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"Deluxe American Standard" - what is that ? At Fender, you're either "Deluxe" or "American Standard," right?

Actually, no because for a few months in 1989 and 1990, Fender produced a "Deluxe American Standard" Stratocaster model, with a production run of around 400 units : "Deluxe" because, like the Deluxe Strat Plus series, the "Deluxe American Standard" was equipped with three Fender Lace Sensor Gold pickups (also fitted on the 1990s Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster) / "American Standard" because, like the American Standard series, the "Deluxe American Standard" was equipped with a standard nut and standard tuners (whereas the Deluxe Strat Plus featured a Wilkinson roller nut and locking tuners).

To learn more about these rare "Deluxe American Standard" Stratocaster models, you can consult these links : https://www.fuzzfaced.net/stratocaster-deluxe-american-standard.html and https://xhefriguitars.com/page2.html (see the part: "It Looks Like a Plus, But It's NOT!").

The model name "Deluxe American Standard Strat" can be found in a 1989 Fender advertisement, available at the link https://xhefriguitars.com/Stuff/PlusAdd1989.jpg (see the fourth column of text, to the right of the photo of the neck).

So, how can you tell the difference with certainty between a rare "Deluxe American Standard" Stratocaster model and an American Standard Stratocaster fitted with Fender Lace Sensor Gold pickups ? It’s very simple. You just need to look at the label Fender used to place inside the guitar case to verify that it says "Deluxe American Stand. Strat" (see the third photo at the top on this page).

The build quality is exceptional and rock-solid... I’ve been playing a Fender Deluxe American Standard Stratocaster for over 30 years, and nothing has budged.

In terms of sound, the Deluxe American Standard Stratocaster is an excellent guitar, thanks to its Fender Lace Sensor Gold pickups that deliver top-notch sound - whether clean or overdriven - all without any background noise !

For even more aggressive distortion, simply install a Fender Lace Sensor Red pickup in the bridge position... I’ve rarely heard such punch and dynamics as with this setup !

Truly a very rare guitar.

I've been using Reason since version 1.0. At that time it was the only DAW choice next to Cubase. Cubase crashed a lot on me. Reason was very stable so it won out. You couldn't record, edit audio or master tracks very well in the beginning so I had to use other programs on the side (Acid and Soundforge) and I even still used Cubase for midi handling of external instruments. Reason quickly grew out to become a completely independent DAW and it replaced every other program in my workflow. For period of time it became tho only thing I made music with. I often thought about leaving Reason, or combine it with other DAWs, when modern features were not jet incorporated and Reason seemed to become outdated. Like when VST became a must, but it didn't support VST yet. When it finally supported VST but there were still issues with it other DAWs had already fixed. In the end all the VST issues were fixed but then it didn't support VST3 yet which had become the new standard, etc. I thought about moving back to Cubase because I hear it has gotten a lot more stable over time. Or use Reason in combination with Logic, so I could say "I don't use instruments to make music. Instead I use Logic and Reason", like I'm some sort of Greek philosopher who theorises music out of thin air (you'd be surprised how many people don't get that joke). Each time I was about to jump ship, Reason came with an update to fix all of the issues I had. I'm still using it to this day. Even though most of my sound nowadays comes from hardware instruments and VST effects, I still like the Reason workflow. The 16" rig interface makes it feel like you're still working with a real hardware studio, even when on your computer. Some people claim you have to be "savant" to be able to handle workflow, but this is how hardware always worked. To me it all makes perfect sense and it actually helps me to see what's going on and dig deep into sound design. Where in other DAWs you only see the surface and everything else is hidden in menus, in Reason you just have to follow which cable goes where, what position each button is in, to see exactly what's going on. The sequencer is fine. quantisation, time stretching and pitch correction sounds good. It may not be as advanced as Cubase in that regard (where for example you can quantise to a groove instead of just the grid) but I think you can do everything manually (as you should). The build in instruments and effects are also not to be overlooked as well as the third party rack extensions (Reason's alternative to VST, from when they didn't support it yet). Their latest instruments such as Objekt, Algorhythm, Europa and Parsec are fine by themselves, but you should dig deep into their older devices to discover sounds and effects you can use as building blocks to create your own sounds. For example; Subtractor has some really unusual wave shapes (only displayed as numbers). NN-XT has unusual sound effect samples like thunder or didgeridoos. Thor has rare oscillators and formant filters. You can use the external input of Radical piano to make sound resonate with the strings of an acoustic piano, etc. Most devices have options for advanced cv routing. Reason is extremely inspiring. A creative playground for people who want to build their own sounds.

so, played with this thing for a while. what I liked: 1) the expressionramperesque lfo ranges. It can go very, very slow (the number we have in the ramper's manual is "approximately .0013Hz" for a cycle). if you know, you know. 2) random vibrato. 3) the fact that there's an option to make its tremolo work for both channels in sync without panning. coupled with the slow LFO it gives interesting options for background ambiences showing and hiding them for a while. at least, it could (see below). CONS or what I didn't quite like: 1) the biggest bummer that makes me think if it's a keeper of not: the chance knob is hard-tied to the LFO speed without subdivision/multiplier options. What I mean: if you do want to use slow modulations (slow random vibrato or a slow trem like in the example above) once the algorithm decides to let your signal into the delay line, it can be there for minutes, because it erases (or decides to stay) each LFO cycle. And this makes slow mods practically unusable. I assume, very fast rates won't quite do either: for example, if you want a very fast trem while having the delay thing to stay for a while, most likely it will be erased very soon. The delay time subdivisions alter the delay time, but not how the chance work. 2) the second is crucial too: no way to untie the glitch knob from the LFO speed, it always messes with the LFO. I mean, yeah, doubling the trem speed occasionally could be cool, but when you can't control it this could be undesirable – if you want a steady modulation with a glitchy delay speed, it's not possible. Example: when I use vibrato I prefer pretty high depth which sounds cool and not obvious at low rates, but when it changes the speed it gets seasick. Or it could be a side-chain-like pump made with a reversed saw trem which should be rhythmic, steady and entrancing, but, well... Allowing to decide if the glitch just pitchshifts or not could definitely find its uses. And when it does change the rate it could nice to let user decide to what subdiv/multiplier according to whatever speed: like, doubling it for the octave ups seem logical, but the contrasts work well too, so slowing down a trem + octaves up could musically work too, no need to lock the player in the cliches. 3) below noon chance sets a chance for an old or a new signal to slip into the delay line, always 50-50. maybe an alt control for the 50-50 thing could be musically useful too, who knows. 4) LPF and HPF don't work simultaneously which could be helpful for a tighter control in the mix. But even without that, the unit could seriously benefit from binding filters' settings to speeds, because octave ups are always seem too harsh and ear pearcing – I'd really love to apply a specific LPF setting just to tame that, or to add even more glitchy feel. ALL IN ALL: it seems like just adding a couple of alt functions could make it way more usable in scenarios where you want it to behave in some specific musical manner, but without the LFO-related options (on/off/subdivs/multipliers) the usage narrows down to a glitchy machine that works in a pre-programmed way, so it will sound basically the same in every setup. 3 stars is not particularly "bad", but the mod side of it doesn't allow a player to freely and creatively use the glitch side and vice versa. No new sounds needed, just more control.

Drunk Beaver, one of Europe's best boutique pedal builders, is launching its budget-friendly XR pedal series with this TS-9-inspired overdrive. More specifically, the XR series aims to revive the spirit of the old Exar pedal line. Exar was well known in Poland for producing affordable pedals at a time when brands like Boss, DOD, and MXR were difficult to find in Eastern Europe. The OD-1 is essentially a Tube Screamer, but like the Boss SD-1 it uses asymmetrical clipping instead of the original green pedal's symmetrical clipping. The other key difference is the tone control. Turning it clockwise adds bass, resulting in a fuller sound than a traditional Tube Screamer, which can sometimes feel a little thin. That said, fuller isn't always better when you're trying to cut through a band mix. For that reason, I think it's best to keep the tone control fairly low when using the OD-1 as a boost, which, in my opinion, is exactly what this pedal excels at. It may not be the greatest standalone overdrive, but I don't think it was designed with that purpose in mind. It's meant to push an already overdriven amp or pedal, and that's how I've been using it. It pairs particularly well with my GupTech Donut, a Crowther Hot Cake clone, adding a pleasing extra layer of grit without overwhelming the core tone. It's also dirt cheap and built like a tank. I love the knobs, which are fairly original, as well as the fact that it has top-mounted jacks, making it more pedalboard friendly than Ibanez and Boss pedals. Also, it comes with an additional circuit (if you want to try to do it yourself) and with a barefoot button. What more could you ask for?