Guitar Noize - guitar news, crazy guitar designs and cool guitar videos

Check these cool videos out by Brian Wampler of Wampler Pedals, Brian knows a thing or two about tone as he makes some of the coolest effects pedals on the planet so when he has a recommendation to improve your amp’s tone I would suggest taking a look. Brian recommends using Warehouse Guitar Speakers which you can see in the Fender Bassman comparison video at the top and the Vox AC30CC2 video below it. In Brian’s own words “If you like Celestion Blues, you are going to flip your lid over these!”, and lets face it who doesn’t love Celestion Blues? The tone in the Bassman comparison has a much rounder less brittle sound which I definitely prefer and the Vox sounds great, I would like to hear a comparison for this Amp too.

If you want to learn more about Warehouse Guitar Speakers head over to their website: http://warehousespeakers.com

If you want to check out Brian’s excellent assortment of effects head over to http://www.wamplerpedals.com

The first Gig Bag I owned came with my 1994 Patrick Eggle Berlin guitar, for some reason I overlooked the lack of hard case when shelling out 700 quid and instead entrusted the safety of my all Mahogany guitar to a flimsy nylon and probably polyester gig bag. I soon found out just how foolish I was when I accidently dropped my guitar onto a concrete driveway leaving a fairly large crater in the back of my guitar, luckily as it was a natural oil finish and Mahogany being quite a soft wood it didn’t crack and has never needed attending to. Ever since that day I have used hard cases thinking that all gig bags were fairly pointless, however I recently purchased a Suhr S4 as I’m sure if you visit this site or my Twitter feed regularly you are already painfully aware! Anyway Suhr were kind enough to send me one of their Deluxe Gig Bags (by the way that link has far better pics than mine but I thought I should include some to show a real world application of the product).

As you can see from my photos this Gig Bag is about as far removed from my Patrick Eggle incident days as you can get, the Deluxe Gig Bag has a serious amount of padding, not just around the body and headstock but it has a massive neck support block with a velcro fastener to keep it in place. Not only that but it also has 2 front pockets one of which has a specially sewn panel so that you can put a pen, some sheet music or maybe a notepad.

Suhr Guitars are of the highest quality and these gig bags are made for the gigging musician to, in their own words, “protect your investment” and I have absolutely no doubt that they do just that. Oh and you don’t have to own a Suhr to own one of their Deluxe Gig Bags, just head over to the Store to find out how to order one for your own guitar, this bag will hold most types of electric guitars (S Types, T Types) although those of you with Gretsch White Falcon’s might be out of luck.

I’ve owned my Genz Benz Black Pearl 30 112 Combo Amp for quite a while now so this demo is well overdue but seeing as I had the excellent Audix CabGrabber in place holding an Audix i5 Microphone I thought what better time!

The Black Pearl is a single channel Class A tube amp loaded with 5 12AX7 preamp tubes, 4 EL84 power tubes and a tube rectifier. It has a tube boost which is footswitchable and has its own level control so this can almost be thought of as a lead channel. It has a Passive 3-Band EQ and Five-Position Voicing Circuitry so you can tailor the amp to a particular guitar. It has a 12” Alnico Red Fang™ Speaker by Eminence which sounds great and is modelled on a classic Blueback Celestion speaker. It also has tube driven reverb which is definitely usable but not to everyone’s taste. It is the perfect amp for blues and rock, you can use this amp for heavy metal but it has more of a classic tone like Angus Young when cranked rather than a high gain amp.

You can see on my video yesterday on how to install the Audix CabGrabber and Audix i5 used for this demo. I plugged my Ibanez JS1000 directly into the amp using an Armor Gold cable and ran the output from the Audix i5 into a Tapco Firewire Audio Interface using a GigGear Microphone cable. Finally the Audio Interface connects to an iMac running Abelton Live and iMovie.

Genz Benz site
Audix USA site

This video shows you how easy it is to install the Audix CabGrabber holding an Audix i5 Microphone from Audix USA. As you will see the CabGrabber is an ingenious product that allows you to mic up your amp in seconds, now obviously you will need to move the mic around to find the sweet spot on your amp or cabinet speaker and if you are unsure of exactly how to mic an amp Audix have created a very helpful video tutorial which you can see on the i5 product page.

I have to admit I didn’t know much about Audix until recently when I asked a question on the Rig Talk forum asking what everyone thought was the best mic for guitar and aside from the obvious Shure SM57 responses I had a lot of replies saying that they thought the Audix i5 was superior over the Shure so I was eager to test it out. I thought the mic managed to capture exactly what I was hearing in the room when I was playing and I was set up in minutes with the CabGrabber as it is so easy to adjust. I have recorded a demo of my Genz Benz Black Pearl 30 Combo using the i5 and CabGrabber which I will be posting up on Guitar Noize tomorrow so make sure you check back to hear the results! But don’t just take my word for it check out the testimonials at the bottom the i5 product page.

Here are the specs for the i5:

The i5 is characterized with a cardioid pickup pattern for isolation and feedback control and is equipped with a VLM™ (Very Low Mass) diaphragm for natural, accurate sound reproduction. The i5 is sturdy, compact and easy to position. With a wide frequency response of 50 Hz - 16 kHz, the i5 provides clear, accurate, natural sound reproduction without having to rely on EQ. Roadworthy construction includes a precision cast zinc alloy body, steel grill, black e-coat finish, laser etched model and serial number, Switchcraft® XLR connector and includes a heavy duty nylon mic clip.

Specifications

• Type: Dynamic
• Polar Pattern: Cardioid
• Frequency Response: 50 Hz - 16 kHz
• Impedence: 150 ohms
• Sensitivity: @1k 1.5 mV/Pa

Audix are currently running a contest to win one of their fantastic i5 Dynamic Microphones, click here for details.

I have never owned a volume pedal because I always associate them with volume swells which quite frankly I have no need for, but I reckon it would be pretty useful for a solo boost. The problem is volume pedals usually look so big clunky and ugly… until now. Dunlop have released a new volume pedal that not only includes revolutionary technology but also looks bad ass.

Control your volume levels with exacting precision with the new Dunlop Volume Pedal. The Dunlop Volume Pedal features a patent pending Steel Band Drive that creates a low-friction environment with no strings or ratchet gears attached - allowing you to achieve thick, luscious volume swells in one smooth motion without the fear of breaking. With fully adjustable tension and high-quality low-noise electronic components, the sound is as clean and transparent as the feel is smooth. Housed in a lightweight but durable aluminum chassis, the pedal features a rocker pedal that is slightly curved for ergonomics, with an aggressive non-slip tread that keeps your foot firmly in place. Great features, smooth, hassle-free performance and crystalline tone make the Dunlop Volume Pedal the smart choice for every musician.

For more info check out JimDunlop.com.

Dunlop Manufacturing have announced a new product for the drop tuning heavy metal freaks out there called Heavy Core, these strings are 12 - 54 gauge Nickel Steel so they aren’t going to sound all loose and mushy when you tune to drop C or whatever your preference is.

Heavy Core® Strings are uniquely designed for the player that enjoys higher tension at standard tuning or normal tension at dropped tunings. Our proprietary core-to-wrap ratios are meticulously calculated so the player can really “dig in” while retaining sound fundamentals. Heavy Core® Strings, like all Dunlop Strings are manufactured with the highest quality of materials and engineered for great tone, balance, and feel.

Look out for more updates over at www.jimdunlop.com