cwirus88's Reviews

First pedal to buy

I think that 5 minutes with Boss GE-7 pedal is enough to convince any guitarist on Earth that this unit is an absolutely must-have on pedalboard. It's not an efffect, rather a tool, and a very helpful one, which allows you to shape your tone in countless ways. And that lovely boost feature! Your amp will shine in the mix with this pedal, believe me. I own an Orange TH30 head which is well know for fizzy gain channel and thanks to GE-7 I got rid of fizz and what I have now is pure, jucy, lush and heavy tube amp tone. For that price (bought it for 40$ used) it cannot be beaten.

Small but powerful beast!

This amp does what it shoud do: serves right as a practice amp and/or backup for a gig. During the home use you can get all range of tone - from nice clean into real dirty and everything in between. It will cut through in the band situation, but do not expect lots of clean headroom then. It takes pedals very well - i put a phaser and a distortion in front of it to push it into limits.

For that price, size (yes, MT won't hurt your back during transport) and versatility you cannot go wrong with this amp.

This thing needs more appreciation!

So here we have the most bashed dirt pedal in history. I'm rather in opposition, because I really dig this unit. This is not an out-of-the-box pedal that allow you to dial into desired tone in 15 seconds; quite the contrary - you will have to spend some time to get desired tone. It does not work well with cheap solid state amps hence the amount of sh*t that is poured on this pedal - people buy it, scoop the mids, put the rest on maximum and by that you achieve harsh, gritty tone that hurts ears.

Put it in front of good, cranked up tube amp, turn it on, mess with pedal's and amp EQ, then adjust volume and distortion and you will be suprised how good it sounds!

100% analogue satisfaction

I have early analog CE-5 version from 90s and this chorus just rocks! Creamy, liquid, lush and warm as hell. Stands quite close to its older brother CE-2; can really add lots of warmth and space to cleans. Also, sounds wonderful on dirt channel as it brings back 80's chorusy lead tone. Best tonal range I've ever tested.

Lush, lush, lush!!

I had lots of choruses and flangers, both digital and analogs. This little buddy seems to be the best option, since it can simulate chorus and even phaser sound. Sounds very natural on cleans and dirts, too. Also does not take lots of space in your board, can be found cheap (used of course), too. If you are looking for quality flanger that will nail your tone then get the Micro Flanger.

Best bet out there

I've tried all the mainstream OD pedals in the market including legendary Ibanez TS-808. And you know what? After long time I came back to my SD-1. Somehow I like its tone both as a standalone unit and boost to already cranked up amp. It sounds so smooth and distinct whilst other pedals tend to muddy up your tone.

Hate it or love it

So, here we have the old Boss DS-1. It is hate or love pedal, nothing in between. I use completely stock DS-1 from 1995 with ROHM opamp and I find that version the best. Sounds almost clean at low distortion level and that makes it a perfect boost pedal. Yeah, a boost. It might sound like a crap if you use it as a standalone dirt unit and I do not recommend it. Put it in front of a already driven amp, spend some time to make a perfect conjunction of a amp - DS1 - guitar vol knob and your amp will sing. Trust me!

Weird, odd, but somehow good

When I first got this phaser and put it in fx loop it pretty much sucked. Thin, more flangy than phasery sound made me throw it into drawer. I rediscovered it few months later simply by putting it in front of amp... jackpot!

PH-2 is somehow quite weird on clean channel - do not expect a great warmth and lushness that for example Phase 90 gives; it's more sterile and very tight and that makes PH-2 great for funky stuff. On dirt channel it beats all the phasers on the market - aggressive, punchy, and very distinct.

Since it has four knobs you will need to spend few minutes to dial into desired tone but that only makes it more tweakable so everyone will find something interesing here. Another two advantages: build like tank, dirt cheap (got mine for 20$).

Ended up with Phase90

As old saying goes: you can try all the phasers in the world, but in the end you will get Phase90.

Number one phaser in the world.

Crazy pedal unit

It offers endless possibilities of sound variations. Impressive device for harmonizing, pitchshifting, chorusing and stuff.

Great tuner, possibly the best on the market

For what a tuner should do, this Boss TU-3 is in my humble opinion the best option. Besides its indestructibility, TU-3 has lots of tuning precision and visual clarity (even in bright venues).

Great as a buffer, too - I use in as a 1st pedal in chain to prevent signal loss.

Best delay on the market

I've always been a huge fan of digital delays... until I got CC in my hands. As soon as I discovered beauty of warm & dark repeats, I sold all my digitals. This is the only delay unit in my setup right now.

A must have in guitarist's pedalboard, really.

As it should be!

I use this cab with my TH30 head. Perfect for band rehearsal & recording. For gigging live (even with PA) I'd suggest PPC212 - it has more low-end and sounds less boxy than PPC112.

Great cab anyway, a must have for Orange fans.

Perfect amp

I've spent lots of nights thinking of an amp that can give me sparkling cleans and tons of gain. And there you have it - Orange TH30. It is very versatile and great sounding amplifier, you cannot go wrong with it.

30W of pure A-class tube power is more than enough to gig - if you turn it all the way up, TH30 will overcome the drummer. Luckily there is a possibility to reduce power to 15 and 7 watt. Tube driven fx loop works great, no tone loss or popping issues.

Decent tuner

It does what a tuner should do - help you to tune your gitar fast and precise. It is quite sensitive, also the display is very bright so tuning in daylight is no problem here. +1 for the relatively low price.

From heaven sent

Well, if you are highly into harmonizing, pitch-shifting and whammy fun then the pedal is perfect and undisputed number one in its league. Besides the impressive tracking, great sound quality and classical, indestructible Boss chasis you get in fact 4-in-1 pedal:

1) three-voice, beatiful and creamy, amazing and heavenly sounding harmonies, 2) classical pitchshifting that just works fine, 3) detune mode which is in fact kind of deep chorus 4) S-bend mode, a reference to Digitech Whammy that is just quite the same, but more tweakable (fall control)

For that price (~150 $) you can't really beat it. Of course it is not out-of-the-box pedal, a basic scales knowlegde is required here to get full potential of PS-6; it takes some time to dial into "that perfect tone". Works best in fx loop or after dirt section.

The winner of TS-a-like contest

OK, so it's like that: I've decided to go for OD pedal and finally ended up with three choices:

1) BOSS SD-1 2) MXR GT-OD 3) Ibanez TS-9

BOSS was too muddy (however great for boosting and overdriven amp), TS-9 was somehow too delicate, tone-coloring and way too expensive so I've decided to go for MXR GT-OD and never ever regret this decision. Built like tank, sound very natural with mids and lows emphasis and has a hell of versatility - can work as a standalone pedal on clean channel or a boost to get more gain on amp.

New costs about 90$, but i got it from a pawn shop for 20$ - deal of life :)

Once you buy it you'll never let it go!

Back in 2014 I finally saved up some money for decent and real-thing electric guitar. I went to local guitar centre, tried lots of guitars and ended up with this Epiphone. As far as my skills and sense of music goes I really cannot see any, really any differences between low-priced original Gibson LPs and this Epi model.

Sounds beatiful, stays in tune, well built in every detail and is not that expensive. Great guitar, I'll never let it go.

CH-1 - safe chorus bet.

I've been through CE-2, CE-3, CE-5, Small Clone and some other well known choruses and guess what - eventually ended up with CH-1 (not analog, digital one from 2015). It is versatile, decent sounding and very user-friendly pedal. Also price is very reasonable - got it brand new for about 70$ with 5 yrs of warranty.

If you want a safe and good chorus then go for CH-1, definately.

EDIT: After some time I got an analog version from 1996. Best one, ever!

Good guitar for beginners

If you are looking for your first acoustic guitar and/or you know that you'll be playing it very seldom then you should go for Yamaha F310. Not the best out there, but it plays quite nice and offers satisfactory comfort.