jimmarchi1's Reviews
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41028
there are so many thigns going right with this guitar
for about $500 I think this is the finest Gibson scale guitar you can buy.... the low-cut control doesn't exactly simulate a single coil but its a useful feature if you're like me and you use old, no tone control amps a lot. The stock hardware and electronics are great. Fit and finish flawless. Yamaha can still make a great set-neck. Anyone looking for an affordable double cut should try one of these out. Pretty much all the different range revs are good, but this one's the best balance of cost versus quality. If you're an intermediate player looking for a new #1 or an experienced player looking for something versatile to add to your recording stable you should make sure to try one of these out. I wasn't even shopping for a guitar when I got this, we just found eachother.
41028
I love silver guitars
this is by far the best hard tail strat in this price range, even the stock pickups are pretty decent. And it comes in Inca Silver.
5314
Is it not the only Hard-tail strat in this price range?
41028
I didn't get this at the tie
I suspect I really missed the boat on this pedal when I had it. Its one of the earliest stack in a box pedals and one of the knobs is supposed to emulate the thump of a 4x12. Iw as unaware of this and Iw as expecting a better distortion+. Not only didn't it deliver that but the little transformer housed inside makes this pedal hugely noisy unless you mod it for a wall wart. If you think the MXR and DOD modualtions and delays with AC power chords are hissy and hummy then wait'll you get a load of a gain boosting circuit with a power transformer right next to the PCB. Bad idea. I still wish I had given this pedal more of a chance because it has quite a cult following and that doesn't usually happen with garbage gear. I eve know of a guy in one of DIY groups who build himself a practice amp that's just a low wattage mosfet power amp with a distortion II stapled to it as the preamp. WOW... dude swears its the best hard rock practice amp and that ti delivers all those boston, cheap trick and cars type of sounds. Still haven't heard a demo, but it makes me wanna build a distortion II with a boss power adapter. I always remember it being pretty generic though... perhaps it manages to be generically great?
41028
@sprucebringsteen hmmm, well I never turn down a gift ;) I've actually never taken a look at the schematic on this, I just remember not bonding with it when I had it, but I think I maybe just couldn't get past the PSU noise, which was pretty annoying out front of a marshall, the old marshalls are pretty susceptible to noise already.
41028
I'm not sure what makes this a hendrix wah
a buddy gave me this when I needed a wah for one part in a song and didn't have one. It sounds like a generic cry bay to me. Even with a vintage marshall, fuzzface, Octavia and strat it never did a bang up voodoo child or anything, but it got the job done for that one song while it was in the set, then I returned it. So I guess I didn't technically own it. I really didn't like the sound of this wah wah through my gear at the time and that gear was, incidentally very hendrixy
41028
the bad 80s boss chorus
Will you play in stereo with the CE3 at your next show? I will not use the stereo, I will not use it a show. Would you use it wired stock? Would you play it through your Vox? I would not use it wired stock, I would not play it through my vox... I do not like the CE3, the icy tone is not for me!
41028
more accurate than a TU2
These older Korg pedal tuenrs were more accurate than the TU2 and were always dead on with the Korg rack tuners of the time... this pedal ahs an excellent buffer compared with Boss' pedal tuner too. But you can't see it on a dark stage AT ALL. You can't read it at an outdoor gig with the sun at certain angles either. This tuner is probably why they invented the pitchblack. I used to always take my korg to studios before I got a pitchblack because the fairly transparent buffer will drive long cables and the tuner is super accurate. Joey B turned me on to this tuner. Its obsolete now, but if you want a tuner with a buffer and you don't mind squinting? this is a good option.
41028
the squishiest
I own a reissue Armstrong squeezer like the one picture. You always know when its on! This is definitely an EFFECT, not a subtle sweetener. I don't sue it a lot but I would never sell it.
41028
thanks for the extra knob boss...
the CS-2 gives you an attack control on the front and it is probably the first comp pedal to do that... but I still prefer the sound of the dynacomp. If I played more country back when I owned both I probably would have kept the CS-2 though because it really did great country chickin' pickin' sounds through a fender amp... it could get a Gibson to sound country. Defintiely has more bass reduction going on than the dynacomp and all of its cousins.
41028
why did I have this?
I wound up with this in a trade or something in the 90s. I never figured out what I should do with it. A compressor for guitar? SURE! Sign me up. I love country. A limiter though? That's peetty extreme. I'm giving this 3 stars because it wasn't a bad brickwall limiter at all. It did what you expected and gave you adequate front panel control. I did use it from time to time on synths or in the studio to make a clean infinite sustain guitar sound for someone but generally it was pretty sueless and it went off with someone I was recording for who wanted it. Its not a bad pedal, really it isn't... but it does happen to be a WTF pedal. Why the fuck do you need this when boss's compressor will do most of what it does in front of an amp.
41028
boss's other half-rack graphic
this is like an RGE-10 if it had more bands but didn't sound as good.... much higher self-noise too
41028
a GE7 by another name
very similar to the boss GE7 in all its shitty glory but with a few extra dB of cut/boost... if you can tolerate the junk switch, look at one of these over the boss because it'll be a helluva lot cheaper. This was the first EQ I owned in the 90s and I really didn't know what I was doing with it, but it didn't matter because its a worthless pedal. Noise floor is way too high making the extra gain on the bands worthless due to the hiss.
41028
harsh and unmusical
the mxr 10 band is vastly superior to the boss GE7 just because it has 10 bands... but that's all I can say for it... I find the shape of the EQ to be harsh and unmusical when boosting and the frequencies, while apparently selected to be guitar-centric, are still the wrong ones. If your choice is between the GE7 and this and you just have to EQ your tone before the amp? get this I guess... but really look at a more studio/sound reinforcement oriented graphic. This one has a bad noise floor and fucked up frequencies selected. Guys need to look at the mid frequencies Neve gave you on the mid band of his EQs and go from there when designing a graphic for guitar. They're the right bands during mix downa nd they're going to be the right ones in front of an amplifier too.
41028
not a bad little graphic and I notoriously dislike most graphics
This isn't a terrible qraphic EQ. Its a little noisy, but not like a guitar pedal EQ. It is unfortunately too light on bands to be much sue doing live sound, but tis an okay overall shaper. It definitely performs better between a guitar and amp then the GE7. Has a very musical curve to it... I have read that its pretty much same circuit as the 70s GE10 pedal. Even though this little half rack is light on bands and no good for PA duties I really prefer it to the 20 band from the same series of Boss effects. That one was ONLY good for PA feedback duty! Definitely a very musical EQ with acceptable noise floor at moderate settings. A very good option for if you want to subtly tweak something like a synth rig while pferforming so that the FOH guy is getting just what you wanna give him.
41028
I'm not an overly big fan of EQ in a pedal but....
I really don't like the Boss GE7. Unless you're just going to use it very subtley its just way to noisy. I know a lot of guys use these as a treble or mid boost for solos and stuff but I swear there are better ways to do that folks. Much better. The GE7 is hissy and it has just enough bands to elt you screw up your tone if you don't know what you're doing. I'll be honest I am not a big fan of graphic EQ for gutar, even during mix-down. Pretty much graphic EQs are for notching out feedback on floor wedges... as far as ones with limited bands like this? they mostly sound bad to me apart from the classic API 560. There are some other ones out there that aren't bad, but none of them come in a pedal. Boss made a half-rack unit in the 80s that anyone thinking of using a GE7 should go investigate! Frannkly, for my purposes I found the Ibanez 3 band EQs with the semi parametric midrange to be a lot more useful. They're the only pedal EQ I ever liked... even then, quite noisy.
41028
Ibanez finally made a real answer to the DS1 in the 9 series...
and boy was it a winner. The sonic distortion combines everything you love about the distortion+/OD250 like the excellent cleanup and tasty treble boost with the higher gain and tone control of the DS1! If the SD9 is a bit too even for you at high gain setting just clip one leg of a clipping diode and solder a small germanium diode in series with it and you get DS1 assymetrical clipping ;-) This is among my favorite distortions of the era, an alwys on pedal.... what's great is you can sell and trade them over and over and always score another one for about what you made on the last one. Original Ibanez branded maxon made SD9s are no different in sound than the Ibanez reissues or the modern maxon branded version. If you've not tried a sonic distortion you're missing out. Simialr qualities the to the 2 knob DOD distortion, but each has a distinct charm and given the low cost one could be forgiven for owning both as well as DS1.
41028
not an overdrive, but a fuzzy distortion
that's right, it's everyone's favorite Japanese big muff knock-off the maxon-made OD-850! Probably the first big muff style pedal to be marketed in a compact box as part of a mainstream pedal line but far from the last... it was joined by many muff-based pedals from DOD and Boss... and a few more from Ibanez in all of their 80s and 90s lines under varying names! This bright orange one is super fun because it always made me think of the smashing pumpkins. one of the more useful early compact Ibanez pedals... I think it was directly replaced by the TS808.
41028
you used to find these at flea markets for $5 all the time
me and my buddy used to buy these up, most of them were leaking fluid from the oil can... we were trying to source new oil cans back in the 90s but when we found out what the stuff was and who made it we realized it was also kinda toxic and we might have to touch it to get the old can out and clean the box for the new one so we threw them away. Now these bad boys are collectible. I hope the guys cleaning them up use hazmat suits. Me? I prefer tog et my cancer from smoking and drinking. I recall we had one with a sealed can and we managed to get it running. It was like a reverby leslie delay I guess? A cool gimmick once in a blue but nothing to write home about. We probably sold it for a small profit. Back then this was not a cool or desirable effect. Oh if only I had kept the working one. Who knew this stupid, fucked up leslie simulation would become so trendy?! Now its like if I had owned a univibe before people caught on to them.
41028
my first pedal tuner
For years I would tune with a boss needle tuner and then go by ear between songs, but my most professional band demanded silent tuning so the signer could attempt to banter with the audience once in a while... so I bought the ubiquitous TU2. It worked fine I guess. Didn't like the buffer in it (which soudned brittle and played hell with fuzzfaces and tonebenders), but since I was using a radial switchbone to fuel my multi-amp rig I just used the tuner out and assigned my 3rd footwitch on the switchbone to mute. I guess I could've hooked the needle tuner to the board but it woulda been impossible to see on a lot of stages. The TU2 is a but hard to see as well. I later added a rack into my rig and ran the tuner out to my korg rack tuner which was very visible although it required an extra 20' cable rune very night. When I was doing sideman work alter I went to a 1 amp rig with no rack for most gigs and dumped the TU2 in favor of a pitch black because it was true bypass and SUPER bright. I never looked back. The boss pedal tuners are dinosaurs. They were at one time a must have, but these days they're pointless. Frankly I don't know why anyone would sue this when Peterson makes the strobostomp, korg has the pitchblacks and TC offers the mighty polytune. All 3 have different pros and cons but one is bound to suit you whereas the TU2 and 3 are a joke comparatively.
41028
a great, compact tuner for acoustic instruments
This was my favorite tuner for my acoustic guitars and violin. Just stellar... build quality not bulletproof though...mine eventually broke. Once I gave up the violin I decided not to replace this since the snark had just come out and worked just fine for acoustic guitar. Once in awhile I need to record some horns and if one of the players didn't bring something like this I really miss it.
41028
another superfuzz-style fuzz without the octave
This fuzz is like a bee-baa with no octave or a 2-tone superfuzz with the octave trim pot turned down.... can cop some solid live at leeds solos since the octave was really mellow from the superfuzz on that record. Feedback is a howl, not the higher harmonic scream of a superfuzz or standard fuzz. Still a real winner if you can find one.