b_wolfen's Reviews
7 reviews Back to b_wolfen's Equipboard
133
Brown sound deluxe
It is indeed right: The pedal is - especially in front of Fenderish Tube Amps - giving you the cracking voice of a hot rodded amp, as made famous by Eddie van Halen. Two things are really impressive: The tone is clearing up nicely when rolling off the volume of the guitar, and the pedal is absolutely silent, even if higher gain settings are dialed in. If you find a store having them, give it a try and test them!
133
Mahogany Plank Rocker
My 1st US guitar, a 1999 Les Paul Special with 490T and 498T humbuckers! I own it since 2000 and it started my tonal preference to rock out with a raw 'n' pure mahogany tone. It is a one-trick pony, but the trick to offer a fat crunch tone with virtually every amp is a great one. When I found myself picking her up less frequently, I decided to do one non-invasive upgrade: I fitted a Stetsbar II trem system which makes her absolutely unique now. So different to my PRS Std24 as well as to my Bigsby B5 equipped PRS Starla, she's the only Gibson that stays.
133
Still a rocky voiced alternative
My CE 22 is a 2007 built one in Matteo Blue, with a wide fat neck! What makes this guitar really standing out for higher gain rock stuff are the Dragon IIs. I like their voicing that much that I exchanged the Vintage Base/HFS combi in my PRS Std24 with another pair of Dragon IIs. They are still high output, but with a more classic, throaty voice than esp. the HFS is providing. I'd prefer Dragon IIs (not Dragon Is) also over Gibsons Burstbuckers for bite and dynamic.
41034
You mean wide fat? You said white fat and I thought of a few people I know, not a guitar! Great review, man. How do you put up with the PRS 'heel of death' ????? I would love these guitars if only Paul had the heel closer to the neck joint and sculpted it into a more ergonomic shape. I just can't make use of the double cutaways on a PRS and so I refuse to buy one even though they are otherwise very nice guitars.
133
Wide, fat, sure! Hilarious typo, now fixed! I got maybe used to PRS necks before I really entered to upper end of the neck, skill wise. No issue for me as obviously for all the pros staging with a PRS. Sounds to me that if you are comfy with Gibson, why change? A PRS is too pricey to collect dust only, isn't it?
Thanks for the check, mate!
133
Very versitale tube overdrive
Great pedal for a low street price of app.$60 these days (Aug. 15) It has a dynamic that I have never seeen with pure analogue solid state pedals...and I am comparing with good stuff, such as the Pinnacle Wampler and the VG Route 66.
It needs app. 10sec to get thebtube working, and then you can dial in anything from strong crunch to heavy overdrive. On a driven amp, you can get close to high gain rectifier type sounds, without becoming muddy. The mid shift is another nice feature.
Thumbs up for this pedal, even if the optic is not really Vox (but the sound is not voxy, too)!
41034
An AC30 was about the highest gain amp of its era, people forget that... and turned all the way up a vox gets really distorted... people have this idea of what a vintage vox is all about when they really have never played an old ac30. That clean and jangly beatles sound is the ac50 and ac100. They are louder amps with ots of headroom and a lower gain version of the top boost preamp. An ac30 is a distortion machine. My 62 has so little headroom its almost comical! There's grit in your chime at 2 with a humbucker equipped guitar and full bore overdrive is attained before 5 on the volume dial. I'll bet the sound of the V8 is more voxy than you think. I literally favor ac30s for their complex grunt, not the chimey cleans (though tis nice to have those too)... do not think that a custom classic sounds right, it does not. Though I will admit my current production handwireds are vox's best attempt at a new amp in decades and they are very much in the old JMI vox spirit being capable of both jangley cleans and crushing distortion that is never harsh... I am always trying tot ell people that the sound of a roaring ac30 is more like a Marshall Bluesbreaker combo than they think. Its got fatter lows, less piecing highs, but the same creamy midrange only with a more pleasing set of harmonics.
133
Don't get me wrong, a Vox AC30 top boost has bite, and I admire the 'Tie your mother down' sound as iconic for great British overdrive.
I'd say that the Straight 6 is right at the heart of Vox tonal references, but the V8 is really more in Rectifier territory, multiple gain stages and scooped mids if you want. Let's say that the Vox guys, after doing the booster and the British OD, just showed that they can go to Mesa territory, too, and they do it quite well!
133
Brilliant no-BS axe
I am into pure mahogany flat tops for a while with a Gibson Les Paul Special from 1999 and a PRS Mira from 2010. This one adds completely different tones to it as it "shimmers" due to the Bigsby B5 (staying very well in tune) and the Gretschy Filtertron type vintage pubs that make the guitar less bottomish in its sound.
41034
I have been looking at the pre-S2-series Miras as a slightly different flavor backup to my favorite SG... good call? I am still not sure because of that 'heel of death'
133
I have a Mira 25th Anniversary, 24.5" scale and with Bareknuckle P90s. It is a great light mahogany guitar, not so mellow warm as my Gibson Les Paul Special 'plank'. It is likely that it feels and plays different than your SG, even if the scale on this one is similar. Std. Miras will have even more attack, as they are 25". Very versatile, but different. The other thing for an SG player: Are you ready for the blade switch?
133
Amazing "best-of-both-worlds" real tube amp with digital flexibility
I have been through solid state, digital mod and several tube amps since 20 odd years. Lots of high endish stuff in their respective categories, still owning a Hughes&Kettner Zentera and a Kasha Amps Evil Robot Custom214 from the original Magnatone Tonemaster re-issue series.
The DT50 is clearly a real tube amp, very dynamic and with great tones available at lower and enue volumes. The two fully identical channels are a feature that I started really enjoying when I removed the OEM suggested HD500 connection and started using it with my pedals.
The beauty of this beast is that it reacts as dynamic as only tue amps do, with nice sagging and compressing of saturated tubes, but in combination with this huge versitality of the four Fender, Marshall, Vox and Mesa voicings. It is truly like having 4 amps in one!
While the HD500 puts it back in the world of modelling, with too perfect, effect rich sounds (as HiFi as the Zentera does it, too), the DT50 alone with pedals gives this rawness that only classic rigs can provide.
41034
have you tried hooking up the HD500 to make this guy the channel-switching 'wet' side of your rig and then running straight into something vintage or boutique at the same time tog et a layered vintage/modern thing going? I a always eyeballing this is my channel-switching/effects solution to put side-by-side with my beloved voxes (which I really prefer running straight into with no nonsense because everything sullies the tone for me)....
133
Nope, I have to admit that I either do the HD500 which is super-convenient for gigging through set list, or hook the DT50 up in studio type situations as stand alone with pedals feeding the input channel. I am less of a modulation effects guy, running the FX loop, and more a wah/booster/overdrive/fuzz guy that feeds the pedal in front of the input!
41034
I usually just use a tuner in-line myself, but I kinda would like to be able to have a pile of presets cued up on something for when I need effects.
133
Great and affordable player and admiration of the Foo's leader!
This Vintage ES335 or DG335 clone is difficult to get as it has been 'outlawed' soon after its 2014 appearance. To my knowledge, it was never featured in a catalogue. Vintage is a brand by John Hornby Skewes of England, developed in cooperation with Trevor Wilkinson. Thanks to the Wilkinson hardware and an obviously good selection of a Chinese pro manufacturer, you get a great instrument at a 10th of the US-signature original.
133
Hi! The neck is nicely rounded and not too thin, as an ES335RI would show off with, too. She is very resonant and easy to control feedbackwise. The pubs are ... hmmh ... hot vintage like a PAF plus, with very distinct voicing differences between neck an bridge. I'd say that the substance is flawless and competing with the originals; the only area that will potentially undergo an upgrade are the pots and the switch, which is a $70 plus soldering time effort. I have to admit that I recall the US ES335 from shop checks only, but have no back-to-back comparison at hand. I switch between her and several US PRS and UK Patrick Eggle solid bodies, and can't find discomfort or sound flaws in comparison to these high end axes. I am very impressed and enjoy cranking out FF stuff as the design is suggesting it ;-)! Lots of fun and goes well with Vox, Marshall Plexi and Recitifier voicings of my DT50.
41034
Great info, man. I really want a silver trini lopez type of guitar but a USA made custom is so pricey... maybe I can find a silver VSA540 to scratch that itch! I am a total ac30 man, and if its anywhere near as good as my Jap 335 clone form the 70s then I feel confident it will do what I need it to!
133
A VSA540 should not let you down! Few things to note: To my knowledge, they were only produced in Gunhill Blue (aka Pelham Blue for Gibsons). Mine is great as it came from a real guitar shop (Max Guitars in The Netherlands. It was set up there so that intonation, action, nut etc. were ready to play out of the box. The VSA was made in 2014 and is already discontinued to my knowledge. It never made it in any of their catalogues as it way 'outlawed' by Gibson within a few month (and it is so closd to the original that I fully understand that). Currently, there are a few left in stock at UK dealers, but very likely, you have to be quick.