Mojave AmpWorks PeaceMaker and Plexi 45 amp heads

Amplifier Reviews, Amplifiers, , , , , , , , , ,

Most readers at this site understand I’m a big time “amp nut” – with a special love for old Marshalls in particular. Some readers have even complained, “Too much Marshall!” in terms of content and asked me to pay attention to some other amps out there.

Well, o.k., I’m going to move away from the Marshalls, but not too far for the moment as the Mojave AmpWorks Peacemaker and Plexi 45 certainly share the Marshall heritage – in the case of the Plexi 45, its circuit is as dead-on of a true JTM 45 clone as you’ll find in any new amp built today. The Peacemaker however, adds some twists to the legendary Marshall tone, which we’ll dig into shortly.
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Analog Chorus Roundup Review

Effects, Effects Reviews, , , , , , ,

I had recently picked up a chorus unit as I was interested in adding some thickened multi-guitar sounds to my rig. It had been years since I had played with chorus units, seeing as I had largely overdone the effect in the ‘80s as many other players did. I thought however that now would be a good time since I have more taste now to be able to use the effect more sparingly.
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Keeley Electronics DS-1 Seeing Eye Mod

Effects, Effects Features, , , ,

Robert Keeley’s name has grown substantially over the past couple of years and with good reason: he’s an electrical engineer by trade blessed with a musician’s ear for good tone. That combination has proved to be a blessing for his business, Keeley Electronics, and has earned Robert the reputation of knowing what sounds good and being able to build those tones into his final products for his customers.
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George Lynch Interview

Artist Features, Interviews, ,

George LynchGeorge Lynch remains one of the great rock stylists of our time. With a history that stems from his early work throughout the ’80s with Dokken, to various solo albums as well as with his current group, Lynch Mob, George Lynch continues to forge ahead and explore various new territories of rock musical styles and tone.

With two new albums out and multiple projects ahead, George was kind enough to take time away from his hectic recording and touring schedule to give LegendaryTones the low-down on his music as well as the topics of tone, technique, and the future. Check out his site at www.georgelynch.com and enjoy!
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Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Review

Effects, Effects Reviews, , , , , , ,

FulltoneFD2FtOverdrive and distortion pedals, particularly vintage models from companies such as Ibanez (check out TS-808 tube screamer prices on Ebay), Boss (OD-1 very collectable), MXR, etc., have been very popular lately. One reason is of course primarily the tone that they offer. The other, is that plain and simply, they’re just built better than what you can commercially get today. I recently opened up an old MXR distortion plus and was impressed that it had not one, but four signed signatures on it, for testing and “signing off” on the unit during various stages of construction. You don’t often see that kind of care being taken when building pedals anymore. These days, it is about getting the bottom line (i.e. the cost) down to as little as possible. Even companies such as Boss that mass-produced many units since the ‘70s, did an excellent job and the quality was top notch while the pedals were being produced in Japan. Now, is well, another story.
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Line6 PODxt

Effects, Effects Reviews, ,

Line6 PODxtLine6’s original POD unit has been wildly successful since its inception just a few short years ago and with good reason. Any guitarist can imagine the appeal of having a musical tool that can call up a variety of guitar tones instantly at the push of a few buttons and a twist of a few knobs. In fact, having this versatility in a small package made the original POD a mainstay for studio musicians and recording studios.

While a new loyal group of Line6 users embraced this digital modeling technology used in the original POD, some musicians were quick to judge negatively against the POD and modeling technology in general – even if they never had tried it in the first place! It is interesting that while we as musicians like to think of ourselves as individuals, we can also sometimes be "set in our ways" (how many of us play Strats, Pauls, and PRS’ or Marshall and Mesa Boogie amps in part because so-and-so does?) – and no debate has been stirred up with so much passion over recent years than the topic of "modeling vs. the real thing." It’s easy to see modeling-critics ripping apart these solutions, not only because they promise a plethora of the greatest tones according to how they are marketed, but also because they are simply new and perhaps threaten the status quo of how music is to be made and heard.
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Frantone The Sweet Fuzz Pedal

Effects, Effects Reviews, ,

Frantone "The Sweet" Fuzz PedalIt has been my discovery that Fuzz boxes are an interesting breed of effect pedal. At times, they can be the right tool for the right job, and at other times they can lay dormant in your chain of signal flow.

However, the fuzz box has found its way in many recordings, and has been used by many artists. Before trying this unit out, I had very little prior knowledge of fuzz boxes and what to expect.
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Boosting Mystery: How and Why They Work!

Tone Tips & Tricks, ,

As most LegendaryTones readers know, we’re an information site dedicated to writing features, tips, and artist profiles, all in the name of great guitar tone. But what some of you may not know is that we introduced our first product, the Time Machine Boost, a little over two years ago. And other than a banner ad on the front home page in the bottom left corner, we’ve made sure that we would never use the site for overdoing the promotion of the Time Machine Boost, and we still will not.

However, with that said, there are quite a few misconceptions about how boosts work and what they are used for versus an overdrive stompbox for example. I’ve received many e-mails asking questions about boosting applications and have replied to all of them. When the last question came in that asked why they couldn’t just usual a volume pedal instead of a boost, that’s when I decided to finally take this subject and put it all into the context of an article.
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Aerosmith 2002 Tour Gear

Artist Features, Interviews, , , , , , , , , , , ,

This past November, I had the pleasure to attend the Aerosmith show at the Shoreline in the Bay Area, with the added treat of being able to go backstage in the tech area prior to the show to get the full lowdown on what else? – the gear! I have to thank Brad Whitford’s personal guitar tech, Greg Howard, as well as Brad himself for taking the time out to meet with me and chat.

The stage sound during the show was perfectly mixed and sounded great. Joe Perry and Brad Whitford’s setups were both for the most part straightforward and based around the use of some of the best vintage guitars and amps along with a limited use of effects.
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