The Plutoneium Chi-Wah-Wah is one of those pedals where you wonder why it hasn't been made before. Just imagine, a killer sounding wah that goes on when you step on it and goes off when you lift your foot, all in a size that can easily sit next to your Boss or other compact pedals. The best part is that it sounds great! At around $189, it's not the cheapest but if you're sick of your old wah taking up too much space or just want the newest wah on the block, give the Plutoneium Chi-Wah-Wah a try!
I've been trying to imitate organ sounds with my guitar for 20 years but I never thought you could get this close! By using the Electro-Harmonix HOG, you can get so close that you could fool most people. Awesome! The only downside is that the HOG is $465. Of course, it can do other effects so it moves to the top of my most wanted list.
Wow, this is a real deal! For only $399, you can own a Bogner designed tube amp with Line 6 amp sims and effects. This is an amp worthy of gigging with for the price of a practice amp. Why so cheap? Line 6 just unveiled their new Spider Valve MKII.
For those of you who are familiar with Propellerhead's Reason, the announcement of their new Record software should have you running out to buy it now. It claims to streamline the recording process and it has some sweet built-in features like Line 6 guitar and bass modeling. I'm going to download the demo and see if I like it better than Sonar.
I've heard so many stories about Jaco Pastorius' legendary Fender bass. The stories were that it was lost forever shortly before his passing. Fans of what might be the best bass player to walk the planet always wondered what happened to the bass and now we know!
From Bass Player:Allow me to offer my personal reflections upfront. When I first laid eyes on the instrument, my initial reaction was that it didn’t look like the Bass of Doom, what with the figured-maple top and back. (A photo of Jaco holding the restored bass can be seen on page 240 of Bill Milkowski’s updated Backbeat Books bio Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius.) As for picking up and plucking a piece of history, let me describe it this way: Who among us hasn’t wondered if we would sound better playing the instrument of one of our bass heroes? Well, the answer in this case is, Yes! The Bass of Doom is the best-sounding and feeling fretless I’ve ever fingered. It’s very light and very resonant, with the extra-narrow neck of early Jazz Basses.
I love the sound of tubes. Most guitar players that are serious about tone, love tubes and the TubeUlent gives you an easy way to add that wonderful clean or overdriven tube tone to any amp or recording device. Don't confuse this with the ZVex Nano Head because it's not an amp, just a preamp meant to be put in front of any amp or mixer.
The advantages of using the TubeUlent as a preamp verses a full size tube amplifier include:
Smaller size and lighter weight makes for a more portable performance rig.
Rugged construction requires less maintenance and provides higher reliability than most amplifiers.
No major reliance on type or model of final amplifier. Just about any amplifier (tube or solid state) can be used, but the player still benefits from tube amplifier response characteristics, and the warmth of tubes.
The output power of the final amplifier does not affect the response of the TubeUlent. The amplifier can be a headphone amp, a practice amp, or a medium to high power amp. This facilitates the scaling of the final output volume to suit the situation without affecting tube response - very useful for recording as well as live performance.
Other effects can be used before and/or after the TubeUlent, providing a broader range of tonal possibilities that in some cases would be difficult to do with full size tube amplifiers, such as reverb after distortion.
After having tried the Fishman Loudbox 100 and loving it, I totally want this collectors edition. The only downside is that it's $100 more expensive and only available at Sam Ash. Only 100 were made and they're all autographed by Larry Fishman. It's a nice amp but I don't really think it's worth $699.
Digitech has really been making a lot of great pedals lately! The new Digitech Timebender is now looking like the ultimate delay pedal. I can't wait to get my hands on one!
If you're a guitarist that loves effects but hates programming, the new Boss ME-70 is for you! The ME-70 offers just about every effect from various distortions, delays, harmonizers and this model adds a phrase sampler for looping! This thing is also built solid for gigging musicians, no cheap plastic body here. At a street price of only $299, roughly the cost of 2-3 pedals you can have the equivalent of a whole pedalboard of effects in one easy to carry and use unit!
After having tried the Fishman Loudbox 100 and loving it, I totally want this collectors edition. The only downside is that it's $100 more expensive and only available at Sam Ash. Only 100 were made and they're all autographed by Larry Fishman. It's a nice amp but I don't really think it's worth $699.
