gillyribeiro's Reviews

Fantastic minipedal!

So, they say it is a Klon clone. (Pun intended.)

I am not familiar with the Centaur, but I sure liked this MP-320 Minotaur! The Overdrive/Distortion sounds mild, but based on what I have read, the circuit blends in some of the original signal with the clipped signal, so it sounds mellower.

It is really dynamic, it responds to changes in picking techniques and intensities. It mates well with a good clean amp, but IMO it excels with a slightly overdriven amp, pushing it a bit further. The level control can really boost your signal. The tone knob acts mostly on the treble range. It can be a bit bassy, you may have to cut some bass on the amp.

For the price? It definitely is a no-brainer! Get one!

Great construction, but cheap hardware.

A basswood body/maple neck/rosewood board Ibanez RG is a natural benchmark for the super-strat style. And you get just that with the RG470 (I'm basing my review on my own 1997 RG470).

But the rest is rather "cutting corners", or better, a "low cost version" of the RG570.

First off, the licensed Lo-TRS bridge is nothing special. Not even comparable to the high-end Edge family. So, the whole assembly (plus nut) was replaced. Then, the pickups. The HSH configuration is an RG standard, but the stock INF-1/INFS-1/INF-2 aren't that great. At least, if you want to level-up your playing (they get lost in the mix, specially with higher gain levels, which this guitar is meant to be used with). Off with them, enter a set of DiMarzio PAF Pro/HS-2/Evo 2.

And, with that, essencially, only the body remains. So, I consider this as a building block guitar if you happen to have some spare hardware/electronics laying around.

At the end of the day, the construction is top-notch. And, after these mods, it remains my most-used guitar to date. I guess that says it all!

Top notch tresure!

Fantastic guitar! Flawless right out of the box. One of (many) Yamaha's best kept secrets.

Alder body, flamed maple veneer top, maple neck, rosewood board.

Factory-loaded with a Seymour Duncan 59/JB set and Yamaha piezo pickups, this guitar covers everything you want to do. Its dual output allows to use a dual-amp setup, which, essencially, makes it easier to control the tone. Either way, you can use a single output and the blend pot to mix your magnetic and piezo signals (lessons learnt from the Yamaha's bass guitar department). You can't go wrong with the 59/JB pair. They cover the whole gamut.

The only con is the nut. It should be GraphTech. But that's very easily solved. Pair that with the stock Sperzel locking tuners, and you have an über-stable guitar.

Good playability, but...

Ok, so this is my first (and, so far, only) 8-string guitar. Also, it is my first multiscale guitar. I have very little experience with both, so this might not be a very faithful review.

Harley Benton is Thomann's in-house brand. Overall, the perception I have is that they are decent products and very reasonably priced, so, you kinda get good bang for buck. And, essentially, it was the case with this guitar. With a few "buts".

Overall construction is pretty damn good! The specs are pretty interesting as well: - 8 strings; - Basswood body w/ quilted maple veneer; - 5-piece maple/nato neck-through-body construction; - Roseacer fretboard (essentially, very dark, chemically treated, maple); - 24 frets; - 25.5" - 27" multi scale design; - 2x HBZ Elektrisola Humbuckers; - 3-way switch (and the pickups are both 4-conductor); - Locking Tuners; - Monorail bridge;

I bought this one at a killer price (€213, €399 original listing price), listed as "B-stock". This may mean a demo product, a return, minor defects. Usually, this is not specified. So, I took the gamble. When it arrived, it played ok, but not my personal setup preference. So I went to work my magic on it. This is when things went bad: fretjob was a trainwreck! Unlevelled frets and quite a few of them were starting to pop off. There were also some imperfections with the finish (a very thin maple top veneer has some "holow spots" beneath, but nothing serious).

So I took it to my luthier. Luckily, he was able to fix everything up and give it a proper fretjob. Yay! So, fretjob was no longer an issue.

Next, I restrung the whole thing (Elixir 8str set, .010 - .074 set). But the F# string did not fit the tuner's hole. So, it was St. Dremel to the rescue. No big deal, 2min and it was fixed. So, it got perfectly setup, now, incredibly balanced, amazing acoustic tone and an incredible sustain to it (neck-thru, anyone?). Perpendicular fret is around the 7th, so... AMAAAAAAAZING comfort!!!

Now, on into the amp. Again, in-house branded pickups (HBZ) are not really something to write home about. Too dark, a bit muddy, in fact. The 500 kOhm pots did not help in this department, so, I replaced the volume for a 1 MOhm pot. It opened up the sound just enough to get it on the "good side of the tone force". Great! Another issue fixed!

I dare say, now, that this is the one guitar I have with the best playability! Right on par with the handbuild Jaden Rose pair. Of course, the fretjob was done amazingly (thank you Grim!), but the construction helps a lot. I might, in the future, swap the pickups for some custom built pair (say... BKP Juggs, maybe?), but, so far, this gets the job perfectly done.

It's a gamble, from what I've read, the take Harley Benton guitars. AFAIK, the QC is a bit of a "hit or miss". But please do consider this one. Although discontinued, if you have the chance of grabbing a used one, at least test it. You might be surprised!

A modern take on a classic design

So you want a LP? So you don't quite fancy its ergonomics? Don't stop reading. This might be the guitar for you.

A mahogany/maple HH singlecut guitar with a 24.75" scale seems like just another copy of a pretty successful guitar design. But Ibanez took this to another level. Featuring a Gibraltar III bridge and a Quik Change III tailpiece, and improved body ergonomics (shallower neck/body angle, tummy cut, better weight balance) is really a game-changer for this guitar. No more hand-cutting issues (I dare to say, this is the most comfortable bridge I have ever played) and sore shoulders.

The sound is nothing less of amazing, as well! On the first impression, on the acoustic overall tone, I was pretty well impressed! It had a lot of body and an incredible sustain to it. Stock IBZ-LZ pickups are not bad, the first take on Ibanez active pickups. They have a pretty good clean sound, but when the gain stages up a bit, they show their weakness: they lack some clarity. But nothing that cannot be solved with some tweaking of the EQ.

I went up a step and I changed the whole electronics for a EMG 60/81 set. And that's it. I ended up with, maybe, the most versatile guitar in my collection: I can go from Jazz to Death Metal with a few twiddles on the knobs.

So, do yourselves a favour and start looking for one, if you want a LP-style guitar. I promise you won't regret it!

Incredibly transparent and versatile!

So, the EMG 81. It has been so successful for a reason, right?

I have some experience with this pickup. It suits the whole inventory, from Superstrats to LPs. And it spans the whole gamut: you can go from Jazz to Death Metal with a flick of the switch.

The EMG 81 is an incredibly transparent and versatile pickup. No matter which guitar you put it, it will make it shine. It is very pick sensitive (i.e, every little error will be immediately noticed!) and will hit your amp's input the right way. The tone control works magic on this pickup.

And it's completely noiseless!

I mean, artists like Prince or Hammett can't be wrong, right?

Industry leading noise-cancelling!

First of all, these are a pair of Hi-Fi headphones. So, you cannot expect studio quality from them. That said, I find them too bassy. That is ok on the smartphone, because one can dial off some bass on the EQ of the companion Sony app. But, definitely, not for reference headphone use.

However, they have great bleed isolation! So, I use them for voice recording.

The onboard microphone is tricky: when noise-cancelling is active, your voice comes out very muffled. But if you disable the noise-cancellation, the voice comes out pretty decent!

But the best part: I have tested a lot of wireless noise-cancelling headphones before buying, and the Sony WH-1000XM3 were way ahead of the competition!

I just hope the "defects" are fixed on the WH-1000XM4 upgrade.

Very sturdy, classy-looking locks

I'm not a fan of strap-lock buttons. Honestly, I prefer the "clip lock" strap solutions. However, this set in particular has found a way into my heart.

The looks are amazing: you'll be able to find a perfect match to the hardware on your axe. It is sturdy: it will stay in place no matter what. It is easy to use: just press and attach... press and detach. Virtually, dummy proof.

It might be a little tricky to install, for on most situations you will have to trim the holes on your favourite strap. But other than that, it's just fine: place and attach the pressure-washer.

One thing that turns me down about strap-lock buttons is the size of them. However, Dunlop has tackled this issue by designing a female button that goes INTO your instrument! So, the end of it stays flush with the edges of your guitar or bass. Yes, you have the inconvenience of having to drill the wholes a bit wider, but that's an fairly easy (albeit messy) job and once installed, you just forget everything about it.

I strongly recommend it!

Tough!!! Will hold your guitar.

I've been a long time user of this strap. Almost every single one of my guitars (20+) are equipped with one. That basically sums up what I think of it.

The strap ends attach firmly to your guitar. Slightly larger screws make sure it goes in place and it won't come out. They go flush with the guitar body, so, no space wasted. The clip buckles in really nice and smoothly. They are done with military-grade plastic, so, no risk of breaking or warping (and very tough even to get scratched).

You have to be careful when storing the guitar, because the buckles may dent the finish. Just make sure to put them out of the way and use a soft cloth between them and the guitar body, so they won't touch the body.

The strap itself, for my liking, is a bit too long. Nothing that won't get solved with a needle and thread, and it will improve your sowing techniques as well. :-D

Summing up: if you want a strap lock to last forever, BUY IT NOW! Your shoulder may fall off of your body, but the strap will remain attached even through WW3!

Articulate, well-defined and very powerful!

I have a few instances of the JB, in quite a few flavours (standard size, trembucker, open coils, covered...). It is one of my go-to pickups and, definitely, a building block!

The sound is punchy, but articulate. It is overall very well balanced over the spectrum and cleans up very smoothly when you roll off the volume. I usually pair it with 500kOhm pots (unless the guitar "asks" otherwise).

It excels in classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal tones, but it is versatile enough to cover both the "darker" and "lighter" sides of the force.

Trivia: "JB stands for Jazz Bridge"

Good bang for buck and excellent build!

It's a very good guitar. The trem is good enough for most uses and the stock pickups are impressively good! The neck has a fatter Wizard II profile, more a "D" shape. Very stable.

If you're specially picky with guitars, like me, just change the pickups and the trem block. You now have a workhorse guitar for life!

A wah pedal you should give a try!

Very good pedal! Sound quality is good, and I don't notice any colouring of the tone when it's off. I use it in the middle of two Boss pedals, so, it gets well buffered from input and output stages. I don't know if that counts...

You actualy get a lot for your money! Fully customable 535Q-like (or should I say, the DB-01?) pedal, with added optical control (for those, like me, who hate to engage a wah pedal in the toe-down position). The construction quality isn't amazing, though. I guess that comes with the price tag... Mine in particular had a rocking "side-to-side" issue with the pedal itself (the part where you actually put your foot on and move back and forth). I found that sometimes it didn't disengage when I removed the foot. But that was something very easily fixed by fitting a pressure washer on the side.

Summing up, it is a very good pedal! Give it a try, you might be surprised!

Do-it-all, times two!

Take two FS-5 footswitches, weld them together and add an option for "latch" and "non latch" operation for each pedal. Yes, you got it, this covers every need you can come up to. And it's sturdy and reliable too. Good solid pedal, it requires a 9V battery to operate. No connection to a power supply, though. If you want o use one, you'll have to work your way around the 9V connector. It's the only negative point to this pedal...

Stirdy and reliable

This is the no-compromise go-to pedal for a non-latching footswitch. Built like a tank, it will most likely outlive you and your band members, even if you all go to war. With a side switch to toggle between "normally open" and "normally closed" states, this pedal covers every use you can imagine.

Perfect!

Want a set-in, P90, Tune-O-Matic guitar? Look no further. This guitar has the looks and delivers the goods!

Amazing stock pickups, with fantastic dynamics and quacking tone; über-stable Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece, rosewood board with a lovely cream binding in an amazing 24 3/4" scale. The double-cutaway body makes it more comfortable, ergonomic and stable, while the 1 volume + 1 tone pot configuration keeps the looks sober, in harmony with the beautiful mahogany figured body.

Now, stop reading this and go get one!

Amazing bang for buck!

This is one fine axe! For a couple of hundred bucks, what can one ask for more? Stable and precise construction, top notch materials. Highly customizable! A few minor glitches regarding finish is the only thing to state against.