Kaine Delay

BB had Lucille. Hendrix his strat. Martin Gore his hollow Gretsch. Cobain the 65 jaguar. Wayne Campbell the Excalibur. This week I went into a pawn shop and found my baby... Fender jaguar blacktop HH with Gibson Les Paul pickups and bridge. Made in Mexico, she is a guitar with a personality disorder. Say hello to the TacoCaster. The Alnico pickups almost seem too much for the body to handle at times. I have a feeling this will be my ultimate bias when it comes to playing. I love the shape, feel, response and tone, and its next-to-nothing string action make it not only easy but fun to play. I only wish it were lighter, but I have a feeling the sound may change as a result. Side note: I read somewhere that a reviewer assumed the old schoolers who made this guitar famous again wouldn't like the HH blacktop... "Take a bunch of well-known Fender Jaguar fans; let's say, ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, ex-Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante and Kurt Cobain. Hand them the new Blacktop Jaguar HH and we reckon they'd say (even Kurt, hypothetically) something along the lines of, "Er, what happened to all the rollers and switches?" That would be shortly before they noticed that the floating vibrato with the long arm has also done a runner." - Ed Mitchell, MusicRadar If he did any homework he'd realize Kurt had gaff taped all the switches as an attempt to lock down the pickups in parallel position. He would have loved this thing. And if he plugged the Jaguar Blacktop HH through a poly chorus and big muff, he'd realize it sounds just like Kurt's axe on In Utero.

... Is the affectionate name I've given this guitar. Delivers thick, almost dirty tone, pushes the listener around with force and aggression.. everything about how it sounds doesnt equate to the price I paid for it ($199 CDN). I, at the till, almost felt like I'd gotten away with ripping the clerk off. Despite the lack of intonation, the hardtail bridge is a nice improvement from the VM mustangs released a while back. But could it hurt to have someone look at the bridge before sending it off? Price I pay, I guess. The idea that I can afford a quality guitar with a decent neck that fits my hands with a great size fretboard (12" radius) is a godsend, and as I've been thrust upon taking the spot of lead guitar in my band, Squier couldn't have arrived with these a moment too soon. I imagine I'll buy another to complement my Cobain Mod Squier Stang on the road.

"Out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. They're cheap and totally inefficient, and they sound like crap and are very small. They also don't stay in tune, and when you want to raise the string action on the fretboard, you have to loosen all the strings and completely remove the bridge. You have to turn these little screws with your fingers and hope that you've estimated it right. If you screw up, you have to repeat the process over and over until you get it right. Whoever invented that guitar was a dork. I guess I'm calling Leo Fender, the dead guy, a dork. Now I'll never get an endorsement." -Kurt Cobain, 1992 I, like many others, found profound inspiration and catharsis through Nirvana's music. I had bought the Jagstang in 1995 and was hooked on the hot and unrelenting sound the guitar's pickups had on a Marshall stack. Our cover of Territorial Pissings has this feedback crescendo that felt authentic enough to feel chills upon playback. I just recently bought the Squier Vintage Modified Mustang for live purposes as I am looking for the same sound and feel the Jagstang provided me in the studio. The '65 body (no contours) and lightweight construction keeps me playing for hours without strain on my back. Seeing as I'm taking on lead guitar in my band, I plan to modify it, adding a Seymour Duncan JB to the bridge position, and fix the tailpiece to block the vibrato (which Kurt Cobain had done to keep it in better tune). He would remove the two springs for the vibrato bar, add washers to the posts beneath the bridge plate, which locked it down to the plate, then flip the tailpiece around allowing the strings to feed directly through the tailpiece, not under, and the ball ends of the strings would fit in the tailpiece's recesses. The Mustang's pickup switches are recessed from the original, making it less likely to become accidentally switched during play (a feature missed by Fender when mass producing the Jagstang) making it a bonus for me, seeing as I play rather aggressively.. All these and a kill switch button will be added to my axe by time we hit the road, giving me the reliability I need from an abrasive, stage ready facsimile of the Jagstang, the guitar solely responsible for shaping my sound. Any player looking for that sound (or a foundation for an affordable classic collection) would be glad to get their hands on the Modifed Mustang.

Just found a Barracuda Strat copy for $40 cdn on Craigslist; installing humbuckers black pick guard and sticker soon. UPDATE it's done. Will post pics as soon as I figure out how.

The first half of the 1990's had quite the lineup of innovative and groundbreaking acts: Ministry. Nine Inch Nails. Faith No More. Sonic Youth. Nirvana. The list goes on... I could print a whole encyclopedia on this genre and still get corrected. But that's not why we are here... Or is it? The death of Kurt Cobain was a milestone. Whether you like it or not, everybody remembers how life was before and after Nirvana. Most of us were never the same again. Some of us were even inspired. "Who will sing for those millions now?" -David Fricke Bought for $700 cdn in 1996, the Jagstang is the weirdest guitar I've ever played. It's offset non contour body resembles the hybrid of a jaguar and a pre CBS mustang, with humbucker at the bridge position and a Texas Hot Rail to match it, and it's curved end makes the whole thing very body heavy. The bridges themselves were stock mustang design; I hoped for adjustomatic, as Cobain preferred TuneoMatics, but not surprised they went with stock; I still use them and they sound as great as they day I bought it. You can hear the Jagstang in action here.. Both the intro and outro were naturally sonic Jagstang spotlights. The humbuckers combined with the Texas special, when cranked and against a speaker stack just wails, as if in seance, to summon the machine's very creator. By the end of the track your hair may stand on end and wonder if it was recorded by Steve Albini. Nope. Greg Reely mixed this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1yfXzTWTNg

I first tried the Big Muff Pi Sovtek that belonged to Gregory Macdonald of Sloan, way back when we were in high school... The thickness and robustness often felt like something made from military equipment and it felt like it. I found the EHX reissue online and while the construction felt more like a DeLorean than a tank, the sound was exactly what I was looking for.

This pedal has become my security blanket. Playing a solo? Flange with wide berth at a ridiculous rate. Rhythm chords? Double Track, with zero feedback. End of the show? Crank every knob to 11 and watch your audience members run out with their ears in their hands. Or set it to Filter Matrix and let it rip through the mix like a saber made of light. "I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet... But your kids are gonna love it." -Marty McFly

Dd3 was one of the first pedals I received; it continues to serve me both on stage and in the studio. The 800ms delay with live attenuation had made it my vocal pedal for our rendition of "She's Lost Control" among others. A girlfriend at the time actually labeled my name over the "digital" part of the unit; and thus my pen name was born.

This, as much as I don't need it, has become a staple pedal in my Arsenal. It's rich bite while maintaining tone can rarely be beat. I hope to get the same buzz out of a modern re-release as I don't wanna tour with it, strictly for insurance purposes.

Eleca is a line of music instruments and accessories made in China. Included is a line of guitar effects, a couple of which look suspiciously like Sovtek/EH pedals. This is are the ESD-1 "Distortion Pedal". The entire Eleca pedal line can be found here : http://www.elecaamps.com/main/about.html I did a blind taste test challenge and could barely tell the difference. The tone, sustain and delivery are almost precise to the BMP, so much that I'm gonna use this on my rig for my main fuzz. The construction on it seems more rugged than the EHX as well, an appreciated bonus. Id check these guys out again for more quality pedals at a reasonable price.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYwkP7TXvdM

This will replace my need for an amp on the road. I want all my axe folk in the band to carry one. Heck, give one to each member, including our keyboard player and both drummers. We'd be the best unlistenable band in the world.

Totally Analog Replicating Delay In Sound Funny this was co-developed by country star Brad Paisley, who shares a song title with us (Welcome to the Future). When Wampler decide to make it available to the public, they also added a bunch of iconography and it's name, paying tribute to my fav Sci-Fi show on the BBC about a time travelling alien who saves civilizations. It's current time slot is Tea Time on Saturdays. But this is is about a Delay pedal. I could go on about what it does and how better it is compared to the rest, but I'll just say I returned my EHX Memory Man to the shop since I added this to my board. Nuff said.