max_mars's Reviews

Good tone options, easy to play

I wear it fairly high on my body and experience no neck dive. This guitar plays so easily, and is my fave.

Love the B Model D

Three lusciously fat VCO's, a perfect compliment to my Korg SQ-1~ I have 2 D's, and now 5 SQ-1's.

Gallien-Kruger 212SC Combo Guitar Powerhouse!

I have owned this amp for about 20 years. It is loud, VERY loud! Features: 2 Celestion G-12-80 15-ohm drivers Rear: on/off switch, polarity switch, grounded convenience outlet, extension speaker jack. Front:1/4" TS Inputs- Normal, and -10 db. Front Controls: 2 sections, A & B, each with the following: Volume, Master, Treble, Hi Middle, Lo Middle, Bass, and a gain Boost in/out button. There is a Contour in/out button, & a Reverb pot. There are 1/4" send/return jacks for A, B, and A&B, and a multi-pin jack for a wired foot-pedal style remote to control A/B, Reverb, and Contour.

I added a small muffin fan on the back to keep the output transistors cooled, and after market tilt-back legs on this beast. It is an awesome solid state amp, with plenty of gritty or clean gain, and 150 watts of power- enough to make your brain swell, and your ears bleed.

Great Rack-mount Analog Keyboard Mixer

I bought one of these Kawai mixers off Ebay a number of years ago, and liked using it so much that I found a good deal on a second one. I use one as a master mixer for my modular synth set-up, and the second mixer for my keyboards. This mixer is configured as eight channels, each with left and right inputs, gain slider, pan pot, a 3 postion gain switch, red LED clipping lamp, and pots for the two effects channels. It also features a 1/4" headphone jack with volume, and two master gain output sliders with dual color volume LED meters. I especially like that it has both 1/4" and XLR output jacks. The folks at Kawai have been super friendly and supportive anytime I've asked a question. The build is robust, the mixer is quiet and reliable.

Epiphone SG Special

Another Ebay find, and the case that was included with mine turned out to be an acoustic guitar case, which was weird. I got a generic SG case for $40 and it fits quite nice. I think my SG Special was an older one as it had no pick guard, which I added. This guitar as nice sustain, and stays in tune well. All-in-all, not bad for under $100 used with a new case.

LTD Viper 50 (White)

I knew nothing of this guitar when I placed my Ebay bid. I got it for about $50 and it was located in the city where I lived, so, I was able to just pick it up. I am not a professional guitar player, but this guitar is so easy to play, that I play almost every day. It is a bit on the heavy side, which gives it good sustain. I like it!

Ultimate Support Deltex Keyboard Stand

I bought four of the Deltex stands from Guitar Center about six years ago when they had them on clearance for $50 each. Wish I had purchased a few more, as the Deltex is a very stable stand.... However, a bit of a hassle for portability. These are best for studio use, and ans I now have USP 2 tier column stands that are similar, and fold for easy transport.

Casio SK-1

I have two of these lo-fi sampling keyboards, and rarely use them as of late, but the low fidelity gritty quality is quite nice. I plan on using them more in the distant future.

Homebrew cables

I have made so many custom cables over the past 30 years, I don't how many I have made. This includes 1/4" TS patch cables, guitar cables, pin-tip modular cables, 10 foot and longer twin RCA cables using high grade mic cable, speaker cables from two foot to fifty foot long, video cables, a custom 4-pin to pin-tip keyboard interface cable for my modular system, 4-outlet power cables, DC power cables for multiple modular cabinets, not to mention custom cabling for clients.

Behringer PX-2000 Patchbay

I use three of these. This is a versatile 1/4" TS patch bay with top mounted switches which allow four input/output configurations for each of the 32 front/rear patch point pairs.

Gorilla GG-25 Guitar Combo Amplifier (Modified)

I purchased this Gorilla GG-25 guitar combo amp new, back in the early 1980's, but, I quickly modified it by removing the speaker, cutting the cabinet down, adding a speaker output jack, and thus created a Gorilla GG-25 amp head. This amp is a bit noisy, but creates a thick and rich fuzzy sound when the Tube Stack circuit is employed. I also added a foot switch jack for the Tube Stack circuit, and later obtained a second GG-25 as a second hand gift, so now I can double my pleasure.The amp came stock with 1/4" headphone and line outputs and a 12-Volt DC jack option.

Vintage Silvertone 1483 Amplifier

One of these amps was given to me over 20 years ago, and it needed an output transformer. The old guy who did the repair installed a much larger one. This amp still has all the original caps,and other components though I use a variety of speakers with it. It makes a great combo when a Gorilla GG-25 is used as a pre-amp for guitar.

Shure SM-57 Micropohone

This mic is a trusted and true workhorse of the music and sound industry. I have several. Great performance every time.

Ibanez DD700 Rackmount Delay

This old school rackmount delay unit quickly proved itself in my use of older analog modular synth gear. I use two of these delay units, as their grittiness compliments the uniqueness of my Paia 4700 VCOs.

Paia 4700 Modular Synthesizer

My system has grown to include six VCOs, several mixers, transposers, and other modules, and is now housed in five cabinets. This system is a bit wonky electronically, has a sound unique unto itself, and works great with the Korg SQ-1 sequencer.

Boss DR-55

This was the 1st drum machine I purchased new- way back, in the day. It has been a real workhorse, and I use it primarily for triggering Korg SQ-1 sequencers with my Paia 4700 modular setup. The only mod I have done is to change the knobs for easier sighting.

Unique sounding synth

The Roland Sh-3a was my 1st ever synth, purchased used in the early eighties. I typically use it for textural sounds, drone sounds, and for wind-like sounds.

Good ethereal sounds

I have two of these synths, and they are good for gritty background textures. They are easy to use, program, and save patches to. This is a handy synth to use.

Great vintage workstation

The Ensoniq MR-61 was my first piece of professional grade equipment. I would rate it higher, except that there is no longer support for it. That being said, it is a fairly easy to use workstation, has rich sounding patches, and some excellent bass sounds. I now have two of these, and am looking forward to syncing them with my Electribes.

Great little sequencer

I now own five KORG SQ1 sequencers. I use these with my PAiA 2700, 4700, and 9700 modular system, and they work great! I also use the SQ1's with my two Behringer Model D synths.