Sep 22nd 09
9 Comments | Posted in Featured Articles, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Pignose, Reviews, Videos
Ever since I first saw Crossroads when I was a kid, I thought the Pignose 7-100 amplifier was pretty cool and wanted one (along with a Fender Telecaster). I’m not sure why I never bought one since they aren’t exactly cost prohibitive. When I first tried to learn guitar when I was younger we didn’t have the internet (wow, I just felt really old saying that) so it wasn’t like I could go on ebay to find one. My gear selection was limited to the three guitar shops in town and none of them had the Pignose. Well here I am (many) years later and taking up the guitar again and the Pignose 7-100 popped back into my mind and I picked one up.
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Aug 13th 09
15 Comments | Posted in Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Reviews, Videos
I’ve always wondered if I could really tell the difference in sound between two sets of strings of the same gauge on the same guitar. So when I took my new Gibson Les Paul Goltop over to San Francisco Guitarworks to get a proper setup I also had them put on a new set of strings (I could have done it myself, but I was feeling lazy and they were working on my guitar anyway).
But, before taking the Les Paul into the shop I did a quick recording on the current strings so I could compare them to the new strings once I got my guitar back.
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Aug 11th 09
6 Comments | Posted in Analogman, EHX, Featured Articles, Gear, Keeley, Reviews, Rickenbacker, Videos, Vox
As I posted last week, I went out and tested a EHX Big Muff Pie and a Analogman Sunface NKT 275. The one fuzz box I wanted to try but didn’t because nobody had one available locally was the Keeley Fuzz Head. When I was listening to samples of fuzz boxes, the Keeley was actually my favorite out of them all. But obviously you can’t tell anything about how somethings really going to sound off of a YouTube video. Even trying them out in the store only gives you a little idea of how it will work for you. It’s not until you get things home and use it with your gear that you’ll really know how you’ll like it.
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Aug 5th 09
7 Comments | Posted in Analogman, EHX, Featured Articles, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Reviews, Videos, Vox
After Effects Bay’s post yesterday I wrote about being inspired to check out the EHX Big Muff Pie fuzz box. Well, today I went down to Haight Ashbury Music Center to give it a try along with an Analogman Sun Face NKT 275. I did some research last night on various fuzz effects and after hours of watching YouTube videos, I narrowed my selection down to the EHX Big Muff Pie w/ Wicker switch, the Analogman Sun Face NKT 275, and the Keeley Fuzz Head. The only one I couldn’t test today was the Keeley Fuzz Head as they were out of stock.
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Jul 27th 09
8 Comments | Posted in Featured Articles, Fender, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Reviews, Vox
When I was looking for an amplifier I knew my price range topped out at $600 and I knew I wanted a tube amp. After looking around a bit I narrowed my choice down to the Vox AC15CC and the Fender Blues Junior amps.
I needed to hear the amps, so I headed to a local Guitar Center to give them a listen.Since I’m a beginner I didn’t feel like I could really get a good idea of what the amps could do since I have a limited range of things I can play (that and I’d be too embarrassed to crank up the volume to get a good listen). So I asked one of the employees to play on the amps (and believe me, this guy could play. I had him playing Blues, Rockabilly and Jazz). As he played we tried out the spectrum of settings on each of the amps. I had him play a Strat and a Les Paul to get different sounding guitars in the mix as well.
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