cjwise_17's Reviews

Finally got one

There's something special about the Roland/Boss Chorus tone. My best friend has had one of these for many years, so I knew what it sounded like; but of course I didn't bother to check his settings. So I'm still playing with the settings, but I have yet to find a setting that I don't like. Sure; companies like Empress, Strymon, and Earthquaker all make extraordinary pedals, but this is definitely another example of why Boss STILL commands respect in the world of guitar effects. Boss is still an industry standard to this day for a very good reason.

Better than Factory

I bought these to replace the factory speakers in Marshall 10" cabs that came with the MG15CFXMS package. Definitely an improvement over the factory speakers; however I definitely still have my eye on the G10 Vintage as they are essentially the 10" version of the Vintage 30's. I don't have any 12" speaker cabs; nor do I see myself getting one anytime soon.

More for Decoration, still has that Marshall Tone

Exactly what it looks like: Extremely basic micro amplifier. I actually bought it as a desk decoration to sit next to my Funko Pop James Hetfield figurine. (YES; I'M VERY AWARE THAT PAPA HET DOES NOT PLAY THROUGH MARSHALL's) I have plugged it in many times however, and I'm still impressed at the tone it can actually produce. The OD setting leaves something to be desired, but it takes pedals very well; believe it or not. Pretty cool little amp.

Best guitar in its class

This was the first guitar I ever bought at the age of 25 (38 now); and I had never even held a guitar when I bought it. I just knew I had to have it. Little short (long) story: I had known that I wanted to play a guitar ever since I was 10 and heard "For Whom the Bell Tolls" for the first time. When I finally decided to pull the trigger, I knew a couple things: 1) This was not going to be a temporary interest; this was a true passion that had never been realized. Which leads to number 2) I didn't want a crappy beginner guitar that I would outgrow (or get bored with) in the first year or two of playing. I couldn't afford (or justify) buying a high-end guitar for a beginner, however I knew it was a good idea to get something that was not only simple enough to learn on, but was good enough to grow into; and preferably something that looked cool too. I couldn't have made a better choice. On pure aesthetics alone; this guitar is both beautiful and brutal. The black cherry flame-top is just killer, and rosewood fingerboard adds some elegance and refinement. In addition, IMHO, the inlays on the C-1+ are the coolest ones that Schecter has ever done. As far as build quality, I couldn't be more pleased. Solid construction, amazing sustain, very comfortable to play. The only complaint I have is that the bridge feels like it could maybe be a little more secure; but that could be my fault for not adjusting it properly. I swapped out the Duncan Designed HB-102 passive humbuckers for the active EMG JH Set, and now it gets better tone than any guitar I’ve played with the 81/85 combo. In a nutshell, this is a professional quality guitar for an extremely reasonable price. This was my first guitar, and will always be my favorite. Definitely keeping this one forever.

Does as advertised

Perfect for practice. Pairs great with the Micro Dark or Micro Terror. Great tone characteristics. Definitely too small to get any true bottom end out of it, but that's not really what guitars are supposed to do, is it?!

Never really got a chance to play it

This was given to me as a gift from my neighbor who was moving out of state. Mine was a 2001 model with a maple neck though; little more rare at this point in time. He had bought it almost 20 years ago, and only played it a couple times. He didn't want it anymore, and was originally going to sell it in his garage sale. However he saw me drooling over it and he just said "it's yours; I know you'll give it a good home." I had every intention of doing so; and I had it for about eight months. It needed some work though, and I had just bought a house; so I couldn't afford to get the repairs done. Then things got a little rough financially, and i unfortunately had to sell it in order to make my mortgage payments. Broke my heart. I hope it went to a good home.

Amazing

EDIT 2: Got it back. Thank God...

EDIT: I am the world's biggest idiot for selling this thing...

A little tough on the initial setup if you don't know what you're doing (which I didn't when I bought it), but once you learn how it works, you'll learn why this is one of the best noise gates on the market.

Perfect solution for running multiple cabinets on single output amp head

Originally, I had bought the Marshall MG15CFXMS with the head and two 10" speaker cabinets. I upgraded the factory speakers with Celestions, but I was still not satisfied with the tone from the solid-state Marshall. I am just a bedroom jammer, so I wanted something small and portable, but still something that wouldn't disappoint on tone. So I got ahold of an Orange Micro Dark. This thing is small in size, but HUGE in tone, and the buffered effects loop is the icing on the cake. Fantastic little amp. BUT HERE'S THE RUB: Only a single speaker output. I'm not an amp technician of any kind, so I had no desire to go in and start splicing wires and daisy-chaining stuff on the chance that I did something wrong. I did NOT want to fry my newly acquired amp, or the speakers. A good six months worth of research led me to the Radial CabLink. This little indestructible box creates a safe parallel or series connection (depending on your setup) to run multiple cabinets from a single output. My Orange is now powering both cabinets, and it is nothing short of pure crazy gain-filled awesomeness. Can't say enough about this. As is the case with all of Radial's products, this thing is built like a tank, and is more than roadworthy. Love my Bone!

Pretty awesome

Durable, warm, sturdy, and high output. Definitely good.

Favorite pick

Over the years, I’ve tried dozens of picks. And I keep coming back to this one. I only have two complaints: 1) After a couple hours of playing, there is a noticeable decrease in the friction between the edge of the pick and the strings. Have to grab a new one almost every night. And 2) It needs a grip. I use a razor blade to carve a grip into every one of these I use. I’ve tried the max grip, but they’re not very springy, and they slip across the strings with very little friction. The tortex gives the right amount of that friction. Nothing beats tortex. If Dunlop could make the pitch black jazz III tortex with a grip, it would be the best pick ever.

I would give six stars if it would let me!

Absolutely amazing little device; and I use the term "little" very loosely. The power, sound, and overall tone character coming from this thing is anything but little. This is definitely one of those instances where great things come in small packages. From squeaky clean and bright to serious crunch, and everything in between, this thing ain't just a one-trick pony. The tone shape knob is probably one of the most clever controls ever. Some of the cleanest clean tones I've ever heard, and the gain...ohhh...the gain...face melting gain, but still provides amazing articulation even at the highest gain settings. The FX loop is a great feature as well. Works with 8 ohm-16 ohm speakers, and definitely has enough power to rock a 4X12. This thing should be called the Micro Beast! Don't take my word for it, pick one up and check it out!

HELL YEAH.

Take the 81/60's and give them steroids. These pickups truly do what James Hetfield himself has said: Gives you the punch of the passive humbucker, but the warmth and power of the active. I've played an 81/85 combo, and trust me: The JH bridge pickup is NOTHING like an 81. In my opinion, it puts the original 81 to shame.

My First Pedal

I cut my teeth using this pedal. It's got tons of parameters to play with. It's because of this pedal that I wanted to learn about tone...mostly because the tone on this pedal is horrible, and I never want to hear another used ever again. Because it inspired me to play, I will give it more than one star. But I won't give it more than two because of how badly it sounds without mods.

Replaced my MT-2, but sold it when I discovered OD

I bought this because it is more evil than the Boss MT-2, and has more parameters to adjust. When I discovered that overdrive is dynamically superior to distortion, I sold it.

Sold it because I didn't understand it

Definitely a good pedal for certain applications; metal not being one of them. Furthermore, I wasn't really ever able to figure out how it worked at the time. I know how it works now, but when I had it, I never could get it to sound the way I wanted.

Should be on everyone's pedalboard

EQ's are one of the most important, and probably one of the most overlooked pieces of a rig. This pedal probably isn't the best one, but it's definitely good enough for what I use it for, and it's built like a tank. Truly helps to hone in on certain frequencies of your sound and really help bring your tone to life.

A must have

Definitely a must have. All digital, but gives the feel of analog. Spring setting feels 100% authentic. Pad setting is particularly cool; it gives really cool shimmery tail effect. I've mainly been using the Plate setting, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Truly authentic analog sound, extremely user friendly, and very versatile. Definitely love this one.

Love it

EDIT TO BELOW OK. Let's make two things perfectly clear: 1) This is an AMAZING PEDAL; it is a true amp in a box. 2) This is NOT an overdrive pedal; this is a distortion pedal. This is a full dirt pedal for anyone looking to "replicate" Eddie's legendary brown sound. HOWEVER; it is just a pedal. It is not capable of truly replicating the tube-driven tone that Eddie was famous for.

Very similar to my prior purchases, I bought this thing before I understood anything about how tone is truly carved. I bought it on a recommendation from a gentleman at Guitar Center as a replacement for my Boss Metal Zone and my MXR Fullbore Metal. I noticed right away that it was different than the other pedals I had been using up until then; it had a warmth and clarity to it that the others didn't have, and it didn't have that same horrible hiss that those other pedals had when the gain was increased. It was then that I began to hear the difference between overdrive and distortion. Mind you; at this point, I was still doing the "clean channel/cheap drive pedal/all the gain/no mids/SLAYER!!!" approach on a little 8" practice amp. Not long after that, I bought my first mini stack and my first tube head, and began to educate myself on how overdrive is used properly in conjunction with a tube-driven amplifier and a proper effects loop. I learned about the importance of midrange frequencies, and how to use them correctly. Having a three band passive EQ at the very front of the amp is very useful; just don’t scoop out your midrange at this stage (or any stage for that matter). The gain boost is cool, but I personally don't use it; this pedal delivers more than enough gain without it. The coolest feature is the amazingly user-friendly adjustable noise gate. All these controls give you endless tone shaping abilities; from the clean Malcolm Young style overdrive all the way to the face melting gain of a 5150. *DISCLAIMER: NO PEDAL ON EARTH can fully replicate or substitute the gain from a true EVH 5150 tube amplifier (or JVM, Dual Rec, you get the idea) That being said however, this pedal can at least get you in the ballpark. Great for boosting as well. Today, I have the EVH5150OD placed at the front of my Orange Micro Dark in a similar fashion to a tube screamer with a seven band EQ pedal placed first in my effects loop, and it works wonderfully. Definitely different from the golden standard tones from TS9's and OD808's, however it is a great option for folks who are looking for a little more dirt and grit while still retaining warmth and articulation.

To sum up: You'd be doing yourself a disservice by not at trying it out at the very least.

Just Awesome.

Amazing tone and character. Loaded these into the 10" Marshall MG15CFXMS cabinets.

Very cool, but...

It's an amazing guitar, very well built, and designed to Dime's specs. But the neck on the razorbacks is very awkward when you're used to playing a thin neck, and the floyd rose is a pain in the neck if you don't have a guitar tech to do the work for you. Great tone, but awkward to play. More of a collector's piece for me.