ralphkj's Reviews

Incredible guitar

If you can pick one of these up for a good price they are a bargain. Sounds fantastic stock(I did lower the pole pieces on mine to take the edge off) most forgiving tremolo system ever to exist in my opinion! It’s been my workhorse guitar since 2019. Just make sure you ditch the stock bridge and get a mustang, staytrem or mastery birdge. They all work and are reversible, just depends on your budget. I believe the AVRI series of fender are the best you can buy that isn’t vintage or custom shop.

My perfect acoustic guitar

I picked up a 2007 reissue for under £2000. Records nicely and well built. The p90 sounds cool, great if you’re looking for a weird electric guitar sound on your record(Beatles used it for the main riff on “I Feel Fine”). I had mine fitted mine with fisherman rare earth blend pickup, then made the output of that pickup the new strap button so it is discreet. I now have an acoustic plays well, records well, has a very realistic sounding DI, and has a weird archtop sound with the p90. It’s a desert island acoustic.

Good!

Is a compact size for touring and a robust build. Sounds as you would expect. Done a couple records with the micro and mini. However, the micro does have software limitations compared to the mini, and doesn’t have the half speed switch(you have to menu dive for that) which could have been easily done. Is also a bit more than what I wanted to spend, even on the second hand market. Really I should have worked harder at school then I could have the mini…

Only a bargain of you need it

Sounds and looks the part, very loud though. This is why they are so cheap.

Bargain

Picked up a 1978 musicmaster for under £900. Very nicely worn and weathered instrument, with really old round wounds. Will probably put flats on it somewhen. You can still pick these up as a used bargain. One of the last vintage fenders you can acquire for under £1000!

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Cool tremolo but…

Very fun pedal with a couple tricks up its sleeves, great distortion sound, and two cool tremolo sounds. However, it can’t do clean and colours the sound too much, if there was a was of blending it then that would help make it more versatile.

Amazing

Fantastic digital reverbs and modulation. Have used this on a number of records now.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

The best synth to come out in my lifetime

The rev-4 has modern touches tastefully applied where necessary, which brings it forward to the 21st century. Once the firmware has been installed it is a reliable and can be easily taken out for gigs. It responds well to effects too. If you can pick these up second hand then this can be one of the greatest bargains you can get these days. I had a Juno-106 for a while but craved deeper modulation capabilities, and the Prophet-5 rev 4 delivered. So much so I have made it my only poly synth, and will probably remain that way.

Look no further

Its my desert island amp, loud enough to fill rooms and outdoor spaces, small enough to be transported without too much hastle. Can take guitars, basses and keyboards really well. Very nice drippy spring reverb. Takes pedals well.

Decent, but has missed potential

Its a great idea for a guitar pedal, and it does many things well. But wasn’t quite as good as I was expecting as a former tape operator. Having the option to switch between different tape speeds (IPS) would have made this alot more realistic and versatile, could have been a small switch somewhere.

Fantastic

A more affordable alternative to the RE-201, just looks a little different and doesn’t have the spring reverb, which I was never a huge fan of anyways.

The best home use mixer/interface

Perfect for the home studio with a handful of nice synths, keyboards and outboard gear. The channel strip compressors are a waste of time though, could have had something more useful in its place such as a HPF.