vern_mcelroy's Reviews
26 reviews Back to vern_mcelroy's Equipboard
314
Gots That "Brighton Rock"
Sh!&-Jeeezus this pedal sounds SO GOOD !!! Ive been using a V-Twin going on 25 years, but happened across talk of these and got one, and-well : Im putting this into rotation. Though there is less eq adjustment available on the pedal its not really a ding because the sounds are amazing and are extensions of whatever your guitar sounds like, so eqing at the amp works perfectly. Channel two sounds like mid 70s Brian May ! Rich, musical, harmonic-ladden saturation, and channel one can be sparkling clean, or slightly grindy; then true bypass gives you sour guitar/amp totally uncolored. A GREAT pedal !!!
314
Texas Classic
I got one of these in 1996- couldn't afford any of the Fenders at the shop- and what a steal ! Mine is circa 1993/1994; hand made by Robin Guitars in Texas ( Billy Gibbons and SRV each owned Robins) Its a "Nashville" Tele which means it has Stratocaster pickup configuration with 5 position switch. This came stock with Rio Grande pickups which are the absolute best single coils Ive ever played; it can twang like country or bark like Zeppelin; has a pretty steep radius on the neck so is easy to play, and honestly of all the guitars Ive played I don't think there is another that allowed me to grow into it quite as well : When I was struggling and a beginner it played and sounded great; and each plateau as a player I reach this axe is right there revealing limitless abilities. Ive gotten a Malcom Young sound with it, a respectable late 70's Jimmy Page sound, even a hint of Trey Anastasio super clean is possible. THE BEST Guitar for the money hands down, and a GREAT guitar at any price...
314
As Needs Must
These things can't be beat. I switched from bass to guitar some years back and was getting OJT in a Blues collective. I had very little money to spend and I needed to hear myself and at the Blues Farm things were L O U D ! Most of the Fender (Twins/Deluxes) and all of the Marshalls were out of my price range, but I happened upon one of these Ampeg VT's a t Zone Music in Northern California. This amp didn't colour the sound one way or another, but reproduced a fairly flat tone with massive volume and headroom- plug in a preamp and you can get some nice sounds, all of them very usable. It has a pentode/triode switch, and effects loop, and 3 channels that are footswitchable. Really a super versatile amp that can't be beat for value. If you play classic rock run an OD into the front, if its nu-metal switch that for a super distortion pedal. Whatever you put in gets amplified and you will be able to hear yourself in just about any situation...
314
Viva 1990's !!!!
I started on Bass and in my youthful exuberance MY hero's were Entwistle, Chris Squire, Geddy, and an abiding luv of Lemmy, so after a few years using various head/cabs- SVT, Peavy, SWR; I wound up chasing the Doug Pinnick dragon and got a rack; 1/2 of a stereo power amp was a ART that was basically dry, the other half I used one of these. WOW are these things awesome; very musical and rich crunch/distortion and switchable with their 4 button controller- I got some amazing sounds from this, though never tried it with Guitar. Nice cackling high midsized, and the presence dialed in a sweet sizzle. Great for the money and really versatile.
314
GREAT Sound
Really great sounding circuit- kind of the best of the new with dialable oldish tones; perfect Fender top end. When I had one I had the back "Closed" with a panel, also got a pentode/triode switch put in to drop the power by roughly 1/2- that mod gave it a almost Voxlike tone. Honestly I probably wouldn't have sold it but lifting it was killing me at the time (I was in the worst shape Ive ever been in) Luckily it is still in my orbit and I use it from time to time and with relatively little back ache ! Haha. For the money you can not beat this amp...
41013
triode is actually more like 3/5ths volume, triode to pentode, get it.... and half power wouldn't be like half voulume…. the way you hear, half volume from say a 30 watt amp would really be a 5 to 10 watt power amp with the speaker system being equal efficiency and frequency response.
314
"Full Blast And Top Down"
Ive always preferred 10's, actually still do, but current gig is to play (My humble attempts at) lead in a band with a mostly rhythm and singer so I got some 12's because, well, everyone ever who Ive listened to...Solid cab, great sound, easy-wish to haul around. I highly recommend them first for sound, second for build quality, third for great sound...
314
Ceriatone Actual
I picked one of these up from Jam's Gear Cellar on Reverb; the guy actually gave me a deal on it and I think its the one of the best sounding heads Ive had the pleasure to know. Mine is in the small size so sits on a old Marshall 4X10 cab perfectly. I prefer overdrive to all out crunch- much more UFO or Thin Lizzy than Metallica or Mastadon- and this has that '80's Marshall sizzle and shine with a fat low mid. I very slightly push the front end with a Mesa V-Twin pedal and its just sings, and for that sort of crumbly Marshall clean tone it delvers chime and overtones in buckets...A great amp the guitar Gods allowed me to luck into as I couldn't afford to pay what these go for..
314
Up From Th DEEEEEEP
So I was using a Fender HRD 4X10 combo and it was heavy as F---; also it had a marvelous sound, buuuut couldn't give me that "British" tone Ive always loved. I was bemoaning how crappy newer Marshalls sounded to me and a friend said "You need a clone..." Well I searched around and stumbled across this on eBay. I messaged the seller who turns out also built it, and he was gracious in answering all my questions so I bought it. Luckiest thing I did in 2008. Micheal Whitney at that time was an engineer on a nuclear submarine and when he was home from a tour he would go back to his first love which was guitar and building stuff for that. This is a 50 watt clone of an early 80's JCM, though the circuit he used crunches out more like a 70's Hiwatt- brilliant and sandy and bright but not that scorching Marshall tremble, more midrangy and spongy if that makes sense. Switchable at the back for 4-8-16 ohms, 2 speaker outs. Thing is great and plenty loud, but has a 1/2 power switch that will run the tubes as triodes instead of pentodes- drops the wats by roughly half. Clean sounds are bright but not cackling and it takes to the mostly Teles I play quite nicely. I dunno if he is still making amps but if you EVER see one GRAB IT !!!
41013
70s hiwatts needto be cranked to crunch and its a very unique crunch due to the voicing and topology whicha re fairly unique, the pahse inverter plays a big role and its a hifi affair, AC coupled unlike almost every other guitar amp with similar long tailed pair arrangement.... 60s hiwatts and hylight made sound cities are meaner, in the 60 there was an additional cathode follower stage into the phase inverter which reduced the impedance effectively slamming more gain and a wider bandwidth of the preamp's tone into the power amp. Later the tone stack recovery stage was coupled directly to the PI and the triode that used to serve as a buffer into the power amp was repurposed to serve as a voltage reference to make the phase inverter fixed bias as well as AC coupled, a trick from macintosh hifi amps. This is the arrangement you'll find on most hiwatts. Also, as the designe volved bypass capacitors were eliminated from various gains tages increasing internal negative feedback, tightening the response and reducing the gain of each altered stage. Hiwatts are fascinating, nothing like marshalls other than how the power tubes are set up. I've built my own and also designed my own hiwatt influenced amp. Fascinating stuff, dude. Comapred to the amrshall guys Dave Reeves was a real engineer and artist.
314
WOW ! Much of what you've said would make more sense to Micheal who built this amp, all I know is given the right settings this thing sounds like "Slip Kid" so I dropped the HW comment in there, though maybe Townsend was using something else by then
314
Pure Function
A blue one of these ways my first "Real" instrument. A place called Black Market Music in SF used to let gigging musicians pay 1/2 and take the gear and pay the rest as you could-coolest elfin shop ever and I miss them :-( Anyway these are light, but neck through so you don't sacrifice any low end. It is SO easy to fret, and I pulled it out of storage after maybe 6 years and it was still perfectly intonated. Mine came with EMGs and so it has a nice high-mid clatter, but bump up the bass pot and its got a deep dance music rumble. Kick ass bass...
314
They Made Sgt. Peppers On A 4-Track
Hahahaha ! Seriously tho I learned recording on one of these; just so much fun. After 8 or so years of digital recording I actually pulled mine out of storage. There is something very beneficial to having to strictly manage track counts- like if it doesn't sound good with just 2 you won't fool yourself into thinking you can overdub or mix your way to a good song when there isn't one there. Also you can take the cassette out and flip it over and do backwards things; bounce rhythm to stereo or mono and add stuff. Man I can't say enough good things about these...
314
The Latest Great
Just added one to my set-up and really like it. If you put all the knobs on ten then back off a little you can find that crazy watery almost tremolo effect you hear on some Jimmy Page stuff; and set more moderately its a cool sort of shimmery thing you can add in place of chorus or phaser- more subtle, but still nice...
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314
An Accessible Pro DAW
I was using ProTools but then they decided they'd rather do the bulk of their biz with pro's and sacrifice the market share they had with work-a-day home recorders. Happily StudioOne is easy to use and reasonably priced, and while they don't really take phone calls they answer emails pretty quickly. Professionals can and do make market releases with this software, but Presonus doesn't seem to share the elitist tendencies of some other DAW makers, and so working class people like myself can access this wonderful product...
Version: PreSonus Studio One 3
314
Gig Friendly
I have one much older than the one in the pic, but I swear by the Marshall 4X10; its like a half stack thats useable in small clubs. Also the 10's just ring and chime so much better than 12's, but you really don't lose low end, in fact you get a tighter more usable low-mid kind of a rumble. When I got mine they were going off eBay or CL for $200-300, well worth it...
41013
I used to be really into the 1965B cabs, I had an A too but I mainly used a stack of Bs… sued them for years with a dual showman. Had the G10S35 speakers. Great cabs. Kinda low efficiency but a good voice. I kidna miss them, for some reason I went over to all 12s at some point.
314
Oh yeah ! My B-cab actually has a stereo input where you can run each set of 2 10's off a different amp. I tried 4x12's a few times but in the dives I play in just can't get loud enough for them to sound good. Im using a 2x12 now sometimes and is good, but the 4x10 is my favorite...
314
Climb Aboard !
A buddy who is a pro recordist hipped me to these; he sort of said "You need a Studio Channel" I was like "What, now ???" For pretty cheap you get tube and solid state drive, compression, and really usable EQ. Theres low pass/high pass; switchable phase, and ground lift all on the front along with phantom power, and you can go I&O either xlr or 1/4" or any mix of. If you need some front end for recording but your not trying to start a studio THIS is THE box...
314
Worth Paying The Vigorous
I bought 4 of these in 2008 and since then Ive not had a single issue. These cables cost a bit more, but small price to pay for NEVER having your stuff hiss, buzz, and/or pop at live or recording gigs, and I have yet to have one fail.
314
Get A Pair !!!
These things are indestructible and for the money they are AMAZING !!! Very user friendly small diaphragm condensers with a selectable high pass and come with a pop-filter included. GREAT for drum overheads, and also really great on vocals and clean guitar. Rode is just awesome imo
314
THE Intro Condenser
All due respect to the Australians but I got one built there and one built in China and they are both just kick-ass large diaphragm condensers for the hobby recordist. Throw these on a vocal with a pop-filter, mic an acoustic; if you have pre with a bad they actually are pretty durable and sparkly overheads (Though they clip quick so if your drummer pounds it out maybe get the M5s) These mics can NOT be beat for price and performance...
314
Kewl Pedal
It tends to be a little raspier than a mesa V-Twin but these are kick ass tube distortion/preamp/overdrive pedals. Built really solid and nary a click or squeak after 3 years of gigging. Ive loaned it to a friend who says its got him playing electric again. Good value for something built so solid and does a bunch of stuff well...
314
Viva La France !!!
I got one of these- I think a 2007- from a Parisian fellow who had just knocked up his gal; he took $800 cash; it had barely been played. I had Gary Brawer in SF set it up and put som Lindy Frailen "PAFs" in it and its really great for that Montrose one type of riffage, and it plays real easy. Im thinking it needs Lollars because the Frailins are a bit to chunky when it isn't getting overdrive, but a fabulous and simple guitar.
314
Deeeeeeeeeeep
Ive not investigated any other octavers; back in the 90s this was hands down the one that tracked best- especially using a single coil guitar like I mostly do. Another solid pedal from Boss that werks good on bass or guitar- add in a envelope and you can fake some Stevie Wonder or P-Funk classics