john_boley_jr's Reviews

In ear hearing protection that's comfortable to wear.

I got a pair of Earasers brand in ear hearing protection for my Birthday. These things are amazing! Perfect for practice, gigs, or going to concerts. Essentially they are passive ear plugs, but they go farther than ordinary ear plugs. In a nutshell, as I understand it, what they do is attenuate the sound levels, without attenuating certain frequencies. You still hear the music, as it is meant to be heard, just not as loud as is being played. I could still hear my Fender Acoustic-Electric 12 string clearly, I could still have a conversation with the family, but the levels were quieter. Not dull or muffled, just quieter. Loud music is kept at a tolerable, non-hearing-damaging level, and sounds great as well. These things can handle my Fender Hot Rod Deville 212 operating in my 20' x 17' bedroom, albeit not turned up all the way, but set on "4", and my ears weren't trying to scream and run away, bleeding profusely all the while, and leaving a trail of blood back to the murder scene of my ability to hear.

I was reluctant to try these out, as I have always had problems with excruciating pain anytime something is in my ear canal. I use to suffer from constant, horrific ear infections in both ears as a child, simply because water would get into the ear canal while taking a shower. The idea of voluntarily putting these into my ears was hard to get over. I'm glad I did though. These are extremely comfortable to wear. There's almost no pressure on the ears while inserted in the canal, just enough to hold them in place. They are easy to install, easier than those stupid foam ear plugs you're supposed to use for construction and stuff, and they never felt like they were in danger of falling out. I bought the size "medium" pair, and they were a perfect fit. It is important to get the correct size plugs or they either won't fit right, or won't work correctly.

The huge, fuzzy, green box sound you know and love, all wrapped up in a tiny little package.

Yes it says "Bass" on the box. Yes it says "Bass" on the case. Yes this is technically a "Bass" pedal. However, it does guitar, real well. I started a search a few years ago for at least one fuzz pedal, as I did not own one yet, to add to my board; and yes I'm aware I might have a Gear Acquisition problem. Turns out I'm really picky when it comes to fuzz sounds. After trying a bunch of pedals, and hating most of them, I found two that I not only liked, but loved. The EHX Nano Bass Big Muff Pi was one of those pedals. Now that we've gotten the obvious use out of the way, and how I came to trying this thing out, let's talk about THE sound for guitar. It has the big Sovtek sound, mashed into a "normal" sized enclosure, I believe by a stampeding heard of Kamchatka Vodka drinking Russian Brown Bear/Woolly Mammoth hybrids. It sounds amazing, and glorious. It can go from nice smooth distortion, all soft and cuddly, like a properly brain-tanned bear skin blanket, to super compressed, crushed, and infinitely sustaining fuzz, that just feels like a felted woolly blanket, full of a myriad of small creatures, chilling around a camp fire under a new moon. As I received this as a Yule gift 25Dec2016, I have not tried it out on all of my gear, much less in every configuration I have. I have played it through my Fender Champion 600, with a 6l6 output tube, and a paisley silk grill cloth, using my MIJ E-Series Fender Stratocaster, with Torres Engineering BluesKaster Deluxe electronics. It sent the 600 into a beautiful place where Wildcats, and Dragonflies, play with children of powerful magic. It was the best that amp has sounded so far, full of mid range tone. I can't wait to pump it through my Fender Hot Rod Deville 212, and see if I can stop messin' 'round and get all numb, while waiting on the train. This is the box to have if you can only have one fuzz.

It's a solid state amp that'll let you make noise.

I just recently added this little Frontman 15G to my gear. I already knew what to expect, first off there is already one in the house (my son's), secondly I purchased it for $30. I only bought this as an amp to use with my daughter, during her music lessons, and the fact that they aren't stocked in most stores anymore. It sounds like a plain old solid state amp. The "Clean" channel has some distortion bleed over, even when the "Lead" channel is turned all the way down. The Clean channel starts to breakup early on in the volume progression and isn't necessarily a good breakup either. The Lead channel is definitely a SS type of distortion. Not warm and inviting like Tubes, but a mashed up, mangled mess of what used to be your signal. Having said that, I like the Lead channel just for this very reason. Sometimes I want that distortion sound as opposed to the warmth of overdriven tubes. It can make for some great sounding background rhythm guitar fills, as well as some wonderful ambient noise. You can plug headphones into it and play around in the middle of the night when inspiration jerks you out of a wonderful dream involving Rhum drinks, steak, lobster rolls, grouper sandwiches, and spaghetti vongole; a sailboat, and the unbridled affections of Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minogue, and Taylor Momsen at 0300. Of course that might be my own issues with that example but here we are.

A beautifully rich 5W 6V6 Class A amp that sould be in your arsenal.

I own two of these wonderful little Fender Champion 600 amps now. I just got these a couple of days ago so I'm still exploring their characteristics, but they sound great. I had reservations as, with the exception of my first amp (a Gorilla), I have always had an amplifier with reverb. It is a part of my sound, sometimes heavily drenched, other times a slight shimmer is all that's needed. Even though I would love to reverb with these, it doesn't actually bother me that it's not there. With the volume set at "2," they are about as loud as the guitar itself with no amp. Between "2" and "7" you get that perfect Fender clean sound. Full and lush. Turning the knob to around "8" is when the breakup starts to happen. It's a slight breakup that becomes wonderous and harmonically gritty the closer you get to the magic number "12." Which for those that care, is one louder than "11." Cranked all the way up you can still have a conversation and understand what they are saying, as well as not having to listen to the constant ringing for the rest of the day. My Hot Rod Deville 212...not so much. I bought two of them to be able to unlock the stereo aspect of my effects, and fill out the sound and aural presence during practice. So far I have only played direct (guitar to amp) but I will be hooking up my pedal board soon. I'll then know how they react with my pedals, but my guess is that they will be amazing with them. At 5W of class A sound these things are perfect for practice by yourself, recording, giving lessons, and I suppose maybe even a coffee shop performance, if you want it gritty sounding. \m/ Punk Rock Java Brewtality! \m/ That's mine by the way, I made that.

Awesome Chorus pedal with interesting features.

I purchased this Peavey DSC-4 Dual Clock Stereo Chorus pedal the moment I saw it to replace my Peavey CMC-1 Companded Chorus which had stopped working. This pedal not only performs the Companded Chorus, the most beautiful chorus I have ever heard, but it also performs a full wave chorus as well. Both choruses having separate controls for Depth and Rate. I only use the Companded Chorus function on this pedal for the moment. Once I get the CMC-1 repaired I will start playing around with the full wave chorus function. Mono in and Mono/Stereo out. The stereo outs are tied together, this means that both chorus effects go out on both outputs. Truly great pedals these are. Metal Enamel coated (bright day glow PINK to boot) casing that is absolutely stout. You probably won't break this thing with less than a plasma torch. Which if that's your thing, DON'T, I'll take it off your hands as a second "let's see what happens when we want to abuse gear and make noise" bit of kit.

The greatest sounding Chorus pedal I've ever heard.

This Peavey CMC-1 Companded Chorus is by far the greatest sounding Chorus pedal I've ever heard. They weren't made for long and are hard to find because of that. If you find one I would suggest you grab it. They are built to withstand Nuclear fallout. Unfortunately mine stopped working while in storage when I was stationed overseas for 6 years. I purchased another Peavey Chorus pedal, different model, the moment I found one. When I can I'll be sending this in to be repaired.