Sep 22nd 09
9 Comments | Posted in Featured Articles, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Pignose, Reviews, Videos
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Ever since I first saw Crossroads when I was a kid, I thought the Pignose 7-100 amplifier was pretty cool and wanted one (along with a Fender Telecaster). I*m not sure why I never bought one since they aren*t exactly cost prohibitive. When I first tried to learn guitar when I was younger we didn*t have the internet (wow, I just felt really old saying that) so it wasn*t like I could go on ebay to find one. My gear selection was limited to the three guitar shops in town and none of them had the Pignose. Well here I am (many) years later and taking up the guitar again and the Pignose 7-100 popped back into my mind and I picked one up.
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Aug 13th 09
15 Comments | Posted in Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Reviews, Videos
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I*ve always wondered if I could really tell the difference in sound between two sets of strings of the same gauge on the same guitar. So when I took my new Gibson Les Paul Goltop over to San Francisco Guitarworks to get a proper setup I also had them put on a new set of strings (I could have done it myself, but I was feeling lazy and they were working on my guitar anyway).
But, before taking the Les Paul into the shop I did a quick recording on the current strings so I could compare them to the new strings once I got my guitar back.
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Aug 11th 09
6 Comments | Posted in Analogman, EHX, Featured Articles, Gear, Keeley, Reviews, Rickenbacker, Videos, Vox
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As I posted last week, I went out and tested a EHX Big Muff Pie and a Analogman Sunface NKT 275. The one fuzz box I wanted to try but didn*t because nobody had one available locally was the Keeley Fuzz Head. When I was listening to samples of fuzz boxes, the Keeley was actually my favorite out of them all. But obviously you can*t tell anything about how somethings really going to sound off of a YouTube video. Even trying them out in the store only gives you a little idea of how it will work for you. It*s not until you get things home and use it with your gear that you*ll really know how you*ll like it.
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Aug 5th 09
7 Comments | Posted in Analogman, EHX, Featured Articles, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Reviews, Videos, Vox
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After Effects Bay*s post yesterday I wrote about being inspired to check out the EHX Big Muff Pie fuzz box. Well, today I went down to Haight Ashbury Music Center to give it a try along with an Analogman Sun Face NKT 275. I did some research last night on various fuzz effects and after hours of watching YouTube videos, I narrowed my selection down to the EHX Big Muff Pie w/ Wicker switch, the Analogman Sun Face NKT 275, and the Keeley Fuzz Head. The only one I couldn*t test today was the Keeley Fuzz Head as they were out of stock.
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Jul 27th 09
8 Comments | Posted in Featured Articles, Fender, Gear, Gibson, Guitar, Reviews, Vox
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When I was looking for an amplifier I knew my price range topped out at $600 and I knew I wanted a tube amp. After looking around a bit I narrowed my choice down to the Vox AC15CC and the Fender Blues Junior amps.
I needed to hear the amps, so I headed to a local Guitar Center to give them a listen.Since I*m a beginner I didn*t feel like I could really get a good idea of what the amps could do since I have a limited range of things I can play (that and I*d be too embarrassed to crank up the volume to get a good listen). So I asked one of the employees to play on the amps (and believe me, this guy could play. I had him playing Blues, Rockabilly and Jazz). As he played we tried out the spectrum of settings on each of the amps. I had him play a Strat and a Les Paul to get different sounding guitars in the mix as well.
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