Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
This is a strange one, a super rare beast, but I had the opportunity to play with one the other day. The controls are a little tweaky and it’s also sensitive to the position it’s placed in the signal chain but when you get it right! Wooo, there’s some great tones here; super long sustain … Read more
The Fender Tweed Deluxe has been with us for over 60 years now and it’s popularity is still growing. First produced in 1948 as the Model 5B3 it is the mid 50s 5E3 circuit that guitar player claim is the greatest revision of the classic Tweed formula. Originally viewed as an “entry level” model the … Read more
Dana Hall’s VVR3 PCB kit. Power Scaling (a London Power trademark) and VVR, which stands for Variable Voltage Regulator, (Dana Hall of Hall Amplification’s version of Power Scaling) are currently two of the hottest topic’s in the Guitar Amp world. Both are methods which allow you to scale back the voltages within your amplifier to … Read more
Here’s something I’ve never seen before in a Fuzz Face type circuit; adjustable gain darlington pair transistors made up of individual germanium and silicon transistors. The first transistor of each pair is a germanium device of around 50hfe (low leakage!) and the second is a silicon device of around 250hfe. The adjustable nature of the … Read more
Divided By Thirteen CJ 11 in Cream Divided By Thirteen are a relatively new company (with regards to amp manufacturing) based in California and spear headed by Fred Taccone. They make some great sounding and beautifully build amps, not to mention the way they look! The CJ11 is one of Divided By Thirteen’s smaller offerings and … Read more
I love compressors. I love them more than any other guitar effect – and there’s a reason; they are the glue that sticks a great performance together. Unless you’re Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton a compressor *will* improve your tone and help you sit in a band mix much better. The Pigtronix Philosophers Tone has … Read more
The EMG 81 is now ranked as a “classic” humbucking pickup – for years it has been the go-to choice for Shred and Metal guitarists thanks to it’s monstrous voltage output (making it a doddle to overdrive a preamp!) and searingly smooth high frequency response which allows guitarists to cut straight through all the sludge of the … Read more
This little circuit is part of DIY pedal designs early beginnings. I first ran into it when I was surfing the early DIY forums in the early 2000s but never really paid it much attention, I wish I had done because it sounds great! Here’s the original newsgroup posting in which Arsenio Novo presents his … Read more
[This article has build details on the Boss CE-2, Ibanez WH-10 Wah and Marshall Shredmaster] The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are a band renown for producing chart topping albums – Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication, By the Way and Stadium Arcadium all hit the top of the charts all over the world with all of them going … Read more
The Jordan (Yes, they’re the same people who made the Boss Tone) Vico Vibe was an odd effect, built as a sort of plugin for your guitar. It was a great sounding tremolo unit though and has baffled quite a few guitarists over the years as to why it isn’t more sought after. Original Jordan … Read more