The WRONG Way to Use a Talk Box

Any talk box fans out there?

Whew. Didn’t think so. I mean, doesn’t everybody hate those godforsaken things? Wasn’t it all downhill after “Tell Me Something Good?”

But did you know that the “talking guitar” has a rather exalted history four decades pre-Frampton Comes Alive? Check out this performance by Alvino Rey, the steel guitar […]

Klon vs. Screamer Test:
The Results Are In!

As promised, the correct answers to the Klon vs. Screamer blind listening test posted exactly a week ago:

Example 1: medium gain, medium tone

Pedal A = BYOC clone Pedal B = Klon Centaur

Example 2: high gain, medium tone

Pedal A = BYOC clone Pedal […]

Logic X is Here!

Nnnggg…pedals.

Apple released the long-awaited Logic X a few minutes ago. And it’s dripping with cool new guitar and bass stuff: a fabulous bass amp modeler. Lots of new virtual stompboxes. Vast new libraries of guitar tones, and newer, smarter ways of accessing them. More product info here.

FYI, I’m the furthest thing […]

NEW CONTEST: Klon vs. Screamer
Identify the Audio Clips and Win!

Left: Klon Centaur #309, worth over $2,000.Right: BYOC Overdrive 2, a $95 Tube Screamer clone.

It’s hardly a new idea: YouTube is full of Klon vs. Screamer comparison videos.

But this one is different.

Using the same “reasonably scientific” techniques deployed in my recent germanium fuzz survey, I’ve created a blind listening […]

An Unhappy Klon Buyer

Thanks, Bear, for sharing this:

Fuzz Detective Appendix 1.0

D’oh! I omitted a circuit from the Fuzz Detective video. It’s the germanium version of the Shin-Ei Companion Fuzz FY-2. So here’s a brief Fuzz Detective Appendix.

The silicon version of the FY-2 is a cult item, a nasty little thing best known for its appearance on Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy album. The germanium […]

Fuzz Detective:
The Case of the 12 Germanium Fuzzes

As threatened, the Fuzz Detective video:

WHAT: Twelve germanium fuzz circuits compared and analyzed. These represent the sounds of almost every fuzz pedal introduced between 1962 and 1968.

WHY: A tool to help players identify the circuits most relevant to their musical needs. This isn’t about particular brands of pedals, but the circuits they […]

Fuzz Detective: The Plot Thickens!

Man, I’m glad I announced my intentions about this project! Thanks to your links and suggestions, the “Fuzz Detective” project has grown vastly more ambitious. I need a few more days to make my test recordings are assemble the results, but I believe this will be the most complete and “scientific” audio comparison of 1960s […]

Next Week on Fuzz Detective!

UPDATE: Based on cool info supplied by YOU, dear readers, I’m expanding the scope of this piece. I’m furiously wiring up clones of some very rare models, and I can promise many cool and interesting surprises. Thanks, guys! :beer:

Okay, now that we’ve all gotten that silly “reading” stuff out of our systems with […]

Tonefiend Book Week 2013
Wednesday: Repair and DIY

Monday: Theory and Technique Tuesday: Gear Wednesday: Repairs and DIY Thursday: Biography Friday: Fiction

Tonefiend Book Week is simple: I discuss a few titles I’ve found particularly enlightening, useful, or entertaining, and then you jump in and do the same. I’ve organized the days of this week by subject matter. Today’s topics are repair and […]