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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The “Secret” Edward Van Halen Pickup!
I’ll admit I really lagged on doing a feature on pickups. It’s so much easier to just plug in a pedal, or play through an amp, etc. rather than having to go through the process of installing pickups with all the guitar dismantling, the soldering and even restringing of the guitar which isn’t something I’m ever thrilled to do. In any case, I knew that I eventually would have to take a look at some pickups so I made a call to premier pickup maker Seymour Duncan first.
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2000 Fender American Standard Strat
Year 2000 marks the end of the American Standard Stratocaster line and the introduction of Fender’s new American Series Stratocaster. Many marked refinements were incorporated in the new American Series Stratocasters that we’ll examine in the future. However, because the American Standard Stratocaster has been discontinued, it means that there are potentially great deals to be found in the marketplace. For that reason, as well as to mark the end of the American Standard Stratocaster’s 13-year life, LegendaryTones.com decided to examine some of the history of the American Standard Stratocaster as well as look at the year 2000 model in depth.
The first of Fender’s famous and long-lived American Standard Stratocasters was introduced in 1987 at the NAMM Convention and was a hit from the start. Fender was now in its post-CBS era, and the company’s new management team was committed to bringing Fender back to its glory days by again producing high-quality affordable instruments. In the 70’s especially, the CBS-owned Fender company suffered from a reputation for producing poorly-made guitars as a result of mass production and poor quality control. Being owned by mega-giant CBS did nothing but encourage the notion that the company only cared about profits. However, with new owners and the new American Standard model introduced, Fender clearly succeeded in time and the company again enjoyed a renewed reputation for producing quality instruments.
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Marshall’s All-Tube 20 Watt Combo – JCM 2000 DSL-201
Throughout its history spanning nearly 40 years, Marshall has continued to produce amplifiers that have been successfully adopted and used by musicians worldwide. As the years progressed, Marshall amplifiers came offered with a variety of additional features to suit the needs and requests of musicians through changing times. Nowadays, a fully equipped Marshall incorporates two or three channels, reverb, an effects loop, speaker-emulated direct outs, additional preamp stage gain, as well as a wide array of independent tones and volume controls for each available channel.
Power requirements have changed as well. With today’s modern p.a. systems being more than suitable to run the entire band, it is no longer required to run a Marshall stack at full volume and save the p.a. system “just for the vocals”. Today’s guitarists playing club gigs will often mike up through house sound, hence the increased popularity of guitar amplifiers that incorporate their gain within the preamp stage instead of getting distortion by overloading the power tubes. There are benefits and drawbacks to this distortion approach and it is one that truly goes beyond the scope of this article so it will not be discussed here. However, when all is said and done, musicians in general seem to appreciate the added flexibility that additional preamp gain stages provide.
Marshall’s JCM 2000 Dual Super Lead series of amps are designed for musicians that require two independent channels of pure tube Marshall tone at a reasonable price. Models are available in a variety of wattages, from the 100 watt DSL 100 head, down to the baby of the line, the 20 watt DSL 201 combo. For those in need of three channels and wish to pay an added premium, Marshall also offers its JCM 2000 Triple Super Lead Series. For this review however, we’ve opted to take a look at Marshall’s 20 watt DSL 201 combo. As a practice amp, or as a club or gigging amp, the DSL 201 offers a wide range of tonal options.
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Bixonic Expandora EXP-2000R Distortion Review
The Bixonic Expandora EXP 2000R is a unique looking pedal, with a novel approach and style that sets it apart from today’s invasion of new overdrive units. A reissue of the original Expandora 2000, the new unit incorporates some new sounds and design updates from the original. Within the confines of its sturdy housing, it contains a broad palette of sounds for the player looking to sample some different flavors of overdrive without having to commit to the cost or space of several individual pedals.
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Marshall’s All-Tube 20 Watt Combo: JCM 2000 DSL 201
Throughout its history spanning nearly 40 years, Marshall has continued to produce amplifiers that have been successfully adopted and used by musicians worldwide. As the years progressed, Marshall amplifiers came offered with a variety of additional features to suit the needs and requests of musicians through changing times. Nowadays, a fully equipped Marshall incorporates two or three channels, reverb, an effects loop, speaker-emulated direct outs, additional preamp stage gain, as well as a wide array of independent tones and volume controls for each available channel.
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Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer
Electro-Harmonix was founded in the late ’60s with the mission to produce unique and affordable effects for all musicians. Through the ’70s, Electro-Harmonix produced a number of top-sellers such as the Electric Mistress flanger, Small Stone phaseshifter, and Big Muff distortion. While the company eventually folded by the early ’80s, Electro-Harmonix is now back, offering reissues of their classic designs as well as new updated effects. Additionally, Electro-Harmonix (a division of New Sensor) now also produces a line of vacuum tubes, designed to sound like the classic tubes made from the best companies of the past, including Mullard and Telefunken.
Certainly one of the most unusual devices made for guitarists is the Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer. An all-analog design, the Micro Synthesizer boasts the ability to provide the great older analog synthesizer sounds made famous by Moog, Avitar, Art and by using a guitar instead of a keyboard as the input device. Listen to Pink Floyd from the "Dark Side of the Moon" era or recall the theme music from Doctor Who and you’ll get the idea of the analog synthesizer sound. For many of us that were too young to experience the analog synthesizer’s heyday (I was only a year old when "Dark Side of the Moon" was released back in 1973), what a trip the Micro Synthesizer offers with sounds that can be explored for a new generation of players. It’s no wonder that newer bands such as Smashing Pumkins, Beck, and Moby have incorporated the Micro Synthesizer into their own palette of creative sonic tools.
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Exploring Edward Van Halen’s Early Legendary “Brown Sound”
Edward Van Halen’s technique, tone, and style are legendary. Growing up listening to earlier-era Van Halen, I was awestruck by the raw, pure rock sounds that Edward produced from his guitars. In a period where rock guitar had become stagnant, Edward burst onto the scene like a fireball. As we moved into the 80’s, it seemed everyone had become an Eddie-clone, with their custom hot-rodded guitars strat-styled guitars and Marshall 100 watt tops. Edward’s sound from that era has been dubbed the “brown sound”. Let’s look into how what he used in the early days of Van Halen.
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