the_patchman's Reviews

No Improvement needed

This amp is a big surprise in a small package. What you get for 120 euros is unbelievable. 20 watts of hybrid power that translates into good tone and maintainability. I have it plugged in a 10'' cabinet and it is the master of the stage. Thanks to the solid state output stage it has enormous power for its small (almost cute) size. The features aren't bad either: adapter power, headphones jack, aux input and you can plug in any cab as long as its impedance is 4 ohms or higher.

This amp takes pedals really well. Drive pedals seem to pair with the 12ax7 preamp tube in a way that tubeless amps just wish to and can't achieve. I have a Orange 35LDX as my former practice amp and it just can't match the Micro Terror's pure tone. That amp is 120 euros more expensive.

Yeah sure, you have to buy a cab and a speaker cable. That is not a downside. The rumours are true, this little head can power a 4x12. It really can and if you want to turn some heads, that is what you should do.

Buy this amp, you can carry it in a backpack to a gig to act as a backup where a cab is available and the solid state output makes it reliable and rugged. If you are not pleased with the tone, you can swap the factory tube with that from Electro Harmonix, Sovtek etc.

Just buy it.

My first and last love

The moment I walked in my local music store to buy my first electric I immediately fell in love with this very guitar. The iconic ES-335 shape always gets to me in a way no guitar ever did. I bought the guitar and started playing. I never stopped. The guitar had some issues, it was to heavy for a 12 year-old and it sometimes forgot to stay in tune. But I loved it, still do. If it weren't for this guitar I would probably never have played so much to the point of joining Equipboard and writing this very review. The guitar was shockingly well built and the pickups are VERY responsive to light harmonic touches. something my Fender has trouble with. We all have that one guitar we would save from a fire, well this is my choice. Not just the numismatic value, but also the sheer overpowering sound of 'Sunshine' will be something I never want to lose.

Never seen one for sale, on stage or on the web. I was very fortunate to obtain 'Sunshine' and I wish everyone a similar experience.

Custom Made Frankenstrat

Natte Harry is a 12-sound custom guitar made by Van Schagen in The Netherlands. Specially made to spec: Seymour Duncan pups Fender parts based on a 1991 Squier Body (For price) The Pups are splitable and the middle pickup is activated by a switch (on/off). The guitar is unique and I primarily use it for jazz and funk. The clean sound of the No.3 is absolutely amazing through an Fender Tube amp.

Heavier than Slayer

My backup pole-driver this is. It is really heavy! Besides that, this is an excellent bass guitar. The pickups are great, it plays nice and easy and the weight doesn't bother quite as much as you would expect from something that weighs as much as your everyday lamppost. If you can find one, buy it and put some nice expensive strings on it. You won't regret it. I guarantee.

Okay

The embodiment of 'This will do'. Nothing is especially good on this bass guitar, except the sheer strength of the thing. An Abrams Tank has nothing on this BAMF. I bump into amps, tables, walls, infants, nuclear subs etc. with this giant but nothing seems to hurt it. I have taken the poly paint off and let it bare. Just looks killer. I did have to replace the standard pickups that had more fuzzy background sounds than a Muff on full. I replaced them with EMG's. Now some people with Fenders look at my bass and ask how in earth that sound is produced. Elixir strings help too of course. The Bass itself was a mere 70 euros, but my mods have left me an additional 150 euros out of pocket.

Worth every penny.

Kill your tone in 6 easy steps.

Well, for my most negative review, the renowned cobalt strings by Ernie Ball. I put these strings on my guitar, expecting the Gods themselves to appear in pure sonic awe. Well I got no God, even worse, the only thing I received was disappointment, anger, regret and dispair because I could have bought 3 sets of regular 010's for the price I payed for this pathetic excuse for strings. New isn't always better, these strings prove that statement. My rating was a generous two stars, because they didn't affect the guitar after I took them off. My guitar forgave me and I am never going to take that kind of risk again.

Works!

Cheap, (60 Euros) small, powerful, reliable and rugged. REALLY RUGGED. I don't know where you can buy it but just pull the trigger on it. NO BACKGROUND NOISE

YES I HAVE A FENDER oh wait.

I bought this guitar and i love it still. I love it like we love the retarded neighborhood kid who's just kind but we all know something is up. The Made in Mexico Strat is wronged. Yes, wronged. Why is it wronged? Well, the pickups are not as good as a Fender's should be. The bridge is unrefined, what affects tuning by a bit. The overall attention to detail is not sufficient to pass my barrier of satisfaction.

How did I fix my retarded friend? Custom Shop '69 Pickups, Wilkinson Tremolo (Oh My God, I love that Trem.)

That is it! Just replace the most important stuff and you're good to go!

The Bugera Speaker is fine.

See title. I needed a really small cab for my Micro Terror so I completely emptied the amplifier bits (they were equal to fecal matter anyway) and made a 1x8 cab out of it. It worked and I am happy with the result. With the Name Of Shame (Behringer) removed, it looks pretty decent. I also masked the controls etc. I even fitted an Orange decal on the control slab so it just looks like a black orange cab.

'These will do'

Bought them on a whim some time ago and I never used anything else to this day. Max-Grip? YES. They have Max-Grip. I had a little accident leaving my thumb completely bandaged, what forced me to use grippy picks. WELL, I lost more brain cells than picks that night. Nothing more to add.

If you are looking for disappointment in lead-shape look no further.

This cable is cheap, duh, otherwise it wouldn't be on my list. Problems with this cable: Contact make noise within 3 months of use. The cable is not straight, it wrinkles like an earthworm in tomato soup. Obvious background noise is obvious.

Do not buy, unless you want to bug someone.

Great Little Budgetier

This pedal is cheap, let's get that out of the way first. The sound isn't quite as good as that from a Boss. Besides that unreachable standard (it was 30 euros versus a lot more) it does its job. The sound is clear and the features are nicely adjusted to the desired sound. It is very reliable despite its all-plastic construction and sloppy activation feel. The internals are solid and it doesn't rattle or anything of that kind. It can be powered either by battery or 9V. I like it and I won't need something else.

Not Perfect

Awesome, but has its flaws. When activated, it has a certain bass boost to it that interferes with my standard sound. Can be countered by a well orchestrated equalizer, but I don't like equalizers on my pedboard. Has really great features that allow for a wide variety of Delay/Reverb mixes. I recommend this pedal, because you save a Boss-size space on your board instead of having both Delay and Reverb.