boom762's Reviews

It's Alright

I dig it. The string tension and neck profile is really nice. Makes for a fast and punchy play style. The bass has a good weight to it. The signature Spector growl is difficult to dial in with this bass for some reason. The preamp and pickups are pretty powerful. I'd say a 7/10.

Delete

We'll delete this one since we already had a generic Ibanez Soundgear submission and a duplicate for it.

https://equipboard.com/items/ibanez-soundgear

https://equipboard.com/items/ibanez-soundgear-duplicate

Super Low End

I've always stayed away from tube amps; Partly because of the price but also because of the hassle of tubes. I'm used to playing through a 1000 watt hybrid amp (LH1000) and the differences between the Hartke and this Ampeg were huge. The tone set flat is super, super low and full. Over-saturated with bass. For my personal taste of tone, I had to nearly dime out the Treble and turn the Bass down to around 3.

I picked up mine used from a Guitar Center in Austin. Price jumped down to $1000 and it was in nice condition, so I jumped on it and bought the 2 year warranty. I was playing a week long gig for a camp nearby and wanted to switch it out with my Fender Rumble 500 stack. When I got back to the camp, I plugged it into my Fender 410 V3 and got a good thirty minutes of playing it with before a power tube popped. I never got to use it at the camp gig. Guitar Center's warranty covers things you wouldn't think it would, but it does not cover vacuum tubes. Lame.

The weight is pretty hefty. I haven't looked yet to see how much exactly, but it's got to be close to 100 lbs. The size of this amp is pretty fat as well. Not super ideal when travelling across Texas and sharing a hatchback with your guitarist. We were barely able to fit it all in the car after some tetris exercises.

The volume is insane. Much louder than my 1000 Watt. I can see why people can play stadiums without a PA with one of these. I pushed the volume to 3 and it was blowing everyone out in practice. You couldn't hear the drums hardly, you could feel the air moving around you, and the volume was just way too much for where I was playing, which was about half the size of an arena.

This is my first tube amp. The tubes dying when they did put a bad taste in my mouth and due to that possible finickiness and the size/weight, I may not take it on the road much.

Some of the Best Strings I've Ever Played!

I just switched over to these. I was trying to figure out what my custom Carvin had on it when I first bought it. I assumed it was the Nickle sets that come with Carvins. I ended up buying this Super Bright set to match the tension more than anything else. SO GOOD!

Tone: As the name suggests, these are super bright and crispy. I played them through jazz pups and they sounded like a MM humbucker. I played them through just the Humbucker and out sounded amazing. So much mid-range that my sound guy couldn't cut it out of the mix, which suites a bassist's needs to drive everyone else crazy. The Low B SUCKS. E-G are perfect, but the low B isn't as pronounced or growly. Playing an octave up on the E though sounds like gravel being ground up. Amazing. They stay in tune very well. I didn't even have to stretch the strings. I through them on and in 5 minutes, they were ready for one last tuning. I purposely stretched the hell out of the strings to see if they would. They did. I could pull them like the string on a bow and bring them down a half of a step, but with just normal playing they didn't change pitch.

Tension: Tension is bendy, what super slinkys are SUPPOSED to be, but aren't. The tension is stiff over the right hand and loose on the left hand. You can bend for days with ease but your right hand doesn't press the string down to the pickup when you play hard. I play hard and needed this feature.

Sustain: The sustain isn't great. I had these string through the body for added sustain and it didn't feel like it was lasting as long as I had hoped. I guess it's average.

Affordability: These are below average price; around $20. They feel like $60 strings though. Really high performance for the same cost as all the other schleps in the field. You won't get near this clarity or balance with Ernie Ball, DR, Merkel, etc. Way worth the cost. At $20, they are cheap enough that most bass players won't stress over trying them out. I will have to do a second review when they finally die and give a heads up on how long they last.

I have always struggled to find a set of strings that I can put my name on. The Dunlop Super Bright Stainless Steel 40-120 5 string set is the closest I have come to finding my staple strings. I just need to find a good replacement for the low B.

It Is A Mystery!

I bought this item from Guitar Center YEARS ago. I want to say around 2008? It was promised to be a device that can take any Compact Disc and alter the recordings to allow or disallow the bass. The employee who sold it to me said you could isolate the bass of any song, thus making a master track so to speak. This intrigued me. There were certainly bands I wanted to learn the bass to, but the bass was either too fast or covered in massive walls of guitar.

$90 later, I raced home to try this modern marvel. I threw the first CD I had handy, a TOOL album, and started messing around with the machine. It did nothing more than play the album. You could slow it down, speed it up, change it's pitch, or mess with the EQ. It never did anything useful to me. I was pissed.

I encouraged friends of mine to borrow it and play around with it to see if maybe I just wasn't getting how it worked. Their conclusions were the same. It is a $90 CD player with HORRIBLE skip detection. If you press the buttons down too hard, the CD skips or stops.

This has always been one of the worst purchases I have ever made. I still own it. It's shoved in a closet with random wires, picks, and such. I keep hoping that one day I will be able to find a use for it.

It has burned me on the TASCAM name.

Enahnced My Tone By Three!

I have yet to really play much with this extension. I bought it souly because I am gigging around Texas this summer and some of the locations will not have great in-house sound. I have tested it out a bit at the house and without changing basses, turning knobs, or even messing with volume, the rig sounds three times better with the extension. I did quite a few A/B tests to it and the rig as a whole beats out the combo by itself in every way.

I own the Rumble V3 500 210 combo. I warn people often that it's a little too high pitched and bright. The extension completely fixes this issue.

My only complaint is that the combo is not the exact width of the extension. It looks a little less professional to me to have a smaller box on a bigger box.

There is no greater volume pedal.

I was just about to give up on finding a great volume pedal. I used a Dunlop Mini, a Korg, and a Digitech. I tried out an Ernie Ball, but the idea of the string breaking broke any chances of me buying one. I had heard great things about the Visual Sound pedals for years, but seeing how few of them there are around, I assumed it was a cult following. Let me be your David Koresh. This pedal is phenomenal! The best weight, angle, and torque I've ever felt on a volume pedal and the LED lights on the side give me an even greater sense of control over my volume now. It's worth every penny. Don't settle for what the garage band down the street has. Go get one of the few Visual Sounds that are left.

DON'T BUY!

This expression pedal sucks. I've used it for close to 20 shows now and it's worthless. I have adjusted everything I can on it, and it's largest problem was not fixed. Think of a normal expression pedal ranging from 1-10. The higher the knob turns to 10, the louder the sound, right? Not with the DVP4. It ranges from 1-10 alright, but it skips 8 and 9 all together. It's quiet and smooth until you get to the very last bit of the roller. Then it goes WAY louder and there is no smooth way to make this transition. It's only purpose is to smoothly control volume, and it doesn't do that. When I car doesn't drive or a plane doesn't fly, we MUST give them the lowest grade possible.

Dunlop, you done wrong.

Great, but could be improved upon.

This board has been a blessing to have. It's lightweight, it's easy enough to get cables through, and it's sturdy. It will be perfect for most. However, I find that the bottom is too tall for comfort. They should have tapered the metal to a flat point for better pedal access. They also need to make more room or an adjustable feature to it's high end. This board is not large enough to accommodate all power supplies. The Smallest Yankee Power Supply is taller than the legs of the Pedaltrain.

The greatest 4 string I have ever touched!

It's amazing. The perfect example of how Japanese instruments blow the American ones out of the water. This bass only costs about $2,500 but feels like a one-of-a-kind, handmade masterpiece. The JMJ pickups configuration is brilliant and allows so many tones. The 3 way selector switch toggles between Jazz only, Humbucker only, and all-together. Super fast Japanese neck, luminlay dots for low light situations, 24 frets, super curvy body, and open-gear tuners. It makes me a better player when I pick it up.

It's Okay

The EQ is wonky. The boost over-saturates and the cut kills the single with just a twist. The neck is fast and comfortable but the string spacing, which Ibanez claims is 19mm, is pretty wide. Feels like P-bass spacing. The bridge is massive, the body heavy, and the truss rod being accessed from the body side is a plus.

Solid, Powerful Preamp with boost and cut

4 Stars Boom? Why such a lowtarded star score for such a great piece of gear? I'll tell you. I'll tell you hard.

The EMG plastic knobs SUCK. They are so low quality, on par with the little "Homies" and "Mijos" toys you buy out front of a Wal-Mart vending machine for 25 cents. They have plastic molding, sharp as hell, hanging off of the sides. The knobs are light weight and feel horrible.

The actual chips and arrangement of the system are REALLY awkward and long. One of the circuit boards is 3 inches long. You won't be able to fit that in a lot of control panels I promise you. Super hard to get it in there and even then, you risk bending the wires.

It sounds awesome. It cuts and boosts HARD. The range you can tweek out is amazing, it's just a shame it comes at the price of poor knobs and huge circuit boards.

Best Pickups Ever!

I have the "X series" version of this set. The 40DCX are an even hotter humbucker than the 40DC and nearly no background sound. These pickups are a marvel of technology. I'm running my set, which are set to run at 18v, at only 9v. At 9v, it sounds like the most powerful, thickets bass ever.

VERY versatile. With the EMG BQC preamp system, I can make the pickups sound bright and plinky like a single coil, or muddy, warm, and thick like a mudbucker. I have my settings so that the back pickup is slightly high and the front pickup is low and deep. It's perfect. It sounds like the best Precision Pickup in the world; Crisp and Powerful.

Buying these pickups took away my guitar lust / GAS. I don't want another bass unless it has 2x 40DCX in them and a BQC system attached.

Best bang for your buck with entry level monitors.

I was so impressed the day I hooked these things up. So realistic sounding. Often I hear doorbells or door knocks in film or television shows through them and I am unable to determine if the sound was from the media or actually occurred in my home. I use a Nano Patch dial with them to make things easier. These things are very sensative to what direction you aim them. You have to set them up correctly if you want the best they can offer.

The only downside I find is that there isn't an EQ on them which would be nice to have. Some films can have too much bass added into the background which causes the noise to be a bit much for anyone trying to respect the noise level in the house with the neighbors. A remote control would be swell as well.

They have the most insanely bright LED lights on the front to show that they are powered. I have these in my bedroom and the lights are enough to illuminate my room. I hate that. I need utter darkness. This was a simple and cheap fix though as I colored band-aids with a sharpie and covered them up. It looks tacky, but it's effective.

Not a GX-100, but still worth a play

The GX-200 is virtually the same in every way as the Takamine GX-100. For some reason, it just doesn't ring my bell the same as it's explorer brother. Even the sound seems to be different. I can't explain it. It's just not my favorite.

For a detailed review of it's brother, click on this link Takamine GX-100BT

For a brief history of this rare 30 year old series, click this link. Takamine Solid Body Series

The Best Electric I've ever owned!

The guitar truly broke the mold while being anything but original. A Gibson Explorer body, a Jackson like headstock, DiMarzio style pickups, Fender Strat style Tremolo, and one of the smallest Ibanez necks you'll ever feel, all the while making each piece themselves instead of licensing each item from another source. This was designed to save the company when acoustic sales were down due to the 70's keyboard wave and the 80's Metal eruption. It is an amalgamation of some of the most sought after and favored parts of the world's highest selling electric guitars.

The Neck

Super, super fast D shaped neck with the edges well rounded. A set neck like all the rest and made of Mahogany with a rosewood fret board. The frets are extremely tall yet thin from nut to bridge. These frets require a very soft touch to play on them without bending the tuning out of whack.

The Body

Very much like the Gibson Explorer from the front, but far more angled, shaved, and thin front to back. The body is solid mahogany yet very light due to how well it's contoured. Sustain is roughly a 7 out of 10. The small size of the wood just doesn't keep up with the sustain of some other, thicker guitar bodies.

Pickups

DiMarzio style. Very rich, very large sound from these babies. Nearly everyone who hears them in person argues over whether or not they are stock. It just goes to show how well studied the Takamine manufacturers were when they brought this guitar to the drawing board.

Tuners They have a cheap feel to them, but they do a great job of keeping the guitar in tune.

Tremolo

This tremolo is very small. It's a little easier to play on than others. It takes a lot of pressure to get the bridge to rise or lower even though it only has 3 springs attached. Due to this model not having a locking nut, the tremolo will kill your tuning every time. Not by a lot, but enough to make you think twice for pulling that bar.

Overall I recommend this guitar to guitarists of all experience levels. The pickups are really the draw to these guitars more than anything else. Mine is from 1984 and was the 80th guitar off the line.

The Forgotten Jewels of Takamine's Past

Takamine ventured into set neck, solid-body electric guitars and basses in 1984-1986 to draw in the metal/rock community that had started to thrive in Japan. A lawsuit over multiple models of their acoustic guitars looking too similar to Martin models caused the Takamine factory to be relocated away from Mount Takamine in the central Japanese town of Sakashita where they had originated a s a small local business. During this move, a mass amount of paperwork, files, and guitar bodies were lost/confiscated. Due to this, what could have been a major breakthrough in electric guitars was left in the shadows of the 80's.

15 years or so went by and slowly the guitars began showing up on websites and pawnshops across the seas in the United States. The steamrolling technology of the internet helped pushed Takamine's lost jewels into the collector's world. A mass effort of collectors and enthusiasts have worked together in piecing together this nearly forgotten history. The Mount Takamine factory released only a couple hundred of each model of guitar/bass and some of the series were manufactured with even more limited special edition colors. All guitar models featured DiMarzio styled Humbuckers; The basses with Double Precision Pickups.

Even now in 2015, some new unknown models have surfaced and have caused some debate as to whether or not they are actually from the series or if they are fan made frauds. There are roughly 4 different models that are still a mystery including the one shown in the photo for this submission. Below is a list of the confirmed models released in the 80's.

GX-100 (Explorer Style Guitar)

GX-100BT (A version of the GX-100 with a Tremolo bridge)

GX200 (A Gibson SG Style Guitar)

GX200T (A version of the GX-200 with a Tremolo bridge)

GE-400KT (Highly Detailed Explorer Style Body)

GE-400GT (Bass Guitar version of the KT With Double Precision Pickups)

BG-400KT (A Detailed 2 Point Shape. More Like An Arrow Fletch Than A Flying V Shape)

BG-400GT (A 4 String, Double Precision Pickup Version Of The 400KT)

GZ-340T (A Body Similar To The Ibanez Pro Line With A Tremolo Bridge)

GZ-300 (A Les Paul Style Bodied Guitar)

Low End Emulation

I owned the Bass version of this pedal for about a month. It's sound was so cheap and digital I didn't want to even use it. You are VERY limited to what effects you can use in sequence. Some of the more popular effects like Distortion, Flanger, Delay, Chorus, etc can be on the same pontentiometer. This means you have to pick which ONE you want to use at that time. The quality of each effect is very poor.

There are other entry level multi-effects pedals that do a much better job. The Digitech BP200 is a fraction of the price and with the right settings you can almost overcome the digital sound. BP200 have much stronger distortions and due to it being digital, you don't have to pick 1 effect at a time.

Nothing Special

Nothing really jumps out at you with this guitar. It's par with guitars in the $400 range in today's market. The neck is thick like a Gibson which I don't care for. It is well built though. I'll give Peavey that.

Ruined chances of me getting another Epiphone ever again

This guitar looks amazing and has a nice weight to it. That's all I can say that's positive.

This guitar has the muddiest, overly bassy pickups I've ever used. The control knobs seem not to do much beyond the volume pots for each pickup. The neck is extremely brick-like, having the input jack on the front of the guitar feels awkward, and the overall tone of this guitar is useless. I tried it on different settings I have. It's not smooth enough for blues, not crunchy enough for distortion. This is the first Epiphone I've ever even thought twice about.

I figured since it was 600 bucks new, It might be better than an entry level guitar. WRONG. I have a modified $200 Ibanez that trumps this in every way but looks. It doesn't even really have that distinct hollow-body sound. It's just a weak tone. The bridge pickup is almost tolerable although under-powered. The neck pickup is the abomination of this guitar. It has 3 settings. Off, turned up just enough to be heard while being slightly over bassy, and SUPER MUDDY BASS BAR.

I would consider this a wall guitar. It's a Ferrari with a Ford engine and dodge transmission inside.