Amps Archives - Page 3 of 4

Category: Amps

Contest: Build the Tonefiend Forum!

A sad, desolate place — but not for long!

One cool thing about going indie with tonefiend is that fact that I can finally host my own geek forum! It’s already up and running — but it’s a sad, vacant space that desperately needs to be populated by cool people and cool ideas.

How to get there? ~~Sleazy bribes!~~ Cool prizes!

Here’s the deal: I’ve pre-populated the forum with a few topics and threads. Just come on over, register, and chime in on any thread that interests you — or better yet, start one of your own. And on September 1st, 2012, the three forum members who have consistently contributed the liveliest content as judged by ~~some dork~~ me will get a bitchin’ stompbox laboriously hand-built by ~~the same dork~~ me. I can’t disclose exactly what the pedals will do, but I can promise they will be cool, useful, and genuinely unique — original designs, not some lame-ass Screamer clones. And if I manage not to vaporize my hand with the TechShop laser-cutter I’ve been learning to use, they’ll even have wicked laser-etched enclosures.

Naturally, I hope the tonefiend forum will also be cool and unique, and that you’ll enjoy geeking out there even when there’s no contest. But hey, I’m not above greasing the skids with free stompboxes as needed.

Please read the forum rules, though.

FORUM RULES: Be cool.

secret_room_rect — Now with more secrets — and less secrecy.

Last winter I tried an odd experiment: a website where players were encouraged to post their best tone secrets — the kinds of tricks and techniques that are almost too good to share. But in order to get, you had to give: The site was password-protected, and the password was only sent to those who contributed secrets.

Musicians responded, no doubt encouraged by the cool prizes awarded to the top secrets, as judged by user ratings. I also asked some cool musician friends to contribute the first round of secrets, yielding tips from the likes of composer/virtuoso Lyle Workman, metallurgist-turned jazzbo Alex Skolnick, original Chili Peppers guitarist Jack Sherman, boy genius Blake Mills, and other great players.

Once the contest ended, traffic slowed, but the site has slowly but surely grown. And now, as an experiment, I’ve removed the password protection. Now anyone can visit the Secret Room, AKA tonesecret.com, even if they haven’t coughed up a secret. So please do!

It’s a fascinating document. Naturally, the quality of secrets varies, as does the level of expertise needed to make the most of them. I exerted a light editorial hand — only silly or flat-out-wrong tips were vetoed, and I didn’t do much in the way of spelling and grammar repair. Sometimes the contents are a little repetitious — but trust me, there is much wisdom and originality throughout.

I hope you find something helpful — and I hope you’re moved to contribute some secrets yourself using the site’s submission form. And who knows? There may be more ~~tawdry bribes~~ fabulous prizes lurking around the corner…

Behold the Synyster Kitty!

Okay, as promised: One more quick video featuring the Hello Kitty Strat, this time with one of those new Duncan Synyster Gates Invader pickups. I’m told the ceramic-magnet Invader is literally the hottest possible non-active pickup. I’m inclined to believe it.

Take this one with a grain of salt. As much as I love trying to make a pink $99 guitar and a Lunchbox amp sound as heavy as possible, this pickup just might sound a wee bit heavier with a big-ass mahogany guitar and a big-ass tube-dude amp. But still.

FYI, here’s the earlier post I did using a Duncan Phat Cat pickup, plus the same built-in fuzz.

Behold, mortals: (more…)

Amped-Up Acoustic Guitars

amped_acoustic_Snapseed — What could possibly go wrong?

There are two ways to approach amplifying an acoustic guitar: trying to duplicate the natural sound, only louder, and NOT trying to sound naturalistic at all. This post is about the second approach.

I love playing acoustic through an electric guitar amp (as opposed to a dedicated acoustic amp). True, the tubes and speakers amputate all high frequencies. But if you think of the instrument not as an acoustic guitar, but an idiosyncratic electric variant, it opens up amazing possibilities.

More often than not, I prefer to play acoustic gigs that way. I did a fun benefit show last year playing rock and R&B covers with a band consisting of Flea, Tracy Chapman, and drummer Dawn Richardson. Tracy had a beautiful, ultra-hi-fi acoustic tone, and the ratty, rumbling sound of my acoustic through a small combo was — well, let’s just say it was a very strong contrast.

Admittedly, relatively few players exploit this technique. One notable exception is Daniel Lanois. He’s best known as a producer (U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, etc.), but he’s also a phenomenal player who does amazing things with an acoustic guitar, an inexpensive magnetic soundhole mic, and small vintage Fender amps. I’ve watched him play up-close a few times, and he’s incredibly adept at conjuring a variety of tones and controlled feedback from this setup.

It’s definitely a white-knuckle playing experience. You have to listen carefully and nix unwanted feedback with quick damping technique. But it can be so expressive!

I’ll talk more about the technique in a bit. But first, check out this short video demo featuring distortion and other stompbox effects, controlled (and not-so-controlled) feedback, and a lot of awkward twisting and turning as I grapple with the tone: (more…)

ReAmps: Cooler and CHEAPER Than Ever!

The latest version of the ReAmp, the Radial PRO RMP Studio Re-Amper, lists for a recession-friendly US$115, which means you can probably snag one for under a C-note.

The device, created by engineer John Cuniberti (best known as Joe Satriani’s studio wiz), is a recording direct box in reverse: It lets you play recorded tracks through guitar stompboxes and amps by stepping the signal down from line level to instrument level. Applications include:

after

• running non-guitar tracks through guitar effects and amps

• making objective comparisons between amps, effects, and DIY project options by running identical signals through multiple pieces of gear.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve heard a lot of ReAmp. I recommend them to all studio provocateurs — especially now that the price is right!

We Have a Mutant Winner!

The contestants were formidable. The competition was fierce. But by the time yesterday’s deadline arrived, one mutant stood triumphant — so triumphant that we are spared the ~~interminable silliness~~ responsibility of a run-off round.

And the winner is Dave Wetherby’s kaleidoscopic Colorcaster. Congrats to Dave, who will receive as a prize a super-freq Uglyface, a fuzz pedal that only a mutant could love. Congrats, Dave!

Here again are Dave’s original comments from the posting thread: (more…)

Mutant Beauty Pageant:
Choose the “Winner!”

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

At the moment, I’m particularly thankful that, despite being a jaded old musician, I can still encounter instruments that, um, take my breath away. And if you can view all the Mutant Beauty Pageant contestants without spewing your beverage all over your computer, you’re made of stern stuff indeed.

Exaggeration? You be the judge. Literally!

As specified in the “rules,” the submission deadline has arrived. Now it’s time to choose the most beautiful mutant. Just select your three favorites from the photo gallery below.

(more…)

Mutant Beauty Pageant Update!

The end is nigh! But maybe not as nigh as originally planned…

Thanksgiving Day (that’s Nov. 24th to you non-U.S. residents) was the original deadline, but I’m going to extend it through the holiday weekend, till midnight, PST, on the 27th) for one simple reason: We want to HEAR some of these mutants!

C’mon — I know many of you are avid home recordists. Let’s have some audio to accompany the remarkable visuals! It doesn’t have to be a fancy production — just a little bit recorded into a phone will ~~convey the true horror of these monstrosities~~ express the unique musical qualities of each instrument.

Post your pics (and, I hope, audio) to the comments thread here. Meanwhile, I’ll be updating the astonishing photo gallery here.

Mutant Beauty Pageant: The Photo Gallery

Well, um, the entires in our Mutant Beauty Contest are certainly . . . something. Click the MORE button to open the slideshow. New beauties added daily!

Post your images to comments via a photo-sharing site, or email them to me. I’ll add each new mutant to the slideshow so the entire Internet can ~~laugh at your abysmal taste~~ admire your collecting and building skills.

You can review the “rules” here. The prize is still TBD, but I guarantee it’ll be every bit as . . . something as the beauties displayed here.