Phil O'Keefe

Pump up your bass tone to the max… I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot in my heart for Peavey bass amps. I've owned a few of them over the years, and they've always been punchy sounding, flexible, powerful, and best of all, affordable and reliable. However, some of the Peavey bass amps I've used in the past have been rather heavy beasts. For example, I had a Combo 300 in the 1980s that I loved the sound and features of, but it weighted about 90 pounds, making it a bit of a chore to haul around. Of course time and technology have marched on since those days, and today's amps are much lighter and more easily portable, so when I was presented with an opportunity to try out a new Peavey combo bass amp, I jumped at the chance to review it. Let's take a closer look at the new Max 250 bass combo amplifier and see how it stacks up. What You Need To Know Part of Peavey's line of Max bass combo amplifiers, the Max 250 is one of the larger amps in that series - both in terms of physical size and wattage - but it's still a fairly compact combo amp that measures 22" H x 19" W x 16" D. I don't have a scale here that is capable of weighing it accurately, but Peavey states that the packed shipping weight of the Max 250 is 56 pounds, so it's actual weight is probably a few pounds lighter than that when it's unboxed. The Max 250 is a 250W 1x15 combo amp. While it's not going to be loud enough by itself to handle arena-sized gigs, it should easily hang with all but the most maniacal of drummers, and with the built-in DI output, you can also use it along with the PA in just about any live situation. The amp is covered with a tough looking gray colored Tolex type material, with black corner protectors at all four corners, and a single black handle located at the top of the amp. The front metal grille is also black, appears to be reasonably sturdy, and is sporting a vintage style Peavey logo near the top. The top of the grille curves and wraps over and on to the top of the amp a bit. More about this in a moment. The Peavey Max 250 is equipped with a 15" speaker as well as a separate tweeter, which is located in the upper-left corner of the amp when you're looking towards the front grille. The lower two corners have fairly large-sized round bass ports. While it's next to impossible to get a good photo of it through the Max 250's grille, the speaker baffle inside the amp is angled back so the speakers face slightly upwards, which is why the grille itself wraps up and over the top of the amp by around four and a half inches so that the sound can pass through it and isn't blocked. I estimate the angle of the speaker baffle to be about 15 degrees or so. The angled baffle throws the sound upwards so that you're better able to hear yourself when you're standing in front of the amp and playing. The metal chassis of the amp is also black, in keeping with the gray and black color theme. All of the knobs are black too, with easy-to-see white pointers. The controls are top-mounted and situated towards the rear of the amp, and the white labels are not only easy to read against the black background, but the labels are also oriented in such a way that they appear upright instead of upside-down when viewed from the player's perspective when standing in front of the amp. You get two 1/4" inputs - one designed for passive pickups (with 15dB of extra gain), while the other is suited for use with basses with active electronics. The first knob is a Gain control. This not only sets the input level to the preamp, but also determines the amount of overdrive you get when you kick on the amp's built in TransTube Overdrive circuit, which can be done with the pushbutton switch located directly below the Gain knob. The sound of the built-in overdrive is quite good. You don't lose all of the bottom end when you kick it on, and it's designed so that you don't get boost in volume when it's engaged either - just the expected grit. The amount of grit you get from the overdrive will depend on how high you set the Gain control. The next knob is the Bass EQ control. This is a shelving type EQ that is capable of boosting or cutting up to 15 dB at a center frequency of 50 Hz. Directly below the Bass EQ knob is a button labeled Contour. When depressed this gives you a pre-set "smiley face" or scooped-type EQ setting, with the bass and treble boosted, and the midrange cut a bit. The Middle control adjusts the midrange peaking EQ circuit. The Mid Shift button right below it offers you a choice of having the Middle EQ set at 600 Hz when the switch is in the out position, and 250 Hz when it's depressed, giving you a bit more control over the crucial midrange frequencies. Like the Bass control, there is a total of 15 dB of boost or cut available, and the EQ is "flat" when it's in the 12 o'clock position. The final EQ control is the Treble control. The Treble EQ is a shelving type, and it has 15 dB of boost or cut available at a center frequency of 6 kHz. Directly below the Treble knob is a Bright switch. This gives a 10 dB boost to frequencies above 1 kHz when it is depressed. The Volume knob can be thought of as a master volume control for the amp that adjusts the overall output level, and should be set after you have adjusted the Gain control for the best tone and the amount of overdrive you want. Just below the Volume control is a Kosmos-C button. When depressed this gives a significant boost to the low end by way of Peavey's Kosmos-C bass enhancement circuit, which adds harmonics to notes in the lowest octave, making them more easily audible. The Peavey Max 250 bass amp also has a built-in chromatic tuner that is specifically designed to handle low frequency bass instruments. It also has enough range to handle five and six string basses too. Depressing the Tune / Mute button below the chromatic tuner's display mutes the amp and turns the tuner on, while three LEDs show you when you're sharp, flat, or in-tune. The rear panel has a line voltage selector switch for 100-120V or 220-240V operation. An IEC power receptacle is located right below that, and an IEC power cable is included with the amp. The Peavey Max 250 is fan-cooled, and the fan is located on the rear of the amp, along with some additional vents for air flow. The fan runs continuously. You also get an effects loop, with separate 1/4" send and return jacks, as well as a XLR DI output for feeding the PA or for recording direct. The DI has a ground lift switch to kill any ground hum that you might encounter when connecting to other gear. A 1/8" Aux In jack is provided so you can plug your smart phone or media player in and jam along, and a 1/8" headphone jack with a built-in speaker defeat switch is also included so you can do it without anyone else hearing you when you need to. While the footswitch itself is an optional purchase (Peavey part number 03022910), it's worth the investment. The connection jack for it is included on the rear panel. The optional footswitch allows you to turn the overdrive on or off, as well as turn the tuner on and off. A combination 1/4" / twist-on (Speakon style) connector allows you to add an external speaker cabinet to the Max 250. The minimum load is 8 ohms, and 300W RMS power-handling capacity is recommended. The Max Bass 250 features Peavey's DDT speaker protection. Limitations There is a slight popping sound whenever the Mid Shift and Kosmos-C buttons are depressed or released. It's not terribly loud, but it is audible through the speakers. There is a modest amount of fan noise. The fan ran continuously for me, and there's no switch to defeat it (it's almost certainly necessary to leave it running in order to keep the amp running cool), but the noise level from it was not a major concern, even when I miked the cabinet up with a RE20 for some recording experiments. Conclusions Modern, lightweight and highly efficient amplifier technology, along with clever design and the use of lightweight woods has resulted in a powerful bass combo amp that is significantly lighter in weight and easier to cart around than some of the Peavey bass amps I used when I was younger, yet the Peavey Max 250 retains the solid build quality and ruggedness that Peavey is well known for. Despite its lighter weight (which makes it easy to take with you), it still looks like it will hold up well to the rigors of the road. The angled baffle inside the cabinet is a great idea. While I still preferred tilting the cabinet back some (by setting the front edge on a 4" wooden wedge), it's not nearly as necessary as it is with most smaller combo amps, and the angled baffle really does help throw the sound up towards the player's ears more and less at your knees - especially if you stand several feet in front of the amp instead of right next to it. Peavey has also provided other modern features that bassists will appreciate, such as an onboard tuner, effects loop, headphone out and aux in, so the amp's just as useful for quiet practice sessions as home as it is for holding down the bottom end with power and authority at rehearsals and gigs. And if you need a bit "more", you can add an optional second cabinet to it - which is a capability that not all competing amps in this price and wattage range offer. If you're looking for a reasonably portable bass amp with good sound that you can rely on night after night, check out a Max Bass 250 at your nearest Peavey dealer. Once you do, you might develop a soft spot in your heart for Peavey bass amps too. -HC- Want to discuss the Peavey Max 250 bass combo amp or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Bass forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources Peavey Max Bass 250 Bass Combo Amp ($499.99 MSRP, $449.99 "street") Peavey's Max Bass series web page Peavey's Max 250 product web page You can purchase the Peavey Max Bass 250 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.

A new Road partner for your laptop and MIDI modules It used to be that a keyboardist needed to take a controller keyboard and a collection of modules with them whenever they wanted to perform live, but that paradigm has been rapidly changing. Today you're just as likely to take along a laptop computer and control its virtual synths with an external keyboard controller. In fact, some keyboard controllers now omit traditional 5-pin DIN MIDI ports and only offer USB connections, which limits what you can use with them and makes taking along a computer a necessity. Akai Professional doesn't think you should have to make a choice between virtual and physical sound sources, and their new controller, the MPK Road 88, offers a feature set that allows you to use whatever you want with it, which, along with its integrated case design and newly designed keyboard action will make it an attractive choice for many musicians. Let's take a look at the details. What You Need To Know The Akai Professional MPK Road 88 is a full-sized keyboard controller with an integrated Tolex-covered case that is designed for travel. The travel case is very retro-cool, and reminds me of some vintage keyboards that had somewhat similar cases. You simply release three latches and the top of the case lifts off the hinges at the back to reveal the keyboard underneath. It's no substitute for a full flight case, but for travel to and from local gigs it will offer plenty of protection. In fact, it will be all that many people will ever need, yet it doesn't add too much additional bulk or weight. The MPK Road 88 measures 51.7" W x 14.9" D x 5.2" H, and has a shipping weight of 67 pounds - it's about 53 pounds, out of the shipping box. It's heavy, but not so much that the average person can't manage to handle it by themselves with a bit of effort. A carrying handle is built into the center "top" of the case (which is actually the rear panel when it's opened up), and four feet are located at the "bottom" (which is actually the "front" from the player's perspective when it's open) when it's all packed up - with two feet on the keyboard's case and two on the removable cover. The Model-A premium 88-key velocity sensitive hammer-action keyed is an Akai Professional exclusive - you won't find this keybed on any other controller. Akai Professional says they spent two years doing the research and design on it, and it shows - it's a very solid and expressive feeling keyboard. The Model-A keybed also features channel aftertouch. Nice feeling, heavy-duty mod and pitch bend wheels are located to the left of the keybed. The pitch bend wheel is spring-loaded. Most of the Akai Professional MPK Road 88's connectors are mounted on a small inset panel on the back panel. The MPK Road 88 doesn't have any onboard sound generator. It's designed to control MIDI keyboards and hardware modules, and / or to work in conjunction with your laptop or other virtual instrument-equipped computer. To that end, it has both a MIDI over USB interface for connecting to your computer as well as traditional 5-pin DIN MIDI in and out jacks, so the Akai Professional MPK Road 88 is equally well suited for use with external MIDI hardware, without requiring a computer. Interestingly, it also has a built-in USB computer audio interface. While the interface doesn't have any line or mic inputs, it does have two pairs of stereo outputs - Main and Aux. These are on balanced 1/4" TRS jacks located on the left side of the rear panel when viewed from the rear. The built-in audio interface means there's no need to bring a separate interface for your computer along with you to gigs - you can just use the one that's built into the MPK Road 88. It's one less thing to have to pack and take with you - and one less thing that can be accidentally left behind. The latency performance of the onboard audio interface is quite good - I was able to reliably use it with a 128 sample buffer, which results in 2.9ms of latency, with no hiccups or glitches. Also on the rear panel you'll find a trio of pedal inputs - two for optional continuous controller pedals and one for an optional sustain footswitch. The USB port provides bi-directional connection with your laptop or other computer. It carries both MIDI and audio over the USB 2 connection. This is class-compliant, so you don't need to install any drivers in order to use it with your DAW - just connect it and select the MPK Road 88 from your DAW's MIDI and / or audio setup menus. A jack for connecting an optional 6V 1A DC power adapter is located on the rear panel, along with a power on / off switch, which works whether you're using the external power supply or bus-powering the MPK Road 88 over the USB connection. While the recessed rear panel connections are open to the world and are not covered by the removable part of the case, the location of the handle makes this part of the case face "upwards" when it's packed up, and a removable plastic panel is included that can be installed over the entire area to keep dust and debris out of the connectors and ports when traveling. The only other included accessories are a short USB cable, the user's manual, a software download card and safety and warranty information. A 1/4" headphone jack on the front panel (below the mod and pitch wheels) mirrors the main outputs. There are six backlit buttons mounted on the left side of the top panel, and these controls allow you to scroll through presets, split the keyboard, transpose it, set the MIDI transmission channel, and turn various features of the MPK Road 88 on and off, such as the wheels, the MIDI and USB ports and the various controller pedals. With two different Setups available (A and B), it's possible to switch between two different customized setup configurations at the push of a button. A single rotary volume control knob adjusts the output levels of the main, aux and headphone outputs. The keyboard can be restored to the factory default settings by powering it up while depressing the Transpose, Setup A and Setup B buttons simultaneously. Akai includes a nice software bundle with the MPK Road 88, including their VIP 3.1 VST host for Macs and PCs, and three VST / AU virtual instruments from AIR Music Technology: Mini Grand, DB-33, and Velvet. Velvet is a very high-quality electric piano VI, while Mini Grand and DB-33 provide nice piano and tone wheel organ sounds, respectively. I did have some issues with the installation and licenses for Mini Grand and DB-33, and they were not installed automatically when I installed the rest of the software. An online chat with Akai Professional's customer service resulted in the licenses being deposited to my iLok account, and I'm told that they are working to get the software license and installer glitches rectified, and that they hope to have it taken care of soon. Limitations Your action preferences may differ from mine - as always, I'd recommend playing one for yourself before deciding whether it's right for you or not; I'm not the best keyboardist on the planet, and I'm pretty ham-fisted, so I like a somewhat heavier action, which I feel the Road 88 has; if you prefer a lighter feeling hammer action, you may like the MPK Road 88's action less than I do. There's no way to adjust the velocity curve or velocity sensitivity directly from the keyboard itself to compensate for players with a softer or heavier playing style. Akai says they're working to have this added to the software controls, but in the meantime, the velocity response can be adjusted via MIDI sysex commands. See the Resources section below for the details. EDITOR'S NOTE: As of June 4 2019 Akai Professional has released MPK Road 88 Editor V1.2.0 for both Mac and PC that gives users the ability to adjust the velocity curves for both black and white keys. This can be found in the editor under "Global." The updated editor can be downloaded by using the download link on this page. The ideal placement of mod and pitch bend wheels is subjective; while I like where they're located on the MPK Road 88, some players prefer them to be located above the keybed - especially on an 88 key controller - since that placement tends to shorten the product's overall length. It's not unduly heavy considering the nature of the product, but it does have significant weight - a heavy-duty stand is recommended. Additional handles on the two side ends would also be a nice addition to make it easier for two people to share the load and carry it together. No power supply is included, although the compatible 6V DC 1A center-positive plug-wired MP6-1 power supply is available from Akai and other retailers (including Amazon) as an optional purchase. If you're going to be using the MPK Road 88 with a computer this is a non-issue since it can be bus-powered over USB, but if you want to use it stand-alone to control external MIDI keyboards and modules sans computer, you'll need to purchase the external power adapter. Conclusions This is a product with a lot going for it, and considerable promise… but I think it still has room for a bit of refinement before it realizes its full potential. On the plus side, the integrated case is brilliant and hearkens back to the vintage stage pianos from the 1970s. True, it's got some weight to it, but it's a lot lighter than a flight case or an old Fender Rhodes, and unlike that classic, it is possible to move it around and set it up by yourself, although an extra pair of handles on both ends would be a nice addition. With both USB MIDI and traditional 5-pin DIN MIDI I/O the Akai Professional MPK Road 88 is ready to work with external MIDI hardware and soft synths alike, although you'll need that optional external power supply if you want to use it without a computer. The multi-output onboard sound card means one less thing you'll need to pack along, and the performance of it was very good, with low latency and very good sound quality overall. While the MPK Road 88 was obviously designed with travel and live performance in mind, it works equally well as a studio keyboard controller. It showed up as a MIDI controller in Pro Tools even before I installed any of the bundled software, and it works very well as a master controller in the studio. The flat top panel isn't really large enough to set your laptop or another keyboard controller on, but it does provide space for additional MIDI pad and fader controllers if those are something you want to add to your setup. The software bundle is supposed to include AIR Music Technology's DB 33, Mini Grand and Velvet, although these may not show up in your Akai user account - if they don't, contact their customer service for assistance. All three of these are very high quality plugins that provide the kind of basic bread and butter sounds that many players will appreciate, and with the very capable and feature-rich VIP 3.1 VST host that's also included, you have the ability to host many other virtual instruments, and create complex setups and set lists. I did have some issues with getting the software authorized - upon registration, only VIP 3 was available in my Akai Professional user account, but Akai's customer support was excellent and took care of me quickly. Hopefully the software package issues will be rectified soon. Feel is subjective, and while the action is a bit on the heavy side, I really enjoyed playing the MPK Road 88. All of which is fine for me, but may not be for you, so play one if you can first and judge for yourself. My single biggest complaint is the inability to adjust the velocity response curve for different playing styles from the bundled software and the keyboard's top panel controls. This results in a keyboard that is less adjustable to the individual's personal touch than what I'd like to see, and will no doubt frustrate some early adopters of this otherwise very nice MIDI controller. The MIDI sysex commands do offer a work-around, but it's more complex than many users will feel comfortable with. Akai has promised to make some adjustments and add this essential feature soon; possibly by the time you read this - when they do, the Akai Professional MPK Road 88 is destined to become a modern-day classic; it's a very capable road warrior that a lot of keyboardists are going to fall in love with. -HC- Want to discuss the Akai Professional MPK Road 88 Keyboard Controller or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Keys, Synths & Samplers forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources Akai Professional MPK Road 88 Keyboard Controller ($899.00 "street") Akai Professional's product web page You can purchase the Akai Pro MPK Road 88 Keyboard Controller from: Sweetwater Full Compass Guitar Center B&H Photo Video Musician's Friend Velocity Curve Adjustment via MIDI Sysex Commands: The velocity curve can be adjusted by sending the following messages: White key velocity curve: F0 47 00 42 0A 00 01 XX F7 Black key velocity curve: F0 47 00 42 0B 00 01 XX F7 Where the value XX is the curve type. Default is linear: 00 = Linear 01 = Exp 1 02 = Exp 2 03 = Exp 3 04 = Log 1 05 = Log 2 06 = Log 3 The overall sensitivity of the keys can also be adjusted with this message. Default is 50: White key sensitivity: F0 47 00 42 0C 00 01 YY F7 Black key sensitivity: F0 47 00 42 0C 00 01 YY F7 Where YY is a value from 00 to 64 in hex. __________________________________________________ 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.

Scary-good, or the stuff of nightmares? You know what scares me? Bad tone. Another thing that frightens me is when a guitarist stacks all of their guitar parts using the same tones and the same amp and EQ settings when recording in the studio. The resulting stack of mud is enough to frighten any audio engineer, because trying to make it all work in a mix can be a real nightmare. The thought of having bad tone should be equally scary for guitarists too - after all, how you sound matters a great deal. JHS Pedals doesn't think your tone should frighten you, your fans, or any innocent recording engineers, and they're on a mission to build products that are designed to help you sound as good as possible. To that end, they offer the spooky-looking Haunting Mids Preamp / EQ pedal under consideration here. What You Need To Know The JHS Pedals Haunting Mids is a EQ / preamp pedal. Originally released as a Halloween special edition in limited numbers, it's been re-released and is now widely available. Housed in a metal box that measures 2.6" W x 4.8" L x 1.6" H, it's finished in black powder coat and has white ghost graphics and control labels, making it super-easy to see everything, even on a fairly dark stage, or when doing a gig at your favorite haunted house or studio. The JHS logo and name of the pedal are printed on one end of the pedal. The inputs and outputs are mounted on the two sides of the pedal, while the center-negative wired 5.5 mm x 2.1 mm 9V DC power input jack is located at the top of the pedal. All of the knobs on the Haunting Mids are white with black pointers, in keeping with the black and white color theme. There are only four controls on the Haunting Mids; yet even with this relatively limited number, it offers a wide range of tonal control. The Volume knob can be set for unity gain, or to provide a boost. Even with the EQ controls set flat, there's enough gain available to give you a 10 dB boost over unity gain. The Mids knob is a boost / cut control. When it's set to the 12 o'clock position it doesn't boost or cut. When turned lower than noon, it cuts mids, and when it's set higher than noon, it boosts them. You have a range of +/- 15 dB of boost or cut at the selected frequency. How do you select the frequency for the boost or cut? That's where the Sweep knob comes in. It allows you to dial up the frequency region for boosting or cutting. The frequency range of the Sweep control runs from 400 Hz to 7.5 kHz, giving you a wide range to select from. A true parametric EQ offers one additional control besides the frequency selection and boost / cut, and that's the bandwidth (or "Q") control. This determines how broad or narrow of a range of frequencies to either side of the selected frequency will also be impacted by your EQ boost or cut. Rather than the usual continuously variable control of a fully-parametric EQ, JHS Pedals instead opted for a two-position Q toggle switch that gives users a choice between narrow bandwidth or a broader bandwidth. The Lo setting allows the EQ to adjust a wider range of frequencies and is generally better suited for gentle tone-shaping, while the Hi setting boosts or cuts a much narrower frequency band, and is the better choice when you're going for a more drastic boost or cut to a narrower, more specific and limited frequency range, and for use for more obviously "effected" sounds, such as simulating a parked wah type sound. The overall build quality is very good. The pedal is built with surface mount components and the soldering looks neat and clean. There are no switches or trim pots to be found inside the Haunting Mids, but there are some amusing things printed on the circuit board, including alternative names for the controls - Terror (Mids), Fright (Sweep), and Scream (Volume). The answer to the question on the circuit board is yes, the switching is true bypass. A red LED illuminates whenever the pedal is active. I'm sure they used red because red is the color of blood, and therefore is the scariest color - duh! JHS Pedals includes a single sheet manual with the pedal, and also throws in a JHS Pedals sticker, guitar pick and strap / lapel button. They also include four adhesive-backed rubber feet for the bottom of the pedal that the owner can apply if they want - I personally prefer this approach, since it makes it easier for those who want to mount the pedal to their pedalboard with either velcro or using bike chain links. Limitations I suppose I should ding them for not providing a continuously variable parametric EQ style bandwidth or Q control. While many users will find that the two position Q switch provides all the range and flexibility they need, the audio engineer in me would have loved it if they would have used a fully variable pot instead. The JHS Pedals Haunting Mids can not be battery powered - it's adapter powered only, and you'll need to provide your own suitable power supply. It is designed for 9V DC only - using a higher voltage will void your warranty. Current draw is 13mA. Conclusions While I'm well-acquainted with the details, if you're waiting for me to raise the dead (issues), go into specifics, name names and get into the history behind the term "Haunting Mids" and cite everywhere that it has been used previously, you're going to be disappointed. It's not really relevant to whether or not this is a good sounding pedal, although Josh from JHS does give a little background as to why he decided to use the name in one of the videos you'll find in the Resources section below. If you're really curious, you can probably find all you want to know (sprinkled in with a fair amount of blarney too) with a simple web search. Potential name controversy aside, and outside of the possibly overly-picky complaint about it being equipped with a Q switch instead of a variable Q knob for bandwidth adjustment, I really have nothing significant to criticize here. Some of you may say "boo!" to the fact that you can't power it with a 9V battery, but the environment is better off without the corpses of the dead (batteries) piling up. The JHS Pedals Haunting Mids EQ is a well-built and very useful pedal. Placed before or after your favorite overdrive, distortion or fuzz pedal it will allow you to change its sound in subtle to rather drastic ways, depending on how you dial it up. It's equally adept at narrow and broad band midrange EQ cuts and boosts. Adding a JHS Pedals Haunting Mids to your pedal collection will allow you to obtain a whole new range of tones from the dirt pedals you already have. It's also a powerful tone shaper for clean tones too, and it can serve equally well as a boost pedal; slam the front end of your slightly overdriven tube amp hard with it and send it into a frightening frenzy of distortion. Dial up the EQ just right and it can help you achieve howling feedback more readily too. It's a great solo boost for live performances, and your guitar parts will greatly benefit in the studio too. That kind of flexibility and utility will make the JHS Haunting Mids a useful addition to just about any pedalboard. Or recording studio. I'd highly recommend audio engineers and studio owners consider picking one up for themselves as well since it can be exceptionally useful for crafting distinctive guitar tones when recording. -HC- Want to discuss the JHS Pedals Haunting Mids EQ or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Effects forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources JHS Pedals Haunting Mids EQ ($149.00 "street") JHS Pedals product web page You can purchase the JHS Pedals Haunting Mids EQ pedal from: Sweetwater Amazon 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.

Limited edition, unlimited fun One of the coolest perks of being a rock star is being able to partner with builders on custom signature models, and being able to have something made with your input, preferences and specifications all taken into consideration. But not just anyone gets their own sig models - you need to be well-known. When it comes to being world-famous, there's the average rock star, and then there's Slash. No last name needed - mention his name and everyone knows who you're talking about. From Guns N' Roses to Velvet Revolver, Slash's Snakepit and now partnering with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, he's had the kind of successful career that most musicians only dream about. And as the first-ever Global Brand Ambassador for Gibson, Slash is in a position to have significant input on the design of his signature guitars, and he's just released a new one. This latest model was done in collaboration with Epiphone (which, like Harmony Central, is a Gibson Brand) and surprisingly, it isn't a Les Paul - which has long been Slash's favored guitar model. No, this time Slash went with something a bit different, yet still very rock 'n' roll… What You Need To Know Produced in cooperation with Slash, the Epiphone Limited Edition Slash Firebird is indeed a limited run - only 900 of them are being produced; an additional 100 will be hand-signed and numbered by Slash and offered in a premium edition, which unlike the other 900, these will also include a custom case and strap. The three-piece mahogany body on the Slash Firebird is contoured by machining to give it the classic lines of a vintage neck-through Firebird, but the neck itself is actually glued in using a long, deep-set tenon; it's not a neck-through guitar. The entire top is capped with a .25" thick piece of maple, and a AAA flame maple veneer is added to the top of that. The guitar is finished in Trans Black. It looks like it's solid black at a distance, but it's not entirely opaque - you can see the flame maple through the top's poly finish when you're up-close. It's very under-stated, kind of hard to photograph (it shows up much better in person) yet it's also undeniably cool looking. The rear of the body has a slight tummy cut for comfort, and a non-see-through black poly finish that also covers the back of the neck. The 24.75" scale neck is mahogany and is capped with a pau ferro fingerboard. Pau ferro looks and sounds similar to rosewood, but it's a touch harder and a bit smoother in overall feel. The neck measures 1.68" wide at the ivory-colored PVC nut and is 0.94" thick at the first fret (according to my digital calipers), with stout shoulders giving a slight D shape to the rounded "custom Slash" profile. The headstock has the classic reverse shape of vintage Firebirds, and the traditional single layer black truss rod cover is emblazoned with a gold Epiphone logo. The tuners are classic "banjo style" models that are made by Kluson. They have a 12:1 ratio. If you're used to other in-line style tuners, it may take a bit to adjust to these since their order is "reversed" (with the low E string tuner being furthest away from the guitar's body), but you'll quickly acclimate to the arrangement. The fingerboard has a single layer cream binding with dot position markers on the bass side, while the pau ferro fretboard features classy-looking pearl trapezoid position marker inlays. There's a bit of filler evident around a few of the position markers, but nothing too egregious or obvious. There are a total of 22 frets, and they're fairly large medium-jumbos. The frets on the review model are well dressed. This, along with the 12" fingerboard radius makes for a fairly effortless playing feel, especially when it comes to string bends. The electronics of the Slash Firebird are fairly traditional yet not fully true to vintage Firebird specs. Instead of a pair of smaller-sized traditional Firebird humbuckers, the Slash Firebird comes equipped with a pair of full-sized Seymour Duncan custom Slash humbuckers - an APH-1 in the neck and an APH-2 in the bridge. These have open-coils and black bobbins, and come without pickup covers. The pickups use AlNiCo II magnets. There are individual volume and tone controls for each pickup, and these are equipped with black top hat (what else?) knobs with metal knob inserts and position pointers. Unlike vintage pointers, these are nicely rounded, so you won't accidentally cut your fingers on them. The sound is a bit beefier and warmer than the typically brighter-sounding vintage Firebirds. The pickups have plenty of output but are not excessively hot; they're well-suited for blues, rock and metal. Jin Sung Korea 500k pots are used throughout for the controls, along with two 0.022uF, 600V, 5% Sprague orange drop capacitors - one for each tone control. A three-way pickup selector switch is mounted in the traditional location on the lower horn, and on the three-layer (w/b/w) pickguard where you'd normally expect to see the Firebird logo, instead there's a Slash skull & top hat logo in red. It's a small custom touch that's appropriate for a Slash signature model, but that doesn't stray too far from the traditional design either. The Slash Firebird is equipped with a nickel ABR Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece. Intonation and action on the review unit were well adjusted from the factory. The Epiphone Limited Edition Slash Firebird comes with a user's manual, truss rod adjustment wrench, Epiphone poster, Epiphone bumper sticker, a pair of Epiphone StrapLocks and a certificate of authenticity. The Ltd. Ed. Slash Firebird is covered by Epiphone's limited lifetime warranty. Limitations There is a small spot or two on the internal wiring where the insulation was slightly melted in the soldering process. There are a couple of small dark spots on the binding at the end of the neck. The rest of the finish is very well done on the review unit, with no visible rough spots, dimples or blemishes. The neck profile and depth make it somewhat challenging for those with smaller hands or who prefer a Slim Taper profile. If you like a beefier neck profile that's more along the lines of a Rounded 50's shape, you'll love the Slash Firebird's ample proportions. It's a Firebird - while it's generally a very comfortable design to play, the neck will tend to drop when you wear it on a strap. Although the way your right arm sits on the body of the guitar tends to keep it in a more horizontal position, some neck drop is to be expected and is part of the nature of the Firebird design in general. On the bright side, unfettered access to the entire length of the neck is about as good as it gets with a Firebird. Unless you opt for one of the 100 premium versions, you'll need to also budget for a case or gig bag since one is not included. Conclusions This is a really fun guitar from several perspectives - it's fun to play, fun to look at, and it sounds great too, and will bring big grins to anyone who owns one. Slash's preferred neck profile is unapologetically big and rounded - and while it might not be ideal for everyone, fans of late 50s era Gibson Les Pauls will feel right at home on it. If you prefer rounded neck profiles and want something substantial to grab ahold of, you're going to love it too. The build quality of the made in China Epiphone Ltd. Ed. Slash Firebird is quite good overall. While I was able to spot a couple of small dark blemishes on the binding, and a bit of filler around a couple of the trapezoid neck inlays, and a couple of spots on the internal wiring where it looks like the needle nose pliers got a bit too hot and semi-melted the insulation near the solder joints, these were the only minor blemishes I could find in the course of a very detailed inspection. While it's not a true neck-through body design like many Firebirds, the Epiphone Limited Edition Slash Firebird does use a set-neck, with a long neck tenon that is expertly glued into position, with no slop or excessive glue ooze at the very smooth neck / body joint. The resulting stability and sustain is impressive. Kudos to Epiphone and Slash for opting for the original "banjo style" Kluson tuning machines too - it's a classic design touch that is unique to some Firebirds, and I was happy to see they decided to use them on this model. The sound of the Ltd. Ed. Slash Firebird is somewhere between a Firebird and a Les Paul, with a warmer and somewhat less piercing tone than you'll get from most vintage Firebirds. The Slash Firebird provides a more modern sound that many players will find more familiar and useful. It's lively and responsive and well-suited to rock, metal and blues music. Coupled with the classic visual appeal of the iconic Firebird body shape, this guitar practically screams ROCK! Like the flame maple subtly visible through the top's finish, the custom appointments of this signature model are tasteful and not ostentatious - with the Slash skull and top hat logo in place of the usual red Firebird logo being the main easily identifiable visual difference; Firebird experts will also notice the full-sized Seymour Duncan humbuckers in place of the traditional small-sized Firebird pickups, but while they're different than what you'll see on most other 'birds, they don't look out of place here either. With only 1,000 of these instruments (including the 100 hand-signed premium models) being built, if you're interested in owning one you probably shouldn't put it off for too long, or they could be gone and you'll miss out on this really cool version of the classic Firebird - it may have taken a rock star to help design it, but with its very reasonable price, if you hurry, you don't have to be a rock star to own one. -HC- Want to discuss the Epiphone Limited Edition Slash Firebird or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Electric Guitar forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources Epiphone Limited Edition Slash Firebird ($1,499.00 MSRP, $899.00 "street") Epiphone's product web page Premium Outfit product web page You can purchase the Epiphone Ltd. Ed. Slash Firebird from: Guitar Center Musician's Friend Zzounds __________________________________________________ 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.

Your bass sound, wherever you go Let's face it - while bass rigs have become lighter and more powerful over the years, it can still be a hassle to take a large, full-featured amp to a gig. And sometimes, you really don't need to - a simple direct box can be used to feed the bass into the PA or recording console, and the soundperson or engineer can then take care of any necessary EQ and compression, and supply you with a cue / monitoring mix over the studio speakers, or in your on-stage floor wedge or IEMs. But do you really want to entrust your bass tone entirely to the soundperson? Sure, it might not be too bad if it's someone you know and trust and who knows how to dial up a bass sound that you like, but far too often you'll be working with different people at every gig, and they'll often be unfamiliar with your music and they may do little more than turn up the faders in a general approximation of a mix and call it good. No, even when you want to keep things as light and portable as possible, ideally, you're going to want to be able to craft your own bass tone so it remains consistent and solid… and that's what the Trace Elliot Transit B Bass Preamp Pedal is all about. What You Need To Know The Trace Elliot Transit B combines several functions into a single, relatively compact (12.3" W x 4.5" D x 2.3" H) pedal that can easily be taken anywhere you go, and used in a variety of situations to provide you with all the elements you need to craft a professional bass tone. Not only is it relatively compact, it also weighs a lot less than your amp, tipping the scale at a mere 2.6 pounds for the pedal itself, and 3.2 pounds total with the power supply and included gig bag. The pedal's case is heavy-duty; it's primarily made out of metal, while the two-level top surface appears to be made of tough phenolic resin. There are shallow cooling fins built into the metal case on the front and two sides. Five non-latching type footswitches line the length of the preamp pedal. Each is surrounded by a colored ring that lights up when that particular switch is selected and the section of the pedal that it controls is active, with multiple LED colors used, which makes it super-easy to see what is turned on and what isn't - even on the darkest of stages. In addition, the control knobs also have a (usually) green light ring around them, and the corresponding control knobs for each section light up when that section is turned on via the appropriate footswitch. Although all of the knobs have the same color, the combination of the footswitch and knob lights makes for a very user-friendly and easily understood interface. From right to left, the footswitches are labeled Pre-Shape, Drive, Equalization, Compression and Mute/Tune. An input Gain control sets your overall volume level going into the pedal. This is always active, except when you're using the onboard tuner. The LED ring around this knob will turn from green to red if the input levels are too hot and the preamp starts to clip. Trace Elliot recommends setting this control as high as possible, short of clipping. This should optimize the pedal's signal to noise ratio and give the best sound quality possible. A small pushbutton switch above the first footswitch on the right side of the pedal lets you optimize the Transit B for use with active and passive pickups. I tried it with basses equipped with both passive and active electronics and as long as you select the right type, it happily works with both. When the switch is in the Active (depressed) position, a red LED next to it illuminates to let you know. The Pre-Shape footswitch on the right side of the pedal activates the classic preset Trace Elliot EQ contouring that will be familiar to owners of Trace Elliot amplifiers. This boosts the low frequencies at around 55 Hz and the highs at around 2 kHz and 5 kHz while cutting the midrange at around 400 Hz. This results in a punchy, detailed sound with rich lows and great high frequency presence, but without any midrange mud. I really like the Drive section on the Trace Elliot Transit B - it's one of the best sounding bass overdrives I've heard in a long time. You get not only a Drive knob to adjust the amount of grit from subtle growl to highly overdriven, but also a Blend control so you can easily adjust the amount of clean signal you want to blend in with the overdrive - this gives it great range and flexibility. And again, it's just a really attractive sounding bass overdrive circuit in this reviewer's opinion. Nicely done! You get a 5-band EQ section - it's a very capable tone-shaper, with Treble, High-Mid, Mid, Low-Mid and Bass controls. The Mid EQ knob's green LED ring will turn red if you slam the EQ section too hard with excessive boosting and drive it into clipping. The EQ can be switched pre-compression or post-compression with a small pushbutton located directly above the Equalization footswitch - a very welcome feature! A red LED illuminates when the switch is in the depressed / post-comp position. The Compression circuit has its own footswitch, and the circuit itself is a somewhat unusual two-knob affair, with two bands - one Hi-Band and one Lo-Band. This allows you to adjust the amount of compression for each frequency range separately, which can be really useful when popping and slapping. The compressor knob LEDs will flash off and then back on again as you're playing to show when compression is occurring. The compressor is quite musical and effective, with a fairly quick preset attack time, although excessively high settings on the Lo-Band can get a bit clicky sounding. You also get a pushbutton-activated Bass Enhancement circuit. This is located just above the Mute/Tune footswitch, and as with the other pushbuttons, a red LED next to it lights up when it is engaged. When it's active the pedal's subharmonic generator boosts the subharmonics and low frequencies. If you're playing through a system that can reproduce low frequencies effectively this can give you considerable added bottom-end power, but be careful - it can be a bit much for some limited-bandwidth amps to handle without distorting, depending on how you have everything else dialed up. An Output Level control is the final knob, and it sets the overall output volume from the Transit B. Think of it as your overall master volume or level control. In conjunction with the Input Gain, it makes it easy to properly gain-stage the pedal. When the Mute/Tune footswitch is activated the output signal is muted, all of the knob LEDs and other footswitch LEDs turn off, and the built-in chromatic tuner is turned on. As soon as you play a note that you want to tune, the LEDs for the knobs then become a very large flat / sharp indicator, with the current note being displayed on a small LED Tuner window in between the Drive and EQ footswitches. As you adjust the string to the proper pitch the lit-up LED rings around the knobs move closer to the center, and when the note reaches the correct pitch the red LED around the Mid knob lights up. It's highly visible and easy to use. The rear of the Transit B is nearly as well-equipped as the top is. You get a wide range of connectivity options, with 1/4" Input and Dry Out jacks, along with 1/4" Line and Instrument level output jacks. For running direct, you'll find a pair of XLR D.I. output jacks - one labeled Pre and one Post, giving you both unprocessed and processed options when running direct. These can be used simultaneously if desired - for example, to send one to the PA while sending the other to a live recording setup. A Ground Lift switch is also included to help you deal with any ground hum issues. For additional flexibility, a 1/8" Aux In jack and 1/8" Headphone Out jack are also included. A 9V DC 1A wall-wart style power supply to power the Transit B is included with the pedal, and connects to a jack on the rear. The adapter comes with four user-swappable AC wall plug types; it is compatible with most AC outlets world-wide. Trace Elliot throws in a very nice nylon travel bag (complete with an extra accessory compartment large enough for the power supply and a short cable or two), as well as a Trace Elliot Union Jack sticker, and a CD-ROM with a demo version of Cockos Reaper (a DAW / recording program) and Peavey's ReValver amp modeling software. Limitations The manual is included, but it's on the CD-ROM, so if you're one of the many people who have a computer without an optical drive, you'll need to go online to download it. You can probably figure everything out okay without it, but it is well-written and contains a lot of useful information - I'd recommend giving it at least a once-over. No effects loop is included - if you want to use other pedals along with the Transit B (such as a filter or chorus) you'll need to run them in series, either before or after the Transit B. Conclusions The Trace Elliot Transit B Bass Preamp Pedal is useful in a wide range of situations - small enough to fit into the accessory compartment on many bass cases (and gig bags, and including a gig bag of its own too), it makes it easy to dial up your own professional-sounding bass tones in all of them. It works just fine in front of a bass amp as a preamp / EQ and effects unit. If you'd like to add that classic Trace Elliot sound to your existing bass amp, this will do it. As a DI when recording (or for feeding the PA live), it allows you to send the soundperson or recording engineer your sound, instead of relying on them to figure out what you want your bass tone to sound like. It can be used along with a power amp and speaker cabinet, or even a self-powered PA cabinet as the front end of a complete bass amplification system. With the included 1/8" Headphone Out and Aux In jacks, it's a great practice partner too. The Trace Elliot Transit B is more than just a collection of nice features - everything works great together as a whole; from the instant-classic preset EQ of the Pre-Shape to the great sounding Drive circuit, the effective EQ section and the two-band Compression circuit, it's a powerful all-in-one toolbox for dialing up your sound the way you like it, and getting that same great tone, gig after gig. The Trace Elliot Transit B Bass Preamp Pedal is a small and easily transportable solution for consistently good bass tones, wherever you go, and however you want use it. Take one along with you the next time you're in transit to a gig and see for yourself! -HC- Want to discuss the Trace Elliot Transit B Bass Preamp Pedal or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Bass Forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources Trace Elliot Transit B Bass Preamp Pedal ($399.99 MSRP, $299.99 "street") Trace Elliot's product web page Trace Elliot Transit B manual (PDF file) You can purchase the Trace Elliot Transit B Bass Preamp Pedal 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.

Does this tiger earn its stripes? Japan's One Control has been on a bit of a mission - they've been bringing the ultra-boutique designs of famed designer Bjorn Juhl (of BJFe pedals fame) to the masses at a price point that is considerably less than his often hard-to-find hand-built originals cost. If you're unfamiliar with One Control, be sure to check out my review of the Bjorn Juhl-designed One Control Honey Bee Overdrive. Today we're going to be taking a look at another one of Bjorn's designs, as built by One Control - the Tiger Lily Tremolo. What You Need To Know The One Control Tiger Lily tremolo is a very compact "micro" pedal that measures a mere 47mm W x 100mm L x 48mm H (1.85" W x 3.94 L x 1.89" H), including the protrusions from the jacks and knobs. As with most micro-sized pedals, it's also fairly light, weighing in at only 160 grams (5.34 oz). The Tiger Lily was designed by Bjorn Juhl, and is made in Japan by One Control. The design was influenced by the sine wave tremolos of early Gibson and Premier amplifiers, and the pedal has a very smooth sound overall, but one that can be made much choppier than the tremolos on those amps, depending on how you adjust the controls. The enclosure is made from aluminum and expertly machined, and like the namesake flower, it's orange in color. The similarity to the flower is further reinforced with the black accents provided by the pedal's three control knobs and black labels and graphics. There are three control knobs on the Tiger Lily. You get the usual Speed and Depth controls, and they function as you'd expect, with the Speed knob setting the rate of the tremolo's volume fluctuations, and having a speed range that is similar to the amp tremolos that inspired it. The Amplitude and Depth controls operate somewhat similarly to each other and adjust the amount of tremolo, but affect different parts of the circuit. Per Bjorn's suggestions, for mild tremolo, use minimum Depth and set the Amplitude to where the tremolo begins to appear on the end of phrases. For standard tremolo, set the Depth to noon and adjust Amplitude to taste, and for heavy tremolo, max out the Depth and just the Amplitude to taste. The range of tremolo available - from subtle to heavy, is quite impressive. While the Tiger Lily uses sine wave modulation, at high Depth and Amplitude settings the signal can get nearly gated-sounding, with a hard on/off texture that is somewhat reminiscent of square wave tremolos. Lower Depth and higher Amplitude settings offer a wide range of more subtle tremolo sounds and textures. The inputs and outputs are mounted on the sides of the pedal, and like the rest of the micro pedals in One Control's BJF series, they're staggered so that you can mount multiple pedals closer together. Input impedance is 180k ohm, while the output impedance is 10k ohm. The Tiger Lily has a small, recessed slide switch mounted on the input side of the pedal that lets you invert the phase of the pedal. This can come in handy for problem-solving, and is useful when running two amps (and parallel effects chains) in stereo, as well as for bridging two channels on some Fender amps so both are operating simultaneously, and in-phase. Surprisingly, you have options when it comes to powering the Tiger Lily. Not only do you get the expected 2.1mm center-negative power receptacle for a (optional) industry-standard 9V power adapter, but pulling the back plate off of the Tiger Lily reveals an internal compartment for a 9V battery - something that few micro-sized pedals offer. The Tiger Lily's current draw is very low at only 1.5mA @ 9V DC, so a battery should last quite some time as long as you remember to disconnect the input jack when you're not using the pedal. The construction is clean and neat, and utilizes surface mount components. This is no surprise considering the small size of the enclosure and the space-savings that this construction approach provides. The internal battery compartment and electronics are protected by a small, removable electrically-insullating plastic J-card; while it's not very likely to fall out, you'll still want to make sure you don't lose it when changing the battery. The Tiger Lily has a signal to noise ratio of 80dB, so it's relatively quiet and isn't going to add excessive noise to your sound. The Tiger Lily uses true bypass switching, taking the electronics completely out of the signal path when it is bypassed. A small yet bright red LED located just below the knobs illuminates whenever the effect is active. Limitations Describing the interaction between the Amplitude and Depth controls isn't easy, and the two controls may seem redundant at first glance, but five minutes of playing with the pedal will make everything clear - they really do compliment each other and provide increased flexibility compared to two-knob tremolo designs. The black lettering against the orange color of the pedal can be a bit difficult to read. The input and power jacks are very close together - you may have difficulty using both if your guitar cable has a unusually large plug, especially if you're using a larger-sized power plug too. Conclusions What do you get when you combine the talents of a brilliant Swedish pedal designer and the craftsmanship of an expert Japanese pedal manufacturer? You get a cool sounding and very well-built boutique-quality pedal with some unexpected surprises that retails for a very reasonable price. Case in point: the Tiger Lily is a very interesting and somewhat unusual tremolo pedal. First of all, micro-sized pedals usually don't have the ability to be battery-powered, so it's very nice that you get both battery and external adapter powering options with the One Control Tiger Lily Tremolo pedal. The phase switch is another useful and unexpected feature that will come in handy and help solve problems in more complex pedalboard setups. The Tiger Lily's also unusual in the level of control that it offers; unlike most micro-sized tremolo pedals that typically only offer speed and depth knobs, its unique three-knob approach, with separate Depth and Amplitude controls, gives it the ability to go from mellow and subtle to a very choppy, almost on/off type of sound where it produces a hard, nearly gated sounding tremolo effect. I love how you can dial it back so that it's essentially only audible on held and decaying notes and chords too - you don't often find that kind of subtly or flexibility in a compact tremolo either. And as pedal connoisseurs have come to expect from Bjorn Juhl's designs, it sounds wonderful, with a warm and very amp-like character. Once again One Control has brought one of Bjorn Juhl's highly sought-after boutique designs to a much wider audience in a reliable, compact and cost-effective form. Kick one of these tigers with your toe if you get a chance - I think you'll really dig the sound that will blossom forth from it. -HC- Want to discuss the One Control Tiger Lily Tremolo pedal or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Effects forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources One Control Tiger Lily Tremolo ($169.00 "street") One Control's product web page You can purchase the One Control Tiger Lily Tremolo from: 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.

Put your best side forward… Blue Microphones has built up a enviable reputation in professional recording circles. They've also made significant inroads into the consumer market, with products like the USB-equipped Yeti that are targeted at gamers and podcasters. Today we'll be looking at a new microphone from Blue that bridges the gap between the two - the Blue Ember. Part of their Essential Series, it has professional features but a very project studio friendly price. What You Need To Know The Blue Ember is a side address small diaphragm condenser microphone that is intended for podcasting and live streaming, as well as for project studio recording. The Ember is an attractive looking microphone, with a blue-gray colored body and black chrome grille and metal accents, including a raised Blue emblem on the front side of the microphone. Size-wise, it's larger than I was expecting, measuring 219 mm L x 38.26 mm W x 1.26" D (8.62" L x 1.51" W x 1.26" D), and it weighs 0.38 kg (0.84 lbs). The head grille appears to use multiple layers of screen mesh, with a tighter mesh layer covered by a more open one on the outside. This should help reduce p-pops and plosives when singing into it, and in actual use it does seem to reduce them, although using an external pop filter would still be advisable for vocal recording purposes to insure none get through and on to your tracks. The Blue Ember uses a hand-tuned custom electret condenser capsule. While most side-address condenser microphones tend to use large diaphragms, the Blue Ember's capsule is 14 mm, placing it squarely into small diaphragm territory. Unlike some of Blue's other podcast and streaming-oriented microphones, the Blue Ember eschews a USB connector for its output, and instead uses a professional XLR output that makes it ideal for connecting to computer audio interfaces and mixing consoles. The XLR connector is located at the bottom of the microphone, which is also where the threads are for attaching the included metal stand mount. The mount comes with an insert adapter that allows it to be used with European mic stands, or that can be removed for use with American mic stands. The Ember has a "tight cardioid" pickup pattern to help reduce pickup of sounds other than the source you're trying to capture. Off-axis rejection is 12.8 dB at 90 degrees. According to the folks at Blue, the frequency response is 38 kHz - 20 kHz (+/- 3 dB), and is relatively flat (+/- 1 dB) from 100 Hz - 3 kHz. Sensitivity is 12 mV/PA, and the maximum sound pressure level the Blue Ember can handle is 132 dB SPL (1% THD). Output impedance is 40 ohm, and the rated load impedance is 1 k ohm. The Blue Ember has a signal to noise ratio of 73 dB, and a self-noise rating of 19 dB (A-weighted), which is quite reasonable for an affordable small diaphragm condenser mic. The overall sound is fairly bright and open. There is some proximity effect when you move in close, which can be beneficial if you're trying to add weight and body to a vocalist - whether they be a singer or announcer. The Ember works well on the types of sound sources most often encountered when podcasting, live streaming, or when tracking music in a home studio - male and female vocals, acoustic guitars and electric guitar amps, acoustic piano - with a maximum 132 dB SPL handling capability, it can even tackle high volume sources like drums. I tried a pair as stereo overheads on my five piece kit, and was pleased to find that despite the very reasonable price, they work fine in that application - especially if supplemented with up-close mics on snare and kick. Limitations Unlike USB-equipped microphones, the Ember is designed to interface with professional audio equipment. Since it has an XLR output, it requires a mixer, mic preamp or audio interface to connect it to - you can't connect it directly to your computer without additional equipment. Furthermore it requires 48 V phantom power, so you'll need a mixer, mic preamp or audio interface that can properly power it. There is no pad or high pass filter switch. Many users won't miss them since the bottom end below 100 Hz drops off gradually anyway, and the mic can already handle fairly hot sound sources, even without a pad. No shockmount is included - at this price, one shouldn't be expected, but if you need one, the Blue S3 shockmount is compatible with the Blue Ember - although at $99 "street", the shockmount costs as much as the microphone itself does. Conclusions The amount of low-cost yet good-quality recording tools available to the general public today is much higher than at any previous time in history - and the Blue Ember is yet another example of this. It's a very good sounding entry-level general purpose condenser mic that is suitable for a wide range of live and recording purposes, yet at under $100 each, even a pair of them (for stereo applications) isn't going to break the bank. Blue's unique sense of style is on full display with the Ember's classy looking design. It's sure to turn heads. Additionally, the slender body and side address format means it won't be blocking the view when you use it for live streaming / on-camera purposes. The side address design is rather unusual for small diaphragm condenser microphones, but it makes it super-easy to get it into tight locations, such as when close miking toms and snare drums. The sound of the Ember is quite good, especially when you consider the low price point. It does tend to sound open and detailed, as Blue claims in some of their ads, with a bit of emphasis on the upper mids and high frequencies, and with a level of definition and transient resolution that most dynamic mics simply can't match. If you're looking to step up from USB and / or dynamic mics and want a good quality XLR output-equipped condenser mic, you should check out the Blue Ember. It's a very stylish and capable mic that won't bust your budget but that still delivers the goods whenever you need to put your best side forward. -HC- Want to discuss the Blue Microphones Ember or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Studio Trenches forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources Blue Microphones Ember Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone ($99.99 "street") Blue Microphones product web page You can purchase the Blue Microphones Ember 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.

Interview by Phil O'Keefe I've been a big fan of Queen since I first heard Killer Queen on the radio back in the fall of 1974. If you watched the recent 2019 Oscar Awards show, then you know that this year's Best Actor Academy Award went to Rami Malek for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the film Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, an epic song off of their 1975 LP A Night at the Opera, is considered by many to be one of the most structurally complex songs and ambitious recordings of the 1970s era. It still remains extremely popular today; with over 1.6 billion global streams to date, it's the most streamed song from the 20th century. It has achieved cultural icon status, and including it is always a good call for any playlist - just ask Wayne and Garth. It's an amazing artistic achievement, and even with all of the incredible high-tech equipment of the modern era, it would be a very difficult song to try to recreate today. And yet, that's exactly what the folks at Sweetwater Studios set out to do. There is a lot to be said for doing "faithful" cover versions of well-known recordings. While having a musician or band "bring their own thing" to a song can be very cool, and is often the best course of action when you're producing a cover version of a classic song for a new commercial release, there's a lot you can learn from occasionally doing a new recording that is as note-for-note and sonically accurate as you can make it to the original, just for the learning experience. It's a great way to not only challenge and improve your recording skills, but it will also help you develop your musical "ear" and your overall listening, tone-matching and phrasing skills. So when I recently heard about a video from the folks at Sweetwater that shows them talking about doing a faithful cover of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, and then shows the final results of their efforts, I had to check it out, and when I did, I wanted to find out more. Here's the video from Sweetwater. (The uninterrupted cover version of the full song starts at 7:56) While they discuss various aspects of how they went about making the recording on the video, Sweetwater Studios Vice President of Operations and Senior Producer / Engineer Mark Hornsby was kind enough to answer some additional questions about their version of Bohemian Rhapsody with Harmony Central. ***** HC: Your version of Bohemian Rhapsody is musically and sonically very faithful to the original. What inspired you to take on such a challenge? It certainly does a great job at demonstrating the serious chops and capabilities of the Sweetwater Studio and staff… I think, like a lot of people, with the recent success of the movie there is a renewed interest in Queen and their body of music. We were listening to some songs and discussing different aspects of the production and of course Bohemian Rhapsody was a large part of that conversation. One of the questions that was asked was “If we weren’t using tape and bouncing vocal tracks back and forth, how many tracks would this take up in Pro Tools?”. Then it just snowballed from there. HC: How many people (musicians and engineers) in total were involved with the project? Let’s see...Nick D’Virgilio on drums and vocals, Dave Martin on bass, Phil Naish on piano, Don Carr on guitar(s), Kat Bowser, Nathan Heironimus and Krystal Davis on additional vocals, myself, Nick and Bobby Dellarocco engineering, Krystal Davis assisting and Ken Love mastered it. So, ten people total? HC: I assume you didn't try to record this to 2" tape like the original. What DAW did you use? We used Pro Tools HDX with the new Avid Matrix I/O. HC: Did you use separate tracks for everything, or did you do bounces and sub-mixes to try to simulate the approach taken on the original recording? How many tracks in total did you use? We kept everything separate. In the end there were over 100 tracks at 96k. HC: What preamps were used when tracking? Did you track with any outboard compression or EQ? Everything was recorded through the Rupert Neve Designs Shelford 5052 mic preamps. There was some minimal EQ and compression used on the drums with the the Rupert Neve Designs Shelford 5051s and some Universal Audio 1176s. The bass went through a Tube Tech CL-1B and all the vocals went through a Retro Instruments 176. HC: Did you mix ITB or did you use a desk? This was mixed "inside the box”. HC: All of the microphones used were from Telefunken, correct? Was it strictly the modern Telefunken USA versions, or did you use any vintage mics? How well do you think the reissues compare to the originals? Yes, all the microphones were current productions from Telefunken. We think the reissues sound great. We did some shootouts awhile back which can be found on our inSync page at Sweetwater.com that are very telling. HC: Did you use any plugins, and if so, which ones? Any tape sims? How about reverbs? Were any doubler / ADT type plugins used to thicken the BGV's? Was any AutoTune used? We used a variety of things, including Universal Audio’s Neve 1073s on the drums, Crane Song’s Phoenix II for tape emulation (in a variety of places), Universal Audio’s 1176 (again, in a variety of spots), Waves API 550A on guitars, Izotope’s Nectar on some of the vocals, Massenburg Design Works five band EQ in several places, Universal Audio’s Precision De-Esser, Fab Filter’s Pro-L Limiter and Pro-R Reverb. There was some mild spot tuning done with Melodyne, no AutoTune was used. All vocal doubling was done by recording/doubling the parts, no plug-ins were used to simulate that, we did it the old fashioned way. HC: The original recording is known for its deeply layered stacks of background vocals, which is a technique Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker is rather well known for using on some of his records. How many total tracks of BGVs did you use on your version? There are over 50 tracks of backing vocals on there, but that's because they are split out into sections for different parts of the song. HC: Did you consult with Roy Thomas Baker or anyone from Queen to get information on how they did certain things on the original recording, or did you figure everything out just by listening to Queen's version of Bohemian Rhapsody? We were on our own for this one. I think that, over the years, we have all dissected different parts of the song in our own way. Don, for example, knew exactly what to do to mimic Brian May’s guitar tone with the equipment we had at our disposal. But, in the end, it was a lot of time listening to the original as well as the surround version that came out several years ago. It really helped us hear some parts that aren’t as noticeable in the stereo version. HC: Was the rhythm section tracked as a unit, or was everything waxed individually? The basic rhythm track was recorded as a live band. HC: Was it recorded from end to end, or was it tracked in sections and spliced together? It was all done in sections. HC: For those of us who have never had the opportunity to see and hear the Sweetwater Studios first-hand, can you tell us a bit about the sizes and sonic characteristics of the acoustical environments you used when recording? Which studio(s) and iso booth(s) did you use? All the band/rhythm section stuff was done in Studio A’s tracking room, which is a very large, natural sounding space which has a nice balance of absorption, diffusion and reflection.. All the vocals were done in Studio A, B and C’s iso rooms. All the rooms, control rooms and tracking spaces, are all wired together, making it easy to have multiple people in different spaces talking to each other. HC: Let's talk about the guitars. Don Carr used a Strat with Seymour Duncan Tri-Sonic pickups and individual on/off and phase switches for each pickup for all of the guitar parts. Any reason why he didn't opt for one of the various Red Special recreations that have been marketed over the years? Well, we don’t own a Red Special. In the beginning, we looked at purchasing one, but they were on back order-I guess due to the recent success of the movie. That then sparked the question of “If you were a guy or girl at sitting at home with a bunch of guitars, how would you pull this off?” Telling the story of installing a new set of pickups seemed like that might be more reasonable for some people that just want to make the most out of some equipment they already own. HC: Don said he used a wah to try to emulate some of the iconic Deacy Amp guitar sounds… was it the Dunlop Cry Baby Classic shown in the video? Yes, that is the Dunlop. HC: Don used a regular boost pedal (a TC Electronic Spark) along with the AC15's top boost channel; was there a reason why he decided to go that route instead of using a treble booster and an AC30's normal channel as Brian May originally did? We compared several amp/pedal combinations but in the end, the AC15 sounded the best recorded. We kind of liked that because it shows that you don’t always have to spend a lot of money to get a good sound. There are lots of companies that make smaller, more affordable versions of their own iconic gear. Too often, I think a lot of gear gets overlooked that could be really useful with a little TLC. HC: It looks like you used a Telefunken M80 dynamic mic paired with a Royer ribbon for the guitar tracks… can you tell us which model Royer, and in what approximate ratio they're used on the recording? One of my "go to” electric guitar sounds is the M-80 paired with a Royer 122 or 121. (this was a 122) I almost always have the faders of each track at the same volume. HC: Piano is a major component of the original recording, and the piano sound on your recording is really impressive - it's very close to the original. Is that the studio's Yamaha C7 on the recording? That is the studio’s Yamaha C7. It is a lot warmer than most C7s you’ll find. We have spent a lot of time over the years tempering it to make it respond that way. HC: You used Telefunken Copperheads to mic up the piano, right? How were they positioned? This was a long process of trial and error. In the end, the microphones were slightly outside the cabinet at about 45 degrees in order to get some of that same space/resonance you hear on the original recording. HC: How about the bass parts? What bass was used? Was it recorded direct, with an amp, or were both used and the tracks later blended in the mix? That was a Fender P Bass with flat wounds plugged straight into a Telefunken DI. One track, very simple. HC: Let's talk about the drums a bit. Which DW kit did Nick D'Virgilio use on the recording? I know in the video he talks about using the Roger Taylor signature snare For this project we went with the brand of drums that Roger uses now. He has been a DW player for many years and we wanted to stay true to that as well as getting a big punchy drum sound like he got back in the 70's. We used a DW Collectors Series Finish Ply SSC Maple drum-kit along with Roger's signature Icon Series snare drum. What makes this kit so cool and sound so great is the way DW constructs the shells. They are all 100% North American Maple but the way they laminate the plies together for each shell is a bit different. DW calls it SSC, Specialized Shell Construction. It means the smaller rack toms have a bite to them along with a nice round tone and the floor toms and kick-drum are constructed to have more low end. They are very musical drums. HC: How about his cymbals? Roger Taylor mainly uses Zildjians… was that his reason for going with those, or did Nick just work with the cymbals he regularly uses? 
 We went with Zildjian because Roger plays Zildjian. Nick used newer Sweet K's for this project. It is a line of Zildjian K's that are rolled extra thin and hammered in a way that makes them have a beautiful warm sound. We needed crash cymbals that had a nice wash that did not overtake the track with any harsh high end and they totally did that. We also needed a musical ride cymbal that would drive the groove. Roger Taylor's drum parts in general are so cool and a little bit different. His style and sound choices are integral pieces of the Queen puzzle. The Zildjian Sweet K's gave us the sounds we needed to re-create the song. HC: And for the iconic gong at the end? What did he use for that, and how did you go about miking up the gong? That was a sample that came out of Native Instruments' Komplete. We pitched it down to get as close as we could to the original. (funny, we don’t own a gong…yet!) HC: You used modern Telefunken dynamic microphones for the drums… can you tell us a bit about which ones you used, and was Telefunken USA involved in providing gear for the project? Or did the mics come from the Sweetwater store's retail demo unit stock, or did you just use mics from the Sweetwater Studios collection? All of the Telefunken mics that were used came from the studio’s mic locker. There was an M82 on the kick, M80 and M81s on the snare and toms and M60s (cardiod) on the overheads. HC: Was it the M80 or M81 on the snare? How about for the toms? Were you using the long or short-bodied versions? We used a Telefunken M80 on the snare top, an M81 on the snare bottom and M81s on the toms. All of them were the short body versions of the mics. HC: You used a Telefunken M82 large diaphragm dynamic on kick, right? Did you use its built-in Kick EQ switch to cut things back a bit in the 350 Hz region? How much additional EQ did you need to use with it? Was it pretty easy to get a kick sound you were happy with quickly with that mic? 
 That is an M82 on the kick, with the low midrange cut. I also cut a little more 350 Hz at the 5052. The two switches on that mic are very useful and make it easy to get a good sound rather quickly, especially if you don’t have much outboard gear. HC: How's the off-axis rejection and off-axis coloration on the Telefunken dynamic microphones? It’s great, which is why you see a lot of artists and musicians using them live. HC: Speaking of Sweetwater Studios, can outsiders book time there? Who should readers contact if they'd like more information about the studio's services? 
 Yes, we are a commercial studio. People actually travel here from all over the world to hang out, record, try new gear, etc. Anyone can contact Julie Doust at 1 (800) 222-4700 extension 1801 if they have any questions. HC: What was the most challenging parts of the project from a technical standpoint? The tempos were a beast. In the end, we created a tempo map that was very faithful to the original, if not completely spot on. That by itself is one of the main reasons we got as close as we did. You can’t just pick a tempo and play that song. It’s either no click or a map it out. HC: How about from the musical standpoint? How long did it take everyone to learn their parts? The band stuff went pretty quick. Don had all the guitars done in a couple hours. The vocals took awhile. Nick, Kat, Nathan and myself, sitting in the studio, listening to the originals in sections over and over and then trying different stuff. I don’t think we nailed all of it, but we got pretty close. HC: What, if anything, did you all learn from the process? Do you recommend that musicians and bands try to do occasional faithful cover recordings from time to time themselves? Do you feel it can be a helpful exercise from a educational standpoint? Any other benefits? When it comes to “covers”, I am much more a fan of coming up with something original. That said, I think studying anyone else’s work, be it musicanship or engineering, always has some good take-aways. I know I picked up on a thing or two that I would have never thought of if I hadn’t sat down and really studied the production of the song-even though I’ve heard it a thousand times in passing. HC: Hopefully it was a fun project for all concerned - I certainly enjoyed watching and listening to the video. It's very impressive! Do you have any plans to do additional "faithful" covers in the future, and if so, what are you planning on tackling next? Noooo, I think we’re all covered out for now! It was fun, but now we’re back to our normally scheduled lives as we know it. HC: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! My pleasure. https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/re-creating-queens-bohemian-rhapsody/ __________________________________________________ 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.

Can you really get a '251 style mic for under $800? In 1958, Telefunken GmbH (the German electronics giant, not the modern American-based Telefunken Elektroakustik) had a problem: Georg Neumann GmbH had decided to start handing their own product distribution, and would no longer provide Telefunken-branded U47s and U48s for them to sell, leaving Telefunken without a large diaphragm tube condenser mic in their product catalog. Telefunken turned to Vienna Austria's Akustiche und Kino-Gerate Gesellschaft mbH (better known as AKG), and asked them to provide them with one. AKG had been building their own C12 large diaphragm nine-pattern tube condenser microphone since 1953, but rather than re-branding that, a new microphone was developed that incorporated many elements of the C12, but also some from the U47, with a few new ideas tossed in for good measure. The new AKG-built microphone was marketed as the Telefunken ELA M 250 / 251. The 251 is a three (omni / fig.-8 / cardioid) pattern version while the 250, like the U47, has only cardioid and omni polar patterns. These are switched on the body (like a U47 / U48), not remotely as with the C12, and they have larger bodies than the C12, although not as large as the U47. Internally, the mic shares more in common with the C12; it has the same Haufe T14/1 output transformer, uses the same 6072 tube (in the "E" or export models; non-E models used the AC701k, as per German broadcast requirements at the time) and the famous (and highly complex) AKG CK12 dual backplate condenser capsule. However, the larger, flatter head grille on the 250 / 251 was given an extra layer of fine mesh screening internally that the C12 lacks; this, along with some internal wiring and construction differences contributes to the similar yet somewhat different sounds of the C12 and ELA M 251. The Tele 250 and 251 are considered by many artists and engineers to be some of the finest sounding microphones ever made. Full and rich down low (especially when close-miking), with sweet midrange and a wonderfully smooth, detailed and extended high frequency range, they're simply amazing sounding mics. However, fewer than 2,000 of them were manufactured in the 1959-1963 production run, and today the vintage originals sell in the five figure price range… if you can find one for sale. The AKG C12 and the Telefunken ELA M 251 E have long been some of my favorite mics, and the CK12 is one of my favorite capsules. I'm one of the lucky few who has had the privilege of owning original 251's (actually, a pair of them) and also a Stephen Paul modified AKG C414 EB with an original CK12 capsule, along with a couple of very expensive and highly regarded 251 reproductions, so I know from extensive experience what the CK12 and a good 251 should sound like. Today, many companies make 251-style microphones; from nearly identical recreations to mics more loosely inspired by the originals. The model has also been popular with DIY builders, and mics based on its design can be purchased in kit form… but if you'd rather spend your time recording music than building the tools, you'll definitely want to check out the Warm Audio WA-251 microphone under review here… What You Need To Know The Warm Audio WA-251 is a multi-pattern (omni / cardioid / Fig.-8 ) tube microphone that is based on the vintage 251. The WA-251 is an attractive looking microphone. The body is finished in a creamy yellow color. It isn't quite the same pale green-tinged shade as a vintage 251, but the finish is smooth and flawless and looks expensive, with the chromed bottom bell and grille assembly offering nice visual contrast. The body is equipped with a round Warm Audio (WA) badge on the front side. Warm Audio, the model name, and the CineMag logo are silkscreened on the back of the mic. The WA-251 measures 247 mm long and is 46 mm in diameter (9.72" x 1.81"), which makes it about 6 mm thinner than a vintage 251 (which is 52 mm in diameter) and a touch (3 mm) larger than a vintage C12's 43 mm diameter, making it look a bit more like a C12 than a 251. The overall C12 vibe is further reinforced by the WA-251's head basket. While this uses a double layer mesh grille (like the vintage 251, and unlike the C12, which uses a single layer grille), its size and slightly dome-top shape is far more reminiscent of the C12 than it is of the 251. Since the acoustic "space" the capsule resides in and the grille itself are two of the things that differentiate the two vintage AKG-built mics, I'm curious as to why Warm Audio decided on this particular body size and head basket style / shape for the WA-251, although I have to admit, the end result looks very classy, and the WA-251, while not being a direct copy of any other mic, does have its own vintage-flavored visual appeal. Since a tube mic needs an external power supply, it's not surprising that the WA-251 comes with one included. It appears to be well-built. It has a very bright blue "jewel style" power on indicator lamp, the power on/off switch, a 115 V / 230 V mains power selector switch, and a IEC power receptacle on one side, while on the other end you'll find a 7-pin input jack (for the mic) and XLR output jack, along with a three-position pattern selector switch. The pattern selector on the power supply is again, more reminiscent of the AKG C12, which uses a second external box that connects to the power supply for pattern selection, as opposed to the ELA M 250 and ELA M 251 which have their pattern selector switches mounted on the body of the mic. The WA-251 offers the same three options as the mic that inspired it, with omni, cardioid and figure-8 polar patterns. The electronics of the WA-251 are based on the E or export version of the vintage 251. The capsule is an Australian-built model that Warm Audio calls the WA-12-B-60V. It's an all-brass, edge-terminated, dual-backplate design with 6 micron gold-sputtered diaphragms, and is similar to the vintage CK12. While I wasn't able to disassemble the capsule (for obvious reasons) to check the depth of the resonant chambers or to see if the internal hole patterns are asymmetrical and match the original design, examining it from the exterior, it does bear a strong resemblance to the original CK12 capsules. A JJ Slovak 6072a / 12AY7 is used for the tube. It is mounted in a ceramic tube socket with gold-plated contacts. It is oriented "correctly" for a 251 style mic, with the pins closer to the capsule, as opposed to the C12, which has the tube inverted, with the pins located further away from it. The rest of the parts are also of high-quality, with Solen French, Wima, and polystyrene coupling capacitors being utilized, along with 1% metal film resistors. Instead of the Haufe T14/1 transformers of the originals, Warm Audio instead opted for a high-quality CineMag USA CM-13114 output transformer, which has a 12:1 ratio. Warm Audio includes a five meter (16.4') Swiss-made Gotham GAC-7 cable with Zwee connectors to hook the mic up to the power supply. You'll still need your own XLR cable to connect the power supply to the audio interface / console / mic preamp, but the fact that Warm Audio includes a premium quality tube mic cable should not be discounted - it really does make an audible difference compared to cheaper cables. One area where the WA-251 actually exceeds the performance of the original is noise - it's considerably quieter than the vintage microphones it was inspired by. Warm Audio includes a nice set of accessories to complement the WA-251. In addition to the mic, cable and power supply, they also include a wood storage box for the mic itself, as well as a spider style shock mount. The shock mount holds the microphone much more securely than the one for the WA-47 - I was able to use the WA-251 in a "hanging" configuration on several occasions and never felt the mic was in any danger of falling out of the shock mount. The Warm Audio WA-251 is covered by a one year limited warranty. Limitations The difference in physical dimensions between the vintage 251 and WA-251 does have an impact on the sound, just as the differences contribute to the "similar yet different" sounds of the C12 and ELA M 251. Frankly, I am kind of surprised that Warm Audio didn't build the WA-251 inside of the Warm Audio WA-47Jr style body, which is much closer to the dimensions of the vintage 251, and even has a more similarly-sized and shaped head basket. It would have also allowed them to put the pattern selection switch on the body of the mic too, as with the originals. There is no pad or high pass filter on the mic or the power supply, but then again, a vintage 251 doesn't have those features either. As I said about the WA-47, if you're looking for an exact clone of the classic vintage mic, this isn't it - but if you're looking for a mic that has some very similar sonic characteristics to the classic AKG tube mic designs, it's well worth auditioning one for yourself. While no "camera style" case is included with the WA-251, the cardboard box it comes in does have internal foam that is cut out for the mic and accessories. The included foam could potentially be transferred into a user-supplied case; Harbor Freight offers some that sell for as low as $25 that might be easily modified into something suitable. Conclusions Again, the question of your expectations is important; if you are expecting an exact reproduction of a ELA M 251 E for $799, you're probably going to be disappointed, but you'll also be missing the point - it's really amazing just how close you can actually get to those vintage mics for a heck of a lot less. Judged on its own merits and not comparing it to anything else, the WA-251 is a really nice mic - much nicer than the relatively affordable price tag might lead you to believe. It looks and sounds polished and expensive. You might be able to build something similar if you have the soldering chops and time, but you probably won't save much (if anything) by doing so, and with the WA-251 all of the work has been expertly done for you, and that work is warrantied. While it doesn't sound identical to any particular 251 (and considering the fact that the vintage originals have all aged for over 55 years now, and no two sound identical anyway), it does have an instantly familiar sound that bears a strong family resemblance to both the 251 and C12. While the internal circuitry is very similar, the WA-251 is not an exact replica of a vintage 251. The shape and size of the body, and specifically the head grille size and shape are different; the impression I get every time I look at it is "short body C12 replica" more than "251 replica", and sonically, it reminds me somewhat of a cross between those two vintage classics that leans more towards the 251. It definitely has a very vintage AKG-like sound to it. Strikingly so, considering the price tag. As such, it's a great choice for use on male and female vocalists, guitar amps, drum overheads, reed, brass and string instruments, piano… it's versatile enough to authoritatively handle practically any miking task where you'd normally employ a large diaphragm tube condenser. Warm Audio makes several other nice microphones, including the Warm Audio WA-47 that I reviewed previously, and a lot of people may be asking themselves which of the two tube mics they should get. Ideally you'd want both in a well-rounded mic cabinet, but if you can only afford one or the other the question becomes much more difficult. The price of the two is close enough that it shouldn't be a major factor, but the two microphones definitely sound different, with the WA-47 being a bit warmer, and with more forward low-mids, while the WA-251 is more open sounding, with a more present and detailed sounding high frequency range. If you're using them mainly for vocals, it will depend on which one sounds best with the individual vocalist. I would probably recommend the WA-251 for someone looking for a slightly more versatile mic - I think it works exceptionally well on a wider range of sound sources (not just vocals - it's a great instrument mic too), but when the WA-47's the right match, it can really shine too, so you really need to try them both for yourself to see what you like best. The WA-47 is great for warmth, "size" and impact while the WA-251 is brighter and more open sounding, and tends to sit just right in a mix more effortlessly, often needing little to no EQ. With both in your collection, you'll be ready to handle just about any vocalist, regardless of their individual vocal characteristics, and you'll be able to do a great job recording a wide range of instruments too, from guitar amps to acoustic guitars, to pianos and drums - while I didn't have two on hand for stereo, a single WA-251 sounded awesome as a mono overhead mic on my drum kit. The Warm Audio WA-251 is an impressive mic. Even with several other very nice mics in my collection, and as with the WA-47, I don't want to let this mic go - if Warm Audio will sell it to me, I'll be adding it to my collection. I suspect that upon hearing it, a lot of other people are going to do the same thing and purchase a WA-251 for themselves. It's definitely a keeper! -HC- Want to discuss the Warm Audio WA-251 or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the Studio Trenches forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources Warm Audio WA-251 Tube Condenser Microphone ($799.00 "street") Warm Audio's product web page You can purchase the Warm Audio WA-251 Tube Condenser Microphone from: Sweetwater Full Compass 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.

A product that's not so hot! A lot of musicians are into electronics. Whether it be building their own microphones, amplifiers and effects from scratch (or kits), or making their own cables from bulk wire and new connectors - or even just occasionally re-soldering broken connectors on commercially-manufactured cables, there's a lot of musicians who know how to solder out there… and there are two things that all of us have in common: we've all been burned at on point or another (or several times over the years…) while trying to hold parts in position while trying to solder them, and we've all struggled with trying to keep parts properly positioned while we're trying to work on them. Sure, there are several tools on the market that are designed to help with holding and positioning parts - most use small pivoting metal arms and alligator clips to hold things in position, but there are drawbacks to them; the metal can act as a heat sink, pulling the heat away from the very parts you're trying to heat up with the soldering iron (thereby potentially leading to cold solder joints), the alligator clips in combination with the heat can melt the wire insulation, and worst of all, often the articulating arms just don't have enough tension to keep things in the position you want, so as you press the iron to the joint, things move away from you, which can be very frustrating. Well Austin DIY Microphones has come up with a remarkably simple yet highly effective tool that solves some of these problems. It's called The Hot Holder, and I think all musical solder jockeys need to be aware of it, which is why it's under review here. What You Need To Know The Hot Holder is a small (~3.5" L x 2.3" W x 1.35" H) block of firm yet flexible high-temperature silicone that is designed to be used as a soldering aid. It's got some heft to it, so it's not going to fall over or move out of position when you start working with it. There are a total of 18 different cavities, indentations and cuts / slots on the silicone block. These are "grippy", and are designed and shaped in such a way as to allow you to insert wires, small PCBs and various other components into them; the Hot Holder then holds them firmly and safely in such a way as to make soldering easier. There are openings on the Hot Holder for XLR male and female cable connectors., as well as both 3.5 mm male and female plugs and jacks. There are also openings designed to hold 1/4" male and female plugs and jacks; the 1/4" female can also be used for holding potentiometers shaft-side down. There are also openings on the Hot Holder for holding pickup switches. You get two styles, including one that will hold a Les Paul-style 3-way switch in the inverted / contacts-up position, and one that is designed for holding Fender-style 3-way and 5-way blade switches in the same orientation. There are also openings designed to hold dual RCA male and RCA female jacks, along with several different sized hexagonal holes that can be used to hold a variety of different components. The two sides of the Hot Holder each have a slot for holding wires. These can also be used to hold small PCB circuit boards in place while you populate them with parts and while soldering the parts to the board. The bottom surface of the Hot Holder is slightly "dished", which gives it some suction when it's placed and pressed down on to a smooth, flat surface - this helps hold it in position on your work bench. Additionally, the weight of the Hot Holder is sufficient to keep it in place by itself; it's not going to move around or away from you like some other third-hand solutions often do. However, don't think that you can only use the Hot Holder with the bottom oriented down - you can set the Hot Holder on its side or even stand it on one end, and as long as you're not trying to hold something too large (it works great with a typical effects pedal-sized PCB), it still holds things very well (just in a different orientation) and still remains stable. Limitations It doesn't hold every conceivable electronic component you might need to work on. Additionally, it might not be the proper tool to reach for when you need to hold something in position in a tightly confined space, such as when soldering pots into place on the inside front face of an amp chassis, or when wiring an effect pedal's 3PDT bypass footswitch inside of a nearly-completed DIY pedal. However, Austin Ribbon Microphones does offer two similar silicone products (The Cheese - $29 MSRP shipped, and The Finger, which is currently in beta testing) that provide additional capabilities, which could be useful in some of those situations. Conclusions What a clever and useful product! If you solder, you're going to want to have a Austin Ribbon Microphones Hot Holder in your toolbox. Unlike the metal alligator clips on helping hands units or vice-type parts holders, the Hot Holder doesn't act as a heat sink or damage wire insulation, which alone makes it worth having. Add in the fact that it also holds things more stably in many circumstances, and the fact that it's not only highly heat resistant but is likely to reduce the number of times you could get burned while trying to hold something in place with your hands (or accidentally get burned by touching the heated metal of other parts holders), plus the fact that it can't scratch plating on metal parts like alligator clips can, and it becomes a no-brainer. While it may not be the correct tool to reach for every time you need to hold something in position while soldering it, you'll find it useful in a wide range of situations. Simple and relatively inexpensive, with significant advantages over some of the previous items that have tried to solve some of the same issues, the Hot Holder is a brilliant idea and a product that every musician who uses a soldering iron should own. -HC- Want to discuss the Austin DIY Microphones Hot Holder or have questions or comments about this review? Then head over to this thread in the DIY forum right here on Harmony Central and join the discussion! Resources Austin Ribbon Microphones Hot Holder ($39.00 "street", including free shipping anywhere in the USA, including US Military APO/FBO/DPO overseas stations) Austin Ribbon Microphones product web page #1 Austin Ribbon Microphones product web page #2 You can purchase the Hot Holder directly from Austin Ribbon Microphones via the above links. __________________________________________________ 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.