OVERDRIVE- IBANEZ tube Screamers- Why they are such a big deal gotta have!

 TUBE SCREAMERS 

Maxon pedals had their pedals designed by Susumu Tamura. He was asked when the BOSS OD1 came out to design a pedal like it to compete. To avoid Boss patents on asymmetrical distortion he made the distortion symmetrical. Technically not tube amp sounding but it warms up a pedal that would otherwise be a clean boost. Ibanez did NOT make pedals or even guitars. They design guitars by then but even they were farmed out to be made. So they decided to skip designing and just have Maxon rebrand theirs. It was easy to have thousands of music stores worldwide who stacked Ibanez to stock a few pedals too. Maxon were to small to sell to anyone not in Japan. In short it was a happy marriage. 

I personally even got a product specialist gig with Ibanez because of these pedals, lol.

The reason the pedal did so well is it simply took any cranked amp it was put in front of and pushed the gain and dirt up to the next stage. A Fender with almost no dirt had some and a totally cranked Marshall had even more. The basic fixed EQ of the pedal kills the lows adds just a little bite in the highs and puts a very big punch in the upper mids around 1kH. The mid boost gives it cut and punch. It tightens the lows simply not boosting them. So if you play Blues thru a Fender or even have a super high gain stack it still does it's magic.

99% of all pedal companies that make OD's make a clone. 98% give it a different name to fool you into thinking a few small mods they did make it a TOTALLY different pedal. Clones are fine but just be aware it is one.

If it's not broke why fix it? Well the Ibanez original ts was the 808 

followed with ts 9 very shortly after. Neither is better. 

The 808 is warmer, the ts9 cuts a bit better and is bit tighter. 

Very clean amps favor the 808. Amps that are already very dirty

favor the ts9.

Over the years Ibanez has offered both the new but not

improved plus many 'gimmick' variations. Most tanked but

a few hang in. Modern re-issues are king. But the very well

designed mini does deserverably well.

CONCLUSION

Choosing any of the Ibanez is a safe bet. 

TS 808 -$180.00 USD

TS9     -$100.00 USD

TS mini -$80.00 USD

or MAXON OD808 reissue -$200.00 USD

or CALINE  CP75 Emerald Night -$29.00 USD

If budget dictates your best choice is the well built and reliable 'Caline Emerald Night'. It is the clear winner. Sit it beside a real Ibanez model and it is just too close to believe. You can switch between an ts808, a ts9 or even a ts with the famous Keeley mod.

I have bought then sold off  many of the 'hot rod' super gourmet

ts of the gods ... I did keep two that are very specialized.

I recently ordered the Caline as I truly find that I need the 

basic plain ol' and the others do not, do it well.

It arrived and delivered!!! Money well spent!!!

DUMBLE PURITY

Did you know the Dumble amp, the tube amp of the gods has a little surprise in it. 

It has a Tube Screamer clone built right into it, lol.

AMPLIFIER- HARMONY H650 50 watt amp ...NEW! ...just released vintage style amp done right

HARMONY H650 AMPLIFIER

It started by bringing back Harmony guitars to a made in America brand. They
wisely choose to keep the original vibe but update the guitars to to modern MIA quality. They even put the factory into the original Gibson Kalamazoo building. They restored a great deal of the original machinery but put state of the art equipment right between the old gear. Using the old equipment for things it does the very best but removing grunt work from the equation by having high tech get the wood into basic shapes to refine from.

It cuts the price by a yet you get workmanship that doesn't give even one piece of lint to pic. 

The amps take the same approach. They do 3 all tube amps. Since te 50 watt is in my mind the smart buy I am featuring it. A full 50 watts is neither too loud nor not loud enough to be in a bands backline. It has a great clean sound for pedal guys, a classic blues sound if pushed and with its killer vibrato it covers every variation of Americana you can throw at it. A modern design allows you to cut the power for the 'inevitable 'bedroom' rehearsals we all tend to need.

Specs? You get three 12AX7's for your pre and 6L6 power tubes. A classic Jensen 12" is as '50's as you get. No surprises or disappointments with these. The reverb,tremolo, FX loop and boost are switchable.

CONCLUSION

Not my thing being Marshall Brit sound guy but it is a welcome choice. It was great to get Supro back and know we have two of the old 50's budget companies amps back. In it's day Harmony was high end of entry guitars. Harmony amps were the ones with higher headroom and cleaner sound. They were a bit more prestigious and a bit pricer than Supro.

They were well built and the new Harmony has a business plan that is long term.

Over the years it will build a following on quality and value for money. I expect in 10 years these harmony amps use will turn a nice profit to any early adopters.

A good choice for the guy itching for an old school Fender that has alot of 'buts' about going for that Fender.

OVERDRIVE- BEHRINGER VP-1 Vintage Phaser ... a Small Stone for a small price?

BEHRINGER VP-1 VINTAGE PHASER

$35.00 USD

In 1974 David Cockrtall who designed pedals came up with a way to use operational
transduction amplifiers to design a Phaser. It was a very clever idea that allowed him to create a simple 4 pole design that was so rich sounding it rivalled the MXR 6 pole Phase 90. 

Behringer has a 'serious' Synth wing of the company who have a very high reputation of recreating vintage no compromise synths were interested in adding accessories to their recreated, Moogs and other classics in their line. So from the get go do not connect these to the $20 plastic boxes. The only thing the same is the parent companies name. 

CONCLUSION

They did indeed pull it off. The cool thing is it has its own thing going on. Even, if like me, you have an MXR. It different enough to have both. Add to that you don't have to cough up as much as $500 for a used '74 E-H. 

...keyboard comparison but useful

__________________________________________________________

OVERDRIVE- OKKO FX Dominator II ...for 15 years a classic & with a recent resurgence

 OKKO 

 DOMINATOR II  

$240.00 USD

This is a bit of an oldie. The idea behind was a hot rodded 'Brit' pedal amp-in-box. Vaguely true, lol.
It started life 15 years ago in an even bigger box and went from Red to Black to Grey to Red again.

To further confuse the issue a Black was added

again along side the the Red MK II 

The MK II Red and Black are different versions.

The black is voiced tighter and brighter. But it seems to be discontinued.

Okko have a 'make it work' design, mind set. There discription of this on their site does not describe the pedal but instead it answers every question you might have. Yes it is fat, but will it cut through the mix. Does have enough headroom or is it over saturated. The saturated thing is a 'you decide' thing ...you have 18v of headroom but you can cut it as low as 6. 

It is German and true to the stereotype it is overbuilt. 

Even the input is switchable to match your guitar's output. The lows are tight. It has a 3 way EQ, It is a very low noise floor but it has a gate extra control and fast cut offs on 'stops'. The OKKO is a transitional pedal that is half into needing it to sound like a Marshall stack and half into getting booth a Doom thing and a 'chug' at the same time.

CONCLUSION

It is indeed old school. It does not have that near Fuzz like over saturation with extra tight lows and lots of percussive attack. On the other hand it is has a wide and open sound, far fatter and it is free of fizz and annoying high end buzz.

We live in a time where Metal has never been more popular. To some it may not seem so since in the past only one genre was hot at a time. One can reflect on a time when Metallica sold thousands a day. Now a thousands of Metal bands collectively sell a lot more. So the numbers are even bigger but the media has no 'Stars' to pummel you with useless information about them on a daily basis, lol. We know have multiple Metal genres, add to that there are sub genres and others like myself that freely mix and blend elements of many, many Metal genres. So the discontinued tight Black Dominator is a sign of the times with many, many small companies specializing. One does Doom pedals another aims at Djent etc. OKKO does old school. 

DO I TAKE A CHANCE?

In the last 3 months I have bought many high gain Metal Distortions. On the whole several are quite good but they are squarely aimed at the 'chuggers' or the want only a slow moving Doom things. I loved the Doom one. I like the attack many Djent have but they have moved so far away from a heavily modded Plexi they have lost that rich tone and any soaring sustain. I am hoping especially as this started 15 years ago as a transitional pedal it may just give me a more modern aggression but that wall of sound still left in there. 

So I ordered one. 

  ...found a used one on Reverb for $190.00

                                      ...this video starts at 3:10

CHORUS-LPD PEDALS Tidal Chorus... as good from others? ...Maybe? ...Better? ...NO!

 LPD PEDALS TIDAL CHORUS 

$225.00 USD

Lawrence Petross simply does not understand the word 'compromise'. Nor does he accept 'second best' as something to be proud of. He does not pass off features as improvements. Every control on an LPD does what it should, and none are unnecessary redundant cosmetic B.S. How many times have I bought a pedal that was actually pretty good and wished I could add or take away a little bit more or just a have a little bit less. That is never the case with my LPD Pedals. Needed tweaks are tweakable but the overall great sound is there with or without them.

You never NEED a manual for an LPD. The layout, is intuitive, functional and effective.

CONCLUSION

The thing that every LPD has is it's breadth to the sound. Mono on a LPD is as full as stereo on other makers. It has pristine clarity but not that fake kind of adding unnatural highs that are intolerably strident. 

The big, big deal to me is there is never any mud or 

smearing in your harmonics and overtones. Put a LPD OD 

beside one of the Friedman OD and you will be shocked at 

how muddy the Friedman is in comparison. 

Nothing from LPD is the result of the latest Fad like for example 

most of the the new ambient verbs that do nothing but make 

a lot of 'special effects' that are all but virtually unusable in a band.

OVERDRIVE- CNZ Cross Fire Metal Distortion ...very new ...very old in many ways

 CNZ CROSSFIRE METAL DISTORTION 

$45.00 USD

It appears we a have new kid selling pedals. 

Selling ..yes? ...making? NO. This time tested high gain Metal pedal has been around a long time with many names on the box. It is in fact the Mooer Blade. Mooer have rebranded their pedals with at least 25 different names. Old 'brands' disappear and new ones pop up. Mooer literally own their own state of the art factory that can produce 2000 mini pedals a day. It is not your granddads Chinese factory with rows of unskilled workers. 

It was automated by the guys that did Mercedes Benz. Fact! They do not use German, U.S. or Japanese parts but they do use very well made and very,very robust parts. They can not at high volumes have the pedals fail. The only difference between the CNZ and te Mooer pedals is the paint job and graphics.

CONCLUSION

It leans towards a very tight Djent vibe.Yes it will 'Chug', lol.

It is impressive especially at the price. The Mooer sells for $70.

I find in general the Mooer pedals are a tad thin and obviously 

lack detail in the harmonics. Since Metal pedals border on Fuzz 

the detail thing is not at all much of an issue.

HOT ROD- JAMES HATFIELD.... fast cars and Rock & Roll

 ...."nothing will out run my V-8 Ford"

A very famous lyric from Chuck Berry's Maybelline tells us what the whole youth culture was about in the 1950's.

When I was in School at the time you could buy a running automobile for $50. You could in some places legally drive it without insurance simply by registering it as an uninsured for a small fee.

You could be fined if you were driving an unsafe car but the car did not require an MOT. Once you had licence plates you could just get in the car and Goooooooo!

James Hatfield was young enough to be part of the hot rod culture that faded after the last century.

REVERB- MOOER AUDIO Reverb R7 X2 ...a great way into ambient sounds? ...Maybe

 MOOER AUDIO REVERB R7 X2 

$150.00 USD

I will never be a big lover of ambient effects because unless you literally write music for them they are useless in a band. They often require the drummer to follow the timing of the modulation or a complex added rhythm also sent from the pedal. This pedal has a tap feature but in a screaming Rock band context no drummer will be playing to a robot. Add to that they usually have very long sustains or tails that make the last note or chord repeat over your next chord in a tune. 

Mooer have taken that into account and allow you to use most of the voices in a conventional manner and still sound good. In short you have usable choices.

Yes you can control the basic functions of mix, decay and EQ. You are given 7 voices that have, as you might expect names that describe nothing, lol. It also lets you save 4 favorites. A second switch gives you a hold or tap function.

THE BIG PICTURE

The thing I find most critical to me with any reverb is detail in the sound. 

In a simple word ..'clarity' in general the more you spend 

the more you get. In practice it varies.

$100.00 USD

Lexicon in the last century were the 'master' of reverb for 

guitar. The recently defunct Digitech Polara sounds 

better to me than a pricey Strymon because because it has 

those Lexicon sounds. 

On the low end a $40 Flamma FC02 will get you by just fine  

with just 3 sounds and it does not sound one bit cheap even 

when I record with it. It's easily as good a sound as a Boss RV-6.

 CONCLUSION

Mooer offer both a mini version in mono and the new stereo version.

In the real word only a fraction go stereo live. For one thing the trend

is less is more at a gig. Plus cost and incapability with mono gear.

I could be wrong but I am not convinced they sound the same. 

The sounds are but the hardware could easily be a newer higher spec.

Note: I have published AliExpress prices w/free shipping. 

I would likely choose the new stereo as it is cheap enough to buy some insurance.

With a superb old style Reverb you got the sound of halls, rooms etc. 

A reverb like the Universal Audio blows you out of the water because if you shut your eyes and listen it is almost creepy because you feel you are standing in that hall or cathedral.

With ambient reverb they are simply an invention. You have nothing to compare it to to see how well it holds up. It is like an impressionist painting. You like it ...or you don't. With the Mooer you get a very nice clarity but not the complexity of the Big Bucks makers. In this case it can be an asset as it is less likely to add extra clutter to an effect that is often all about being ridiculously busy sounding.

HEADS UP

$70.00 USD

If you decide on the mono R7 you should perhaps consider the Flamma  FS02.
It comes in slightly bigger box but it has the same guts. Easier to read and maneuver as well.                                                                                                                         

A FINAL WORD: If you weave some ambient things into your band and your audience is a 'drinking' crowd. Do those tunes early in the first set, LOL.

GUITAR-BMG GUITARS Arielle ...sound like Brian May ...but don't look like him!

 BMG GUITARS ARIELLE 

I can not deny I love Brian Mays tone and enjoy the Queen songs. He is a brilliant composer for both the tunes and his ability to arrange. If you ever heard him improvise or do a solo ...don't. He ain't no Dave Gilmour when it comes to improvising. But he is definitely his equal in composition. I always had plans to find a guitar ...gut the the pickguard and put a set of Burns Trisonic PU's. In short I am not so brave as to get the standard Brian May Special model. LOL

But the Arielle is virtually the same guitar with a Explorer vibe to the shape.

It is actually a signature guitar of Alternative player Arielle who played on Eric Johnson's last recordings.Check out her Bio.

The body is Korina, the whammy is Wilkinson (Suhr uses a similar one) with stainless steel saddles, Grover 406 locking Tuners and a solid steel sustain block. The PU's are as expected Trisonic.

$920.00 USD

CONCLUSION

Impressive. These guitars are made in Korea and as we all know Korea is the new Japan. PRS moved out because the price to make them went up to match the quality. There is no doubt these are equal or better than a Signature MIM Strat!!!

This if definitely a guitar to keep on your short list.

REVERB ZCAT PEDALS Big TI Reverb ...why I hate ambiance Verb!!! ...except?

 ZCAT PEDALS BIG TI REVERB 

$150.00 USD mono
$200.00 USD stereo

I write every tune I play. At the moment that is 26 tunes. I want a pedal ...any pedal that can enhance what I have written. I can indeed add the sound of a room, hall or even a church etc. But I can not turn on any of the hundreds of ambiance reverb and simply play.

The ambiance reverb IS the instrument. You play a single note or chord and then you wait, and you wait. Until that sound fades away you can not play another note or chord unless you want all that complex pixie dust to clash with your next chord. At best it turns your sound to mud or at it's worst adds extreme discord. 

 Even if you write something to accommodate the verb you have another problem. A single cord becomes a show onto itself. It is like having a great catchy riff ...wonderful in a tune ..but it is tiresome if it keeps showing upon every tune. In short that terrific sound called 'An Angel Farts at Night' puts that recognizable fart in every tune you use it for. It is not coloring your music. It is your music.

BIG BUT!  The ZCAT has a very smooth simple Plate late like sound that has no annoying pulsing modulation nor constantly changing colors. You can set it so you can control the length of the sustain so you can change chords and notes without them colliding with each other. The sound is so dense you can leave your guitars signal right out of the mix and play it like you are playing synth.

CONCLUSION

Will I write parts for it. At first I already have tunes where I play power chords that I hold for 4 and 8 bars that it would add a lot. I also have a synth I can add to it or I can stick with the heavy Fuzz things I use.

I am sure I will write more ambitious things for it at some point.

FUZZ- BLAMMO Fuzz Detonator ... out of the bedroom ...onto the stage!

  BLAMMO  FUZZ  DETONATOR  

$165.00 USD

What if instead of cloning a classic germanium Fuzz you just took the best of the near non musical spits sputters and farts of the best of the self destructors and put them in one Fuzz. BIG BUT! What if you had a good nuts and bolts stable sounding Fuzz sitting alongside it and a switch so you could bring all the yummy nonsense in and out the cuitcut on demand.

Blammo have been around forever irreverently remolding the old classics so they go beyond a novelty to a usable pedal you can gig with.

The Detonator gives you that that overkill oscillating Fuzz fun 

but with some reins to pull it in.

 CONCLUSION 

I have bought and sold a few of the better oldies. A couple of the very best replicas I keep. BIG BUT! I keep them on a shelf. not on my board!

Yes a mad man's Fuzz for the sane! A tool not a toy!!!

OVERDRIVE- K-MISE Ultimate Distortion ...an OCD clone??? or an $18.00 'wannabee'???

 K-MISE ULTIMATE DISTORTION 

$18.00 USD

K-mise are a rarity. They make their own pedals. Most Chinese pedals are made by,
Caline, Byang, Joyo, NUX or even more so Mooer. Ironically Joyo have made an OCD clone for years...the Ultimate drive. LOL so why K-Mise copied the name is odd. Are they therefore a copy of a copy. LOL

The best copy of an OCD is Mogoo. They went one step further. They matched every part of the pedal completely inside and out. Even the paint and graphics. It is what is known as a forgery. Yes it even says Fulltone OCD right on the casing. 😇

So ...how good a knock off is the K-mise???

It is not exact but WTF it is close enough. It is harsher than the OCD and if you dime it it gets very Fuzz like.

CONCLUSION

It is more than usable. Without comparing side by side you really could not tell. If I did not have the Mogoo I would certainly buy one.

....Amazon has the $18.00 price

OVERDRIVE- PERF DE CASTRO BAD94 DIST. ...Marshall Shredmaster supercharged!!!

 PERF DE CASTRO BAD94 DISTORTION 

$150.00 USD

If you have every watch Youtuber Perfs site over the last 21 years you will know the guy does great reviews and there is zero B.S. He is also a great player and often does the free lesson thing. The bottom line is he is a 'For Real' nice guy. Two of his favourite pedals are made in the Philippines where he lives, They are both killer OD's which were based on the original and defunct Marshall Shredmaster. I tried to buy both of them I say tried to buy but as fate would have it both makers it appears to have retired.

Perf used the two pedals as the basis for his own and then kept on tweaking them for months to get them right. Small things like front loaded jacks and compact size but using a bit more height in the box to fit all it's features.

The layout is simple, easy to use but really effective. You have the usual bass, treble, volume and gain . The cool thing is it has the contour control that lets you sweep the mids while voicing the pedal. It is not your standard quasi parametric mid thing were you can cut or boost a specific frequency but the range of the width is fixed.

CONCLUSION

It covers a lot of ground from the 80's to the present and never loses its amp like voicing so your sound never starts to have an artificial or Fuzz like quality. In short

it is very organic sounding. Add to that Perf lives in the REAL world. The price is very reasonable for a quality pedal.

OVERDRIVE- MXR M116 Fullbore Distortion ... the Dimebag D. dirt pedal!

 MXR M116 FULL BORE DISTORTION 

$100.00 USD

Lately I have been digging up all the basic Metal pedals by Boss and others that have stood the test of time. The Full Bore  has been around for 11 years already and still sells well.

The fact is like all the Boss Metal pedals these pedals end up as the basis for the gourmet pedals. Yes the gourmet pedals tweak them, clean them up and smooth out all the wrinkles. BUT ...you have to ask yourself if a pedal was meant to tear your face off with a sound of sharpened rusted steel and jagged shrouds of glass does it need to be sterilized before it does so ?

Know I do take into account that some cheaper pedals have artifacts left in the sound that force you to compromise on a very needed design tweak to get rid of them. With Metal you do not want severe 'Bees in a Can' or nasty uneven breakups in the lows. 

So lets see what we get. A full tone stack with lows and highs and mids that are sweepable. A good start.

A switchable fixed gate and another switch for a scoop. All these pedals are a take on a MESA Dual Rectifier and the amps that spun off of them. None seem to capture the density nor do they eliminate ALL the fizz. Fortunately sent thru a good amp it is often unnoticeable.

CONCLUSION

I listen to a dozen video's. The ones that were not infomercials collectively hated it. Just watching their approach struck me as guys who were trying to get a Marshall JTM 800 sound out of it. All very nice but this is meant to be a classic scooped totally bottom heavy distortion. If you have listened to Dimebag Darrell you know what it does and more important what it is meant to do. These guys were comparing this pedal to a Marshall-in a'-Box which is as stupid as comparing a Marshall pedal to a Klon. 

I have 12 Plexi pedals and 3 JCM 800 pedals. I do indeed love them.  BIG BUT !!!

Marshall's are the scrumptious 'apples' of OD's but for gods sake why not have at least one 'juicy' lime even if it's bitter Metal OD juice sprays all over you. LOL

In short this is a killer Dimebag pedal. You can roll off a few lows and push up a few mids that will let you tame it a little but only a little.

 . . .BUT WTF ...I ordered one! used, mint $75

HANDS ON

It arrived. I had my board ready so I just popped it into it's spot and put everything at noon.

For awhile I went in circles. I then decided to do a tune I wanted it for. I ended up diming the lows with mids and highs at 1 0'colck. the mid frequency at around one which is upper mod Tube Screamer territory. I used the internal gate and my other gate too.

It will take applying with the band to know  how and if it fits.  

 Video #1    Gives you an overview.

It Is important as it is made using modest gear and no over hyped 

post production.

* * * * 

Video #2    Gives you what you can

get out of the pedal set to an average modern setting avoiding most

of the pedals Dimebag leanings.

Not your granddad's Marshall

FUZZ- FUZZ IMP TopJack Horseman ....not your granddads Klon

 FUZZ IMP TOPJACK HORSEMAN 

$120.00 USD

Not your granddad's Klon indeed!! A very straight foreword pedal with a simple volume tone and gain.

It is a medium gain Fuzz like a Russian Muff. Otherwise you would not have all the definition the attack on the notes and chords have. Yes I know Fuzz and medium gain are a misnomer but there you go ...you have one. A very nice total contradiction.

The Klon icing is accomplished by adding a clean boost into the signal. The trick is in the blend. That part makes or breaks the sound.

CONCLUSION

A killer pedal for doing massive power chords behind a vocal. A great way to get a dirt pedal to do the work of a keyboard player using one of those huge impressionistic quasi string section sounds. A killer sound to use behind a good singer. This is a limited run ...so limited I can not even get a proper pic. I just 'snapped' this right off the screen. We will soon find out if I'm right. I just ordered one. At the price it is worth a shot!

...the video is a nice straight forward B.S. free demo of the sounds you can get out of the pedal.. ...and from what I hear it really delivers! 

.

             HANDS ON

THE FINE PRINT

It arrived and after trying it I found it is indeed everything you hear in the video.

I tried many things I do that I use Fuzz pedals for and I found it has such a 

massive sound it in effect took over.

I feel it is at it's best stacked on my Occvlt Tomb Grinder Fuzz. It kept the Grinder's 

nasties and it's tight sound but tamed any harhness. The results are a dirt 

sound that is exciting but massive. I can shred with it as before yet 

Grinder does not make the sound slugish.

FUZZ- FUZZROCIOUS Li'l Fella ...2 distinct voices & does a great impression of an OD

$160.00 USD

 FUZZROCIOUS LI'L FELLA FUZZ 

This a stripped down but then expanded version of their big selling Demon Fuzz.

It is not a clone of anything.

It definitely has the control of a silicon Fuzz but unlike a Muff it has very fat mids or be used just for extreme lows.

The layout is volume, tone, drive and gain. A switch tightens the sound with a gate and re-voices the pedal. When it it is in the gain knob is off. When it is off you can increase or decrease gain and the fuzz has a big open sound.

CONCLUSION

It is unusually versatile with 2 distinct fuzz sounds and you can go from high gain to a medium gain like a Russian Fuzz yet still be tuned to extreme Doom like lows. It also doubles as an OD in Rat like fashion.

.

OVERDRIVE-NUX Metal Core ...Boss clone? maybe? Cheap? ...Yes!

 NUX METAL CORE DISTORTION 

$45.00 USD

This has been around for years. An obvious take on the Boss metal Core. The Boss get's a lot of flack as is so a clone gets even more. The deluxe has replaced it but a review by a guy who has both convinced me that the original is much better. Both pedals have a standard scooped voice but also a MESA Dual Rectifier voice. The guy that bought the 2 says the best voice on the original was scrapped and the one they kept is now muddy.

The layout is simple with level, gain, treble and bass. A nice touch is when you leave the switch in the center position it locks your setting where you dialed it into. Noise is kept at bay with a built in gate. Like the the Boss it too does not have level or presence.

CONCLUSION

I found a few reviews of the Deluxe but the price is more than doubled. I would be looking at the Boss at that price. 

The guy that has both certainly got my attention. At the price on AliExpress at $42,00 USD with free shipping WTF!!! I'm in!!

                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                      ^Compare to the real amps

                                                                                          

GUITAR- FENDER PARANORMAL SERIES- last year's Ltd Ed becomes a permanent line

 FENDER PARANORMAL GUITARS 

Half of these models were failed models from the past. Timing is everything. Music styles change. Hair Metal got bumped by Grunge, Prog Rock got bumped by Punk. Bring out a guitar associated with a style no longer in fashion and it fails. 

The other half take a tip from EVH and are Frankenstein guitars. Like the Cyclone which takes a Mustang  and then puts the Strat's PU and whammy on it.

We live in an era of infinite choice. At one time all choices were aimed at the common denominator. This resulted in things like an infinity of companies offering only a guitar that looked like a Strat. If you dared to be different you passed on the sunburst bought a white one. lol 

The human species was hardwired from the get go to find enough food and survive by working as a group, an organized group. Recent studies found that most of us are born followers and only a few are born leaders. If this did not happen we would all be squabbling about what to do when a lion walked up looking for a tasty human snack. What we preferred only changed by needed innovative solutions. 

Take for example what worked with a lion did not work as effectively with an elephant. 😇

So occasionally we find that a bow and arrow is a better solution than a pointy stick. lol 

Or a Les Paul is perhaps a better solution to some musical problems than a Strat.

PARANORMAL SERIES GUITARS
 all priced at $430.00 USD 

AMPLIFIER- ORANGE Pedal Baby ... dead on perfect for the job!

 ORANGE PEDAL BABY 100 AMPLIFIER 

There have been a lot of amps aimed directly or indirectly at the guy getting his sound either with pedals, a modelling rig or both. Most of the actual pedalboard amps are conveniently small but incredibly under powered. They all use a Type C amp where wattage may seem good but do not put out an acceptable dB level. A 5 watt Fender Champ will drown out a Class D 40 watt. Class D  notoriously have no balz ... they are gutless!

Many of these add a dirt channel but think about it. It is simply the same thing as what is in a pedal. You pay extra for it but the same money lets you buy the Pre pedal you prefer. A pedal can always be easily updated thus improving you sound. A transistor dirt channel in an amp is permanent ..and in my book it is a total waste of money.

The Orange right from the get go uses a 100 watt A/B amp. A good old 80's Peavey is an A/B amp and they still sound impressive to this day. The layout is simple with volume, treble and bass. The amp is voiced with a healthy amount of upper mids. Like I mentioned it really does remind me of an amp from the 80's. Like the Ampeg, Randall or Peavey rock solid beefy and clean.

$400.00 USD

At only 12" x 8" if you want to be as good

as on your board you could buy a nice 

sturdy but cheap laptop stand. 

Just reverse it so the amp's 

face pokes up over your board.

CONCLUSION

Hard to find anything to even lint pick. It's a good sounding classic solid state amp.

Very well built and even the clean sound 

is usable on it's own.

 You could however always scoop up a 

great sounding Fender voiced pedal with a 

Tweed or a Deluxe voicing for your clean sound.

AMPLIFIER- WANGS MKIII Mini 5 ...all tube, handmade, better than a Fender, 1/3 cheaper!

 WANGS MK III MINI  5 

Started as a family biz about 15 years ago with mostly the same staff. They make handmade classic tube amps. Their 50 watt take on a Marshall model #1987 is not only hand made the wiring is not only point to point but the straightest and tidiest I have seen on any amp at any price point. Just for the record it is $850.00 USD.

The MKIII Moni 5 is basically the old Fender Champ but actually built better with more headroom better EQ and sounds much fatter. Hell it even looks cool!!!

$240.00 USD

CONCLUSION

There are no shortcuts.  They even use the best Russian tubes. Keep in mind retail for a Fender Champ is $1000.00 USD. In plain English ....this is better!!! 

Better made, and better parts!

ONE LAST WORD

Anything you can buy at this price in 10 years time will be worth $50 at most and only if it even works. 

In 10 years this will be worth double? triple? MORE?