORE STEREO 

LOOPER

$120.00 USD

Like all Loopers you can just lay a simple riff to jam to but even that is better with drums. Drums are not just cool because it is more fun but because they improve your timing without feeling intimidated. 

Metronomes are intimidating they remind you that they are the unforgiving teacher, lol.

I have both a looper and a Drum Machine. They do not sync. I use my looper 

more for trouble shooting signals not getting thru. My band is just a 3 piece and 

I am the singer songwriter and lead player all in one. I use the drum machine to practice and to work with my Bass player and get a the bass parts nailed down 

and the tune down to performable level so not to waste the Drummers time by bringing him over needlessly. It also means we can work at quiet levels and not disturb the neighbor's. I would love to add in a rhythm guitar track in just a few tunes where I solo and bass line is perfect for the tune but does not fill out the sound enough. 

I would rather drop a solo if the looper failed so more than that is not going to 

ever happen.

The layout is a knob and a switch, lol. The only thing you need to know is you have USB, MIDI out 

(with a cable incl.) and 2 inputs and outputs for stereo or assigned mono like sending tracks to a different amp. There were no volunteers to read a manual today so I will not write one but let the videos tell the story.

CONCLUSION ____

The 40 Drum grooves are basic but are totally usable and enough to cover an average tune in pretty much any Pop or Rock idiom. With my present  Drum Machine I literally only use two groves. In this way a real drummer if a modest player can play them and a Neil Peart can do their thing not having to learn some other Neil's Drum-Mac' parts.

The sound quality is as good as the very best of the competition. The features leave nothing out. Programming is relatively intuitive and covers 99% of any demands.

the fine print

Nearly all Rock groves have a kick drum landing on the ...one and a snare hitting the ...three so when repeated you hear 

kick snare, kick snare    ....repeat, repeat etc.

In fact that is the most basic groove just on its own without more kick or snare added. The second most used and 

maybe the most used of any grove is identical but the second kick is added .... you would then hear

kick snare kick-kick snare, kick snare kick-kick snare ,  ...repeat, repeat etc. 

 

By only having these two ...one or the other will give you a very good basic grove on nearly any tune . 

The first is a go to for fast tempos, or when you play half time but want energy to the grove. 

The second for slow to medium and bordering into to faster tempo's.

FUZZ- SATONE Hex Fuzz... Octave-less Fuzz ??? sounds good & is cheap!

$30.00 USD

SATONE       HEX          OCTAVE FUZZ

This pedal is made by Caline, it is likely a recycled one they offered years ago. The layout is a simple Volume, Tone and Gain. It is meant to be an Octave Fuzz but it if so it left the factory without one. 

CONCLUSION ___

Well Caline stuff is bit hit and miss but a few can take on the big price boys and at worse come out with a draw. Their product is also generally robust and use sturdy casings with robust finishes and pro graphics. This one borrows the look of a few MIJ smaller brands from the 70's and 80's.

The sound is fat, thick, syrupy and does that wall of sound thing. 

A bit of a Doom vibe for sure. It checks the pro sound and right 

price boxes.

CHORUS/VIBRATO-UAFX COMPACT Brigade ___ NEW ___ same old, but digital

$200.00 USD

UAFX COMPACT 

BRIGADE CHORUS & VIBRATO  

 

A digital version of the 1976 Boss Chorus Ensemble.

The Layout is Rate and Depth with a toggle to choose a Vibrato or Chorus sound. 

 

CONCLUSION ___

You can buy the Valeton CH-10 analog clone 

of the infamous Boss CH-2. It even uses the 

same MN3007 chip from __ONLY PEDALS __ 

for $65.00 USD. WTF!!!

OVERDRIVE- UAFX Lion '68 Super Lead Amp ____ NEW ____ just 14 minutes ago

$400.00 USD

UNIVERSAL AUDIO UAFX

LION '68 SUPER LEAD  

 

It does not get any newer. I couldn't sleep so I went to my

laptop and through out the big net and pulled this in. The video said it was 14 minutes old. No pictures, just this video. Not even the link on the video takes you to the Sweetwater Post.  

6 HOURS LATER Well as you can see Sweetwater did get the Pic and Ad up on their site, happening. It is of course the infamous Marshall Super Lead 100-in -a-Box. Arguably the king of all amps.

 

CONCLUSION ____

The sounds are very impressive but so is the price but hardly in a positive way. A lot of R&D went into this to nail the sound but the price is nuts. 

It is basically a modeller with 3 models of the same amp. If you treat this as your only amp in a studio situation it is the same as as being old school and recording with one amazing amp. Hard to argue that. No one gets upset with some one million plus classic recordings all done with one amp. 

However too many full featured modelers with very impressive sounds are priced within reach of this unit. They are hardly so authentic in their detailing but if you think of them as some new modern small builder's gourmet amp modeled just as perfect then they do the job arguably equal or better.  

 

OD/FUZZ- BEETRONICS Nectar Tone Sweetener ___ NEW ___ salt & pepper???

NECTAR TONE SWEETENER

$200.00 USD
free shipping worldwide

Guys that pay $1200.00 for a vintage Fuzz will buy a Beetronix to gig with.
Many guys buy one of each of their Fuzz pedals. In short they make a Fuzz addicts Fuzz. They have made one OD. This is for those that find the enjoy hearing someone else play a Fuzz but a Fuzz doesn't work at all for them. Well this is a have your cake and eat it too plus like all Beetronics it comes with bragging rights. Ask any cork sniffer any Beetronix comes with permanent coolness.

The layout is Volume, Tone and Gain. A toggle lets you switch between Fuzz and OD. 

CONCLUSION _____

It is it's own thing but borders on a mid boosted Fuzz Face minus any spit, sputter and gasp and an early Boss OD.

The tone is very full and dare I say sumptuous. It is impossible not to like it. It gets down to just a matter of your taste and genre whether to buy or pass on it. _____