Guitar Gear Acquisition Syndrome

Driftwood Purple Nightmare tube preamp pedal

2023-10-31T21:07:00.026-07:00

Finally received my Purple Nightmare tube preamp pedal from Marek, Driftwood amplification.

This pedal was pre-ordered with 2 weeks of waiting time.

Features of this preamp pedal https://driftwoodamps.com/purplenightmare-tubepreamppedal/

This preamp pedal is the preamp section of Burn Channel from Purple Nightmare amp head.

Gain – Treble – Mid – Bass controls

Low/High gain switch

Built-in T/S Overdrive with Gain – Tone – Volume controls

Master section with Master – Rumble –Sharp controls

3-way Sizzle switch

2 watt MOSFET power amp for practice

4-cable connection method ready

12V DC 1,5A input Internal charge pump 250V plate voltage

Two 12AX7 high grade selected Illuminated Driftwood window

External switch input for bypass and T/S

One of the Driftwood amp key features is built-in Tube Screamer (T/S) overdrive circuit to boost the preamp for tone shaping - tight and chuggy metal sound ! It is also switchable which means you could switch the booster on/off together with the preamp or switch the booster on/off separately (SEP) alone. The purple color backlight for two 12AX7 preamp tubes and artwork of the brand is adorable.

Hand build in Germany from the best parts you can get.

The design of built-in 2watt MOSFET power amp for practicing reminds me a lot of my previously owned ENGL "Tube Toner" preamp pedal and Hughes & Kettner "Metal Master" half rack tube preamp in 90'S

Don't be fooled by the small wattage of MOSFET power amp of Driftwood Purple Nightmare tube preamp pedal,

I am barely able to turn the master volume over 9 o'clock at home and I believe it could compete with a drummer while the master volume setting was passing 12 o'clock.

I heard Driftwood Purple Nightmare tube preamp pedals didn't come with any adapter in early days.

My unit comes with Harley Benton branded 12VDC 2A (center negative) wall plug power adapter.

It has GS or “Geprüfte Sicherheit” (tested safety) mark from TÜV SÜD.

How does Driftwood Purple Nightmare tube preamp pedal sound ?

I would say it has the best sounding among my preamp pedals collection even better than my KSR Ceres.

To my pair of deaf ears, the voicing of Driftwood Purple Nightmare preamp pedals is inherited from rich lower-mid of Bogner Uberschall, the musical tone quality from Mesa/Boogie and the tightness and aggressiveness of Peavey/EVH 5150.

The Rumble/Shape tone controls plus Sizzle Switch (my favorite) making this tube preamp pedal sounds extremely versatile. I could easily deal in any genres of great metal tone regardless of when it was connected with any power amp section of my tube amps or plugged into any cabinets that I own with its built-in 2watt MOSFET power amp. It could even sound good if directly going into the clean channel of my tube amp but treble and mid controls need to be tuned super low in order to get rid of excessive highs just like other preamp pedals. And "4-cable method ready" design of this preamp pedal transforms any of my tube amps to sound like a Driftwood Purple Nightmare.

The €666 list price tag of Driftwood Purple Nightmare tube preamp pedal might scare off some people that interested with this preamp pedal. Trust me, it worths every cent in terms of sound and build quality.

Order at here: PurpleNightmare TubePreampPedal - Driftwood Amps

A part of my preamp pedals collection -

A short demo video of my Driftwood Purple Nightmare tube preamp pedal

ESP Viper distressed with "Iron Cross" inlays

2015-09-16T00:03:00.002-07:00

This is my ESP Viper distressed and specially ordered from ESP Japan
for factory "Iron Cross" inlays on fretboard.

"Distressed" as known as "Relic". This is originally done by ESP.

EMG-60X and 81X pikcups are installed on my Viper
These EMG "X-series" pickups sound open and much less compress feeling than regular EMG pickups.
They has lesser gain than regular EMG pickups as well.
Gold hardwares on my Viper distressed are all relic'ed in details. Welldone ! ESP.

Look at those pearloid "Iron-Cross" inlays !

Custom vintage bindings surround headstock and fretboard.
It also comes with Gotoh Magnum locking tuners.

As a previous owner of Gibson SG, I much prefer ESP Viper body shape.
It has better body weight balance because of the offset body shape and
ESP Viper looks much more cooler than Gibson SG.

Lacquer finish is perfect for any kinda relic work.
And you can see the natural color of mahogany wood from Viper body and neck.

The upper frets are very easy to be easy because the neck-joint is carved smooth.
ESP Viper has thicker body than Gibson SG as well.

ENGL "Ironball" (E606)

2015-08-28T02:02:00.000-07:00

Bought this mini ENGL amp head from Session Music - Frankfurt, Germany.

You know Germans always make good stuff !

Unboxing started !

ENGL factory packaging is very solid as their amps.

What a beautiful lunch box amp !

This is my ENGL "Ironball" (E606).

Compared to Mesa/Boogie Mark V 25 and mini Rectifier that I had tried side by side at Session Music, Frankfurt,
ENGL Ironball sounded much tighter and much more brutal ! It also has two channel - Clean and Lead.

Just like big brothers - Fireball & Powerball, Ironball has tons of useful gain to handle all range of heavy metal scene
even without any gain boost with it. What a little brutal monster !
Ironball's lead channel has much thicker and rawer mids than Powerball II, and smoother highs than Fireball 60.
When Lead channel engaged with "Gain Boost", you would get more sustain and saturation tone.

Even thought it is a lunch box amp, but nothing is sacrificed for that mini size.
You would get four preamp gain stages which powered by four ECC83 preamp tubes, a pair of EL84 poweramp tubes,
tube buffered FX-loop, built-in with digital reverb, foot-switchable M.V.B (master volume boost) for solo,
and brilliant power attenuator - from full power 20w, 5w, 1w to resistor dummy load.

With that design and size, ENGL "Ironball" (E606) is a professional mini amp head perfect for small gigs and studio recording.

If you fed Ironball preamp signal into Powerball II poweramp section with 6L6 powertubes,
you would notice that Ironball preamp has more upper-mids than Powerball and it had turned to sound more open.
There was no more EL84 compression from Ironball at all when you did that.
I think ENGL has designed Ironball to has more upper-mids and open tone from preamp section
in order to compromise some characters of EL84 powertubes.
And I also believe the compression of Powerball II actually came from its preamp section.

Session Music, Frankfurt Germany

2015-08-27T21:58:00.001-07:00

I was heading to Session Music, Frankfurt where is about 20min car drive distance from Frankfurt Airport.

Here we are - Session Music, Frankfurt.

The main entrance.

Guitars and basses are mainly displayed at 2nd floor.

High-end guitars are displayed in their "Custom Shop Room"

Fender Custom Shop guitars

PRS guitars

Gibson Custom Shop guitars

Les Paul !!!

Gibson Les Paul Custom !!!
I was trying to pick one up .... trust me, that was hard choice.

See those price tags ...

Test Room 3 - Mesa/Boogie, ENGL, Diezel, Peavey, Laney, Laboga, Hughes and Kettner and etc.
You are welcome to test any guitar or amp that you want.

One of my favourite amps - ENGL !!!

Test Room 4 - Marshall and Blackstar.

I was nearly able to bring back ENGL Invader II (30th Anniversary, black face with certificate).
As a former Invader owner, I would say that I love Invader II much better.
The Ch.3 of Invader II doesn't sound like old one at all which was way too mid-scooped.
Ch.4 of Invader II is not only great for lead but even thrash metal rhythm as well.
Invader II (E642/2) reminds me the tone of Lead I and Lead II channel from Special Edition (E670).

Artist Edition (E651) still sounds like Blackmore signature head (E650) with a lot of piercing highs,
but it has slightly saturated tone and wider gain range than E650.

MI audio - Megalith Gamma

2014-12-27T17:45:00.001-08:00

TNT just delivered this MI amp all the way from Sydney to my work place.

I had put a lot of effort to push TNT must deliver to me today.
The amp was well packed by MI audio, corner protector and poly foams were used.

Here is my Megalith Gamma, an Aussie made amplifier.
Megalith Gamma was always in my wanted list since they introduced prototype in year 2011,
I had finally pulled a triggered during this Christmas Sales session.

Megalith Gamma, 80w is a "simplified" Megalith Beta, 160w but it has all the tone of its big brother.
Even though both two channels are sharing 3 band EQ and there is NO "Contour" control in Clean channel,
however the 3 EQ voicings and 3 position "Bright" switch makes the Clean channel is versatile enough.
Compared to Megalith Beta, Gamma has a high voltage solid state transistors to buffer the FX loop.
I don't need massive 160w output headroom and tube buffered FX loop, that are why I have chosen Megalith Gamma.
The approximate dimensions, 54 x 22 x 25cm (W x D x H)

I had Michael to sign on my Megalith Gamma, approved by the "BOSS" !

Michael Ibrahim from MI Audio is a great person to deal with him for sure.
Check out the MI Audio website for more details.
http://miaudio.com/amplifiers/

Megalith Gamma is running with a pair of Svetlana 6550 power tubes, made by New Sensor Corp, in Russia.
You can also use KT88, KT90, KT100 or even KT120 (a plate dissipation rating of 60W) !!!
The plate voltage of Megalith runs at close to 700V which might not good for EL34, 6CA7 or KT77.
3 preamp tubes - JJ ECC83S, Sovtek 12AX7WA and Sovtek 7025/12AX7WB.
This is my first amp comes stock with "Cocktail" preamp tubes set.

You can easily adjust "Send Level" and "Return Level" of the FX loop.
There are two modern toroidal transformers for both power and output transformer.
They are custom built overspec'd for MI audio amplifiers to work under worst-case conditions.

"Hand built with pride in Sydney, Australia" !!!

Megalith Gamma is one of the best amp from my high gain monsters collection.

Megalith Gamma has the most articulate sound and lots of tone clarity that I have ever heard
from Mesa/Boogie, Marshall, ENGL, Diezel, Randall MTS, Krank, Bogner, VHT/Fryette and 5150/6505.

Even though it doesn't have "Presence" and "Depth/Resonance" controls like most of the modern amps does,
but the 3 EQ voicings, 3 bands EQ and "CONTOUR" working extremely well together.
You definitely can get super versatile overall tone control between vintage and modern range from MI audio Megalith.
Unlike the "MID Sweep" of Krank, "Mid Cut" section of Diezel Herbert, "Presence" knob of Bogner Uberschall
and "Presence Depth" of Mesa/Boogie Mark V, I think the CONTOUR of Megalith is the BEST
and most powerful tone shaping control that I have ever used before.

Awesome circuit design, Michael !!!

Below is a sound clip to compare my Megalith Gamma with Diezel Herbert.
16 Gauge Galvanised Steel Chassis.

Thick 2.4 mm double-sided through-hole PCB’s with 4oz plated tracks.

High end audiophile German made WIMA polyester and polypropylene capacitors.

Two bias trimmers. You don't have to use matched pair of power tubes.

Mesa/Boogie® 1x12" Thiele cabinet

2014-11-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

I have brought back a Mesa/Boogie cabinet from local Mesa/Boogie distributor.

It had been packed very well by Mesa/Boogie factory.

A Mesa/Boogie® 1x12" Thiele cabinet.
This is my fourth Mesa/Boogie cabinet. As being a Mesa/Boogie fan boy for many years,
I have/had owned two Mesa/Boogie 4x12" cabinets and one 2x12" Rectifier cabinet.

It has much deeper body compared to most of the 1x12" cabinets in the market.

Mesa/Boogie "Thiele" cabinet is based on Electro-Voice (EV) TL806 design.
The older one did come with EVM12L speaker, but they use Mesa/Celestion C90 "Black Shadow" speaker nowadays.
C90 "Black Shadow" speaker are custom-voiced by Celestion for Mesa/Boogie.
It sounds similar with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker but with bigger low-end and much darker in highs.

The C90 speaker is "front-loaded" in Thiele cabinet and the cabinet is "ported".
The ported design enhances the bass response extremely well.

Compared to Rectifier 1x12" cabinet which is perfect paired with Rectoverb 25 or Mini Rectifier,
Thiele cabinet sounds bigger, tighter in low end and can handle whatever amount of bass that you pumped into it.
I would say "Thiele" is the best 1x12" cabinet that I have ever owned.

Retrovalve® - vacuum tube replacement devices

2014-10-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Just received these Retrovalves.

Retrovalves are designed by Doug Roberts and introduced by Jet City at NAMM 2011.
Not only Retrovalves, AMT Electronics had also introduced vacuum tube replacement called "12AX7WS (Warmstone)".
All these "solid state tubes" are actually not the new things, Mesa/Boogie used "Feltron" in ther Mark I amplifier during 70's.

The Retrovalves really impress me.
I can get more articulate, tighter, slight less compress feeling
when I plugged these solidstate tubes in my Diezel VH4 and Herbert.
Compare to traditional glass tubes, Retrovalves "Hot Gain" seem to have around 10% more in gain.
The greatest part is these solidstate tubes are very quiet and about 80% less in noise/microphonics.
I still feel my amps sound and play like a tube amp but much better tone now. When I swapped my glass tubes back, the amp sounds really muddy to my ears. Love these Retrovalves.

Retrovalves in my Diezel VH4.

Retrovalves in my Diezel Herbert.

ESP E-II Horizon NT-7B Baritone

2014-06-11T17:42:00.001-07:00

My first "E-II" guitar - Horizon NT-7B (27" baritone) from ESP Japan.

After tested HRF NT-7B and T-B7, I had decided to get myself Horizon NT-7B.
All these three E-II baritone guitars have similar features - maple neck-thru-body with alder wings,
ebony fretboards, tune-o-matic bridge and etc, but I really like the reverse headstock and body shape of Horizon.

Satin black/matte finish body.

The Horizon NT-7B has pretty light weight body. Unfortunately, there is no body binding.

Ebony fretboard with killer "black pearloid" binding.

TonePros "Locking" Tune-O-Matic bridge.
You can lock the bridge by the screws to prevent the bridge fall out to scratch or dent the paint during strings changing.

"E-II" is the new series to replace ESP "Standard" series which introduced in year 2013.
The reason is to further differentiate the ESP Custom Shop with the same ESP logo on the headstock before on "Standard" series.
All E-II guitars are grafted by same ESP luthiers in Japan where the "Standard" series being made.
Personally, I don't feeel any difference between E-II and ESP "Standard" series after playing "Standard" series for a decade.

Maple neck-thru-body with alder wings.
ESP battery compartment is a really great design.

Sperzel USA locking tuners.

A great guitar indeed.

ESP Eclipse 24 USA 7-string Baritone

2014-05-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

I just acquired a new ESP Eclipse 24 USA 7 string Baritone - 27" neck scale.

This is special ordered and exclusives for an ESP dealer, Bmusic in Australia.
There are only total 6 Baritones of Eclipse 24 USA 7 string - 4 in Satin Black, 1 in Silverburst
and 1 in Gloss Black which I believe which is mine now.

Eclipse 24 USA is an export model for oversea market especially for US.
It has block ESP logo, 24 frets, 3 control knobs, thinner body and shorter cutaway horn
which make this model looks more different than a Gibson Les Paul guitar
because of the copyright lawsuit between Gibson and ESP.

Eclipse 24-7 features a bound Mahogany body and carved Maple top,
Black hardware, Ebony fingerboard with no inlays, 24 XJ frets,
EMG 81-7 (bridge) and 707 (neck) active pickups, Gotoh fixed bridge and taipiece.

Thin-U neck contour, 27" baritone neck scale and 48mm nut width.

Sperzel TrimLock tuners, "ESP standard series" logo and "Made in Japan" sticker.

Truas rod

My massive low-end gear !

Diezel 4x12" Front Loaded cabinet

2014-03-30T00:10:00.001-07:00

I had been waiting for a Diezel german made cabinet for too long ..
My local guitar store finally brings them in this year.
Thank you, TGP/Cheras- Low KS and Ken Chan shipped it to me within couple of days.

Someone made a mistake in Diezel factory.
The check box of "Rear Loaded" was checked on my shipping box.
I thought I had placed a wrong order when I just received it initially.

My Diezel cabinet was well packed from factory.

Four removable caster base plates and rubber feet.

2" casters included.

Here she is Diezel new German made 4x12" Front Loaded Cabinet.
There are some old US made Diezel cabinet in the early of America market.
Diezel used to authorize US dealer (outsourcing) to make the Diezel cabinets by themselves
because the flight costs a bomb to ship 4x12" cabinet over the sea and even long lead time by sea shipping.
All those US cabinets were licensed under Diezel trademark.
However, the design and construction are very different from German made cabinet.

Since the speakers are loaded from front, the cabinet back is fully sealed without any screws.

8ohm in mono, 16ohm in stereo for each pair of speakers.

All Diezel cabinets are made in Dillingen, Germany since year 2007.
Peter Stapher re-designed the whole cabinet construction during that time as well
from internal baffle boards to the choice of cabinet wood and speakers.
The woods are cut by high precision CNC machines in that new production plant.

I really love the Front-Loaded cabinet, easy to access the speakers.

I had been looking for the perfect cabinet to match my Diezel VH4 and Herbert for years.
And all along I know the perfect cabinet would be a Diezel cabinet,
unfortunately none of my local guitar store brought them in and the oversea shipping always make us headache.

I had tried several common cabinets in the market such as Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Oversized and Stiletto/traditional cabinets, Marshall 1960 cabinet,
Orange PPC412HP with G12-K100 speakers, Bogner Oversized 2x12" cabinet and even a Mills Acoustics Afterburner 412 cabinet.
I had even messed around the X patterned speakers in every single cabinet that I have (check out my blog).
Unfortunately, none of them really fulfilled the perfect Diezel tone in my mind.

As you know Diezel VH4 and Herbert are voiced pretty heavy low-mid and compressed.
Mesa and Bogner cabinet sounded great to me, but still lacked of something to my ear and I believe that caused by Celestion V30 speakers.
After that I thought G12-K100 speakers would be the choice, so I bought a Orange cabinet with that speakers.
Too sad to say that Rear-Loaded G12-K100 sounds muddy and even worse inside a Orange cabinet with Cane front grill (sound from a blanket).

I was so scared that Diezel cabinet would fail me since I bought it without trying and this cabinet is so expensive.
What a relief when I listened Diezel VH4 and Herbert sound perfectly with Diezel Front-Loaded G12-K100 cabinet.
Buy this cabinet if you are seeking for articulate, tight and fast response especially for low tuning player or you want your Diezel amp to sound brighter and opened.

Speakers are directly screwed on the front baffle board without speaker gaskets.

Silver piping - There is one of the way to differentiate Diezel German cabinets from early US cabinets.

EVH 5150 III (50watt) - Mexican v.s Vietnamese made

2014-01-04T05:12:00.001-08:00

There were some issues on my Vietnamese made EVH 5150 III.
Hence, FMIC sent me a new replacement unit which is made in Mexico.

Thank you for following persons from BGW/Swee Lee and FMIC to made that happened.
Michael Roberts, Howard Kaplan, Godfrey, Brendon and others.

The country of origins are stated on back panel where Resonance knob located.

The amp handles are different. I prefer the handle of current Mexican made version.
Right: Vietnamese made and Left: Mexican made.

The speaker cables came with amps are different.
I prefer the speaker cable of current Mexican made version because they use Neutrik jacks and US made cable.
Top: Mexican made and Bottom: Vietnamese made.

The footswitches are different.
I prefer the Vietnamese made version because the jack ring is made of metal.
Top: Mexican made and Bottom: Vietnamese made.

The channel indicators, LED are different. I heard the way of how they mounted are different too.
I prefer the current Mexican made version because they are smaller and better quality look.
Right: Mexican made and Left: Vietnamese made.

The stock tubes are still made by JJ. However, they have removed the ink prints on the tubes.
There is a white colour rubber grommet to secure the Phase Inverter tube on Mexican made version.
Right: Mexican made and Left: Vietnamese made.

For overall workmanship, I would say the workmanship of Mexican made version is much better.

The major tone difference between Vietnamese and Mexican builds comes from Ch2 - Blue channel.
We have compared another two Vietnam built units with my Mexico unit,
the Mexico unit obviously sounds tighter on Ch2 - Blue channel.
There is also NO popping sound occured when switching between channels on Mexico unit.

Initially when I raised my Ch2 flubby complaint to Howard Kaplan (EVH, Fender), he mentioned
there is "small change" needed to bring the Vietnam built head to the exact same configuration
as the Mexico built head.

Since my Vietnam built unit had couple of cosmetic flaws as well, they just shipped me the replacement unit instead.
Else, I would need to send my Vietnam unit to authorized service center for a "Mexico built spec upgrade"
according to Howard Kaplan.

EVH 5150 III (50 watt)

2013-12-30T18:03:00.002-08:00

My EVH 5150 III (50watt) finally arrived.

I'm so excited when opening the box because I have been waiting it for quite a long time.

Here it is. I ordered a black tolex version.
It comes with pretty awesome accessories - footswitch, user manual and a decent speaker cable.

Eddie Van Halen signs with Fender (FMIC) since year 2007,
therefore all the EVH products are made in Fender Factory now.

50watt version of EVH 5150 III amp head was unveiled in year 2011 NAMM show.
The first batch of 50watt version are made in Vietnam,
but now all of them are made in Mexico at the same factory as 100watt version.

In year 2013, they introduced a EVH 5150 III combo with digital reverb (50watt, 2x12" speakers).

Ch1 (Green channel) shares all the controls with Ch2 (Blue channel) on 50watt version of 5150 III.
Luckily, Ch3 (Red channel) has it own independent controls as I mainly use Red channel.

You can find a Master Presence control from front panel, but Master Resonance control is on back panel.
There is NO Resonance control on 100watt version of EVH 5150 III.

The Power and Standby switches are on back panel too which is really bother me a lot.
In my opinion, they should install Standby switch on the front at least.
And the 50watt version supports MIDI switching function, but that is not for 100watt version.

Compared to my old Peavey 5150, the EVH 5150 III sounds much modern, brighter and more refined.
It has more picking dynamics and not compressed as my old 5150.
It also has "Fenderish" style clean tone in Ch1 (Green channel) which you properly couldn't get from Peavey 5150
and Ch2 (Blue channel) has the gain to fit into the heavy metal territory pretty well.
Ch3 (Red channel) is the KING of high gain !!! Slightly mid-scooped thrash metal rhythm tone.
This Red channel has the gain more than you ever need. I always keep the gain knob below 12:00.

PCB circuit of EVH 5150 III 50watt version.
All the components and soldering skills look pretty cheap. You definitely get what you pay for.

Bias trim pot.

Both preamp and power tubes are JJ.
Factory bias setting is pretty cold, only around 19.6mA @ 490V plate voltage.

Bogner Oversized 2x12" cabinet

2013-11-17T01:10:00.003-08:00

This is another cabinet from Bogner impressed me. I had tried a Bogner Uberkab couple years ago
and I still can recall the tightness and aggressiveness from that cabinet.

Mesa Rectifier 2x12" cabinet and Bogner Oversized 2x12" are the best 2x12" cabinets on the market.
You can easily observe top workmanship from these cabinets.
Both cabinets sound great and totally different from each other.
The size of these cabinets are much larger than regular 2x12" cabinets.

Dimensions comparison -
Bogner: 25-3/4"H x 29-3/4"W x 11-7/8"D.
Mesa/Boogie : 17-1/2"H x 30-1/8"W x 14--1/4"D.

Bogner cabinet has a slightly "angled baffle board" which allows user to hear much better.

Bogner cabinet is much taller, Mesa cabinet has slightly wider body.

Mesa cabinet has deeper body which I believe it contributed more low end.

Both cabinets have removable casters with sliding base plate. Bogner cabinet comes with 2" casters,
Mesa cabinet comes with 3" casters which is much easier to be moving around.

Bogner Oversized 2x12" cabinet is perfectly matched with my Diezel amps.
It handles low end pretty well and makes my Diezel sound
brighter, crunchier and much less compression feeling.

ISP Decimator "G-String" II (Version 2)

2013-10-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Just scored a new Decimator II - "G-String".

Compared to my old Decimator, "Threshold" of Decimator II works even smarter,
smoother and more linear.

If you want to put a Decimator into your amp effect loop to kill the noise from preamp stage,
you should get a "G-String" version.
There is another extra signal loop on "G-String" to track original signal from your guitar.
You can switch from gain channel to clean channel and never have to switch the Decimator G String off due to the threshold being set too high.

There is another patterned design on Decimator II - 1/8" "Link-In" and "Link-Out"
which allow user to link another Decimator II to work as ISP "ProRack G".

Comparison Video - Decimator I vs Decimator II

Bogner Ecstasy Red and Uberschall pedal

2013-03-23T20:44:00.002-07:00

Bogner introduced pedal line last year 2012.
I'd say thats a tremendous movement as a boutique amp manufacturer to introduce pedal line
which directly pulled out their famous legendary amplifier series channel's circuit -
"Ecstasy" and "Uberschall" to combine with solid state technology.

Reinhold Bogner uses premium components for this pedal line include:
Double sided gold plated circuit boards, German WIMA capacitors,
Japanese Nichicon capacitors and gold plated relays, Carling switches and more.

Ecstasy RED pedal is the heritage from Ecstasy mystical red channel -
Incendiary high gain crunch and lead tones. The tone options from this pedal has more than you ever needed.
1) Variac On/Off switch- adds a “dropped voltage” dynamic compression to the feel and sound.
2) Pre-EQ Switch: B1, N and B2 settings control “openness” and presence of higher range harmonics.
4) Mode Switch: Tight, Mellow and Full, shapes the general EQ curve and gain levels.
3) Structure Switch: 100, 101 and 20th Anniversary settings offer EQ shifts and gain structures
from various eras and models of Ecstasy amplifier. (abstracted from Bogner official website)

Ecstasy Red is my favourite Bogner pedal. It exactly captures real amp tone.
20th, B2 and Tight mode are my settings for aggressive metal tone.

Bogner Uberschall pedal delivers thunderous high gain tone from brutal Bogner Uberschall amplifier.
Unfortunatelly I didn't get impressed by this pedal as much as Ecstasy Red pedal.

I have nothing more to say for this Uberschall pedal.

A boutique pedal comes with boutique battery.

Diezel Herbert vs VH4

2013-01-15T00:42:00.000-08:00

Herbert or VH4 ? That's really a hard choice. Let me show you the differences between them

=Main Features Comparison=

Channels
VH4: 4 channels - Clean, Crunch, Mega, Lead.
Herbert: 3 channels - Clean, Crunch "+/-", Lead.

Mid-Cut
VH4: NO.
Herbert: YES.

Preamp Tubes
VH4: 7 x ECC83/12AX7.
Herbert: 6 x ECC83/12AX7.

Poweramp Tubes
VH4: 4 poweramp tubes, one bias trim-pot.
Herbert: 6 poweramp tubes (180w headroom !!!), three bias trim-pots for each pair.

Effect Loops
VH4: 6 FX loops - Serial, Parallel (MIDI) and 4 Channel Inserts (MIDI).
Herbert: 3 FX loops - Serial, Parallel and Switchable Loop (MIDI).

Second Master Volume
VH4: YES and NO (Use parellel FX loop volume to be second master volume).
Herbert: YES.

= Q&A =

Which one is versatile ?
Ans: I think is Both. VH4 covers jazz, blues, rock to old-school metal,
        but Herbert can do even further to modern metal territory.

Which one has better clean channel ?
Ans: I think is Herbert Ch1, especially when "Mid-Cut" enganged.

Which one has better lower or middle gain for vintage tone ?
Ans: VH4 Ch2 which has more "organic" sound.
         Herbert Ch2 is dryer, modern and stiff no matter "+" or "-".

Which one has less Diezel famous compressed tone ?
Ans: My 2012 VH4. Herbert Ch3 is much compressed than VH4 Ch4.

Which one has bassy, boomy and huge bottom end ?
Ans: Herbert for sure.

Which one has less Diezel famous "Hi-Fi" one ?
Ans: VH4.

Which one has sizzle and fizzy on top ?
Ans: Herbert is brighter. VH4 is much darker.
         All Diezel amps actually sound smooth like a silk.

Which one has aggressive and brutal high gain channel ?
Ans: Herbert Ch2 when "Mid-Cut" enganged. Without "Mid-Cut", I think is VH4 Ch3.

Which one has tighter and faster tracking response ?
Ans: VH4 for sure.

Use one word to describe them.
Ans: "Extreme" for Herbert, "Balance" for VH4.

2012 Diezel VH4 Review

2012-11-10T17:33:00.001-08:00

After playing Herbert for two years, I just get myself another Diezel amp - VH4.
"VH" stands for "Valve Head" as Peter Diezel told me.

VH4 is the earliest flagship model from Diezel which launched since 1994.
Original VH4 came with "blue face" panel and 6L6 powertubes. Old VH4 sounds darker and more compressed.
Diezel reissued those blueface VH4 with EL34 as limited edition in last year 2011.

There is another version of VH4 called "VH4S", S stands for "Stereo".
Two independent 50w poweramp sections on VH4S. You can either drive two poweramps for stereo effect,
or run two different types of powertubes (EL34 and 6L6) for two different kinds of tone.

My favourite artists/bands use VH4 such as Adam Jones from Tool, James Hetfield from Metallica,
Matt Bellamy from Muse, Mark Tremonti from Alter Bridge/Creed, Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit and many more.

VH4 is a 4-channel monster - Ch1. Clean, Ch2. Crunch, Ch3. Mega, Ch4. Lead.
Ch.1 has Diezel typical "Hi-Fi" punchy cleantone. This channel takes OD/Dist pedal pretty well.
Ch.2 is the paradise for blues and vintage rock players. High compression and picking sensitive low gain sound.
Both Ch.1 and Ch.2 have "Bright" switch to boost up some highs.

Ch.3 and Ch.4 is the Armageddon from VH4 which trademarked Diezel high gain tone in the industry.
Ch.3 has tighter and drier brutal sound to cover from hardrock to heavy metal scene easily.
This channel is voiced towards lower-mid and tracks fast aggressive picking style extremely well.
Ch.4 extends Ch3 to higher compressed and slightly saturated gain level.
You can get most aggressive and brutal high gain from this channel. It's designed for smooth juicy lead tone.
But when you tuned back gain level, it can do thrash metal rhythm too. Ch.4 is a very versatile channel.

Presence and Deep knobs from Diezel amps are usable for all level.
Even cranked the presence knob to highest setting, you wouldn't hear "fizzy/buzzy" like other high gain amps.
They are good for adding modern tone elements into your VH4.

Parallel loop volume is to mix the level of the parallel FX loop which is MIDI programmable ("Send 2" red button).
According to user manual, you could use this volume control as Second master volume.
"Channel Insert" is also MIDI programmable to turn on the individual channel FX loop.
There are total six FX loops on VH4 - typical Serial/Parallel FX loop and
Channel Insert FX loop for letting you hook up any effect pedals with individual channel.
For example, you could simply add EQ pedal into Ch.3, chorus pedal into Ch.4 or compressor into Ch.1.
Again, all Channel Insert FX loops are MIDI programmable.
MIDI in and thru which is compatible with most of the MIDI footswitch in the market.
I use Tech21, NYC MIDI moose for my Diezel VH4 and Herbert without problem.

You probably heard "Germans always make good stuff".

JJ KT77 shipped with Diezel amps from factory since year 2012.
Peter Diezel thinks they sound great and more reliable. To my ears, KT77 sounds like EL34
without too much mid hump and comes with 6L6 punchy bass behind.

Ruby 12AX7AC5 which is relabelled from Shuguang(Chinese) 12AX7 9th-Gen High Grade tube.

The 6L6/EL34 switch.

Incredible VH4 !

My Diezel VH4 demo

2012 ESP HRF NT Silverburst (Special Order)

2012-10-20T21:06:00.003-07:00

Just picked up from local ESP dealer.

This is the 2012 ESP HRF NT Silverburst which is "special ordered" from ESP Japan.
You wouldn't often see this color on this model.

The HRF is a new design that combines the body styling of "Horizon" model
with the headstock of the F-Series (a.k.a "Forest") guitar,
but I think the HRF headstock shape is much sharper than "Forest".

That was really a hard choice when I had tried another Horizon NT-II (SD 59/JB)
with see-through black flame maple top/mahogany body wings at the same time as well.

I am glad that I have made a good choice and never regret.
ESP HRF has much more punchy focus bright mid tone.
I think probably due to AHB-1 active pickups and alder/maple wood combination.

Seymour Duncan AHB-1 Blackout active pickups. They sound aggressive, tight and punchy.

Neck-thru maple neck and alder body wings.
String-through body design with Gotoh Japan tune-matic bridge.

Heavy and solid original ESP hardcase.

Extra jumbo 24 frets on ebony fretboard.

Year 2012 made in Japan. Gotoh "Magnum Lock" self-locking tuners.

Scale 25.5" neck-thru-body maple neck for greatest sustain.
For the playability, I don't feel any difference between HRF and Eclipse besides neck scale length.
I think they share same neck profile.

ESP HRF weights more and less around 7lbs which is nearly as my 04' ESP Eclipse.
Maybe the neck-thru body maple neck contributes some weights.

Shipped with ClearTone "Coated Strings" from factory.

What a killer metal axe !

Willie Adler signature SIT strings set

2012-08-04T03:00:00.001-07:00

New signature strings set from SIT ("Stay in Tune", US strings manufacturer)
- Willie Adler signature strings set.

Gauge .010 .013 .017 .026 .036 .048 which are perfect for Drop-D tuning.
Every pack comes with artist signature pick for free.

ESP Horizon (bolt-on)

2012-03-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

My beloved ESP Horizon which is one of the early ESP discontinued export model.
It has bolt-on maple neck and ash body, famous ESP "teardrop" headstock (a.k.a "Cock-stock").

There is an old "ESP Custom Guitars" logo on the headstock behind.
Beware of this, that doesn't mean the guitar was made from ESP custom shop.

My attenuators collection.

2012-02-16T03:06:00.000-08:00

Here is my attenuators collection:
Weber "Mega Dump" - 200w. Designed for 8 ohms, may be used with 4,16 ohm amps.
Dr.Z "Air Brake" - 100w. Users can use it with a 4, 8, or 16 ohm amps.
THD "Hot Plate" -100w and 8 ohm model.

My favourite attenuator is THD "Hot Plate". The simple circuit inside the Hot Plate.
Passive fan is powered by the signal of the amp and only turned on
by high attenuation level with larger wattage tube amp.

"Light bulbs" feature noise reduction which is subtle.

Changing pickups from EMG 85/81 to Seymour Duncan Blackouts

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Seymour Duncan Mick Thomson Signature Blackouts set - AHB-3 EMTY
Why called them "EMTY" ? Why not "EMPTY" ?
He wants to remind people that his surname is Thomson, not Thompson.

I really like design of vintage Seymour Duncan and "SEVEN" logo
(Mick Thomson's band number in Slipknot) on these pickups.

How does it sound compare with EMG-81 ?
AHB-3 bridge pickup sounds much tighter in bottom and more aggressive in highs (treble bite).
It's a pretty bright pickup which works great with mahogany body guitar especially for
extreme drop-tuning even to drop A. I really love this pickup.

Comparing with EMG-85 and Seymour Duncan AHB-3N

EMG and SD Blackout active pickups are actually "identical" in some ways.
The "3-pin" header of them are both the same and they're completely interchangeble ... Hooray ! =)

First, loosen all the strings from my Caparison Angelus HGS. (modified with EMG pickups by myself previously).
Unplugged the EMG pickup then just insert the plug onto the "3-pin head" of the SD Blackout pickup. Fast and Easy !

=Notes=
Even though both EMG active pickups and Seymour Duncan Blackout pickups are interchangeable,
you still need to be aware of the following things -
1) Bridge ground wire -
The bridge ground wire need to be soldered on volume pot chassis from Seymour Duncan Blackouts wiring diagram.
However, I believe the active pickups don't need this bridge ground wire just like EMG active pickups.

2) Capacitor value of the tone pots.
The green color .01uF capacitors which are normally supplied with EMG pickups doesn't roll off nearly enough treble.
The red capacitors that came with Seymour Duncan Blackouts are .0474uF.
These make the tone control perform much more like a passive.

Electrical and Electronic Contact Cleaner - Jackie Spray 60

2011-12-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

I have been using this "electrical and electronic Contact Cleaner" for few years.

I always use it to clean up the tube sockets before installing new tubes.
Just simply spraying the contact cleaner on the pins of one of your old tubes or the new tubes,
and working the tube in and out of each socket a few times repeatly.

It can be used for cure the "scratchy pot" problem on the amps, effect pedals and guitars.

Jackie Spray 60 was manufactured by ADIWARNA INDUSTRIES PTE LED in Tampines, Singapore.
It's safe for Ozone and 100% NO CFC.
http://www.adiwarna.com/home.php

Electro-Harmonix (EHX) Magnum44

2011-11-01T01:14:00.000-07:00

Go ahead... make your day

This is a 44 watt solid-state poweramp in pedal form.
It has great clean headroom below volume at 12 o'clock which I think is enough
to kill a loud drummer at that volume level.

Magnum44 is definitely capable for band practice/rehearsal or small gig venue.

Mgnum44 also sound great with other instruments such as Bass, Keyboard and etc.

Even Magnum444 has a "bright" boost switch, I don't think that's good enough
to create a nice clean tone when you just simply plug your guitar in.
If you need a decent clean tone, you have to plug in a preamp which has clean channel instead.

Connect Output to Speaker Cabinet Only.

Weber BiasRite

2011-10-01T00:00:00.001-07:00

I was lucky to get mine during "Free T-Shirt" promotion period before Weber discontinued the BiasRite.
https://taweber.powweb.com/biasrite/br_page.htm

BiasRite was hand-made by order from Ted Weber in U.S.A.
http://www.tedweber.com/

Every tube amp owner should get one of these. You can easily do the biasing job by yourself.
And you can safely measure the bias current or
even plate voltage of your tube amp by using bias probe/tester.

BR-4 (Octal quad tubes tester for EL34, 6L6, 6V6, KT77, KT88, 6550 and etc).

BR-AH with VI option (9-pin tubes bias probe for EL-84 and etc.)
Plug it with your multi-meter.

There are many other great bias probes/testers in the market, such as :
1)TAD Bias Master
2)Bias King
3)Ruby Bias Tester
4)Compu-Bias
5)Aiken Wombat

I highly recommend "Compu-Bias" and "Wombat" from Aiken Amplification.
http://www.compu-bias.com/ and http://www.aikenamps.com/Wombat.htm