Chris Loeffler

Making Music Matters- Why Mozart Won’t Help You by Chris Loeffler “Music makes you smarter”, is an idea that has been core to the lexicon of our society, especially by parents ready to raise the next generational genius who is going to elevate and enlighten mankind, leading civilization to a new age of peace and interconnection, where the sins of the past are wiped away. So you buy “Baby Mozart” and play it in the nursery every time your infant child sleeps, magically growing their intellect while you skulk away, hoping your exit won’t disturb them so you can reward your efforts with a much-needed glass of (fill in the blank). Parenting! Except, Mozart isn’t going to make your baby smart. At least, that’s what science says. Somewhere along the way, the benefits of listening to music (especially classical, jazz, or anything that isn’t “easy to listen to”) became interchangeable with the concept of learning and instrument and being able to perform a song. While there have been many studies showing immediate, one-time boosts to creativity or output when a task is completed listening to classical music, there has been exactly zero evidence that listening to music results in long-term growth. Oh, and classical music performs as well (or poorly) as a Stephen King audio book, depending on the person. Turns out it’s likely the fact that someone enjoys the background input that gives them a temporary boost, not how angular and complex a musical arrangement is. Music appreciation courses that have been tracked by all credible university studies confirm zero correlation between any enhancement in the fields of science or mathematics. So what gives? Turns out one of the most frustrating adages around holds true… you have to work for what you want. The false positives and anecdotal wunderkind used to prop up the “listening to classical music makes you a smarter person” argument had something else going on that researchers apparently didn’t take into account: they had learned or were learning an instrument. Woodshedding...those painful first few months (or years) where hardly a pleasing note can be produced, where all concepts of rhythm and song structure get throw out in the service of just getting the fingering right to play to darned chord, and the concept of stepping outside of the sheet music is unthinkable. These are the things that slowly teach us symmetry, timing, intervals, and patterns (hurray, Math and Science!). So, yeah… turns out parents looking to boost their infant’s chances of getting into that exclusive Charter school in five years are going to need more than an audio playback device and recording of songs written hundreds of years ago. They’ll actually need to teach (or at least encourage) their children to play an instrument to extract the intrinsic benefits music offers beyond immediate inspiration (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). Make the commitment to making music a part of your child’s life...because Mozart isn’t going to do it for you. Join the conversation in the Open Jam forums! ____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Electro-Harmonic 22500 Dual Stereo Looper Simplicity meets depth for the performing player by Chris Loeffler Whether it’s laying down parts to write companion pieces or leads to while practicing at home or adding additional instrumentation in a live performance, looping has become a ubiquitous part of the guitar playing experience that has only grown in utility (and complexity) as technology has improved and become cheaper. From early rack iterations to the original, skateboard-sized Boomerang Phrase Looper, looping has transitioned from a resource-sucking effect (financially and physically) to being as simple as a single knob pedal. Electro-Harmonix currently has four production loopers available, with the Nano Looper 360 being the smallest and simplest with two simple controls and the 45000 4-Track Looper being the biggest and baddest with four independent loop tracks to control simultaneously. Their newest addition, the EHX 22500 Dual Stereo Looper, strips away some of the more “producer”-like functions of the 45000 and focuses on marrying a comprehensive feature set with simplicity for the performing player. The Electro-Harmonix 22500 Dual Stereo Looper is so feature-heavy it can be intimidating at first (I guarantee you it is intimidating to try to review and provide a complete picture of what it can do without writing a small novel). In a nutshell, the 22500 has two loop channels, each stereo with infinite overdubs, that can be played in parallel (at the same time) or sequentially (two different parts to toggle between a la Verse and Chorus) as well as interesting effects such as reverse, octave up/down, and decay, a built-in drum machine, microphone input, and more. The included 8GB SDHC card handles storage (upgradable to 32GB if 12 hours of looping isn’t sufficient) and power comes from the included AC adaptor. The Ins and Outs of the 22500 The Electro-Harmonix 22500 features stereo 1/4” inputs (line or instrument level) as well as a microphone input with a trim control offering up to 27 dB gain and a Phantom Power toggle switch. An Input Gain knob sets the overall gain for both channels to fine-tune the input signal and avoid clipping or low-volume input. There are clipping LEDs for both channels, and I found them to be very well tuned, typically warning of clipping slightly before my ears would catch it. The outputs include true stereo Left and Right 1/4” outs (Left is the default for mono) and a 1/4” jack for the optional 22500 foot controller (more on that later). Building a Simple Loop (or Two) On my first session with the 22500, I selected a clear bank, stepped on the footswitch for Loop A (which turned on the red LED “Recording” light), and recorded a four bar rhythm part. At the end of the fourth bar I hit the Loop A footswitch again and the loop instantly began playing back, indicated by the green “Play” LED activating. At this point, the loop was playing and I could play over it without impacting the original loop. Hitting the Loop A footswitch again while the loop was playing enabled an overdub, meaning everything I played was applied to the loop once the next cycle began; hitting it again stopped overdub mode and returned to play mode. To undo an overdub, I pressed and held the Loop A footswitch for a couple of seconds and the overdub dropped off. Redoing the overdub was as simple as holding down the Loop A switch again for two seconds and having it reappear. To summarize all that, the 22500 allows you to record, playback, overdub, undo, and redo using a single footswtich. The Stop/Tap footswitch stops the loop (regardless of where it is). Introducing a second Loop channel into the mix starts with selecting between Parallel and Sequential mode. Parallel mode is fairly self-explanatory, and allows both loops (with as many overdubs as desired on each) to play simultaneously for applications like dropping in or out major instrumentations, adjusting octaves, or engaging reverse mode to one channel without impacting the other. Sequential mode, on the other hand, effectively builds two entirely independent loops to toggle between, like two different parts of a song. When the pedal is set to sequential mode, recording Loop A follows the same process described above. However, the moment Loop B begins recording Loop A is disabled. Once Loop B has been recorded, simply stepping on Loop A and Loop B footswitches will change parts. Both loops can be overdubbed (with undo and redo) at any time while they are playing. There are four fundamental methods of recording a loop: Free Form creates the loop around the start and stop points manually identified by your stomps, and makes no amendments or fixes to it Quantize automatically makes the micro adjustments necessary for the loop to complete a bar based on what its algorithm identifies as the tempo and bar length based on what you've played. This makes up for millisecond gaps between loops when the loop is closed too early or too late, Trigger Mode starts the loop the moment the pedal detects a signal from the instrument or mic- ideal for those looking to take the thought out of starting a loop Loop Lock creates loops based on completed bars using the Rhythm tracks. As such, it will always end the loop at the nearest bar from where you stopped. There are 16 included rhythm tracks in the 22500 (although users can create their own as well and import them into the pedal) that can accompany or guide a loop. Rhythm controls include Type, Tempo (speed), and Level (volume as compared to the loop). These Rhythms are not recorded to the loops, but synched independently for instant recall. I found them functional without being too distracting; helpful but not a replacement for a true rhythm section. Rhythm tempo can be dialed in via the interface or the Tap Tempo switch. Now Make it Weird Each Loop channel offers the ability to Reverse or pitch shift the part an octave up or down. Reverse allows playing any recorded loop in reverse, and even recording overdubs over the reversed loop. Where things get really fun is when you record a loop, reverse it, record a melody overdub over it, and then turn reverse off… your original loop will play as normal as the overdub will be reversed! There are occasionally issues when messing around with Reverse too much when synced to the Rhythm track, which EHX acknowledges; they recommend killing the Rhythm track during the reversal, and then turning it back on when completed. Octave mode is a way to adjust the loop's pitch up or down an octave from the original, and doubles or halves the pitch. While the extension or truncation of measures means this needs to be carefully considered (no jumping up an octave in the middle of a verse just for giggles unless you’re ready to play double time), it opens doors to some unique ways to consider structuring a song during the writing process and is certainly an effective way to change pace during instrumentals. The pitch shifting is very natural and without artifacts. The Overdub mode applies a slow degradation to a loop each time it starts over, resulting in nice transitional fadeaways and an almost analog-like delay tone. While best used when running two loop channels in parallel to slowly melt parts into each other, I found it to be fun even with a single loop and multiple overdubs. Not Just for Guitar While it’s likely obvious, the inclusion of a 1/4" input and mic input means you can loop nearly any instrument through the 22500. The mic input can capture vocals or any acoustic instruments (harmonicas, saxophones, hand percussion, etc.). The mic input feeds the Left input, and is an either/or proposition (although you would simply run your instrument through the Right input in a live situation). I found the mic preamp and sound quality to be quite good when running into my UltraSound acoustic amplifier, and vocals retained admirable definition and separation from the various layers of instrumentation I added to the other channel. Speaking of layering instrumentation, it's easy to load entire backing tracks into the looper, which opensthe possibility of having keyboards, backing vocals, and the like canned for a live performance. While it isn’t to my personal preference, I’ve seen many players who use amp modeling go direct to the board and use backing tracks they play via laptop in live performances; the 22500 could literally queue up four sets worth of tracks among its 100 banks. The optional 22500 foot controller allows for hands-free navigation of the 100 banks, especially useful when bringing pre-recorded pieces to the forefront or wanting to reintroduce a part played earlier in a live performance. This feature is certainly built around live applications, but I could also see people importing their lesson tracks into the 22500 and using it as a practice tool to supplement their lessons. Limitations Reverse function sometimes messes with the canned Rhythm tracks Would have been nice to have an Octave Up or Down without needing to double/half speed Conclusions It would probably be easier to say what the Electro-Harmonix 22500 doesn’t do (pitch shifting without tempo change, separate FX loop for the loops, write the rest of the song for you) than what it does, but despite the deep functionality, it's impressively easy to get started (again, starting and stopping a loop, overdubbing, undo, and redo all happen from a single switch) and the few “techie” portions of it will come along naturally thereafter. Whether looking to loop and learn or incorporate loops and backgrounds into a live performance, Electro-Harmonix is likely giving you more than you’ll need from the pedal, but the UI is so well thought out that those pieces never get in the way. Resources Electro-Harmonix 22500 Dual Stereo Looper Product Page Buy Electro-Harmonix 22500 Dual Stereo Looper (MSRP $368.50, Street $276.40) at Sweetwater , B&H , Amazon ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

The State of the Looper In Practice and on the Road ... by Chris Loeffler Looping has come a long way these last 20 years, evolving from a simple tool for practicing or adding an extra track or two, to being a performance-building tool unto itself in the 00’s (Keller Williams, K.T. Tunstall), to today, when technology allows for more than a day’s worth of recording time for a single loop (imagine sitting through that loop!). Pioneers such as Roland/Boss have encouraged thinking outside the box with their annual Loop competitions, and musicians continue to discover unique and personal ways to apply looping technology to their craft. At home, loopers allow players to lay down rhythm parts over which they can practice scales and craft leads and counter-melodies. This is an incredibly powerful tool for effective and targeted practice and songwriting, and assumes the role previously occupied by laying down working tracks to a 4-track. The somewhat ephemeral nature of loops is both liberating in that they free to player to focus on the task at hand rather than tweaking a defined part to perfection, while the increase in memory means any loop that manages to catch lightning in a bottle can be exported to a computer for re-amping and use in an album. On stage, the technological leaps of loopers continue to open new applications for live looping. While many of us have witnessed with awe the brash fearlessness of performers hinging an entire song on complex layered loops like a Jenga tower getting ever closer to spilling over, modern looping takes a lot of the risk out of that (for better and for worse). Undo, Redo, and separate loop paths played simultaneously not only makes looping less of a “flirting with disaster” proposition, but puts the player in the role of a DJ, adding layers, dropping parts, and reintroducing them at will. It’s a different mindset, but one that both resonates with crowds and opens doors to new musical possibilities. A side benefit of the increased storage of loopers is the decidedly untraditional function of bringing backing tracks to the stage with you. While some performers are loath to have canned tracks as a part of their show, there are a number of reasons this makes sense for musicians who earn their living playing out. Subtle additions such as backing vocals or ambient synth parts can elevate a performance without being distracting, and they even help hold the band to the appropriate tempo. There are also times where a winery gig just isn’t going to allow for a full rhythm section (financially or sonically).Looper pedals like the EHX 22500 Dual Stereo Looper have 100 banks, meaning a singer-songwriter can have three sets of canned music to play to. As looping technology continues to evolve (reverse, pitch shifting, ducking volume), more and more interesting applications will pop up in all performance and practice settings, and the musician will apply more and more of the craft traditionally associated with producers and arrangers to their craft - and we will all be the better for it. - HC - Here's a TED Talk for those looking to dive a little deeper... ____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Silktone Instrument Cables How Clear is Your Signal Path? by Chris Loeffler There are two types of new instrument cables that cross my desk- “me toos” that focus on price or quality, and those looking to change the way cables work. Silktone, new cable maker and soon-to-be boutique amp builder, comes rolling into the world of guitar accessories with their new cable line with the specific goal of improving the way your pickups talk to your amp. Silktone’s product differentiator for their cable line is being a “first-of-its-kind” premium dual conductor guitar/instrument cable. By combining solid and stranded conductors, Silktone aims to strike a no-compromise balance of flexibility and tone. The theory is that whereas other cables pass the return through the shield, Silktone isolates the return and signal paths from the shield via dual copper conductors to keep the signal path pure. What You Need to Know Diving into the hard specs, the Silktone cable features dual 20 AWG 99.99% oxygen-free copper (OFC) conductors: one solid core; one stranded 99.99% OFC braided shield with a capacitance of only 38pF per foot. G&H bigfoot 1/4" TS connectors on both ends (high clarity version on straight plugs) use copper core from solder point to tip to preserve the clarity and depth of sound. The cables are finished in a black nylon woven outer jacket with a Silktone logo badge on one side, and lengths range from 1’-30’ with straight and right-angle connectors. While not strictly “directional,” the shield terminates on the Silktone logo side, and best performance is achieved by treating that side as the “output” side. It’s hard to talk about something that is meant to be a neutral signal path in a vacuum, but I can state unequivocally after plugging directly from my RJ Super Vintage into an Effingood 0-Five 51F clone that I had no complaints and felt directly wired into the amp. Tele twang, Les Paul honk, and piano-like neck Strat tones all were perfectly passed through and highly responsive. If the goal of a cable is to be as invisible as possible, mission accomplished. A/B tests are incredibly helpful, but there are only so many hours in a day, so I decided if I was going to limit myself to comparisons they should at least be within the category Silktone is positioning themselves (transparent, high end). Compared to a Monster Jazz cable of the same length, not only was the Silktone much less bulky and significantly more flexible, but there was an appreciable difference in high end articulation and bass clarity. Especially in shorter chains, where the connection between the pickup and the amps was most important, the Silktone’s gave the pushed amp’s overdrive definition, punch, and nuance that I realized was missing in the Monster Jazz cables. Maybe the term “pulling a blanket off the speaker” to describe the difference would be an overstatement, but there is certainly “more” to the Silktone cables, even as they stacked before and after a pedalboard. When compared to similar length George L’s, the effect was similar; whereas the Monster Jazz was muddy in the mids, the George L’s had a more neutral and transparent EQ effect but still seemed to exhibit less presence and a slight drop in feel and immediacy. It’s felt more than heard in this comparison, but I was certainly able to get more out of the amp’s overdrive with the Silktone. Limitations None that I could find. Maybe introducing a line specific to pedal-boards in 6” right-right configurations? Conclusion Every component of your signal chain truly does make a difference, and Silktone cables are proof positive. While there is always a point where buffers and long signal chains will blunt the edge of any technology, why wouldn’t you want to give your tone every chance possible to shine? Plugging directly into my amp and letting it crank was a visceral experience, and made me a convert. Resources Silktone Instrument Cables Product Page Buy Silktone Instrument Cables on Reverb.com ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Adding LED Strip Lighting Effects to Your Rig and Live Show Visual flair ... a bright idea by Chris Loeffler OK, hardcore “purist” musicians… if “show” sounds gaudy, you might as well move on, because there’s likely little for you here. However for those who like to add some flash to their performance or some ambience to their practice space, let’s talk lighting. Not the big old PAR cans, not seizure- (and fist pump-) inducing strobes, not even the “crank up the smoke machine” lasers that blow minds…I’m talking about the rising tide of affordable, micro LED effects targeted at DJs that increasingly flows from the East. Amazon, Wish, ThinkGeek, etc. seem to have some type of deal on lighting systems and one-off visual novelties on a weekly basis, and it may surprise you how great they are. The heaviy emphasis on LED technology is a particular boon to musicians looking to add lighting effects without dirtying their power supply (not that tube technology and single coil pickups are picky or anything), and their diminutive size makes for interesting and novel applications. One particular visual enhancer that’s both affordable and flexible in application is the LED strip made by manufacturers like TaoTronics. These slim profile (about 1/16” tall and 1/3” wide) strips can easily and non-invasively be applied anywhere for mood lighting; inside lip of a guitar speaker cabinet, a pedal board, underneath a keyboard, the inside shell of a drum, mic stands, etc. Most strips offer a couple dozen preset colors (with the option to blend between them for thousands of options) as well as multiple “modes,” from static color to gradual fades between colors to strobe-like cycling to even synced with audio (provided the strip comes with an included music controller). The amazing aspect about these lighting “trinkets” is how much flexibility they actually allow. Not only are colors and effects adjustable on the fly with a (usually included) remote control, but they can be dimmed to be as in-your-face or subtle as your performance demands. Applied in places out of the line of direct sight, these strips cast a moody (the exact mood selected by color and brightness, of course!) aura from any piece of gear, and are particularly striking in low-lit performance areas. Obviously, bright stages and huge audiences will minimize the effect, but smaller clubs that are conducive to lighting effects in performances can really make these shine and add intimacy to a performance. A final, fairly out-of-the-box consideration using LED strips is to create framed “performance pads” to illuminate individual performers (especially effective in sitting, acoustic performances). The performance pads are simply square frames (3’x3’ seems the most practical) of lumber or baseboard moulding with the LED strips mounted to the inside of the frame angled upward (or slightly inward) that cast lighting onto the performer when they are positioned within the frame. The effect is very similar to expensive and heavy wash lights, with every player able to have their own colors or be bathed in unified hues. Whatever the application, it is remarkable how affordable and easy it is to add mood and control to your performance environment… if that’s your thing. ____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Fano Standard JM6 Electric Guitar- A Comfortably Different, Uniquely Familiar Electric Guitar by Chris Loeffler US-based Fano Guitars has been building custom electric guitars for 15+ years, with a philosophy of offering completely customizable “familiar guitars with modern features.” Neither a slight variation based on one of the handful of “classic” electric guitar styles nor a dramatic reimagining of the instrument, the Fano line features shapes, curves, and stylings evocative of several iconic styles while still attaining a unique aesthetic unto themselves (unique, but familiar). While their Alt de Facto line has been the standard premium offering for some time now, the highly-customizable nature of the line meant every guitar that left the shop had to be treated as a one-off from a construction standpoint. As an answer to people looking for the Fano experience in a standardized package with a smaller price tag, the Standard series was introduced earlier this year with the Fano Standard JM6 and Standard SP6 models. What You Need to Know Those familiar with the Fano Alt de Facto model of the JM6 will find the Standard JM6 guitar is nearly identical to the base Alt de Facto offering: nitrocellulose coasted Alder body (Olympic White, Bull Black, Ice Blue Metallic), maple bolt-on “60’s C” neck with rosewood fretboard, and either a dual Humbucker or P90 pickup configuration with Volume, Tone, and 3-way selector switch. The only difference on paper is that the tuners and bridge are Fano-branded, and the pickups are wound by Fano rather than Fralin/Lollar branded. Part of achieving the vintage look of a Fano guitar is factory-distressed wear on the body. Whereas the Alt de Facto offers levels of distress from “extra light” to “medium," the Standard series limits distressing to “light.” Buckle scratches, dings from sloppy instrument cable whacks, pick scrapes on the body, a nick or two from dropping it…the Standard JM6 I received for review looked like it’d survived the garage band years and maybe even hit the road for a few tours. Nothing was egregious, fabricated-looking, nor distracting from how it played (which I can’t always say about my own accidental “distresses” on my guitars), and there was an undeniable look and feel of history to the instrument. The hardware also is dulled and brushed to keep it from betraying the fact that the guitar I reviewed was less than a month old. While the distressed look is exclusively for eye-candy in many “relics,” I was surprised how broken-in the guitar felt when I first strapped it on. There’s a roundness and texture to the neck that actually felt like a guitar that had been played for years. The compound radius styling gives a lot of control and comfort at the lower end of the fret board for chording, and expands and flattens as it reaches the body to provide more space and fret clearance for lead work; the point where the neck/body join is completely unobtrusive. The body is light and comfortable, and balance was clearly thought out in the design. The Standard JM6 I reviewed came equipped with Fano-wound P-90 pickups, which in my opinion is a great sonic match to the surf-inspired body stylings - they produce classic P-90 snarl and bite with a surprisingly robust high-end that sparkles over the mids. The JM6 loved running directly into my 5F1-style amp, and displayed versatility beyond what one would expect from shared Volume and Tone controls (in addition to creating significantly less noise than the vintage P-90s I demoed them against). While I can’t offer a comparison between the stock, Fano-wound pickups versus the Fralin P-90s included standard in the Alt de Facto series, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything from the pickups. Limitations All Fano Standard guitars come lightly distressed, which may be a turn-off to certain players. Conclusion The Fano Standard JM6 really is a workhorse of a guitar…well-appointed without being flashy, comfortable, and unique-looking without ever getting too far from what most players expect. Thanks to efficiencies in “mass” boutique production, the nearly $1,000 price difference from the Alt de Facto series is a generous and brave business decision that brings a truly hand-made guitar into the price range of a factory-built American-made guitar. Rather than looking to compete with the classic brands and styles, Fano really is targeted at players looking to diversify their tones or craft their signature sound (just look at their artist roster). Fans of classic tones and instruments will find a lot to love in the Fano Standard JM6. Resources Fano Standard JM6 Electric Guitar Product Page Buy Fano Standard JM6 Electric Guitar (Street $1,895.00) ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Electro-Harmonix Lester G Rotary Speaker Pedal Guitarists- tired of hauling around a 150 pound rotary speaker cabinet? by Chris Loeffler Many modulation effects get close to copping the Leslie sound, but they ultimate are just that… approximations. The fast warble of a chorus effect doesn’t capture the moving of air as a physical horn and speaker ramp up and spin around, nor the essential grind the tube preamp imparts. Electro-Harmonix, never one to shy away from taking on big effects challenges, came up with not one, but two options for players looking for big Leslie tone without the hernia-inducing realities of the real deal. The Lester K (reviewed separately) and Lester G both offer the rotary speaker sound in a box, with the Lester G focused on giving guitar players the B3/Leslie sound. The Lester G features true bypass, expression pedal input, true stereo outputs, rotary speaker controls for Fast and Slow speed settings, Balance of the horn and bass, and Acceleration to control the transition time between the two speeds as well as control over gain and attack via Drive, Sustain, Attack, and Squash controls. The Lester G runs on an included 9v power supply or any standard 2.1mm negative tip source. While it’s tempting to jump straight into the rotary speaker side of the effect, one of the more subtle but utterly essential aspects of the Lester G is creating a solid “Leslie” foundation through the gain section, comprised of an independent overdrive control and a compressor with Attack, Sustain, and Squash controls. When the Overdrive is turned down the signal is 100% clean (or at least as clean as it was going in), and things get pretty dirty by the time the Drive knob is dimed. The identity of the Overdrive circuit isn't explicit, but it’s a gritty, EQ neutral tone that is both tubelike and perfect for nailing the grind of the Leslie many emulators miss. The compressor circuit is based on the EHX Soul Preacher, omitting the Volume control and upgrading the Attack control from a three-way toggle to a knob for more control over how the compressor behaves. The compression section is an important part of attaining the Leslie sound (especially when trying to emulate keyboard parts), as it softens the attack and prolongs the sustain to make the effect smoother and more organ-like. The Squash control does exactly that, entirely blunting the initial attack and pumps on and off for staccato-style riffs. The subtle high-end rolloff of the compressor effect furthers the “this isn’t a guitar” vibe. Now that we’ve got the foundation for our Leslie tone, we can talk about the rotary speaker component. Balance control lets you adjust the blend between the top treble horn and the bass speaker.The Lester G features two speed settings you can ramp up and down between… Slow and Fast. Using the Slow knob, the horn’s rotation can be adjusted between 0.1Hz and 3.2Hz, and the rotor can be adjusted between 0.0875and 2.8Hz. Using the FAST knob, the horn’s rotation can be adjusted between 1.55Hz and 24.8Hz and the rotor can be adjusted between 1.475Hz and 23.6Hz. The Acceleration knob sets the time the speakers take to ramp up (or down) when switching from one speed to another. This is another key characteristic of the Leslie behavior, and can be used to great effect in ramping up the speed between a verse and chorus. Transitions can be near instantaneous or as long as five seconds. Braking is achieved by holding the Fast/Slow footswitch down, an effect that grinds the speaker rotation to a halt (as slow or as fast as is dialed in with the Acceleration control) until the footswitch is released, at which point it springs back to the set speed. The speaker simulation is convincing… it doesn’t sound like a phaser, or a harmonic tremolo, or a univibe; it sounds like rotating speakers. The doppler-effect creates a subtle asymmetry to the sound that gives true 3D imaging to the effect, and using the true stereo outputs makes for an even more massive sound, as the horns are thrown from amp to amp. The facilmile is somewhat blunted if fed into a dirty amp, but there are interesting alternative sounds to explore in that (and other) unorthodox signal chain. Limitations I found a couple of instances where noisy pickups or a sketchy cables introduce a small amount of noise. Nothing to detract from playing or live performance, but I’d recommend clean power if going into the studio. Conclusion It’s a little big, and not the cheapest, but it’s one of the most authentic sounding rotary speaker simulators on the market (and likely the most flexible and feature-laden). The addition of compression and true-to-life ramping between settings makes organ tones possible as well as guitar. Sure, one could put a drive and compressor in front of a Lester G for a similar result (sans Acceleration control), but there’s not that big a difference in price and size for the benefit of changing your entire sound in a single stomp. Short of droping $1,000 and hauling a 150 pound Leslie around, the Electro-Harmonix Lester G is as good as it gets for that rotary speaker sound. Resources Join the discussion on Harmony Central's Effects Forum Electro-Harmonix Lester G Product Page Buy Electro-Harmonix Lester G (MSRP 298.70, Street $224.00) at B&H , Sweetwater, or Guitar Center ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

My Dad Taught Me That Music Matters Thanks Dad ... by Chris Loeffler My dad made me play an instrument when I was a kid. I don’t know that I disliked it, and I know I liked the idea of it, but stopping whatever I was doing to drive to the piano teacher’s house for a half hour wasn’t high on my list of priorities. I would stumble through the material I was supposed to have mastered over the previous week and viewed it as a weekly trial I just needed to survive so I could get on to not doing the following week’s lessons. Dad played piano, of course, and made sure we had one in the house, but he also had a burgundy guitar (’77 Les Paul, I would later learn) that sat nearby that was a definite “no touch” for the kids. The fact that he could play anything he wanted (to my young mind) made it seem both more approachable than the piano and incredibly intimidating at the same time. As far as I knew, everyone was pretty bad at piano once they burned through their handful of “go to” songs, but the guitar was an instrument that just created. I was given every opportunity to find “my instrument” throughout elementary and middle school… saxophone, violin, etc. I just needed to play an instrument, I was told. And I did, with the same enthusiasm and dedication I applied to cleaning my room, doing my homework, and picking up the dog droppings in the back yard. Again, I didn’t dislike it, it was just something that needed to be done before I could carry on with my afternoon. And my playing showed for it. I finally took guitar lessons at the end of middle school, which was both a huge step up in “cool” factor and a lot more intimidating, as our family trips and typical Sunday background music exposed me to Jeff Beck, Robbin Ford, and Pat Metheney. Thank you Nirvana for lowering the price of entry to guitar. I had a nylon string Art & Luthrie, a Seagull Acoustic-Electric, and a black Strat from the first year Fender stamped MIM on the headstock, all carefully selected and purchased by my dad to give me every chance to succeed. I also had the benefit of inheriting his castaway gear, and didn’t even have to learn how to use it as I’d generally just leave the settings where he had them. I played in not-so great cover bands, and my dad was there to lug gear, help with sound check, and pretty much do anything he could to undo the suck that my inexperience brought to the table. Even when I failed (and accidentally dropping from 7/8 to 8/8 every chorus is a pretty painful fail) I felt like I won when my dad told me I did a good job. It’s been almost two decades since I moved out, went to school, and followed whatever path it is that brought me here today, and playing music (or hearing music, or talking gear) is one of the most prominent common threads when I list my top ten “best things I’ve done to date”. I wasn’t one of those people born with the need to play music; my dad taught me that music matters. While I’ve played with quite a few great players, it still intimidates me to play alongside my dad. I’ve witnessed the work he put into his playing and know the levels of theory he studied that I shrugged past with Gen-X apathy. If dads aren’t meant to be mountains that inspire us to climb higher all the time, I don’t want to know. On the night before my wedding, I got to jam with my dad, trading solos pieces over an improvised rhythm section and the occasional noise blast from some circuit-bent instrument or other. It felt like the perfect nightcap to the celebration (my wife celebrating by firing her 357 mag in the lawn shortly thereafter truncated the event). While time and space don’t make it easy, I realize I need to play with him more often. I feel blessed to have a dad who taught me the love of music, and I hope to be that dad to my two daughters. Thank you to all the dads out there who support and share a love of music with your children. ____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Earthquake Devices Spatial Deliver Filter Effect Pedal Groovy Funk In A Box by Chris Loeffler Outside of Chorus (which only tops the list because of its ubiquitous takeover of an entire decade of music), the envelope filter might be one of the most unfairly reviled effects in the guitar world. It’s easy (and, initially, gratifying) to overdue the effect, and sloppy playing begets sloppy sounding filter sweeps. That said, the nature of envelope followers opens up an entire world of subtle, incredibly toneful color once you get slapping funky reggae rhythms out of your system. Earthquaker Devices invites players to ditch the cheese and embrace taste with their modern take on the evnelope filter effect, the Spatial Delivery. Powered by batter or standard 9v 2.1mm negative tip adaptor, the Spatial Deliver delivers Up Sweep, Down Sweep, and Sample & Hold modes to the mix for every type of guitar filter effect that doesn’t require a treadle pedal. The Earthquaker Devices filter effect is controlled in one of three different ways- Up Sweep, Down Sweep, and Sample & Hold. Up mode is the most common approach to envelope filtering for guitarists, and opens and closes the filter much like a wah pedal sweeping from the heel of the treadle to toe down in response to the dynamics of your playing. Down mode works in the same way, but with the filter sweeping from toe to heel, resulting in “doyp” and “chirp” style filter sweeps that are more typically associated with synths and keyboards. Sample & Hold samples the voltage of the LFO and Holds it for a set period seconds/milliseconds before stepping to the next random voltage. The result is a very synth-like, rhythmic but randomized animation of the filter (see Ships Ahoy for a great example on guitar). The Filter control gradually sweeps the filter from Low Pass, through Band Pass, and into High Pass. It’s worth noting that because the Up Sweep and Down Sweep are moving in opposite directions, you’ll likely need to adjust the Filter when switching between settings. The Range control adjusts the sensitivity of the envelope, and it is key to dialing in the level of responsiveness you get from the envelope. Too little, it will barely open. Too much, you’ll miss the beautiful lower frequency sweeps. Resonance controls the body and thickness of the effect, from barely-there to having the filter tear through your direct tone. Call it a “subtlety” filter. The envelope itself is very smooth, and performed favorably when tested alongside a Maxon AF-9, EHX Q-Tron, and Subdecay Prometheus. The opening of the envelope has a hearty initial attack, jumping to life when opened without rushing too quickly to peak, and in the Up Sweep mode the feel was very much that of a traditional wah. “Vintage-style” units tend to have more float and a sort of trembly flab in the release and decay of the envelope, but the Spatial Delivery offered a healthy, assertive closing of the filter that complimented the decay of the guitar. Clearly, the envelope was tuned to be triggered by guitar attack, although it handled bass extremely well in the Low Pass sweep of the Filter control. The Sample & Hold mode sounds like randomized bleeps and bloops (a non-musician ear would even assume the notes were being randomly generated) like every TV computer from 1960-1980. There are a myriad of applications, but the two most obvious are the Frank Zappa "Let it play over my solo" approach of letting it do its randomized thing over what your doing or falling in line with the random sequencing, letting your playing breathe, and allowing the filter to dictate where notes are played. Before distortion, the Spatial Deliver gets the best access to your playing and is, therefore, the most responsive. Overdrive and distortion after the filter “normalizes” it a bit and makes for a more organic, classic guitar tone. After distortion, the Spatial Delivery has an extremely synth-like sheen it applies over the core guitar tone, creating beautiful but expressively effected tones. This comes at the cost of whatever dynamics were rounded out by the distortion between your guitar and the pedal. My taste found the Up Sweep best before dirt, the Down Sweep interesting in either position, and the Sample & Hold mode most interesting after distortion, where it really takes over the signal. Limitations Extremely high-output, active pickups bludgeon the envelope pretty hard, resulting in less nuance and responsiveness. Standard single-coil or regular output hum buckers work fantastic. Conclusion The Earthquaker Devices Spatial Delivery filter isn’t the only multi-function analog filter stompbox out there, but it’s the best value from a features-to-price standpoint by a fair margin. Rather than hanging its hat on a particular classic filter, the Spatial Delivery manages to achieve a myriad of sounds without ever sounding like anything other than itself. Can it get the Mutron sound? Yep. Deep funk, brittle quacks, preamp overdriving extremes… it’s as subtle or over-the-top as you allow it to be. Resources Join the discussion at Harmony Central's Effects Forum Earthquaker Devices Spatial Delivery Product Page Buy Earthquaker Devices Spatial Delivery (Street $195.00) at Sweetwater , Amazon , Reverb ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Xvive Micro Effect Analog Series Pedals Tiny Bodies with Massive Voices by Chris Loeffler We recently received a mysterious box at our review office from Xvive that contained six tiny pedals, four gain-type pedals, a phaser, and a chromatic tuner. Packed together in a brick, they were collectively about the size of a single Boss pedal box. We flipped a coin, I won, so I was the one to get some some hands-on time with them. Call this less of an Expert Review than an Overview, if you will. These pedals were designed to do a very specific function very well, and none is deeper than three controls. While there are enough colors within each box to satisfy a diverse group of players looking for certain sounds, these pedals really position themselves by being small, great sounding, and affordable, so it’s a question of what sound a playerwants. As part of the Xvive Micro Effect series, all the pedals reviewed below share the following attributes: Housed in mini-metal enclosures Are true-bypass Powered via a standard, Boss-style 9v adaptor. All-analog circuitry Designed in the USA by a roster of storied circuit designers with an impressive list of legendary effects attributed to them Xvive V1 Classic Rock The Classic Rock is the lowest gain pedal of the group I reviewed, straddling the line between overdrive and distortion, and features Gain, Volume, and Tone controls. Rat-like in its gain structure with a greater scoop in the mids, the Classic Rock is most comfortable chunking through chords, but there are plenty of interesting lead tones to be had as well. There's a surprising amount of touch response available, making for expressive strumming and picking and a more amp-like experience than the amount of gain available would imply. With plenty of volume on tap, the Tone control offers a nice, usable range for honing the EQ without dramatically changing the sound, and the Gain goes from clean to cranked Marshall. Crunch and Chunk. Xvive V4 Fuzz Screamer The Fuzz Screamer, to answer the question of “Fuzz or OD?,” is a bit of both. For application purposes, it fits closest into the camp of a standard overdrive in that it adds focus (and mid-range) and excels at lead tones, but there’s more hair on the notes and it’s slightly looser in its gain structure. The Fuzz Screamer features Volume, Sustain, and Bite controls. Volume is self-explanatory and can easily exceed unity gain around noon. The Sustain control dials in the gain saturation from light breakup with a lo-fi tinge to saturated, almost-in-Muff-territory wooly gain. The Bite control adjusts the treble presence, and adds quite a bit of sizzle past 3:00, while below 10:00 the tone is relatively mellow and rolled. The Fuzz Screamer is certainly well positioned for swampy blues and garage-rock style shenanigans, where its rough edges and primitve-fuzz-meets-TS vibe would be most appreciated. Xvive V2 Distortion The Distortion essentially starts around the 2/3 gain sweep of the Classic Rock and ends about half-way into the gain sweep of the Metal Head. It too features Volume, Gain, and Tone controls, and a similar gain crunch and touch sensitivity to the Classic Rock, but retains more of its mid presence for a slightly more vintage “heavy” tone. Harmonically rich, the Distortion is easy to pull out upper octave harmonics. The added mid-range gave thicker solo tones a 70s and 80s rock and metal feel. Xvive V12 Metal Head The Metal Head is the most saturated of the gang, with crunch and sizzle being the name of the game. The lowest gain settings can yield raggedy lo-fi distortion and the max gain settings sound like a squadron of cyborg bees attacking. From 9:00-3:00 is where most players will find their metal tone. While the Gain and Tone controls are standard operation, the Metal Head swaps the traditional volume control with a Blend knob, which lets you blend in some unaffected signal to add a little backbone and definition to the saturated pedal gain. Even more interesting tonal opportunities exist when running an overdrive or distortion pedal in front of the Metal Head, at which point the blend is mixing two different distortion tones together. While I thought the lack of a Volume control would be a limitation, I quickly conceded that pushing much beyond unity using this level of gain in front of an amp would only result in mush. Into a clean amp, the distortion certainly stands out and adds a touch of volume, and an amp that’s already distorting incorporates the Metal Head’s gain into it’s own for a richer sound. Xvive V6 Phaser King The Phaser King is a lush analog phaser pedal with Sweep (depth), Speed, and Feedback controls over the phasing effect. Evaluating the core tone of the Phaser King, I found it to be closer to a vintage Small Stone than, say, a Phase 90; the tone is slightly dark and rounded and “wave” feels a more appropriate descriptor than “sweep” in how it modulates. The Speed control goes from multi-second wave cycles that subtly animate your tone to the seasick cycling of a half dozen waves per second for a classic B3 Leslie tone. The Feedback knob dials in a chewy resonance that adds a vocal-sounding filter effect, which can take the effect anywhere from subtle shimmer to almost overcome by the effect. The Sweep control sets how deep the modulation cycle is, a more subtle way than the Feedback control for setting how present and extreme the effect it. Xvive PT-03 Chromatic Tuner OK… what’s there to say about a tuner? It’s necessary but unsexy. Xvivie’s Chromatic Tuner seems to be designed with this in mind, and does its best to serve the function without being intrusive. Small form-factor means you can cram another pedal on the floor, +/- 1 cent accuracy is a must (why have a tuner, otherwise), and the internal lithium battery means you can power the pedal up before a show and then free up a precious power cable for another pedal without worrying about replacing a battery. The Chromatic Tuner responded quickly and was accurate (verified by a Peterson Strobostomp). Conclusion In a world of 14 mode delay pedals, $450 overdrive pedals powered by unicorn love, and crystal lattices, Xvive is clearly aiming at the entry-to-mid level gear enthusiast (note I didn’t say player) who wants great, if specific, tones.There wasn’t a pedal that didn’t accomplish exactly what I expected of it, and their small form factor and well-below normal street prices make them no-brainers for nailing the tones they were crafted to make. Resources Join the discussion over on the HC Effects and Processors forum Xvive Official Website Buy Xvive Micro Pedals from: Amazon Guitar Center Musician's Friend __________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Heavy Leather NYC Geezer Butler Vegan Signature and Magic Mushroom Guitar Straps Putting the "Fun" in Functional... By Chris Loeffler Guitar straps, while a necessary accessory if you plan to stand while you play, don’t need to be just utilitarian- there’s nothing wrong with adding comfort and style to your playing experience and performance persona. Heavy Leather NYC knows this well, and caters to players looking for something that is additive to the playing experience and personalized, not just another strip of fabric to sling over your shoulder. With an extensive line of traditional (if ornate) leather straps and an expanding line of vegan strap for the animal lovers out there, the Heavy Leather NYC assortment covers all the bases. I was shipped two very different straps from their line to evaluate, the Geezer Butler Signature vegan strap and the Limited Edition Magic Mushroom leather guitar strap, so let’s get to it. Rockin’ Like the Geeze’ The Geezer Butler Signature strap is both a part of their Artist series and their Vegan line, and is the result of years of collaboration and experimentation with the Geeze’ to identify what he considers to be the ultimate touring strap, pliable like leather, comfortable shoulder contact, solid connection with the strap buttons of the guitar, and animal friendly, like the man himself (remember, he’s not the one who bit the bat’s head off). The strap is made of canvas style sturdy weave over a vinyl backing and strap end tips that has been treated to have the suppleness and give of leather. Of course, the strap is black as midnight and, other than a tasteful Geezer logo printed in silver and the chrome studs and buckle, is an understated piece that’s deceptively simple. Only close inspection really allows appreciation of the craft and detail that goes into the construction of the strap. It took less than five minutes of wear to feel the strap form to my shoulder and favored guitar position (drastically wearing in evaluation units the way I like isn’t really an option when you have to return them!) and the experience was certainly more akin to my experience with leather straps, which have a bit more of those form fitting, back-saving play in the material that really seems valuable as the second hour of playing with a heavy guitar strains your back. The straps and buckles are solid, and the strap weighs relatively little for how hefty it feels. This Side Makes You Larger, This Side Makes You Small The Heavy Leather NYC Limited Edition Magic Mushroom leather strap makes no bones about its psychedelic roots, with its trippy, intricate patterns in textured leather just begging to bloom and kaleidoscope for anyone in the “right” state of mind. The Magic Mushroom features a 2.75”, 5/6 oz flocked leather top that shines and reveals patterns as the light hits hit that is stitched to a thick, 2/3 oz solid black leather backing strap. The adjustment area of the strap is thoroughly overbuilt, with a heavy-duty metal buckle (chrome in the Silver/Black option, brass in the Olive Green option) that is the stuff of a poorly behaved child’s nightmares and an extra layer of thick leather padding reinforcing the metal eyelets for length adjustment. I reviewed the Silver/Black version, which carries the same patterns as the Olive Green version (pictured to show details), but is much subtler and light dependent, as it can almost look pure black in poor lighting. While the width of the strap is typically pushing it for me given my medium frame, the leather wore in almost instantly and I found myself appreciating the additional distribution of weight rather than being aware of where or how it was sitting on my collar bone. No guitar slips were had, and the Magic Mushroom walked the line just right between having a bit of glide on the shoulder when changing positions neck without ever feeling like it would slide up or down the position I placed it at. Conclusion At $85 and $240, respectively, the Heavy Leather NCY strap line isn’t targeting people who just want a strap and want to move on. These are straps for people who value comfort, style, and a bit of edge. Yeah, music is about the sound, but if you believe prepping for a show involves more than a sink bath and pulling a dirty T-shirt over your head, why wouldn’t you care how your straps look and feel? Resource Website: www.heavyleathernyc.com To Buy these Heavy Leather Straps ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Michael Kelly Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle A Reimagined Classic, Reimagined By Chris Loeffler Last year I reviewed (and was very impressed by) the Michael Kelly 1965 electric guitar, which has established itself as part of their core assortment of electric guitars. At the 2016 Winter NAMM, Michael Kelly announced the addition of their Mod Shop line of guitars, which are distinct from the models they are modded from in that they represent a more specific, niche tone offering than their standard, any-application designs and appointments. One of the new gutiars, the Michael Kelly Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle, shares the same foundation as the 1965 but focuses on a more specific vintage tonal palette. For the sake of brevity, I’ll provide an overview of the feature-set of the Michael Kelly Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle to touch on the must-knows, but for a more thorough explanation of the instrument, a full review of the Michael Kelly 1965 can be found here, and applies in every aspect to this review except the pickups and the tones they produce. Revisiting a Legendary Design (Again) The Michael Kelly Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle is built on a swamp ash body with a quilted maple top bound by flamed maple. The figuring of the wood is eye-catching and exhibits dimension as it moves about. The body features slightly less contouring and rounding than its vintage inspiration, but the arm and belly cuts are comfortable and feel close enough to the original that the difference is only apparent on close inspection (and welcome, in my opinion). The maple neck is capped with a Birdseye maple headstock and features a compound radius rosewood fretboard for faster, more comfortable playing. A bone nut and all chrome hardware (including Grover locking tuners) round out the classic design. The Michael Kelly Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle features the Epic 11 Boutique mod, a Michael Kelly design that expands the typical five pickup configuration to 11 total pickup stacking options. Highlights of this functionality include the ability to have the neck and bridge pickups active at the same time without the middle pickup or even have all three pickups active at once. Push-pull functionality on the Volume knob allows splitting the humbucker to achieve a single-coil tone in the bridge. Bare Knuckling It The Mod Shop 1965 swaps out the Rockfield pickups that come with the standard 1965 with a new pickup configuration from Bare Kuckle Pickups, a boutique pickup manufacturer out of the UK. Bare Knuckle Pickups have made a name for themselves amongst tone hounds for recreating original-to-spec vintage pickups and using scatter-winding in their high-end, handmade lines. This guitar features a complement of BKP Slowhand single coils pickups in the Neck and Middle position and a BKP Blackdog humbucking pickup in the Bridge. The Slowhand pickups, as one can infer from their name, are voiced to classic Clapton-like Strat tones, vintage and sweet in the highs, dark in the mids, and slightly higher output than one would expect for that particular sound. They have the bell-like tone and chime of a classic voiced Fender Strat pickup, but with more muscle and slightly darker, especially in the upper frets. The Mod Shop 1965 excels at low-to-medium gain in the neck and middle positions with the Slowhands, but I did find them a touch dark for extreme modern high gain (which, obviously, isn’t the intended application). The Blackdog in the Bridge position offers a rich, mid-heavy Brit tone that's vintage in its throatiness but with some additional heat from the increased output. The Blackdog has a pronounced lower and center mid focus and deep bass that balance nicely with the brighter Strat-style guitar design. Splitting the coil gives a smaller, but not thinner, sound…less thickness and sustain. It doesn’t sound as “single coil” as the Slowhands, but it does an admirable job in getting sweet, twangier leads tones in a cooking amp. I hesitate to compare the 1965 Rockfields to the BKPs in the Mod Shop, as they are voiced and intended for different goals. The Rockfields are a bit more modern in tone, with the Neck and Middle positions a bit flatter and rounded while the Slowhands have more girth and crisper highs; the Bridge Rockfield SWC sounds a bit more modern and hi-fi, whereas the Blackdog is more vocal, biting, and a little deeper. Limitations Not really a limitation, but the Hint Black version I reviewed had much less black stain than the photos featured on the Michael Kelly website. It looks nice and has a worn-in, distressed look that oozes vibe, but it’s not the deep black, “looks so deep you can swim in it”, PRS-like figuring seen on the website. Conclusion Michael Kelly impressed me with 1965; the Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle takes everything that is great about the 1965 and gives it a boutique, vintage tone makeover that’s so spot on, it’s a little scary. Building off the same platform, it’s amazing to see (well, hear) how much of a guitar’s sound can be attributed to the pickups, and the choice between the 1965 and Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle comes down to whether you’re looking for a modern Swiss-Army Strat-style guitar or a vintage classic tone on a budget. The 1960s Series at a Glance 1960 Custom Classic Vintage- Flamed maple top, gold hardware, Fishman Fluence Active Electronics 1963- Flamed maple top, chrome hardware, MK Fat single coil, MK Classic single coil, MK Vintage Plus humbucker, MK Twin Edge tremolo 1963 Striped Ebony- Striped Ebony top, Alder body, chrome hardware, MK Fat single coil, MK Classic single coil, MK Vintage Plus humbucker, MK Twin Edge tremolo 1964- Quilted maple top, flat black hardware, Fat Stacked single coil, Fat single coil, Fat Ass humbucker, Floyd Rose Special Tremolo 1965- Quilted maple top, chrome hardware, Rockfield Fat Stacked single coil, Rockfield SSC single coil, Rockfield SWC humbucker, Epic 11 Mod, MK Twin Edge Tremolo 1965 Ebony Custom Classic- Striped Ebony top, Swamp Ash body, chrome hardware, Rockfield SSC single coil x2, Rockfield SWC humbucker, Epic 11 Mod, MK Twin Edge Tremolo Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle- Quilted maple top, chrome hardware, Bare Knuckle Slowhand Single Coil pickups x2, Bare Knuckle Blackdog Humbucker pickup, Epic 11 Mod, MK Twin Edge Tremolo Mod Shop 1965 Fralin- Quilted maple top, chrome hardware, Lindy Fralin Steel Poled 43 Single Coil pickups x2, Lindy Fralin High Output Humbucker pickup, Epic 11 Mod, MK Twin Edge Tremolo Mod Shop 1967 Double Duncan- Quilted maple top, gold hardware, Seymour Duncan Classic Stack Plus x2, Seymour Duncan Custom TB-5, Epic 11 Mod, MK Twin Edge Tremolo 1967- Quilted maple top, gold hardware, Rockfield Fat Stacked single coil, Rockfield SSC single coil, Seymour Duncan Custom TB-5, Epic 11 Mod, MK Twin Edge Tremolo RESOURCES To Buy this Michael Kelly Mod Shop 1965 Bare Knuckle ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

The Taylor Guitar Book: 40 Years of Great American Flattops by Teja Gerken A Chronical of an American Acoustic Dynasty By Chris Loeffler In The Taylor Guitar Book: 40 Years of Great American Flattops, author Teja Gerken aims to tell the complete story of one of the highest profile US guitar manufacturers of the last half century. Beginning with its start as one of the first modern small-shop steel-string guitar brands in North America and chronicling his rise to one of the most influential and well known modern acoustic guitar makers, the book explores Bob Taylor and the Taylor company’s unique tale of innovation and entrepreneurship. The Taylor Guitar Book is a square-bound softcover book (about 8.5” x 11”) with a thick cardstock cover and 160 heavy-stock pages printed in glossy full-color. The book is heavy on images and introduces the story of Taylor (and along with many side stories and notes) through a format of two pages of text followed by two pages of photographs of instruments, artists, or Taylor paraphernalia to break up and supplement the narrative While I assume the Taylor brand is already at least somewhat known to someone interested in reading a 150+ page book on their history, I’ll let their publicists do the heavy lifting for me in introducing the brand. “Famous for the easy playability of its guitars, Taylor not only successfully introduced non-traditional design elements (such as bolt-on necks) to the instruments, but also pioneered high-tech manufacturing techniques, including the use of computer-controlled CNC machinery, laser cutting, and modern finishes. In the process, the company influenced virtually every other maker of guitars during the last 40 years. Taylor has set new standards in consistency and quality control, even building its own cases and electronics.” The above reasons (in addition to the modern, hi-fidelity Taylor signature tone) are why artists as diverse as Neil Young, Prince, Leo Kottke, Jason Mraz, Zac Brown, Taylor Swift, Lindsey Buckingham, and the like can be found rocking Taylor guitars on the road and in the studio, and artists are a big part of the story captured by Gerken. The story of Taylor is so tied to the innovations it brought to market (both in guitar design and electronics) that I found myself subtly exposed to the evolution of the acoustic guitar design and why things settled where they did (or continue to evolve). This could potentially overwhelm a layman, but the fact that it’s treated as ancillary to the story of the company and doled out in support of the narrative makes it especially easy to digest. Thorough and intriguing, the story of Taylor is indeed compelling, and it helps that the book reads more as the narrative of a startup with a focus on refinement than it does an overlong publicity brochure. The Taylor Guitar Book is Gerken’s letter of affection to Taylor, but it never falls into the territory of undue flattery or fanboyism. Limitations While it is briefly touched upon in the book, Bob Taylor’s environmental activism and championing of sustainability is inspiring and, for those in the know, an important part of the direction Taylor is taking as a company and influencing the acoustic instrument industry as a whole to reevaluate the importance “traditional” and “exotic” tone woods and look to design to coax specific tones out of certain woods. I would love to have seen this aspect expanded upon. Conclusion The Taylor Guitar Book effectively captures the first 40 years of the Bob Taylor in a highly-readable narrative that leans heavy on the support of gorgeous visuals to create something that feels light while reading but effortlessly enriches a typical guitar player’s knowledge of guitar design and the reason Taylor guitars sound the way they do. ___________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Kramer SM-1 Seymour Duncan Equipped Electric Guitar Can it still shred the metal? by Chris Loeffler Despite Kramer’s 40-year history and prolific run in the 70s and 80s, the guitar line continues to exist one level deeper in the pool than, say, a Fender or Gibson, who have name recognition beyond the guitar community. As a testament to its iconic design philosophy, Kramer has stayed the course in creating solid, elegant electric guitars that aren’t afraid to show their edges (both physically and sonically). The Kramer SM-1 is a prime example for this, as it’s all about outstanding quality and playability. What You Need to Know The Kramer SM-1 is a double-cutaway electric guitar built on the rock-solid foundation of through-body mahogany neck with ebony fretboard into a solid mahogany body. The HSS (Humbucker, Single, Single) pickup format features coil-splitting Seymour Duncans and a recessed Floyd Rose FRT-100. The Vintage White Gloss is an eye-catching sharp color, especially as accented by the black chrome appointments, and gives the SM-1 a timeless look (it isn’t as firmly rooted in a specific era as many brighter colors are, but there’s still a touch of Day-Glo white that wouldn’t have been out of place in the 80s). The Seymour Duncan Cool Rails in the neck and middle positions were inset perfectly into the body, and the Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker was positioned exactly how I would have liked out of the case. Among the typical Volume, Tone, and pickup selection controls (conveniently within the sweep of the whammy bar), you'll find a small, black toggle switch that allows for coil-splitting the JB. Not so typical is the push-pull Volume knob, which allows use of the bridge pickup in combination with any pickup combo (including using all three at once). The neck is the biggest giveaway that the SM-1 is meant to be played fast… the slim taper is thin but wide, resulting in a very accessible fretboard that’s extremely forgiving while shredding up or down the 24-fret, 25.5 inch neck. The historic Kramer inlays are appropriately metal, with their talon-like evocation of the headstock carving through the ebony fretboard. The Seymour Duncan Cool Rails pickups in the neck and middle positions deliver clean, glassy single-coil tones that are begging for a little chorus, with atypical volume and fullness that are articulate and mid-forward. The Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge ups the ante and brings a powerful rock growl and upper-mid spit in the humbucking mode and a nice, throaty single-coil lead to when split. Functionally, the SM-1 is practically begging to dive-bomb, with the locking nut keeping the guitar in tune during rigorous exercises in pitch-bending excess. Limitations None. If you don’t like the SM-1, it’s down to individual preferences. Conclusion Everything about the Kramer SM-1 speaks to its design goals: simple, elegant, extremely well built, ready to play, and fantastic sounding. Versatile without sacrificing character, there aren’t many applications or genres where the SM-1 wouldn’t shine (although it might stick out at the local acoustic jam). Resources Kramer SM-1 Electric Guitar Product Page Buy Kramer SM-1 Electric Guitar at Sweetwater ($1,533 MSRP, $919.99 Street) __________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Slowhand Software The Virtues of Controlling Your Video Learning By Chris Loeffler *Note- Following this review is a brief interview with Bob DeKett, the creator of Slowhand. This was included as the software itself is very straightforward; it is the application and solution Slowhand provides that most benefits from a further explanation, as this is fundamentally a new tool for musicians. Slowhand is a software program designed to zoom, pan, slow down, and loop any music performance video without changing the pitch or sync of the audio (it might help to watch the video at the end of the review if this doesn’t instantly click). Slowhand runs on Windows 95 through 10 systems and is a relatively small install at about 60 MB. As of this writing, the Slowhand software is available as a free, timed trial with full functionality ($49.99 Retail). A quick download and easy install unpacks the software and checks your current video codec library to ensure you have the appropriate support utilities. If you don’t, a recommended, no-frills codec is pointed to for install with an included link. The initial launch of Slowhand opens the player, with project ("project" is the term for videos edited by Slowhand) import controls at the top, speed and pan controls grouped in the left corner, and loop and transport controls on the bottom of the screen. The current, reviewed version of Slowhand (v3.0) allows users to create a new project from video online (Youtube, Vimeo) or local hard drive, upload their projects to the online user library accessible within the program, or download projects created by other users from said library. Additionally, loops from individual projects can be combined into a single project, which is useful for mixing various versions of a solo to get the best camera angle for each part or to create custom lessons (“Top Six Blues Licks”, etc). While intuitive to use, I would recommend newcomers start their Slowhand experience by importing a project from the user library. This lets you play around with the meat of the app (zooming, looping, and slowing down) to see how powerful this level of control is in learning a part before diving into creating your own projects and using the handy video download tool. Zooming and panning is accomplished through simple drag-and-drop mouse control, and the speed is adjusted by a single slider. Loops (up to six) are selectable in the side panel and referenced in the video timeline as well. Creating a project is intuitively menu driven, and begins with importing a video from online (almost any video format will work, but YouTube and Vimeo video importers are included in the Slowhand interface) or selecting one from your hard drive. While using a local video doesn’t need explanation, grabbing video from an online channel like Youtube or Vimeo is easily accomplished with Slowhand’s built in video importer. Importing a video to start a project is as simple as pasting the URL into the in-app downloader and selecting “Import and Play”. The video is downloaded into your local drive and opens as a new project, ready to zoom, loop, and slow down. From Theory to Practice I used the Slowhand video downloader to import a video of David Gilmour playing the from YouTube, which took about a minute before opening as a project in Slowhand. I watched the video and made note of three logical break-points in the solo and set loop pointers accordingly to create three separate loops within the video. This allowed me to watch the same loop of four bars over and over until I nailed the part, at which time I moved on to the next loop, making the entire solo more digestible. While the camera was pretty well framed, I noticed the different parts of the solo never strayed more than seven frets so I zoomed in and panned the shot, giving about a 25% zoom. Once I was happy with the shot, I dropped the speed to 80% (this is David Gilmour, not Yngwie). The whole process took less than five minutes, and the end result was a minute+ solo parsed into three 24 second loops. A couple of minutes with each loop was enough to learn the complete solo and repeat it in standard tempo. The quality of video and sound depends entirely on the source material, and will degrade with extreme zooms or slow downs. That said, a typical 480 video with reasonable audio quality is still very clear at 50% zoom and can be slowed more than 50% (i.e. half time) before audio artifacts became distracting. Then again, a drastically languid tempo will likely grate on your ears before any actual audio issues come in to play. There are deeper controls for those who are picky about audio and video quality (although I found Slowhand to default to the right mix of efficiency of size to quality), and the previously mentioned “Build a Project from Loops” is likely to become a music instructor favorite. While the library was just released at the time of this review and only contained a dozen projects, it is safe to say the library will quickly gain hundreds (and eventually thousands) of projects as users share their projects. While I didn't think of myself as a video learner, I could see Slowhand eventually being the place people go before YouTube or a tab site to get direct access to user-created content. A physical, fully customizable and assignable foot pedal was in the prototype stage when I reviewed the software; the pedal is designed to assign every control from the program to one of eight footswitches for hands-free learning in the program. I can't speak to the final product (due Q2 2016), but the prototype I played greatly enhanced the experience by freeing my hands so I could play while adjusting speed, zoom, and restarting loops. Limitations Slowhand is currently available only for PC, although a Mac version is currently in development with a Summer launch planned. iOS/Android versions are being spec’ed. Garbage in, garbage out. Poor video sound quality played at extremely reduced speeds begin to reveal compression artifacts in the source audio. Conclusions Slowhand is a simple and to-the-point program that does only a few things, but does them really well. While I didn’t enter the review thinking of myself as someone who would look to performance videos to learn, after actually experiencing it (and I’m not one to dedicate much time to something difficult or that doesn’t interest me) I fully realize the potential as a learning tool. While you'd assume zooming in to see what’s being played more clearly and slowing down the tempo will make learning a piece more accessible, it's truly surprising how helpful Slowhand is in practice. Resources Slowhand Product Page Slowhand Free Trial Download Link _________________________________________________ Slowhand Creator Bob DeKett on the Virtues of Video Learning When Slowhand creator Bob DeKett first explained Slowhand to me, I was a bit confused. “Slowhand allows you to slow down videos, zoom in, and create loops without changing the pitch or sync of the audio, so you can actually see what the guitar player is playing and learn from it.” A few beats later, I muster, “That’s pretty cool, but doesn’t that already exist?” Bob grins. “Nope. Most people think this functionality must exist because it is so intuitive, but I assure you after 20 years of off-and-on development and the patents to prove it, this is the only one that's easy to use. They’ve been doing it with audio for years, but that just helps you hear the notes at a slower pace. Video lets you actually see what’s being played; whether it’s a picked note or a pull off, the fingering of the chords, whatever. It’s like, ‘Hey, Jeff Beck, can you play that part again but at half speed?’ Slow down video in any standard player, and the audio pitch shifts; the notes you are hearing aren’t the notes you are seeing being played. At best, that’s distracting. More likely, you’re going to say, ‘Forget it.’” Having learned exclusively through books and instructors (and it’s been decades since I’ve worked with either, as my playing will attest), my thoughts of video learning lean more towards the hot pink and neon green HotLix VHS tapes and feathered haired, spandex clad guitar heroes teaching mixalydian runs at 100 BPM on aggressively pointy guitars. Obviously, those videos have created thousands of amazing players and kept their stars’ fridges stocked with pizza and beer, but I’ve personally never bonded with video instruction. It was sort of the worst of both book and live instruction worlds for me; books allow me to learn at my own pace (including skipping the parts I don’t want) and instructors are capable of slowing their playing and demonstrating their fingering up close. Instructional videos are limited by virtue of their format to the captured performance of the instructor and the speed the performer plays the lesson. Bob, however, sees video instruction as the most valuable way to learn directly from the musician… with the right tools. In this case, the tool is giving players and students more control over how they can view and control the performance. “Slowhand takes a performance and allows you to zoom in for a better view of their hands to see what they’re doing and slow the performance down to reveal the technique and show you exactly what the player is doing to master the part. It’s literally transforming a properly shot performance into the next best thing to a personal lesson with the artist. Slowhand isn’t a set of video instructions, it turns pre-existing videos into lessons you have control over. Pretty much anything you can find on Youtube, Vimeo, or elsewhere online is game.” Obviously, a video shot in low resolution, from half-way across a crowd of 20,000 people, or the focuses on the singer’s hip gyrations isn’t going to work, but typing pretty much any song title and “solo” in YouTube search returnes something that is almost perfect every time. I say almost perfect, because while the shots can be great, they were playing at regular speed and I would have to constantly stop and rewind every few seconds if I wanted to actually learn and replicate what was being played. I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t have the patience for that and was frustrated within a minute or two. Bob acknowledged my frustration and asked me to try it in Slowhand. After a quick import of the video file from YouTube, he immediately identified three break-points in the solo and set them as separate loops of video. This allowed me to watch the same loop of four bars over and over until I nailed and and clicked to the next loop, making the entire solo more digestible. While the camera was pretty well framed, he pointed out the solo never dropped below the 3rd fret or beyond the 12th fret and zoomed in and panned the shot, giving about a 25% zoom. Once he was happy with the shot, we dropped the speed 50%. The whole process took less than two minutes, and the end result was a 24 second solo parsed into three 8 second loops. Maybe 30-45 seconds with each loop was enough to learn the complete solo and repeat it in standard tempo. “The hardest part is finding the right video,” Bob acknowledged when I stopped the final loop. “Once you have a video, importing takes a couple of minutes and editing takes between a couple minutes to maybe five minutes, depending on the size of the initial video and number edits you choose to make. I come from a background in video games, and if there’s one thing you learn in video games, it’s that if it isn’t dead-easy to do, people aren’t going to use it.” There’s a FAQ for Slowhand, but the user interface is about as simple as can be… anyone who has played with a simple recording device will intuitively know how to create loops, adjust playback speed, and zoom and pan thanks to the universally recognized button symbols and single-layer control scheme. Of his intention for Slowhand, Bob stated, “Right now it’s a tool to help the individual player leverage existing videos to learn new material. As the user base grows, we’ve building out a space for users to share their projects and lessons. There’s a lot more coming, and Slowhand is the tool that will get you on that road”. Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Michael Kelly Mod Shop Patriot Instinct Bare Knuckle Electric Guitar Putting Lipstick on a Super Model? by Chris Loeffler Michael Kelly has been selling high-quality electric guitars built to boutique standards for more than 15 years at a fraction of the price of a true US “boutique” instrument. Built in small batches overseas to Michael Kelly’s custom design specs and inspected and set up in the US, Michael Kelly guitars separate themselves from the “me too” crowd by incorporating common post-purchase adjustments and component swaps players maker to stock instruments as a standard feature in the MK line. 2016 Winter NAMM saw MK release their new Mod Shop series, which are alternative takes on their existing lineup. The Mod Shop guitars are specific models appointed with different electronics and pickups than the standard lines to achieve a very particular set of tones, and aren’t just additional configuration options to their current assortment. The Michael Kelly Mod Shop Patriot Instinct Bare Knuckle is the Mod Shop take on the single-cut carved top electric guitar with the premium appointments of the Instinct line and their Mod Shop hot-rodded electronics incorporated with Bare Knuckle Mules. While a mouthful at first, understanding the meaning of the name Michael Kelly Mod Shop Patriot Instinct Bare Knuckle is key to understanding the features MK is packing into this guitar (terms that apply across their electric guitar line)- Patriot- Michael Kelly Mod Shop Patriot Instinct Bare Knuckle is built upon the rock solid foundation of Michael Kelly’s lauded Patriot, an archtop single cutaway, solid body electric guitar with a dual humbucker configuration. The body is a carved mahogany with a quilted maple top and cream binding that has heft and weight without falling on the “too heavy” side of the spectrum (my back thanked me for that). The mahogany neck is deep set in the body, and the 22 fret medium jumbo rosewood fretboard is fast but solid at a 24.75 inch scale length; less “chunky” than some vintage necks, but thick enough not to feel like a surf guitar. The chrome hardware consists of Grover tuners and a Tune-O-Matic with String-Thru-Body bridge. Instinct- The Instinct series of the Patriot introduces cosmetic enhancements such as a true quilted maple top, genuine abalone and pearl fretboard inlays, and an abalone center stripe that runs the length of the body. The figuring on the particular guitar I reviewed had a gorgeously deep quilt to it that really popped, and the Partial Eclipse black-to-natural color is eye catching and looks fantastic up close. The darkest black at the heel still reveals some figuring upon close inspection, and the transition to a natural honey hue by the bridge pickup gives a unique “black and tan” vibe. The fretboard inlays are upgraded from standard bone pearl to genuine pearl with abalone inset on the 12th fret, and the abalone body stripe is a subtle but classy way to connect book-matched top (at least on my review model). Mod Shop- The Mod Shop refers to the addition of Michael Kelly’s enhanced Great Eight electronics configuration that, through coil splitting and various combinations, offers eight different pickup options (H/-, -/H, H/H, S/-, -/S, S/S, S/H, H/S). The two Volume knobs can be pulled up to split the Mules, and the Bridge/Both/Neck toggle switch at the top allows for intuitive access to dramatic changes in tone. Bare Knuckle- The Bare Knuckle refers to the inclusion of British boutique maker Bare Knuckle Pickups nickel covered Mules in both the bridge and neck positions. The Mules are set on a solid nickel silver baseplate with butyrate bobbins, maple spacers, nickel-plated slugs, and Fillister No.5 screws and Alnico IV magnets. OK… got all that? Let’s move on to how these all play out in concert in the guitar. The Patriot plays very similarly to a modern Les Paul-style guitar, with the top and sides significantly carved to support the picking arm comfortably, and is balanced to pass the “hands-free strap test.” While not a lightweight guitar, the heft and distribution is just right when worn with a strap, and the larger bow gives a nice “rock” tilt to it. The contours around the neck help with access to the highest frets, and the neck is set seamlessly into the body. I’m going to spend an inordinate of time on the pickups, as the BKP Mules are the primary reason someone would pick this guitar over the standard Patriot Instinct. The BKP Mules are scatter-wound pickups voiced in the vein of a vintage ’59 PAF humbucker. Unfortunately, the ’59 PAF “tone” has some variations on a theme, as one of realities of hand-wound pickups (some would say “virtues”) is that they aren’t as tight in tolerance as machine-wound. That said, there certainly is a reference tone that is ball parked by tone enthusiasts, and the BKP Mules are squarely there. They are vintage-sounding and fall on the lower-output side of the humbucker volume scale, are well voiced, and (as I’m assuming the name is meant to evoke), really nail the 00’s Warren Haynes tone in their standard humbucking settings. Compared to a pair of ’57 Classics, the Mules sound a touch less round in the mids and lack the distinctive Gibson “honk”; the low end is slightly more defined in the Mules, there is a sizzle to the treble, and it's a touch more expressive with attack. It’s slightly easier to sound “good” with the ‘57s, but a skilled, nuanced player will sound “great” with Mules. Clean, the Mules have depth and dimension and are quite articulate, but that sizzle I mentioned in the highs gives the Mule an aggressive, if vintage, edge, especially in the bridge position; lively but balanced. I mention this first because the moment the Patriot Instinct starts overdriving a preamp that’s breaking up it’s easy to forget how deep and pleasing the cleans are. Any amp (or pedal) worth its salt makes the Patriot sing, and that edge and sparkle jumps to the forefront for the gain to form around. In both the Neck and Bridge positions, the Mules change their character quite a bit when tapped to split coil. They certainly sound like single-coil pickups, but there’s something about the character of a purpose-built single coil that isn’t 100% realized with the split Mule; they are crisp and responsive while retaining a surprising amount of volume. Just like dedicated single coil pickups, there’s a lot more opportunity for hum and noise. The Great Eight Full-Tap mod allows for eight different configurations, as highlighted above. While the standard configurations (H/-, -/H, and H/H) are easy to conjure, and even the semi-standard configurations (S/-, -/S, S/S) aren’t a stretch to imagine, there’s a lot of interesting sonic ground covered in the new options the Great Eight opens. Running split in the neck with the full humbucker in the bridge adds extra lower-mid thickness to lead tones without the somewhat overbearing “dual humbucker” tone in a H/H setting, whereas running the Mules split in the bridge and humbucking in the neck gives the darker rhythm tone (my personal favorite) sparkle and a touch of additional cut. I confess the unorthodox pickup configuration options lead to some unorthodox tones (and most guitar players, as progressive as their social politics may be, are firmly rooted in tradition), but the moment I opened my mind (and ear) to what they offered, I realized how valid some of these tones are in specific settings. There certainly are signature tones to be mined from the Mod Shop’s marriage of the Great Eight Full-Tap mod with BKP Mules. Limitations Splitting the Mules can introduce a significant amount of 60-cycle hum in environments with dirty power and when facing the speakers. Conclusion The Michael Kelly Mod Shop Patriot Instinct Bare Knuckle exemplifies what Michael Kelly does so well… modernize and specialize a classic guitar design without abandoning its roots. The Patriot plays beautifully, the Instinct appointments are gorgeous without going over the top, and the Mod Shop electronics and BKP Mules make this guitar a must-play for people seeking the classic “humbucker” guitar style and feel with a decidedly vintage tone for well under $1,000. Resources Michael Kelly Mod Shop Patriot Instinct Bare Knuckle Electric Guitar Product Page (MSRP $799.99) Join the discussion about this Michael Kelly on Harmony Central Available Colors - Partial Eclipse (Reviewed) Scorched Blue Fade _______________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Electro-Harmonix Cocked Wah Fuzz Effect A Run-Through with the Cocky King of the Roost By Chris Loeffler Enterprising tone pioneers long ago discovered that in addition to the typical application of animating their tone with a sweeping wah pedal and fuzz, there were points in the wah’s sweep where they could “park” the wah (i.e., leave it at a certain point mid-sweep) that created unique and very effective (especially live) tones. That said, fuzz and wah effects have always had a tumultuous relationship…when paired right, they can make the sonic love of rock gods, but the wrong application can result in a pumping, chugging, lifeless mess of mush. Using the two together requires signal chain adjustments and settings tweaks that typically end up getting “less than the best” from both your fuzz and wah compared to when they're used independently. Here’s the crux of the issue: traditional fuzzes want a direct connection to the guitar pickups, so they like being first in the signal chain. Although the way a wah filter focuses the guitar's frequencies can sound amazing and cutting when placed in front of a fuzz, traditional wah pedals have terrible buffers that utterly destroy the minimal loading needed to make a fuzz vibrant. Placing a wah after fuzz, while a valid tone, sounds much less organic and more “effected” as it scoops out quite a bit of the fuzz attack and bloom. Whether the intent was simply to squeeze a tone typically created by multiple effects into a single pedal or to free players’ fuzzes and wahs to sound their best when used individually, Electro-Harmonix has unleashed the Cock Fight in a bid to let guitar players have their cake and eat it too. What You Need to Know The Electro-Harmonix Cock Fight runs on a standard 9v battery or included power supply and features controls for Volume, Frequency, Drive, Tone, Bias, Bottom, Pre/Post, and Cry/Talk. In addition to standard in and outs, an expression input allows incorporating an expression pedal (EHX Expression Pedal, M-Audio, Roland, etc) to sweep the filter like a traditional wah pedal. The fuzz portion of the circuit is sculpted using Drive, Tone, and Bias controls, and can be placed before or after the filter circuit - or even removed entirely (but what’s the fun in that?). Drive adjusts the overall amount of fuzz gain, and is very interactive with the Bias control, which dictates the voltage the circuit receives. While the Drive control goes from nearly clean to saturated, rich fuzz, the Bias control changes the structure of the gain based on how much juice it’s feeding. All the way up, Tonebender and Muff-style richness and dimension lurks, but when rolling back the Bias the gain starts to gate, the distortion beings to simplify, and eventually the tone devolves into sputtery, 8-bit Nintendo bloops by the bottom of the sweep. The Tone control shows surprising restraint for Electro-Harmonix (famous for giving so much range that things can get a little crazy) and is gentle and natural across its sweep, never getting too dull nor too bright...just helping ease your tone into a sweet spot. The wah circuit is controlled by Volume, Frequency, Bottom, and Mode controls and, unlike the fuzz, cannot be disabled when the pedal is on. The Volume control, logically, controls the effect's output volume (from dead quiet to double the volume of the original signal), while the Frequency knob adjusts the filter sweep, just like rocking a wah pedal would. The Bottom control allows for additional bass, typically cut in a wah-style effect, to be reintroduced, especially for bass or keyboard applications. The Bottom control is most effective with guitar when used in moderation, as things got a bit flabby with the control kept past noon. The Cry/Talk switch assigns one of two filter styles to the wah, which each merit individual discussion. Cry Mode is a traditional wah tone, and likely the sound most people think of when asked to guess what the Cock Fight sounds like. Unlike many of the wah mainstays I’ve used, the sweep is surprisingly even and smooth and there weren’t any of the ugly points or harsh spikes I typically try to speed through. Hendrix, Zepp, Hammett…they’re all there. When in front of the fuzz circuit, the Cry mode is like a knife that cuts through the mix and beefs up the mids, just like a traditional Wah/Fuzz combo. The fuzz builds nicely around the filter and rounds out the edges. While the sound is very organic, even untrained ears will know something is happening beyond “distortion.” Depending on the guitar and amp, pretty much any point in the Frequency range has a valid application. Placed after the fuzz, the Cry mode's filter section really pulls in the tonal range of the fuzz and boosts a confined scope of frequencies for some interesting, if not exactly vintage, tones. It’s spiky and more aggressive, and has an almost “out-of-phase” quality to it at many points of the sweep. Talk Mode is a vocal, chewy filter setting that seems to recreate the vowel run A-E-I-O-U-W (OK… not a vowel) one would expect from the yowl of a golden-throated, baritone alley cat (but in a good way). Robotic, talk-box like tones seem to have a bigger smoothing effect over the attack definition, and it’s certainly the less traditional-sounding of the two modes. Placing the fuzz in the post position obscures some of this funkiness due to the gain, and Frampton-like “howling into a distorting loudspeaker”-type sounds are attainable; but in the pre-position, the filter gets a stranglehold over the fuzz and creates synth-like tones that would be as at home in an EDM recording as they would the world of rock. While this may sound dismissive or like a one-trick pony, I doubt there is a Cock Fight owner who won’t find a way to sneak the Talk setting into a live performance for at least one song. Limitations Extremely high-output active pickups can overload the effect, making it better suited for single-coil and traditional humbucking pickups. While limitation may be the wrong word, I’d love to see a treadle version come out down the line to take full advantage of the wah (I’m not a fan of the lightweight M-Audio and Roland expression pedals). Conclusion The Electro-Harmonix Cock Fight is the rare example of an analog multi-effect that does everything right. The fuzz sounds and feels good enough to satisfy any fuzz snob, and the two wah modes would each be top candidates on their own. As if sounding great as individual components wasn’t enough, the circuits play together beautifully and create a treasure trove of lead and rhythm tones. As someone once joked in the Effects Forum, “Friends don’t let friends cock their wah,” there can be a temptation to overuse it to the point where the awesome-sauce becomes fatiguing - but that’s on the player, not the pedal. Resources Electro-Harmonix Cock Fight Cocked Wah Product Page Buy the Electro-Harmonix Cock Fight Cocked Wah (MSRP $148.90, MAP $111.70) @Sweetwater @B&H @Amazon @MusiciansFriend _________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

GMF Ai1 Acoustic Preamp/DI Box An Exercise in Transparency By Chris Loeffler Let’s get this out of the way; GMF may be a new brand to the music instrument industry, but its founder and CEO, Greg Farres, has over 35 years in the industry, notable for being the founder of Ultrasound Amps. What You Need to Know The GMF Ai1 is an extremely portable, ruggedly built box that has the chameleonic-like ability to serve as a preamp for acoustic-electric instruments, a DI box to run into a PA system, a headphone amp for silent practicing, or a way to connect to nearly any consumer audio device. The Ai1’s multi-application status is hidden beneath an incredibly simple and compact form factor. At less than 4”x4”x2” in size, it’s hard to believe the Ai1 can squeeze in its two inputs, four outputs, and seven controls. GMF's Ai1 gives players control over their acoustic DI tone through its 100% analog signal path. Controls include active tone controls for Treble, Bass, Level and Gain as well as toggle switches for Ground Lift, Phase In/Out and Shape On/Off, which provides a preset mid-scoop. In and outs include ¼-inch and ⅛-inch outputs, a balanced XLR out, and a pair of stereo RCA in/outs for preamplification with audio players. Power comes from a standard 9v power supply or even a 9v battery. The manufacturer recommends using an AC adaptor for optimum performance, but I didn’t find any audio degradation using a new 9v Duracell. While most pieces of music gear are about what they add to the tone of the instrument, the GMF Ai1 is about keeping the sound as true to the source instrument or microphone as possible. The sound is transparent; it isn’t a "warmer" and doesn’t round out your sound, it just sounds like what you put in (and gives you a bit of EQ control along the way). Running an acoustic guitar with piezo pickups through the Ai1 yielded more open tones than the guitar's onboard preamp, and it had less “effect” than a couple of the current go-to DI boxes I ran it against. The range was full and the highs bright without getting brittle. The tone controls offer a musical range of tweaking without letting anything get too exaggerated, and there's enough output to goose things a bit. The RCA inputs expand the Ai1’s uses to include headphone jamming with an MP3 player, and another bonus application is running your instrument through the Ai1 into a car stereo's aux input for campsite jams. Limitations For what it is and its intended applications, none. Conclusions Given the number of uses, small price point, and smaller physical size, the GMF Ai1 almost classifies as a “must have” for any player. There are more colorful and expensive preamps or DI boxes available for players looking to add vibe to their sound, and there's deeper control available in larger format alternatives. But I’d be hard pressed to find a more pure and competent product than the Ai1. It knows what it is, gives players access to everything they need (and nothing they don’t), and is equally competent at each of its applications. Resources GMF Ai1 Preamp/DI Home Page (MSRP $189.00, Street $109.00) _________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

The Beatles Gear: The Ultimate Edition by Andy Babiuk Across the Universe with the Definitive Story of the Fab Four’s Gear by Chris Loeffler The Beatles are, without a doubt, the greatest Rock and Roll band of all time, and in 10 brief years created dozens of musical paths later bands would journey down in an effort to define the meaning of Rock. While some of their Brit contemporaries are still carrying on 50 years later, the Beatles continue to capture the minds and hearts of generations of music lovers new and old despite having not performed together for over 45 years. One of the benefits of being pioneers of a sound is the sheer amount of gear and sonic experimentation to which they had access, and it fell upon Andy Babiuk to seek information from sources near and far to put forth what he considers the ultimate catalog of the gear used to create the legendary recordings of the Beatles. Let's look at this revised and expanded new edition of Beatles Gear: Ultimate Edition, published by Backbeat Books. What You Need To Know Andy Babiuk also wrote Rolling Stones Gear, and for those familiar with that earlier book,Beatles Gear takes a similar approach, covering the band's formation, early years and first musical instruments, The book then proceeds to document all of the instruments used by each member of the group on each recording session and tour. From John’s first guitarat age 14 up to Phil Spector taking Glyn John’s raw tapes and (arguably) heavy-handedly turning the final Beatles album into the orchestral extravaganza that was Let it Be.Whereas the original edition of Beatles Gear weighed in at 258 pages, this ultimate edition breaks 500 pages with added stories, photos, and facts shared with Babiuk by rabid fans after the initial edition’s publication.After a brief introduction describing the conditions in post-war Great Britain and the influence of early American rock and roll to set the stage, the book describes the first meetings of John Lennon and Paul McCartny, and their earliest musical influences, the records they listened to, their early instruments, jumping from acoustic to electric, and how the Beatles were formed.Moving on from there chronologically, the book starts its instrument coverage with John’s £7 Gallotone Champion acoustic that he ordered from a catalog in 1955 after unsuccessful attempts to talk his aunt and then mother into purchasing one, all the way up to the Epiphone Casino used on their final album, Let it Be, in 1969. The book is packed with comments and quotes from the band themselves about the gear they used, as well as many insights and information about their lives and careers (some of which you would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else), although the emphasis is definitely on the gear they played.Amplifiers, basses, guitars, keyboards, drums and effects are all covered in great depth, as are the more specialized and unusual instruments such as dulcimers, harmonicas, electric sitars and more that were used on various albums and tours.One of the highlights of the additions to the Ultimate Edition is an expanded story of the John Lennon Gibson guitar, which reads part-gear nerdery and part-detective story.Since the book covers the subject matter in chronological order, it's easy to locate information about specific gear that the band members used during various years, albums, tours or eras, making it an excellent research tool. It also includes a comprehensive and helpful index.Published 14 years after his already painstakingly researched Beatles Gear book, this masterfully researched and lavishly illustrated 509-page book is the definitive work on the subject of the instruments used by the Beatles over the course of the band's history. Limitations Information on the specific recording gear may be thinner than an aspiring engineer or producer would likely seek (although there are rich clues hidden in the photos for eagle-eyed gear hounds to discover, and there's always the book Recording the Beatles). Also the flow of the book could have benefited somewhat by separating the story of the band from the gear. Conclusions With huge photos and great gear shots, the engagingly written Beatles Gear Ultimate Edition is equally likely to appeal to Beatles fans, gear hounds, engineers, and those interested in world history and how it shapes pop culture. Beatles Gear is massive, with thick paper stock, glossy pages, and a sturdy cover. It's obvious that a tremendous amount of research went into this, and it couldn't have been done without contributions and input from people within the Beatles’ organization. Informative and entertaining, and with a impressive amount of photos of rare instruments (including shots of the actual instruments used by the band, many of which have never been published before), it's a visual delight as well. Whether you read it cover to cover, browse through the various chapters randomly, or use it as a research tool, it's bound to entertain, elucidate, and delight. It really is the definitive volume on all the gear used by four young chaps from the UK who happened to change the world forever. Resources Beatles Gear: The Ultimate Edition Product Page Buy Beatles Gear: The Ultimate Edition ($60 MSRP, Price Varies at Amazon) ____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

RJ Super Vintage Electric Guitar One guitar's attempt to nail five of the most iconic tones of all time By Chris Loeffler There are thousands of ways to skin the cat that is the electric guitar (Guitar Center currently lists 2,107 unique current production electric guitars in its online assortment), but the majority of players look to the past for tone and the present/future for slight feature enhancements when purchasing a new guitar. That’s why most “new” guitars are still variations of the same theme of Les Paul/Strat/Tele/SG/ES-335 nearly sixty years after their introductions. Did they get it right the first time, or are guitar players suckers for tradition? I don’t have the answer to that question, but it's undeniable most players seek (or at least admire) the tones of years past. Hey, it was good enough for the Corvette! RJ Guitars, a Philippine-based guitar company founded in 1988 by professional guitarist Ramon “RJ” Jacinto that includes Joe Yui (owner of L.A. Guitar Works and previous President of Schecter Japan) got its start addressing a local need to bring affordable versions of classic American guitars to the Philippines, where US guitar prices were typically double that of the US in a market where the average household income was 50% lower, meaning a standard playable instrument from the US was beyond the means of the typical Filipino player. Chasing his dream of combining the tones of several sought-after vintage guitars he played while touring into a single guitar, RJ collaborated with storied Japanese luthier Masayuki Takaesu to create the RJ Super Vintage, an electric guitar that aims to produce the tones of five classic guitars: Fender Stratocaster, Fender Telecaster, Fender Jazzmaster, Gibson Les Paul, and Gibson ES-335. The RJ Super Vintage is a double cutaway, semi-hollow electric guitar made from solid Mango wood with cream binding that features a H/S/H pickup configuration using RJ’s proprietary RJ Mystique hand-wound pickups. Controlled by Volume and Tone knobs, the RJ Intelliswitch Mini Toggle system is the heart of the RJ Super Vintage design. The RJ Super Vintage’s Canadian Maple neck and fretboard features a soft “V” shape with 22 frets, a 12.2047” radius, and a 1.653” nut width. All the hardware is gold-plated, including the Wilkinson WJ55 Deluxe Tuning Machine Heads, Wilkinson WVS50IIK floating tremolo system, and tremolo bar. There are no active electronics; all tones are produced through traditional wound-magnet pickups. The concept behind the Super Vintage is combining specially voiced pickups that can be independently turned on or off via individual toggle switches with splittable humbucking pickups in the neck and bridge positions that, in tandem with adjustments to the tone control, achieves the tone of one of five different guitars. While every one of these features has been done before, it is the combination of pickup split/kill switches with the way the pickups are voiced that results in an experience much more akin to changing instruments (or at least pickups) than simply adding or removing a magnet to buck hum . The trademark spank of the Telecaster sound, for example, is achieved by only activating the bridge pickup in single coil mode with the tone knob cranked, while the Strat sound happens through the neck pickup in single coil mode. Obviously, each of the guitars the RJ Super Vintage seeks to replicate has its own pickup configurations that create distinct tones, but the intention of the RJ Super Vintage is to capture one or two of the most iconic and standard configurations of each these instruments. For example, the Les Paul setting aims for the Les Paul “Solo” setting by selecting the bridge humbucker with the Tone control below 50%, while the “Rhythm” setting uses the neck pickup in humbucker mode with the same Tone setting. The ES-335 sound combines the two, and, coupled with the semi-hollow body, is appropriately breathy, defined, and round. The Jazzmaster tones combine the split neck and bridge coils, or all three. A lot of the “in between” Strat sounds, like the wonderfully phase-challenged Knopfler tone, are also available by combining the middle pickup with either the split bridge or split neck pickup. While none of the tones will likely be said to be “the holy grail version of X guitar tone,” I found each one to be very good… certainly at least at creating a tone that would make an informed listener say “Now they’re playing a Tele/Les Paul/ES-335.” The voice difference between split and humbucker in the neck and bridge is much more distinct than the typical coil-splitting pickup I've experienced… they actually sound like two different pickups. The Super Vintage I played was perfectly balanced among the three pickups, with each one sitting just right when blended with others or on its own; no volume jumps or clashing to be found. The feel of the neck is most similar to a vintage Strat, classically contoured and maybe a bit beefier than some without changing the fundamental experience. The body is well balanced and has just enough weight to stay comfortable without becoming burdensome after an hour of playing. The neck and hardware connections were all pristine in the evaluation version I reviewed, and the binding and finish were flawless. While not a go-to name in the world of tone woods, the Mango wood both sounded musical and looked gorgeous, like a slightly lighter Koa. The figuring was pleasant and deep, and the top and side were well selected, and showcased the wood pattern . There are solid color versions available, but it almost seems a shame to hide such beautiful grain patterns. Limitations The RJ Super Vintage doesn’t achieve its various sounds through modeling or presets; these different sounds are accessible through tweaking the configuration of hand-wound magnetic pickups and adjusting the tone and volume controls. As such, it requires investing a few hours in learning to know quickly (and intuitively) which pickup configuration and tone knob alterations are required to change sounds between songs. Players familiar with the various guitars the RJ Super Vintage is emulating will find it easier, but less experienced players will need to put in the time to master the concept and know how to conjure the exact tone they want on the fly. Conclusion The RJ Super Vintage is an exceptional and unique guitar that merits the consideration of any player looking for versatility without walking away from the comfort of classic guitar technology. The material and build quality is impressive, and the guitar I played was set up perfectly and in tune (straight from the Philippines). Ignore the stigma that continues to haunt imported instruments (which is less and less valid every day) and focus on the pedigree; the RJ Super Vintage is a beautiful-looking, beautiful-playing guitar that's a “best of” collection of classic Fender and Gibson tones at a price point that fits the working musician’s budget. Resources RJ Super Vintage Product Page (MSRP $1,099.99) _____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

DigiTech "Drop" Polyphonic Drop Tune Pedal The Lowdown on a Pedal that Goes Down Low by Chris Loeffler Polyphonic pitch-shifting has historically been a challenge for manufacturers to bring to guitar players. The moment a digital processor tries to adjust the analog guitar signal's pitch, the sound's “naturalness” starts to deteriorate due to bit rate reductions, digital artifacts, and a "flattening" of the tone depending on the quality of the A/D/A processors, the pitch-shifting algorithm, and the amount of pitch shift. DigiTech debuted the Whammy pedal in 1989 as an expression pedal-controlled pitch shifter that brought the same technology used in pricey rack processors to guitar pedalboards, and although it featured several algorithm (five Whammy effects, nine harmony effects, and two detune effects), the "divebomb" pitch bends were the Whammy's trademark sound. However while not as dramatic, the ability to drop pitch seamlessly to play in a lower tuning without switching guitars also attracted a lot of players to the Whammy. DigiTech's Drop carries on the tradition of the Whammy's pitch-shifting, but a lot has happened with technology since 1989 - and Drop takes advantage of faster digital signal processing and improved algorithms to drop your guitar's pitch with better fidelity and more accuracy. BEND DOWN AND DROP The DigiTech Drop applies DigiTech's pitch-bending technology to drop your guitar's pitch. Whether to chunk out stoney riffs in drop C without grabbing a second guitar or quick transpositions to accommodate vocalists, The Drop's main knob lets you drop pitch polyphonically by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 semitones below the original pitch as well as an octave below; an additional setting combines the detuned octave with the original (dry) signal. The footswitch itself is a true bypass type, so the pedal is completely out of the signal chain when the effect isn't selected. However, a toggle switch changes the footswitch mode from momentary (great when you want to a quick drop and then return to normal or do "drop trills"), to push on/push off (latching mode). To maintain audio fidelity Drop uses 24-but conversion at a 44.1 kHz sampling rate, with high frequency response up to about 11 kHz - more than adequate for guitar. The circuitry draws 2.3 watts, which is more than batteries can handle comfortably, so Drop includes an AC adapter. SO DOES IT SOUND ANY GOOD? Put simply and without hyperbole, Drop caught me by surprise. It sounds incredibly natural and kept the character and nuance of the different guitars I played through…the moment the amplifier exceeded the volume of the acoustic I wouldn’t have been able to guess the signal was being detuned. Obviously, extreme settings are so far from a guitar’s "native" range that chords and the like sound odd, but single notes and root-fifth chordings sound great and boomy without sacrificing the playing attack or sustain. The only challenge Drop presents is feeding it into an amp with enough headroom and large enough speakers to do it justice in the lowest settings. DigiTech made a wise decision to take the Whammy technology and fold it into a more specific and more refined direction. Drop produces known-quantity, useful sounds, but still manages to remain unique in the crowded sea of effects. Resources Digitech The Drop Product Page (includes audio example) Buy Digitech The Drop at B&H, Zzounds, Sweetwater, Musician's Friend (MSRP $279.95, Street $179.95) DigiTech Luxe Anti-Chorus Polyphonic Detune Pedal review by Chris Loeffler ________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

DigiTech "Luxe" Anti-Chorus Polyphonic Detune Pedal Pitch Shifting without the Warble by Chris Loeffler DigiTech debuted the Whammy pedal in 1989 as the quintessential expression pedal-controlled pitch shifter that pulled pitch shifting from rack processors to the floor board. The Whammy featured five Whammy effects, nine harmony effects, and two detune effects, but players immediately latched on to the most extreme, ripping pitch bends that became the identity of the Whammy sound. Less sexy, but more musical in many cases, was the chorus-style detune effect. The DigiTech Luxe, which works with both guitar and bass, is the direct descendant of the Whammy's detune options. However it's more focused, and benefits from years of refinement to DigiTech's pitch-bending algorithms. The result is a pedal that recalls traditional chorusing, but produces a welcome variation on the often cliched chorusing sound. THE CHORUS FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE CHORUS The DigiTech Luxe is aptly named the “Anti-Chorus”… it is indeed chorus for people who hate traditional chorus sounds (here’s looking at you, every 80s guitar part ever). Chorus as an effect came into being as an attempt to emulate multiple guitars playing the same part for a fuller sound, much like a physical chorus of guitar players playing the same part at the same time. Of course real guitar players couldn't play the same part identically, so any slight differences in timing and tone produce a fuller sound. Most chorus pedals achieve their sound by modulating the delay time of a parallel signal slightly; this creates a natural vibrato that adds movement and thickness as the modulated signal plays alongside the direct signal. The repetitive LFO-based modulation creates the trademark warble . The Luxe, on the other hand, lets you adjust the pitch of the effected signal up to 50 cents (half a semitone) sharp or flat. This gives a pitch difference that's "off" enough to thicken the signal and add shimmer without any "warbling" movement. In the center of the Detune sweep, a flanger-like regeneration rings out. Dialing the Detune below the middle darkens the sound without reducing treble . At the most extreme lower settings it just stops at uncomfortably detuned, maintaining a tone that would have some wacky, possibly Ween-inspired applications. The second half of the Detune sweep brightens the tone slightly. CONTROLS AND DETAILS The DigiTech Luxe only has two knobs, but the power of its versatility comes from how they're used. More so than many pedals, the Level knob is essential to dialing in the right amount of shimmer or sheen to play against the direct signal. There are areas of the Detune knob’s sweep that may sound “off” with a certain level setting, but come to life as they are brought more (or less) into the mix. Luxe comes with an AC adapter (it draws 2.3 Watts so like many digital effects, that's too much current to be battery powered) and features true bypass switching so when the effect isn't happening, the Luxe is completely out of the signal chain and doesn't alter your guitar sound. Audio-wise, there's 24-bit conversion at 44.1 kHz to maintain fidelity, and the 1 meg input impedance means there's virtually no loading of your guitar's signal. Although the effect's frequency response drops off at around 11 kHz, given that most cabinets top out at about 5 kHz, you won't notice any major dulling of the tone, While distortion into a chorus effect is often a one-way street to cheese town (and a ton of mud), the lack of pitch modulation means the Luxe actually sounds good when hit with a distorted signal. It's equally appropriate for single notes and chords, and in addition to guitar, also works well with bass. Overall, DigiTech has taken the legacy of the Whammy, optimized it for a specific application, and produced a pedal that adds animation and thickness to your guitar tone without sounding like...well, just another warbling 80s guitar part. Resources DigiTech Luxe Product Page (includes audio examples) Buy DigiTech Luxe at B&H, Sweetwater, Zzounds, Musician's Friend (MSRP $199.95, street $149.95) DigiTech "Drop" Polyphonic Drop Tune Pedal review by Chris Loeffler ________________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Crumar Mojo Limited Edition Ridiculous Vintage Mojo By Chris Loeffler While technology continues to rocket music gear into the sonic future, there’s a soothing nostalgia and warmth to the past that keeps musicians returning to analog gear, or at least to push software to achieve vintage sounds. Keyboard players may have access to soft synths that create otherworldly sounds through complex algorithms that would have broken 1980’s NASA super-computers, but to a dedicated group of players, the sounds and feel of the Hammond B-3 dual-manual drawbar organ is the definitive player experience. While Hammond is still in business (and continues to make dual-manual drawbars in a different format), manufacturers like Nord and Crumar have honed in on that space in a contest to see who can most accurately recreate the experience while taking advantage of technology to expand the sonic possibilities. The Crumar Mojo Limited Edition, despite it’s emphasis on physical presence and control, is essentially a MIDI controller running a custom computer hosting a customized version of Genuine Software VB3 Version 2 by Guido Scognamiglio. That said, it feels like a solid, physical piece with the added benefit of being reasonably light and no headaches to be had around moving parts. Each of the two in-line 61-note 5 octave C - C waterfall keyboards is controlled by nine dedicated, physical drawbars (plus two drawbars for the pedalboard) for something over 250,000,000 sound possibilities with drawbar adjustments alone, four percussion buttons, and three chorus/vibrato controls. Each keyboard has seven presets in addition to volume, overdrive, and reverb controls, meaning the core vintage organ performance experience is achieved without needing to dive into menus or looking at a single digital screen. The main differences between the Mojo Limited Edition and the standard Mojo is the addition of a protective textured coating to the wooden ends and upgraded knobs and controls. Diving into the software editor via the USB output (a separate MojoEditor box is available for purchase that allows deep software edits without needing a computer), I gained access to 22 different virtual generators scaled to specific virtual organs and the ability to build my own from the ground up. While distinctly different from each other, all demonstrated a depth, grit, and presence that is the antithesis of “software sounding”. The various virtual instruments all walked the line from crystal clear and percussively sharp to producing grit, grind, and grime I’ve never hear heard sound as authentically analog in a software or modeling environment. The breath and sense of mechanical movement could be hear in every pumped chording and the overdrive, whether dialed back or driven hard, expressed a naturally round compression. Even the accidental audio quirks created by the original B3 sound like an organic part of the multilayered sound created by the mechanics of the organ tone generation process. The upper octaves, in particular, were a revelation and maintained the power and warmth of the rest of the octaves whereas most competitors I have tried tend to get thin or shrill near the top of the keyboard. To my ears, the most extreme overdrive settings (maybe the last quarter of the control’s sweep) lost some of the sweetness and dimension. I invited my daughter to contribute to the “try to make polyphony glitch” test with a twenty note, five octave spread of a chord and couldn’t detect any audible glitch or latency strangeness. Everything that is key to the B3 experience, the tone, triggering of the harmonic percussion, key click, and drawbar holdback, is nailed by the Crumar Mojo. Non-organ sounds like Rhodes, Wurly, and Farfisa are available and sound great, but their editing parameters are somewhat limited and the assortment of instruments falls short of, say, a current production Nord or Hammond. Those are icing on a perfect cake though. For those not in the know, Genuine VB3 is as close an end-all to rotary simulations as is possible and widely considered to be the most authentic sounding rotary simulation available. The rotary shines and manages to avoid the effecty-sounding pitch shifts or multi-line chorus sounds of typical simulators and nails the doppler effect taking place in physical space, air moving and all. The Crumar Mojo is well built with solid hardwoods and steel; the pull knobs and sliders have the right travel and just feel right. There’s no denying the vintage feeling of the the Crumar Mojo; it plays like an immaculately maintained piece from a bygone era, down to the construction and give of the individual components and keys. While it’s more a “feature” than a bug, the current limited distribution of Crumar (most orders are made directly though their Italian site) means that there aren’t many opportunities to play one before plunking down the not-insignificant change required to purchase one. For such a specialized piece, the logistics aren’t likely to detract the Crumar’s target audience, but many potential organ enthusiasts will never find themselves with an opportunity to experience the mojo of the Crumar in person, which is a shame. The Crumar isn’t cheap, and it is a pretty niche piece for a very specific subset of keyboard and organists, but it is one of the most “authentically vintage” feeling and sounding experiences I’ve had with a current production instrument. It feels real, it sounds real, and it plays real. Crumar Mojo Product Page (MSRP $2,359.00) _______________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Leaving the Bell Jar- How to Find New Music By Chris Loeffler I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but I realized a few years ago I had hit a rut in my daily music listening and was revisiting the same handful of albums rather than seeking new music to experience. While there’s nothing wrong with comfort food, most musicians are engaged with the scene of their favorite genres and anticipate regular new releases. I realized I hadn’t picked up anything new in almost a half year; that wasn’t acceptable. Prior to a few years ago, I was fortunate to work in an office that was filled with musicians, so there was no shortage of recommendations from like-minded coworkers; before that, I had record stores where other music enthusiasts could share their favorite new bands while flipping through the album racks. Then life changed. I no longer work in that office filled with musicians, and the few local music stores left little on their shelves that interested me and created even less desire to special order. That's when I realized I needed to find a way to discover new music, which made me realize I wasn't sure exactly where to start. I began my search in through the traditional (i.e. pre-internet) methods of discovering music… Radio - ugh. Most musicians aren’t going to find their next favorite band on the radio these days. Those hard up can look to college stations and NPR to access interesting, non-pop music, but radio is still a fairly restricted, unilateral way to discover music. MTV - ha! Moving on…(I miss you, early 90s MTV) Music Magazines - like radio, learning about new music in music magazines is a shallow experience. Most of the classic magazines in various music genres have become, well, like MTV...more about pop culture and puff pieces than discovery of great new bands. So, what’s a busy music listener to do? Here’s a list of some common (and not so common) ways to discover new music online- Genre Blogs Blogs can be solid gold if you’re looking for more of something you already like. Like to get stoned and listen to fuzzed out rock? Look no further than www.theobelisk.net for the latest in stoner rock and heavy psychedelic music. Genre blogs can be some of the best places for deep diving into the discovery of off-the-mainstream bands, but at the sacrifice of diversity outside of the genre being covered. Pandora Frankly, the original music genome project kind of disappointed me in its early years. I was expecting something incredibly cool and deep about the analysis of musical pieces and how they intertwined (which was the site’s mission statement) and left unimpressed by what it became…essentially a radio service. That said, embracing it for what it is, Pandora is one of the most popular new channels for discovering new bands. My luck with it has been hit or miss; too many of the associations seem tenuous at best, and not in the “I’m being exposed to something new!” way. Amazon “People who bought X also bought X.” Go to Amazon and pull up the product page for the album that’s been doing it for you lately. Now scroll down to “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought“… There will likely be 75-150 other albums people bought in addition to the album you selected. Even fairly generic albums can get some interesting results (Pink Floyd’s The Wall has a list that includes Adele, Megadeath, and Traffic in addition to the expected solo albums of the band and other classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin). The best thing is that most albums have audio previews of all their songs available on the page. Newer albums have a more vibrant and recent assortment in my experience. Youtube This one surprised me, as I’d previously only thought of Youtube as a repository for videos meant to be searched for. Youtube can work like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure of music discovery if you follow the rabbit down the hole and start clicking on the suggested videos in the right column on the video pages. It’s as simple as searching a song/band you like and seeing what Youtube says is related. Youtube’s algorithms (courtesy of parent company Google) do a great job of serving up other videos you’re likely to enjoy based on previous viewers’ habits. For a more focused and tailored list, sign in to YouTube every time you visit (you probably already are if you're signed in to Google) so your previous interests are taken into account. For a more adventurous and diverse assortment, don’t log in and clear your cache so YouTube only has its own data to analyze when trying to decide what will be the most tempting videos to serve. What do YOU do to discover new music online? ____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.

Dunlop Primetone Sculpted Jazz III Plectrum Durability and Definition in Picking By Chris Loeffler When compared to the sexy purchases of Les Paul Customs and Marshall Stacks, buying strings or plectrums (okay…I used the proper term once, they’re “picks” from here on out) can feel like an underwhelming maintenance charge…like putting gas or oil in your car. But following that metaphor, how far would you get without them? While playing guitar (especially electric) without a pick isn’t unheard of, the attack and tone produced by a pick is a defining part of sound of the electric guitar. Picks are available in thousands of variations of shape, size, and material, and most players gravitate towards the one that best fits their style and settle. I’m a Dunlop Jazz III player by choice, but I get along with almost any pick that isn’t huge or paper thin. Given the Jazz III was included in the new family of Dunlop Primetone Sculpted picks, I chose that version for evaluation as I could best speak to the differences between materials and design. The Primetone Sculpted pick series is based around their Ultex material, Dunlop’s proprietary formula based on UTLEM resin that Jim Dunlop states is the closest material he has found to the feel and sound of tortoise shell. Having had the chance to play a real-deal tortoise shell pick against Ultex in Benicia many years ago, I can attest they were pretty damn close. Compared to Tortex, Dunlop’s other polymer solution to creating the tortoise shell sound, Ultex is slightly harder and brighter. There’s something about the rigidity of the material that feels firm but never stiff and creates a more organic connection between the player and string. Ultex is a durable material that is about as hard as one could want without sacrificing a smooth glide over the strings, and has a longer play life than standard latex. The Primetone Sculpted series differentiates itself from the other Ultex picks by featuring hand-burnished edges so the pick instantly feels “broken in,” and offers the option (in most cases) of selecting a raised grip or standard grip. To test the claim, I compared a new standard Jazz III pick with a new Primetone Sculpted Jazz III. The burnished edges of the virgin Primetone Sculpted Jazz III indeed played easier and smoother compared to a first-use standard Jazz III, and hit the sweet spot between too sharp (new) and too worn (old) that is my favorite part of the pick lifecycle. The difference between the raised or standard grip is whether or not the text and design on the picks are slightly raised to increase surface texture for improved connection and less slip when held. I preferred the raised grip as it improved stability on the somewhat slippery material without being distracting in how it makes contact with the fingers. While aesthetics are typically not a consideration in something as function-focused as a pick, it's worth noting the quality and class of the design. The rich, wood and leather inspired colors and simple graphic design suggest a classic, vintage feel that evokes material and artistic gravity. But yeah, they’re still picks. While I wasn’t able to perform a head-to-head of the Primetone Sculpted series against each of their standard series counterparts, it’s a safe bet the qualities and differences I observed carry through to their other Primtetone Sculpted formats. Whether or not you would want to switch from your current go-to to a Primetone Sculpted is likely predicated on whether you’re already playing a Dunlop pick in one of the standard shapes but would like a bit more brightness, response, and durability from your pick. Resources Dunlop Primetone Sculpted Plectrum Product Page Buy Dunlop Primetone Scultped Plectrums at Sweetwater, Zzounds, or Amazon. ____________________________________________ Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.