TC Electronics Polytune Review

I know what you are saying, what does the TC Electronics Polytune have to do with tone? Well, in a way, keeping your strings in tune has a lot to do with how you’ll sound. While I like to tune by ear, its nice having a tuner pedal to kick on, and get the tuning perfect. As well, this pedal works with different tunings. I think the main feature that makes this pedal stick out from the other tuning pedals is that you can strum all the strings at once, and the Polytune will tell you which strings are out of tuning. No more having to go through each string. Now that I’ve owned this pedal for about a year, lets get to the review…

Many have said that the feature about finding out which strings are out of tune is a gimmick. While I disagree with this, I do find that this feature isn’t alway 100% accurate, but it still works. It still lets you know which strings are out of tune. I think its a good feature, but not perfect. Good thing you can still tune one string at a time, as the Polytune auto detects if you are playing all strings at once, or just one string.

The LED light on the Poly is really great. It’s nice and bright and it also adjusts to your environment. No more straining your eyes to while tuning. It extremely clear to read.

Many have asked what happens when you turn on the pedal.. does the guitar still sound, or does the pedal mute the guitar? The answer is that it mutes the guitar, which I think is a good feature. You can easily tune between songs without anyone really even knowing. As well, if you are a lead guitarist who only plays solos in a particular song, you can tune while the band is playing, before your solo starts.

A note on battery life. Its not great, but its decent. I would opt for an AC adapter. Also a note on size, its a fairly small pedal, like all TC Electronic pedals. Very easy to take around.

I shouldn’t forget to mention that this pedal is true bypass, so there is no effect on tone.

All I can say is that if you are on the market for a tuner pedal, I would opt for the Polytune. Why? It’s tunes in any way you like, have additional features than regular tuners, and at $99, its hard to beat the price. View the TC Polytune on Amazon.

Xotic EP Booster Review

Today’s review is on a pedal that I’ve now owned for about a year, the Xotic EP Booster. Extremely simple to use, this pedal only has one dial. So what does this pedal do exactly? Well its a pre-amp, but not just any pre-amp. This particular pre-amp is modeled after the one that would be found in an old Echoplex. Truth be told, many great guitarist like Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen would use an Echoplex, minus the echo. Why? Well it coloured the tone a bit, gave it a boost, and all around just produced an extra shimmer or sparkle if you will. Just take a close look at the features of this pedal…

There are many ways to use the Xotic EP Booster. One way is kick it on for solos to give your lead a little extra boost and thickness to stand out in the mix. Another way is to leave it on all the time, making your tone fatter. Other people like to stack the EP Booster with overdrive and fuzz pedals to make the sound a bit more powerful. Personally, I like to use it as a clean boost. Really there are a variety of ways to use the EP Boost, you just gotta experiment.

If you are a strat player who plays through Fender amps, you know that sometimes you would love a Marshall because of the great midrange it provides. But you are not willing to give up those glorious Fender cleans. Thats where the EP Booster comes in. Give its that Marshall style fattening, while maintaining the great cleans of the amp.

If you open up the EP Booster, you’ll notice that there are two internal dip switches to customize the tone a bit. The first switch (1) is a bass boost, and the second (2) is a bright switch. I found having the bright switch on really made a Les Paul come to life. Many like the bass boost for a Strat. Also I forgot to mention, that the main dial on the EP Booster controls the intensity of the effect. Cranking that dial means more output.

Overall, I must say that I really like this pedal. I especially like its small size, making it really easy to travel with. Sometimes when I’m going to small jams, I pack this pedal right in my guitar case, so my tone stands out a bit at the jam, without the need to carry a huge pedal board. Also, I should mention that this pedal has a pretty great price at $115US (see it on Amazon). If you haven’t already had a chance, try an Xotic EP Booster.. you might find it’ll add that extra punch that your tone was looking for.

Fender Standard Stratocaster Review

As one of the most famous electric guitars of all time, the Fender Stratocaster does it all. With 3 single coil pickups, strats can give you some smooth blues to a country twang. You can find this guitar in literally any genre. Lets take a closer look..

Used by some of the greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Clapton, many are fully aware of the Strat’s ability to be a rocking blues machine. And the best part of this guitar is that it allows your characteristics to come through in your playing, whereas a guitar with humbucking pickups (such as a Gibson Les Paul) tend to sound similar from player to player.

The Stratocaster is equipped with one volume and two tone controls. One set controls the neck pickup, and the other set controls the middle pickup. Along with these controls comes a 5-way pickup selector. You can either play each pickup separately or team up the middle pickup with either the bridge or neck pickup. You’ll see a lot of mods online to be able to use the bridge and neck pickup together.

The majority of strats are made of alder in the body, and the neck is usually maple with either a rosewood or maple fret board. There has always been a big debate as to which fretboard wood is better. Simply put, some people prefer rosewood and others prefer maple. Maple is said to have a bit of a brighter sound. You’ll notice that in the last two years of Jimi Hendrix’s life, he primarily used 2 strats, both with maple boards.

If you want to make the best of your strat tone, then you should run it through a tube amp. Strats tend to pair up well with Marshall amps, particularly the Marshall Plexi, equipped with at least a 4×12 cab. You’ll see Hendrix rocking a row of 100w Plexis in live situations. But, we can’t forget how well strats pair with Fender Amps. Many consider blackfaced fender amps from the 60s to be some of the greatest amps of all time. I personally like a Fender Deluxe Reverb, or a Vibrolux Reverb. Once you have found your desired amp, the secret to getting amazing tone, is to crank the amp up. That means a whole lot of volume. The reason being is that it gets the tubes nice and hot and adds a lot of natural harmonics to your tone. If you are playing in an apartment or somewhere that can bother your neighbours, you may want to consider a Fender Champ coming in at 5 watts. These amps still give unbelievable tones when cranked.

All I can say is that the Fender Stratocaster is probably my favorite electric guitars, and as a blues player, it gives me that elusive tone I’ve been looking for. If you haven’t already, run to your local music store to play one. You won’t regret it! View the Fender American Standard Stratocaster on Amazon.

Fender Standard Jazz Bass Review

I recently purchased a Fender Jazz Bass while at a store comparing bass tones. It was evident right away that its tones was the most transparent, that is to say, you could clearly hear each note. Its dynamics were almost reminiscent of a strat. I knew this was the Bass for me when playing some blues lines.

I turned the amp up pretty loud to push the tubes a bit. It really made this guitar sound alive. If you want amazing bass tone, I highly recommend a tube amp, especially for this guitar. It really gives a 3-dimensional sound.

Not only does the Jazz Bass cater to alot to famous blues and jazz players, you’ll also see this guitar in a heavier setting. Jimi Hendrix, said to be one of the loudest guitar players ever, was accompanied by Billy Cox in 1969/70 to join his band and tour. You can hear some live stuff on youtube, particularly at the isle of wight in 1970. Cox used the Jazz Bass predominantly with hendrix, and his funky, soulful playing really vibrated well with the Jazz Bass.

My current set up with my Jazz Bass is running through a 70s’ Traynor BassMate equipped with EL-84 power tubes. Again, if you want to make the most of this guitar, or any guitar, get a nice tube amp. When those tubes get hot, the tone is unbelievable. .

All I can say is, if you are into blues, jazz, rock, or whatever really, try out the Fender Jazz Bass. It’ll bring life to your sound. View the Fender American Jazz Bass on Amazon.

JV Stratocasters

Or Japanese Vintage Strats as they are called, were produced in the 70s/80s. This includes Fender Japan, Tokai, Greco, etc. At the time, these companies were making strats that some say were better then those that were being made at Fender’s American factory. Alot of these JV strat makers would reissue vintage spec guitars closer to the original then what Fender reissuing at the time.

Today, these guitars are considered collectors items, and many use them as their playability and even pickups are incredible. Lets take a look at some of these strats.

Below, we have a Squier 83′ 2TS ’57 Reissue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: 1988 Tokai ’68 Reissue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RMC Real McCoy Teese Picture Wah Review

I’m not gonna lie, the RMC4 Picture Wah by Geoffrey Teese is probably one of the best wah pedals on the market! Lets take a look at what this pedal has to offer..

As you can see, it has a blue sparkle encasing, with a white foot pad. Pretty cool looking if you ask me. I’ve owned this pedal for 2 years now, so lets get on to the review.

I plugged in my strat into a nice clean amp. I pressed the wah down to turn it on, and immediately I was getting some watery wah tones. In the clean mode, it is not very vocal, rather more of a funky type of vibe.

I really wanted to have the vocal-like vintage wah quack made famous by Hendrix and Clapton. Once I put my amp into overdrive, I quickly got that tone! Very vocal like, and miles ahead of any mass produced wah made today. Like any person testing out a wah, I went right into the intro of Voodoo Child. This wah definitely gets you there.

Another good application of the wah is to turn it on, leave it in a position, and just play your guitar with that tone. You can get some very bright trebly tones that work great for solos, or some really bassy, smooth tones that I’ve actually also solo’d with.

Now whats really great about the RMC Picture Wah is pairing it up with a Fuzz pedal. The Picture Wah has encorporated a buffer in order to make it work properly with a fuzz, which most wahs aren’t capable of doing. When you really crank your amp, and your fuzz,the wah can really help when trying to have controlled feedback. Very cool to play around with, as it adds another dimension to your tone.

Basically the RMC Picture Wah is an excellent pedal, and really captures some authentic vintage wah tones.

The Best Univibe Pedals on the Market

If you are a fan of Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, or Robin Trower, I think you are well aware of the famous Univibe pedal. You know, the original Shin-Ei/Univox, with the foot pedal, and how acquiring one today is rare, and quite expensive. You also probably know that it is tough to find a clone pedal that recreates the authenic vintage univibe swirling tone. However, there are some great pedals out on the market that get really really close to the original. Lets take a look at what those pedals are..

1) KR Musical’s Megavibe

If you are familiar with univibe clones, you know the Megavibe. Many argue that the Megavibe gets the absolute closest to Hendrix’s Machine Gun, at least on the chorus setting. Randy Hansen (also known as the Hendrix Clone) uses a Megavibe, and many say that his tone is closest to Jimi’s. The only downside of this pedal is that they are extremely hard to obtain. You may be only able to find a used one on Ebay at inflated prices, as KR Musical seems to have been out of the scene for a little while now.

2) FoxRox Aquavibe (Review Here)

Dave Fox is known for building quality boutique vintage-esqe effects. His Aquavibe is no different, producing that vintage univibe tone, while also adding more flexibility to create different vibe tones such as the ability to change the position of the sweep. The Aquavibe has also been known to have the best vibrato out of all the univibe clones out there. Only downside is that there is about a 1 year waiting list.

3) Sweetsound Mojo/Ultravibe

Built by the late Bob Sweet, the Mojo and Ultravibe have been around for awhile, and have been a benchmark for great univibe tones. These vibes are right up there with the aqua and mega vibe.

 

4) MJM 60s Vibe

Around the forums, many have been raving about the MJM 60s Vibe. Over at MJM, the 60s Vibe has been modeled after an original univibe. Some really great tones coming from this pedal. Best part is, the MJM 60s Vibe is readily available with no waiting list.

 

5) Fulltone DejaVibe

Word around the street is that the original Deja Vibe (gold unit) has some pretty authentic univibe tones. Some have argued that this pedal is closest to the original.

 

I really believe any of these Univibe clones will make you happy, as all are close enough to the original.

Why get a Custom Guitar Neck?

Often overlooked, the neck on a guitar has a definite effect on tone. As well, having a greatneck that suits you specifically will aid in playability, essentially letting you get some sounds that you didn’t think were possible. Lets talk about why a custom neck is the way to go, and how to go about getting one.

There are custom guitar-part sites that allow you to get a custom built neck for most electric guitars. The best two companies for this are Musikraft and Warmoth. You can customize pretty much everything on the neck, so it fits your hand perfectly. Or you can get a neck that closely resembles a favorite guitar player for example.

Being a big Jimi Hendrix fan, I could see that having his guitar upside down and restrung affected his tone. Not only with the reverse headstock changing the string lengths, but also the size of his headstock. At Musikraft. you can order CBS style headstocks which are bigger and more badass. Not to mention they are a bit heavier, which is said to increase sustain of the guitar.

Another great reason to go custom is that you can choose the shape of the neck. From soft Vs to medium Cs, you can get the right neck for you. With Jimi’s style of playing, having his thumb wrap around the neck to play the low E string was a huge part of his musical style. Certain neck shapes make this more possible and comfortable.

Are you a vintage junkie, but can’t afford a vintage guitar? I’m right there with you. You can get the necks with nitro finishes and vintage sized frets.

All in all, if you’re playability doesn’t seem great on your current set up, try changing the neck, and notice a profound difference that’ll keep you playing for hours at a time.

How to get Stevie Ray Vaughan Tone

In the electric world of the blues, there has been many guitarists who have set the standard in regards to playing, feeling, and tone. Among these guitarists are BB King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, etc. These guitarists started out quite early, playing a lot of gigs in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. They showed the world how the blues should sound on electric guitar. Pretty much, these guys were untouchable. However, in the 80s’, a man by the name of Stevie Ray Vaughan came on the scene, and blew everyone out of the water with his amazing energy and godly technique. His bluesy style sounded like a mix of Jimi Hendrix and Albert King. And his tone was hot. So hot that it was on fire! Very biting and in your face, SRV’s sound was enough to knock you off your feet! Lets take a look at ways to cop his tone, so us mere mortals can get a taste of the Texas blues.

First off, we’ll talk about SRV’s amps. Its common knowledge that he was a fan of Fender tube amps. He really liked Vibroverbs and Super Reverbs, usually running them in stereo to fatten up his sound. SRV’s clean tone was quite amazing, which is what Fender amps are popular for. Of course he ran his amps cranked in order to get that tube saturation.

Though just having the amp cranked definitely wasn’t enough overdrive for those rippin’ solos. Stevie used an Ibanez TS-808 tubescreamer to get his tone on the edge. In fact, sometimes he even used two of these pedals at once.

When it comes to the guitar, SRV was huge into Stratocasters. His main guitar looked quite beat up/relic’d which added to his look. The pickups in his strats are generally hotter than most other pickups. Using Fender Texas Specials will get you there. If you really want the sound, there is a SRV American Strat on the market, that looks just like his number 1. Also, don’t forget about the strings, as they play a big role in his tone. SRV often used quite heavy strings, 12s or 13s.

Other pedals Stevie would use are a Vox Wah, and a Univibe. For the wah, a Teese Picture Wah will do the job. And for the Univibe, either a Megavibe or Aquavibe will get you to the authentic vibes.

Once you get the rig set up, the last thing to do is analyze his playing, as his pick attack can get an array of different sounds. Check out the songs Texas Flood and Lenny, and take everything in. Those songs will help you get a feel for the tone. Have fun!

Lovepedal COT 50 Burst Review

A couple years ago, I was watching some videos from ProGuitarShop on youtube. They demo many different pedals that they sell in their online shop, and I came across the Lovepedal Cot 50 Burst. I became very intrigued as Andy (from ProGuitarShop) started playing ‘Them Changes’, a Band of Gypsies track. I was sold. Right away, you could see why this pedal was packing mojo. So lets take a closer look at what this pedal is all about.

As you can see from the picture, there is just one dial, making this a very simple pedal. This IMO, is a good thing, as if there is too much tweakability, there would be a ton of time spent tweaking, and less time spent playing. The dial on the COT 50 Burst controls the drive.

Just so we’re all on the same page, the COT 50 Burst isn’t just a simple overdrive pedal, rather its more of a preamp so to speak. Its goal is to cop tones from a late ’60s Marshall Plexi loaded with 6550s. While this is a pretty big claim to make, I think it does a pretty good job, especially for a pedal.

I hooked up my strat (Fender MIJ ’68 Reissue), and played the COT 50 Burst through a pretty clean amp. Once I engaged the pedal, I was greeted with some favorable tone coloration. It gave my guitar more texture. As I turned up the dial, I got some great overdrive tones, very subtle, sounding more like a cranked marshall amplifier. When I turned the dial all the way up, I was almost in fuzz territory. When I turned the dial all the way down, it really kept the actual sound of my guitar, with a slight coloring as if I was playing through a different amp. At this point, I can say, the pedal is doing what it says it does. Awesome!

I then tried stacking it with other pedals, and started to see just how great this pedal was. I was playing a fuzz pedal straight to my amp, but since my amp has EL-84s, the fuzz wasn’t really sounding the way I was hoping it would. I wanted a good 60s’ style Hendrixy fuzz tone, and I just wasn’t getting it. Then I added in the COT 50 Burst right after the fuzz pedal, and immediately I was in Hendrix territory. Also at this point, I was getting some great controlled feedback at low volumes. Very awesome!

So basically, if you really want a Marshall Plexi sound, but can’t afford the amp itself, just get the Lovepedal COT 50 Burst, and you will be close enough to the sound that you are trying to catch!