Phil O'Keefe

DigiTech Mosaic Can this pedal really produce cool 12-string tones without a 12-string guitar? by Phil O'Keefe For many guitarists, a 12 string guitar can be a bit of a luxury. While some players (such as George Harrison, Roger McGuinn, and Leo Kottke) are closely associated with 12 strings, most players use them more sparingly; often for supportive parts and layers on recordings, or to cover well-known sounds in cover bands or other live situations. If that describes you, chances are you don't want to put a bunch of money into another guitar that you'll only use occasionally, or have to haul to gigs when you need it only for a song or two. Is there another option? Let's take a look at one possible alternative - the DigiTech Mosaic Polyphonic 12 String effect pedal, and see how close it gets to the sound of the real thing. What You Need To Know The DigiTech Mosaic is a digital pedal that works with both electric guitars and amplified acoustic guitars, and uses intelligent polyphonic pitch shifting to create a simulated 12-string-type sound, complete with doubled and octave strings and the associated shimmering, chorusing-like effect they provide. The Mosaic uses 24 bit converters and a 44.1kHz sample rate. Housed in a rugged metal box that weighs about a third of a pound and measures 2.875" W x 4.75" L x 1.75" H, the DigiTech Mosaic is fairly standard in size and weight and appears to be ruggedly built and road-ready. The pedal is dressed in basic black powder coat, and the graphics have a celestial / zodiac-based theme. The Mosaic's unbalanced 1/4" input and output jacks are side-mounted. The Mosaic is one of the simplest effects you'll find in terms of controls, with just two cool-looking black metal knobs, which makes it very easy to use. The Level knob acts a bit differently than it does on most pedals. Instead of turning up (or lowering) the overall output level of the pedal, it instead controls only the level of the doubling and octave effect that's added to your dry signal and provides the 12-string effect. The second knob, Tone, controls the overall brightness of the 12-string effect. The Mosaic is powered by an included 9V DC power adapter that uses the industry-standard 2.1mm center-negative barrel style power plug. The jack is located at the top of the pedal. No battery-powered option is provided, and DigiTech has made it very difficult to open the pedal itself. Attempting to do so will absolutely void your warranty - the pedal is covered for one year, which DigiTech extends to six years if you register your purchase with them online. The DigiTech Mosaic features true bypass switching. A red LED located just above the bypass footswitch illuminates to indicate when the effect is active. Limitations There are some audible digital pitch shifting artifacts. They become more audible with higher settings of the knobs - particularly the Tone control. Conclusions This could prove to be a very practical and useful pedal for some players. I liked the sound best and felt it had the most realism with fairly high settings of both controls, but unfortunately the pitch shifting artifacts become audible with those settings too, which can give away the fact that you're using a simulator and not a real 12 string to golden-eared listeners. For many users and in many situations the sound is more than "close enough" and this won't be a deal-breaker; the Mosaic can definitely give you 12 string sounds that will fool most of your audience, especially for live performances. Live use is where the Mosaic really shines, and being able to cop some of the jangle, chime and doubled/octave string effects of a 12 string with just a press of a button sure beats having to take another guitar out on the road with you - especially if you only use a 12 string on a few songs, or if you need to be able to quickly switch back and forth between 6 and 12 string type sounds on the same song. For example, if you want to be able to cover "Hotel California" or "Stairway To Heaven" and do the opening 12-string parts as well as the solos all from one single-necked guitar, this pedal's for you. The DigiTech Mosaic can even work on recordings as long as the guitar track using the effect isn't soloed out or strongly featured - for those situations, I think I'd still rather use a "real" 12 string guitar. But as long as it's layered in the mix with other tracks, many listeners will probably never know your "12 string" wasn't a guitar, but a pedal. Best of all, you won't have to deal with the tuning hassles that come with a real 12-string guitar! -HC- Resources DigiTech Mosaic polyphonic 12 string effect pedal ($187.44 MSRP, $149.95 "street") DigiTech's product web page DigiTech Mosaic product manual (PDF file) You can purchase the DigiTech Mosaic from: Sweetwater Guitar Center B&H Photo Video Musician's Friend __________________________________________________ Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.

Fender Mustang Bass PJ A cool new approach to Leo's last Fender bass design by Phil O'Keefe What You Need To Know Based on the original Fender Mustang Bass, the new Mustang Bass PJ is built in Mexico and is part of Fender's new Offset series, which also includes multiple Mustang and Duo Sonic guitar models. The Mustang Bass PJ has a maple neck with a modern C-shaped profile that is capped with a rosewood fingerboard inlayed with white dot position markers. There are also white side dots on the edge of the neck and fingerboard. A walnut "skunk stripe" on the neck's rear is a fairly unusual feature that isn't often found on rosewood fingerboard-equipped Fenders; their truss rod installations are often done from the top (fingerboard side) instead of the rear as with Fenders with all-maple necks and fingerboards, so a skunk stripe isn't usually needed with them. The back of the neck is finished with a smooth feeling, non-glossy satin polyurethane. In contrast, the headstock face has a glossy finish and sports the traditional Fender Mustang Bass logo. As expected, this latest Mustang Bass retains the 30" scale length of its predecessors, but the fingerboard is a little flatter, with a 9.5" radius. The neck of the review unit measures 1.505" wide at the nut, and is 0.833" deep at the first fret. The frets are also beefed up - the Mustang Bass PJ has 19 medium jumbo frets. The nut is synthetic bone. The vintage style open gear tuners will be familiar to all Fender bass players. They look appropriate and the bass holds its tuning well. The neck is attached to the body with four bolts, and the neck plate has a stylized vintage Fender F engraved on it. The neck pocket is nice and tight on both sides. The Mustang Bass PJ's alder body is finished in gloss polyester, and comes in your choice of Sonic Blue, Torino Red or Olympic White. It has a "slab" body, with no tummy or forearm contours, but it is still very comfortable to hold and play. Unlike earlier models, the Mustang Bass PJ has two pickups instead of just one. A split coil Precision Bass pickup is located in the traditional middle position, while a Jazz Bass pickup has been added closer to the bridge. The P/J pickup configuration adds a lot of tonal versatility to the Mustang Bass platform. Alone, the P-Bass pickup has truckloads of bottom, but it's not just a mud machine - there's plenty of upper midrange detail and note definition. You can anchor the low end of the band with this just as well as with any P-Bass. The DC resistance of this pickup measures 10.78kOhm. The J-Bass pickup doesn't suffer a big volume drop in comparison to the P-Bass pickup, but when you switch to it you'll notice the bottom drop off significantly, and attention turns to the mids and highs. When used by itself, this pickup can cut through a busy and dense mix. The DC resistance on this pickup measures 7.0kOhm. When the two pickups are combined the J-Bass pickup's contributions to the sound are surprisingly significant, giving the tone a more mellow J-Bass vibe that's rounded out and tamed in the highs a bit by the P-Bass pickup. There is no shielding in the control cavity, but there is black shielding paint under the pickups. Noise is not a significant issue, although there's a bit more when using the J-Bass alone or paired with the P-Bass pickup than there is when running the P-Bass pickup by itself. The Mustang Bass PJ uses full-sized 250k volume and tone pots. A three-way pickup selector switch is mounted on the pickguard near the lower horn and cutaway, where it is easy to get to, but out of the way when you're playing. Some short scale basses suffer from Wimpy E String Syndrome (WESS) where the low E seems kind of dead and never seems to sound as articulate or full as it should. Shortscale aficionados will know what I'm talking about. The good news: The Mustang Bass PJ doesn't. There is one master volume and one master tone control, so there's no way to adjust the relative volume level of each pickup. The controls are mounted on a chromed metal plate. The bridge is a fairly standard top-loading four saddle unit. Setting up the action and getting the intonation accurate is easy, and it came well-adjusted from the factory. The balance of the Mustang Bass PJ isn't bad; it hangs from a strap only slightly neck-heavy. It doesn't "neck dive" for the floor so much as it wants to hang relatively parallel to it. The weight of your right forearm resting on the body is enough to keep it positioned pretty much where you want it. Limitations As on the Fender Mustang 90 that I recently reviewed, the fingerboard edges are pretty sharp and unrounded, although I noticed it less often on this instrument while playing than I did on the Mustang 90 guitar. Diehard fans of the original Mustang might miss the visuals of the original, larger bridge assembly, but it can't be used because its size would intrude on the location where the J-Bass pickup has been added. Personally I'll take the smaller bridge and extra pickup (and the tonal options that come with it). It's obvious that Fender put the money into the instrument itself, so it's not like they're shortchanging you, but you should be aware that no case or gig bag is included. Budget accordingly. An optional gig bag is available (Fender P/N 0991521106, $59.99 MSRP, $34.99 "street") or you can opt for a hardshell case ($249.99 MSRP, $199.99 "street"). Conclusions I'm noticing a bit of a pattern here. Like its Offset Series stablemate, the Mustang 90 guitar (which I also recently reviewed), Fender has swapped the "normal" pickups that Mustang Basses have traditionally been saddled with and tried something different - and in the process addressed one of the more often heard criticisms of these ponies, giving them a bolder, more authoritative neigh. The tones you can get from the Mustang Bass PJ's split P-Bass pickup are far beefier than what you can coax from the old-style Mustang Bass pickup. Even the open E string rings out with power and confidence. Add in the extra versatility that comes along with the J-Bass pickup and you have the best-sounding, most versatile Mustang Bass model to date. It's also the best-playing Mustang Bass model in my opinion. Unrounded fretboard edges aside, the Mustang Bass PJ is very comfortable to play. The neck is a bit wider and chunkier than the Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass Special SS, with more of a P-Bass vibe compared to the Jaguar's J-Bass inspired neck shape, but the 30" scale makes it much easier to get around on than your typical full-scale P-Bass, and it's less fatiguing to play, even with small hands. The satin finish on the back of the neck lets your hand glide over the surface effortlessly, while the front of the headstock is glossy and shiny for the audience. Think of it as sort of a reverse mullet for basses - all business in the back, party in the front. And speaking of visuals, the Torino Red finish of the body looks sharp too, especially when offset (sorry!) by the mint pickguard and black pickup covers. Some players might miss the visuals of the large bridge plate or the through-the-body stringing of the original Mustang Bass, but sustain and tone seem unaffected by the change to the top loading bridge, and the added versatility of the dual pickups more than makes up for the slight change in appearance. With its sonic versatility and compact size this would make a really good "studio bass" for a guitarist's home studio. Yes, the PJ version of the Mustang Bass is still a good choice for students and players with smaller hands, but don't discount the model if you're a pro - it's not just for students. This cool looking bass is a blast to play, sounds great, and doesn't cost a fortune. That's going to make it attractive to a wide range of musicians. -HC- Resources Fender Mustang Bass PJ ($549.99 "street") Fender's product web page You can purchase the Fender Mustang Bass PJ from: Sweetwater Guitar Center Musician's Friend __________________________________________________ Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.

NAMM Expert PreView - Warm Audio WA-87 And WA-412 Professional grade tools are usually expensive, but Warm Audio bucks the trend by Phil O'Keefe The 2017 Winter NAMM convention was quite the show. There was a ton of new gear on display, and the overall vibe was very "up" and positive. Everyone I talked to—from exhibitors to buyers to press and musicians—seemed to think this was one of the best NAMM shows in a long time, so there was no shortage of cool products to consider for a preview. But at the end of the day, I went with value. Years ago, the availability of quality audio recording tools was extremely limited—and what was available was either bargain-basement, entry-level type gear or fully professional products with a price to match. In fact, a really good large-diaphragm condenser cost about as much as a used car. Although today's prices have dropped to where you can buy a decent large-diaphragm condenser for a hundred bucks or even less, the really high-quality products—like a classic design from AKG or Neumann—still tend to be priced accordingly. But then there's Warm Audio, and the WA-87. Warm has built a reputation among savvy engineers for making incredibly cost-effective, pro-level products based on vintage classics (such as the WA-2A Leveling Amplifier that I recently reviewed). Their new WA-87 brings the sound of the original well-known German-built '87 to the masses at a price that's a mere fraction of what even a used one would cost. Even better, Warm Audio wasn't content to release just one high-value product—this was also the NAMM debut of their new WA-412. The WA-412 is a four-channel microphone preamp that's obviously influenced by the API 3124, but incorporates features that even the legendary API unit lacks, including a transformer input impedance switch and an Output Trim knob on each channel. With these, it's easy to play with gain staging, and explore creative preamp techniques for alternative sounds. Best of all, the price is amazing: $1,199 MSRP for the four-channel, single-rack-space unit. We've already discussed doing full Expert Reviews of both the WA-87 and WA-412 with the folks at Warm Audio, so stay tuned for in-depth analyses. From what I saw and heard at NAMM, I'm really looking forward to putting these through their paces. -HC- More information and audio demos can be found on the Warm Audio website: WA-87 https://www.warmaudio.com/wa87 https://www.warmaudio.com/listening-room-wa87 https://www.warmaudio.com/listening-room-wa412 __________________________________________________ Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.