jim_garrison's Reviews

It's like the ugly and inconvenient knock-off of Beyerdynamic M160.

I received this microphone as a Christmas gift. Let me start with something positive, it sounds more or less same as a Beyerdynamic M160, and hence work excellent for recording guitars.

But, everything goes downhill from there. Due to its odd shape it is tricky to mount. Its mounting platform is nowhere as sturdy as that of Royer R121 or Extinct Audio Black Ops.

Although it has the sound signature of the M160, but it misses out on all other qualities that made the M160 such a practical choice when it came to ribbon microphones. First of all unlike the M160, this microphone is uses figure-8 polar pattern, so it's nowhere as easy to position as the M160, and due to its odd mount it's nowhere as convenient to use as the M160. I highly doubt if it is anywhere as durable as the M160.

I can't fathom how people in reviews have raved it as being better than the R121, because honestly it's more or less a M160 knockoff with an uglier design, questionable durability and none of the practicality.

Its only saving grace is that it offers the M160 tonality at half the price.

A true modern successor of the B&O BM3, and BM4.

For those who have no idea about the B&O microphones from the '50s this microphone will remind them of the Royer R121. Yes indeed, they are similar because both of them are based on old B&O BM3, and BM4 microphones but that's where the similarity ends.

Here's a thing about the Royer R121. It not only requires lesser gain than the B&O microphones, but it also solved the issue pertaining to the proximity effect on the B&O microphones. This made it a far more suitable microphone for close miking than the B&O microphones, but in doing so it lost a lot of things that made those B&O microphones great. First was the mid-range, although the Royer R121 retained the clarity in the mid-range just like the B&O, it lost the three dimensional feel of the B&O microphone. The next thing is the high end, for some reason the high end of the R121 lost the clarity and extension that the B&O microphones used to possess and it became harsher. The third thing is the low end, although I do agree that B&O microphones were more prone to proximity effect, nevertheless they had a very clean low end response, unfortunately the low end response of the R121 is rather choppy and hollow.

So, this is where the Extinct Audio 'Black Ops' shines. It combines the best qualities of the old B&O ribbon microphones with the modern functionality of Royer R121. It perfectly preserves the clear and three dimensional sounding mid-range of the old B&O ribbon microphones. It high end is as clean, and extended as the old B&O microphones. As of its low end, it's as clean as the old B&O ribbon microphones. However, at the same time just like the Royer R121 it ain't prone to the proximity effect and it too requires less gain to drive than the old B&O microphones. I ain't sure how the guys at Extinct Audio have done it, but the Black Ops avoids proximity effect without being choppy and hollow in the low end.

This microphone is everything that the Royer R121 should have been, and by all means a far better successor to the old B&O ribbon microphones than the Royer R121. If you're looking for a Royer R121 alternative then don't even think twice, get this microphone. As for all B&O BeoMic fans out there who want a modern take on their favorite microphone, this microphone is made far y'all folks.

Great quality picks in the good old 351 shape.

I have always been a fan of the Fender 351 pick shape. I started learning to play guitar on Fender 351 celluloid picks, then switched to these picks. These picks are made of Delrin and their texture reminds you a lot of Dunlop Tortex picks. Not only they last longer than the celluloid picks but they also have less string noise. They don't produce that annoying click that you hear from celluloid picks. These picks are often sold by retailers with all kinds of weird logos on them. Some of them have the logo of the Sign of Horns, others have the logo of Hard Rock Hotel, etc. The local seller from whom I buy my picks sells them without any customization though, they just have the plain jane Fender logo and the thickness of the pick written under it.

Excellent old-school Alnico speakers.

These speakers came loaded in the Sonic Pipe Tweedtone 10 I picked up from our local pawn shop. The previous owner of that amp put them in there. All I can say about them is that they produce that good old smooth and sweet tweed amp sound. They have smooth cones that break up pretty fast and lend that little amp a nice, smoky, warm, and woody tone.

A good quality amp but I have no idea about this brand.

I picked up this amp from a local pawn shop for around $200. It's a tweed Princeton clone with 10" Weber 10A100 speaker. Surprisingly this amp is handwired, and its cabinet is made from real pine instead of cheap MDF. I tried to look more about these amps, and from what I read about them online, these amps are made overseas and are sold re-branded by different sellers. The speakers on mine don't appear to be stock, from what I have read about these amps they didn't come stock with Weber speakers, looks like the previous owner had them replaced. It sounds like a good old Fender tweed amp and works great as a practice amp or for recording stuff at home. However, it's just a puny little 5-watt amp, I don't use it for live gigs.

Surprisingly decent microphone for its price.

I keep this microphone as my back-up microphone. I tend to use it in venues where I find it unsafe to use my vintage EV-666 microphone. Now let me be clear, it doesn't have even an ounce of character that my old and trusty EV has but it works pretty well. This microphone is one of those things which you buy just because they're cheap and then you realize that it's actually a good product. When I ordered it from Sweetwater, I expected it to be some sort of cheaply built made in China microphone but when I received the package and opened it up I realized that this little mic is made in Japan, not to mention it's ruggedly built too. In terms of tonality, it's close to a Shure SM57 but it has a smoother mid-range. I lent it to a few of my mates who use the SM57 and to my surprise all of them liked it more than their SM57s. Considering the fact that it's just a cheap $69 microphone I'm quite impressed by what it does.

Excellent clone of the old AKG C12.

One of the best AKG C12 clones out there. It has the signature airy but smooth sound of the classic AKG C12. Just like the C12 this microphone is bright, present but at the same time not harsh at all. It's tough to describe its tonal quality, no other microphone sounds like a C12. The market is flooded with Neumann U47 and U67 clones but I think I am that one odd guy who likes the C12 more than the U47 and U67, and hence I like this microphone.

The most transparent acoustic guitar amp.

If you swear by AER amps then try this beast and you'll be awestruck. It's hands down one of the most transparent sounding acoustic guitar amp money can buy. It has a really open sound which lets the qualities of your guitar shine. Other than that the onboard chorus and reverb effects are top-notch. It's truly a gem of an amp.

Top notch guitar for a darn low price.

The quality of this guitar surprised me in numerous ways. In terms of fit and finish, it feels like something lot pricier, and it sounds beautiful. Some people say that they're good for their price, I'll say they are great guitars irrespective of their price. If I need to nitpick stuff, I would have preferred more ornamented inlay work, the inlay on this guitar is a bit too minimalistic for my tastes.

Massive sounding ribbon mic.

If I need to describe the sound of this mic in one word it'll be colossal. I ain't kidding when I say it sounds huge, it sounds effin huge. I have compared it next to vintage RCA 44BX and even the new AEA R44C and not only the low-end but also the low-mids, and mids of the SR-1A sounds bigger than those microphones. It also has a creamier high-end response than those microphones. Think of vintage ribbon microphone sound on steroids, that's what the tonality of SR-1A is.

When used as a rear microphone for my guitar amp it lends excellent three-dimensional depth to the guitar tone, and when used for recording cleans it lends nice creaminess and depth to the cleans. Stager has surely hit it out of the ballpark with this microphone, this new ribbon microphone curb stomps some of the most coveted vintage ribbon microphones.

A lifesaver for my Electro-Voice EV-666.

I use this adapter so as to use normal XLR cables with my old Electro-Voice EV-666. The Electro-Voice EV-666 originally used to use Cannon UA-3-11 cables which are really tough to find these days. Although I do have the original Cannon UA-3-11 cable, I never use that cable for live gigs, it's an original vintage cable and I can't risk using it live. For live gigs, this adapter is a huge lifesaver.

The most unique microphone one can buy for recording guitars.

This microphone sounds very different from modern microphones. The best description of its sound will be a bit lo-fi and full of character. Anything recorded with it sounds like it was recorded in the good old times. It's a microphone with lots of character, and when I mean a lot, I mean a truckload of character. It's tough to describe it in words, it's like this microphone does some sort of magic to the recordings.

They're tough to find these days, and their Cannon UA-3-11 cables are tough to find too, but if you find one of these microphones then grab them before anyone else does. This is a microphone you won't like to miss.

Excellent upgrade over my stock pickups.

I was kinda apprehensive about these pickups because they're noiseless and noiseless pickups never sound like real single coil, but damn. These pickups rule. They are a major improvement over the stock pickups of my Tokai Tele. I'm not sure how those blokes at Mojotone did it but these puppies have that old school Broadcaster sound without any hum.

Sounds real close to a real Binson unit.

This pedal sounds damn close to a real Binson Echorec. With this pedal I am able to get that cool Hank Marvin style guitar tones.

One of a kind Tele

This Tele is way different from any other Tele I have ever played. It feels old school but the trem lends it a different kind of feel. It sounds perfect for those spaghetti western guitar tones.

Excellent volume pedal.

I switched to this pedal from my AMT Electronics LLM-2 volume pedal. The LLM-2 was utterly unusable due to its impractically small size. This pedal is flawless. It has the smoothest sweep among all volume pedals. I enabled the fuzz compatibility mode on it and now it works like a charm with my fuzz pedal. It uses top grade components. The folks at Mission Engineering haven't compromised with any stuff on this pedal. Another notable stuff is its buffer, it's the most transparent buffer I've ever heard on a buffered volume pedal. No tonal coloration, zero noise. This pedal is perfect.

When set to operate in fuzz compatibility mode it operates at an output impedance of 10K Ohm. Another unique stuff about it is that its output jack is a TRS jack. Due to that reason I'm able to use it a expression pedal for my Uni-Vibe without the 2 x TS to TRS converter cable.

The best wah pedal money can buy.

After years of trying to get used to the AMT Electronics WH-1 wah I realised that pedal is just ins't made for me. No return spring, overtly diminutive size. That thing was utterly unusable. I finally made up my mind and switched to this wah pedal and good lord I'm glad I did so. To say that this pedal is an improvement will be an understatement. This pedal is just marvellous. It uses top tier components, the return system works damn smooth. Its frequency response is just prefect, it's vocal, bit nasal but everything is there in perfect amount. It does cost high but it's worth every dollar.

I love this pedal.

It has just one knob, it's easy to set-up and it doesn't suck your tone.

Best analog delay in its price range.

For me it was either this pedal of the Carbon Copy. I went for this one because it offers additional options and hence is more versatile. It also uses the ol' trusty MN3005 chips which sound warmer than the BL3208 chips used on Carbon Copy.

Perfect single coil tone without the hum.

I use the Zexcoil ZVU5 Z-Core 5 Vintage Underwound pickup at the neck and ZVN5 Z-Core 5 Vintage pickup at the bridge. The real reason I went for them was that they're one of the few good quality noiseless pickups out there with covers and so they look great on my Duo Sonic. However truth be told the first time I tried them in my guitar I was blown away by them. They sound exactly same as true single coils but they don't have the 60-cycle hum of true single coils. These pickups are perfect.