thcraymer's Reviews

Great 12-string, very comfortable to play, with a lovely sound

Initially I had a dreadnought size 12-string, but sometimes found that one difficult to play, it was massive compared with most of my other guitars! So I decided to go for a smaller, folk-sized 12-string, for more comfort while playing. This guitar stood out to me as the perfect candidate!

It was well within my budget, and met my requirements of being a folk sized 12-string. As well as that, the finish looks wonderful! Very vintage look to it, but fresh at the same time, much more interesting than the natural light brown spruce on my previous one. So I pulled the trigger and went for it!

It even exceeded my expectations! As well as looking great and being comfortable to play, the sound is also amazing. Where some 12-strings will be very loud and bright sounding (sometimes too much so in fact), this one has a more warm and mellow sound, almost as if it is slightly muted, but still keeps that jangly sound that 12-strings are known for, just with more warmth. Can highly recommend it, both for beginners on 12 string, and more experienced players too!

Amazing vintage Czechoslovakian bass, very versatile and perfect for any style!

Recently bought this bass second hand locally, as I already had the 6-string Jolana Iris, and was aware that a bass version existed, so wanted to get that, as I was so satisfied with the guitar version. I wasn't able to find an Iris in good condition going locally, but someone was selling a Vikomt, which is the same as the Iris, but with only a neck pickup, no bridge pickup. Not a problem for me, from the reviews the neck sounded much better than the bridge anyway.

I was pretty lucky with the one I found. Often Jolanas being sold are in quite poor condition (and can have electronics issues and/or flaws in the finish). The one I bought was in perfect condition: the pickup and electronics worked just like new, no additional noise from them (as I had with a previous Jolana bass), the bright red finish was flawless, and everything from the bridge to the tuners was in amazing working condition, like brand new. The guy who sold it to me also did a full setup, which was very kind.

Now for the playing experience: it's very comfortable to play, being short scale, and is not too heavy, at the same time there's no neck dive or anything. Considering it only has one single coil neck pickup, the sound is extremely versatile: roll the tone knob all the way down for something resembling a classic P-bass tone, roll it all the way up and you get a very bright funky sound with a lot of bite (I usually keep it in the middle). It also cuts through the mix better than any other bass I have ever owned.

So I'd definitely suggest going for these, if you want a vintage bass, a piece of history, that isn't too expensive, and you can find one in good condition!

Perfect trem for any Les Paul, SG, or 335

I previously had a Bigsby on my Les Paul, but it added way too much weight to the guitar (which was already quite heavy), as well as not being that comfortable or versatile to use (in comparison with, say, a Jazzmaster style trem). I had installed the Bigsby using a Vibramate adapter, meaning I'd made no permanent mods to the guitar, so when I heard about the Duesenberg Les Trem, and its reviews, I had to go for it!

Firstly (and importantly, if you have a heavier guitar like a Les Paul), it is very lightweight, and adds almost no extra weight to the guitar, while still retaining high quality. Secondly, you have several options: you can buy them with a Bigsby-style arm, or a Jazzmaster-style arm (I went for the Jazzmaster style), which can be adjusted to your liking and comfort. Thirdly, it is much easier to string up than a Bigsby, and not just that, but also stays in tune far better! And finally, it works out far cheaper than a Bigsby, and you don't need any additional items (such as a Vibramate), it can be installed easily with no drilling etc.

If you have a Les Paul (or any guitar with a tune-o-matic bridge), and want a whammy bar, definitely go for one of these!

Great, versatile guitar practice amp

Amazing amp for practicing at home! The sound is actually fairly loud considering its size, and has multiple different settings, including crunch and distortion, as well as some simple chorus, flanger, delay and reverb effects. (Sadly, as I got mine second hand, the "insane" setting is not working so I can't comment on that, but everything else is in working order). The sound quality is pretty good, I'd use this amp for recording too. But yeah, a great and cheap amp for practicing at home, or even some smaller jam sessions!

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Great practice amp, also useful for small acoustic sets

I bought this amp a while back in order to be able to play small acoustic sets, as it's not always possible to plug in my amp anywhere, so the fact that this amp is battery-operated really helps, and was the reason I bought it. It was fairly cheap, and really high quality for the price! It's a great looking amp, and the sound is very clean, both for acoustic and electric guitars (note: not for bass, I tried this once, but for 6 string guitars it is perfect). The fact it has two inputs (one for a mic and one for a guitar) is an added bonus.

Not only do I use it for small acoustic sets where there's nowhere to plug in, but also sometimes use it as a practice amp, it's so light and easy to take with me if I'm practicing at a friend's place. Naturally as it is such a small amp, it won't be heard next to a drumset or something, but great if you want to jam along with a friend or two at their place using small practice amps. Even at home I occasionally use it, if I want to get a really clean sound from my electric while practicing. Definitely recommend it, if you're doing small gigs here and there and it's not always possible to plug in... and at this price point, you can't go wrong!

A rarity at this price, a 5 string acoustic fretless bass!

Several years back, I was looking to get an acoustic fretless bass. Preferably with 5 strings, as not only did I want to explore the world of fretless, but also extended range, so it was a real venture into the unknown, buying this bass. It was a fraction of the price of any other fretless acoustic, and had that 5th string as well, so it was perfect as a starter instrument venturing into fretless and extended range! And it's certainly a looker, one of the most beautiful and flawless guitars I've ever owned!

I eventually did sell it, as it was really massive and took up a lot of space in my apartment. I found short scale to be better for my needs (especially on a fretless), and barely used the 5th string, so eventually replaced it with something smaller. Still, it was a great introduction to fretless bass, which has become an important component in my music now!

Amazing bass!

The bass was perfectly set up straight out of the box. Despite only having one humbucker, it is capable of a range of tones, and can fit into any musical context. And the bright red colour is very striking! The short scale and slim neck make it extremely easy to play anything from walking bass to heavier or more aggressive bass riffs, as well as making it much easier to store (it fits quite comfortably in my strat's gigbag). I would certainly recommend this bass for any bass player, beginner or expert!

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Unusual, interesting and very fun to play!

I bought this strat with the intention to play microtonal music, which includes Middle Eastern and North African style music, as well as being a tool for experimentation. Additionally, I did not have a Strat at the time I bought this, so the classic Strat sound was a bonus. Although these guitars are not commercially available from any major guitar brand, I looked up about these and was lucky enough to find a luthier who creates and sells them.

Although it is my most expensive guitar, and took a long time to ship (the luthier was based in Canada), it was well worth the money and wait. The guitar itself is pretty much hand-made, and is similar to a regular Strat but with the microtonal neck, and you can feel the quality when playing it. This guitar was perfectly set up out of the box, has that classic strat sound, and the intonation was perfect, even with almost double the amount of frets. Definitely would recommend to anyone going microtonal!

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Comfortable sized, great sounding acoustic bass!

I sold my previous acoustic bass and bought this one second hand, with the intention to save space in my apartment, as the previous one was massive. This one is roughly the same size as a regular 6-string acoustic guitar, as well as having a similar scale. The sound, however, is actually louder than the previous large one I had! This bass is great for any setting, whether it's at home or for small acoustic live sets. It's small and compact, but at the same time retains the sound of the larger full scale acoustic basses, as well as being extremely easy to store and transport. The short guitar-like scale length also makes it very easy to play and glide up and down the neck with ease, allowing you to play even very complex basslines with ease. I highly recommend this bass to anyone, beginner or professional!

Amazing bass, with the right setup!

A real relic from the '60s, retains its amazing vintage sound and is one of my favourites to play! Though it did require a fair amount of setup. The original paint had come off when I bought mine second hand, though the previous owner had kept all the basic functions such as the wiring, hardware, and tuners in good condition. I had mine re-finished, painted in gloss black for more of a rock aesthetic, and fitted it with flatwound strings. Also, it was fairly quiet, even with my amp at a high volume, as the pickups are quite low output. This was easily fixed by bringing the pickups closer to the strings.

After setting it up, I ended up with an amazing, versatile monster of a bass! Its 8 way selector switch allows a variety of different tones, and it can growl just as well as any modern J or P bass, while keeping its vintage tone. It's also pretty lightweight, being semi-hollow, but still has no neck dive. Although it looks long scale (in length, it's as long as any long scale bass, probably due to the large headstock), it's actually short scale, making it easier to play, while having quite a chunky neck. As well as everything else, it is a real looker, and definitely one I'd be proud to show off at any gig (especially after the new paint job). Definitely among my favourite basses, if not my favourite. Though I will say: for those buying one, be prepared that you need to be fairly competent in doing setups, and may need to take it to a luthier, to get it to a well playable level.

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Versatile gigbag for pretty much any bass

I found this to be the only gigbag within its price range that would fit my Jolana Kolorbas (a rare Czechoslovakian semi-hollow bass from the '60s), even though it was quite a tight fit, as well as keeping the bass well protected.

My go-to strings

The reasons I usually put these on my electric guitars: They stay in tune well (even with my frequent use of the whammy bar), last a long time and never seem to break, and are relatively cheap. Not to mention, their wonderful, bright tones!

Extremely versatile modulation/delay/reverb pedal!

I snatched this pedal up on Black Friday, mostly for the reverb effects it has, especially the more unusual effects such as reverse reverb and shimmer reverb. This pedal has many different effects, countless combinations of effects, as well as the ability to save up to 50 presets! I've been having fun trying some of these out, both presets that are inbuilt into the pedal, as well as creating my own. I still haven't had time to try out all the functions the pedal offers, but will certainly get round to it!

As my main genres are psychedelic rock and shoegaze, this pedal is perfect for my sound, which focuses very much on delay and reverb effects. It also saves me ever having to buy another delay, reverb, modulation, or eq pedal, in fact I can sell a few of my older pedals and save space on my pedalboard (as well as saving myself some cash) with this one!

I haven't yet tried hooking it up to the computer and browsing any of the other effects that can be downloaded (most of which I believe are drive effects and amp sims), but will do, however for now there is no need to until I've tried out the various stock effects. Also I'm still curious about the stereo capability, which will certainly enhance the reverb and delay effects. Best 100 EUR ever spent on a pedal!

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Quality strings!

Best strings to keep in tune (especially if you use the whammy bar a lot), great sound, and they last for ages!

Great quality strap!

I bought this thicker strap in order to better distribute the weight of some of my heavier guitars, as well as stop the neck dive on some of my lighter guitars. I bought this strap relatively cheap, and it is great quality, feels like real leather! It also distributes the weight very well on heavier guitars. (Though it didn't solve the lighter guitar's neck dive, I resolved that by adjusting it higher)

Easy to use, versatile capo!

Bought this capo as it was the cheapest one available that would also fit my 12-string. At this cheap price point, it's worth much more! It is very easy to put on and take off your guitar in between songs, while being just long enough to fit a 12-string acoustic too. And the bottle opener and bridge pin pullers are just an added bonus!

Great pickups for any guitar!

I've put these humbuckers in my Cort Les Paul. The reason why was because the stock pickups could sometimes get muddy, and I wanted to have a coil-split option too, while keeping the clean Alnico ii tone (but without the occasional muddiness), so these pickups were perfect! I installed them easily using a solderless harness, they were a perfect fit. The Les Paul sounded better than ever, much cleaner sound, and the option to coil split too, making the guitar extremely versatile! The pickups not only sound but look great too (the Les Paul itself is amber, but I changed most of the hardware to black, so the black pickups fit perfectly aesthetically too). Not to mention, they are far cheaper than any of the big brands (Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio) but just as great in quality! I would highly recommend them for any guitar with humbuckers!

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Easy to use tremolo pedal, not to mention a lot of fun!

This pedal can add a whole other dimension to your sound, without sucking any tone! It's a pretty versatile tremolo pedal too, naturally you can control the time and depth, as well as having two modes: one which makes a more wavy sound, while the other makes more of a helicopter-like sound. Overall it's been a great addition to my collection, and is a must for everyone into unusual guitar sounds and effects!

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Great sounding and versatile OD/distortion pedal!

Interesting story behind this pedal for me: I don't exactly remember the story behind how I got it, but it was a gift and goes back to when I started playing on electric. However, as I'd usually use the built-in drive/distortion on whatever amp or DAW I used in those days, this pedal rarely got any use, and was just collecting dust for several years. However, one day while cleaning out and selling some of my old gear, I found this pedal and decided to try it out, just out of curiousity. It sounded as good as new, and far better than I ever remember it sounding when I first got it! (Granted, I have then since upgraded both my guitar and amp, so the pedal's true potential could be seen). It can go anywhere from being a boost pedal with a light drive, to being quite a heavy distortion pedal, and everything in between, without draining any of the guitar's natural tone and character. By far the best od/drive I've ever used, can't believe I neglected it all those years!

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Great tool for creating artificial feedback and other effects!

I originally bought the Joyo infinite sustainer, as I wanted to be able to create artificial feedback effects on the guitar while recording with headphones at home. This does that, and way more!

It works with a magnet that can vibrate a single string at a time, and has two settings: one is purely a sustain function (that will sustain the note, this can be used for making very subtle feedback sounds), the other is a distorted sustain function (with this you can get the more squealing guitar feedback!) As well as a feedback, it can be used for all sorts of effects such as theremin like sounds and the like. It's also great for experimentation, as the sound varies according to the location of the device in relation to the pickups, and it is pretty much random!

All in all, I'd highly recommend getting one of these, for creating artificial feedback (if you're home recording), as well as experimentation!

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