Overdrive 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
Line6’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
It 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!
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
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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Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor Overdrive/Distortion Pedal
Overdrive pedals that incorporate tubes have been around for many years. As the designs themselves have progressed, the sound of these devices have also improved significantly. For example, initially tube overdrive pedals ran the preamp tube or tubes with very low voltages and this changed the sonic characteristics of the effect. Many of today’s units however now run the tubes at the high plate voltages (in the neighborhood of 300 volts!) that the tubes were intended to be operated at.
In the months ahead, we hope to bring you a roundup of many different models of tube overdrive pedals. For now, we’ve taken a look at an especially impressive model: Hughes and Kettner’s Tube Factor.
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Line6 GuitarPort
The first time I saw the Line6 GuitarPort, I was confused by what it was, as well as skeptical about what it could actually do based on its simple appearance. My curiosity however, got the better of me, so I decided to take an in depth look at it, specifically, its functionality and features pertaining to my computer-based recording setup.
To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really expecting much given the low MSRP of $229.99 US after all, I have played through many of today’s new amp and effect modelers, and have learned that you generally get what you pay for. In any case, I was quite surprised at what I found out about the unit. First, it isn’t merely a guitar modeler and recording interface; it is a totally intuitive, interactive guitar processing, practice and teaching system for guitarists of any skill level.
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Vacuum Tube Basics
While digital modeling has caught the attention of many players today, tubes and tube amps are far from dead. And even with the new digital modeling technology, which indeed is designed to try and emulate the sounds of world-famous tube amps from the past and present, there seems to be a resurgence in the number of tube amp options that are out there. One of the strengths of a good tube amp is its ability to respond to the dynamics of a guitar player’s picking attack when a tube is being overdriven. In addition, no solid-state or digitally modeled amplifier sounds as good as a tube amp when played over a loud band. In fact, it is at loud volumes where tube amps really come alive, while solid state and digitally modeled amps will often become thin and have harsher high-frequency emphasized tones.
Since tube amps and tubes themselves are certainly here to stay, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about vacuum tube basics. This article’s purpose is simple: to discuss what tubes do, describe the different tube types and how they each sound. Afterward, we’ll discuss briefly about what to look for when shopping for tubes and getting them installed.
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Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer Reissue Review
Ibanez began producing pedal effects in the mid 70’s. At that time, many of their products were remarkably similar in sound to one of the leading effects maker of that era, MXR. In the early 80’s, the first Tube Screamer, model TS-808, was introduced and became a success. In 1982, the updated Tube Screamer, model TS-9, was introduced and was even more successful. Acclaimed for its soft-clipping distortion characteristics that was fairly touch-responsive, especially for a pedal made in that time, the Tube Screamer became a favorite for both blues guitarists as well as rock guitarists that wanted to add more punch to their already distorted sound.
With prices of original TS-808 and TS-9 Tube Screamers literally going for hundreds of dollars more than they ever sold for new (As of this writing, TS-808’s have gone for $450+ on Ebay and I’ve seen original TS-9s in the $250-$300 price range), Ibanez decided to make the most of this demand and reissue the Tube Screamer TS-9.
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Vintage vs. Reissue Gear: Decisions, Decisions…
During the past few years, there has been a resurgence in the interest of vintage gear of all types, not only guitars and amplifiers, but even effect pedals. In the case of effect pedals, this is a most interesting phenomenon because during the ‘80s, when digital state-of-the-art rack systems were in vogue, effect pedals were basically considered “old junk.” Regardless, with so much interest in the market for vintage tones and gear, it was a no-brainer for companies to seek to fulfill the demand by creating reissues. And of course, like anything else, some of these recreations were built more accurately and better than others.
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