The Audio Museum

Blackstar HT Series

2011-01-31T14:42:00.016-05:00

The HT Studio 20 head offers huge versatility for home, rehearsal or studio use and can be used with a variety of cabinets including the matching HT112 and HT212. The carefully voiced preamp coupled with a cathode-biased EL34 power amp, provides the user with the ability to create wonderfully lush valve tones. From pure boutique cleans, to mild overdrive that cleans up by backing off the guitar volume control, up to highly saturated distortion, this amp does it all.

Here is a review from MusicRadar "Round-up: 4 great low-powered tube amp heads", it's worth checking out the whole review at their website...good stuff.

~What really swings it is the flexibility of the ISF (from brittle to booming) and the gig-friendly option of stomping between dedicated channels, cementing the impression of an amp that’s sweet enough for the studio, but practical enough for the road.

Previously regarded as plucky British upstarts, Blackstar is fast becoming the A-lister’s choice, with everyone from Opeth to The Gaslight Anthem rolling out the flagship Series One and Artisan.

The HT Studio is less swanky, but might break the deadlock in a tough test with twin channels, EL34 valves, its tone-shaping ISF, onboard reverb and a monster 20 watts. If it had no trimmings, we’d still love the HT Studio.

At 20 watts, it’s loud enough to crack the earth’s crust, but this isn’t just a racket. When you play clean, it’s got depth, body and soul; add reverb and you’ve got killer atmospherics; hit the Gain for a punishing tone with more muscle than the rivals (probably due in part to the EL34s).

Overall: this is a bulletproof head, with buckets of tweakable tone, imaginative features – and no obvious weak points.

Specifications:

20 Watt valve head

2xECC83, 2xEL34

Two foot switchable channels

Enhanced tone controls

Patent-Applied for Infinite Shape Feature (ISF)

Master volume

Digital reverb

Speaker emulated output

Effects loop

1-way foot switch included

Cool vintage styling

Blackstar Venue Series HT Studio 20H 20w Tube Head

The Blackstar Series One S45 45W 2x12 Tube Guitar Combo

Nothing Like A Valve Amp for Your iPod

2011-01-30T11:12:00.004-05:00

We don't know what it is with the retro-styled iPod accessories as of late, but we do know one of the hidden highlights of last weeks' Computex was surely A-Zone International's old school retro-modern iPod stereo system. Expect a 50 watt valve amp complete with wood paneling, chrome stand, and a price tag oh so appropriate for your little white plastic one: €699 (about $880 US). The first pic is circa 2006 but still very cool, also notice that some are not just docking stations but home stereo systems.

Warren Haynes Acoustic Slide

2011-01-29T11:11:00.003-05:00

Few can do it better than this man. Pick On!

Marc Rizzo - Release The Kraken

2011-01-28T18:05:00.003-05:00

In this new video The Rock House Instructor is playing the first track off of his latest album Legionnaire at D-Lux Denim Brand HQ.
Marc's live sound is from his BC Rich Stealth Pro Marc Rizzo 7 String Electric Guitar plugged into a Line 6 POD X3 Live straight into Garage Band.

Child's Play

2011-01-26T21:23:00.003-05:00

Yip.....You guessed it!

Villainizer SteamPunk!

2011-01-26T20:53:00.005-05:00

A custom made Villainizer steampunk guitar, a one-off guitar custom made out of a Rhodes Jackson V by Thunder Eagle Guitars. It’s designed with gauges, gears, pipes, welds, and a bunch of fake rust.

You Say It's You're Birthday!

2009-12-06T11:39:00.002-05:00

Just felt like posting some cool stuff today since it's my birthday. So here it is, just click the image to enlarge.

Order On The PedalBoard!

2009-08-01T23:40:00.002-04:00

It really comes down to preserving the tone identity of what each pedal can do. Having a not well thought arrangement can choke the life out of your pedals. Here is a guide that seems to be followed commonly by guitar pedal board designers and guitar players:

1. Tuners. Seems logical to place the tuner in the first place in your FX chain since you want unprocessed signal to go in it for correct reading.

2. Filters. It would make sense to add these (envelope filters, auto wah, wah pedals, etc.) at this spot. Any dynamically controlled filters are triggered by the signal attack so it would make logical sense to add them as early as possible in the chain so they aren’t limited by other effects.

3. Compressors. Notorious for noise level increase, compressors should also go as early as possible in the signal paths.

4. Overdrive. Since the overdrive pedals are generating overtones (harmonics), they should be placed here. Don’t feed overdrive pedals with modulated signals since they can easily clash with the harmonics. Unless you are in for some really wacky tone.

5. Modulation. It is time to add your flangers, phasers, choruses and tremolo pedals here. They breathe the best here in relationship with the overdrives/distortion pedals ahead of them.

6. Volume. Again, the logical place for a volume pedal, since it won’t alter the signal level entering the overdrive pedals maintaining this way the fully affected tone. Also will let the delay finish its job (delay-ing) when the volume pedal is minimized.

7. Reverbs & Delays. They are the last pedals in the chain since they are hard to tame if placed before overdrives – they can produce spikes in the effect level and upset the overdrives.

Following this pedal ordering you can get a decent tone out of your guitar pedal board.

Mr. Horsepower by Nigel Tufnel (Spinal Tap)

2009-03-18T10:13:00.007-04:00

At the January NAMM show in 2001 the Ernie Ball, Music Man company created 25 of these guitars just like Nigel's, with all proceeds going to charity (The Casey Lee Ball Foundation). In October of 2003, one finally came up for sale that I found in time to buy . Each guitar is signed by Nigel and numbered. They went for $5,000 each at the NAMM show when originally offered. Now they are going for a lot more. I heard about one that went for $15K to someone in Japan. The number 11 guitar had a few modifications and sold for $11,000 on eBay in May of 2001. The #11 being a very important number for Nigel and Spinal Tap! On this guitar the "Attackometer" went to 11, the trem handle had an 11 ball instead of an 8 ball and there were dice (5 and a 6) inlayed at the 11th fret. This guitar here is #8. As luck would have it, the attackometer goes to 8 and there is an 8 ball on the trem handle. Everything except the chrome exhaust pipes function. Regarding his one of a kind guitar, Mr. Tufnel said "I wanted something that was flashy and would stand out on stage. But it had to be a working instrument that played well". And so it does. It has the same headstock as the Van Halen Music Man guitars and a very similar neck as well (a little fatter). It uses the Albert Lee body. The guitar is fairly heavy. Here are some of the important features:

- Maple neck; Chrome Yellow body and headstock; Flame paint job on body
- Music Man Albert Lee Guitar body style
- 4 humbucker pickups, sized to match the string width as it travels down the body
- Pickup on/off status lights, colored to match to light signals on a drag strip
- "Hot-fuel proof" rubber selector switches
- Stainless steel exhaust headers, on the side of the body
- Functional tachometer built into the body with adjustable redline that measures the attack on the strings while playing
- Copper heat exchanger access covers on the back
- Key signature Inlays on the fretboard
- Tyre volume knob, which activates the tachometer lighting when pulled out
- Floyd Rose licensed tremolo system, with a gear shifter replacing a tremolo arm. Eight ball on the end of the gear shifter.
- 12v battery powered
- Each model hand autographed and numbered

EVH Frankenstrat - The Original Frankenstein Guitar

2009-02-05T11:21:00.005-05:00

Starting off at Only $25,000.00 you too can have your very own EVH Frankenstein Replica equipped with every scratch, ding, and cigarette burn!

This red, black and white ash-body guitar has been put through an astounding aging process to replicate the original down to every last scratch, ding and cigarette burn. Fender craftsmen even scoured the land for 1971 quarters-just like the original Eddie at one time stuck under the original tremolo bridge-to mount near the Floyd Rose® Original tremolo bridge. The guitar features a Seymour Duncan® Custom Shop EVH® humbucking pickup, a single master volume knob (that says "Tone") mounted on a partial black pickguard identical to the original. Leaving no stone unturned, the guitar is complete with a non-functional three-way switch and single-coil pickup that occupy two of the three pickup routs.

EVH Eddie Van Halen Frankenstein Replica Electric Guitar Features:

Body: Ash
Neck: Maple bolt-on
Tuning Machines: Schaller
Fingerboard: Maple w/12" 16" compound radius
Frets: 21 Jumbo (Dunlop® 6100)
Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan® Custom Shop EVH
Middle pickup: None
Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan® Custom Shop EVH
Controls: Master Volume
Bridge: Floyd Rose® Original Tremolo
Pickup Switching: 3-way
Hardware: Aged Chrome
Strings: .009, .011, .016, .026, .036, .046
Pickguard: One-ply black
Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)
Width at Nut: 1-5/8" (41.2 mm)

The New - EVH Wolfgang

2009-02-05T10:20:00.001-05:00

The "Wolfgang", named after Eddie's son, starts off at around $2999.99 . All in all this is built like a tank to last!

EVH Wolfgang Electric Guitar Features:

1-1/2" basswood back
1-2" arched AA maple top
Bolt-on quartersawn maple neck
AA birdseye maple fingerboard
25-1/2" scale length
Compound fingerboard radius 12-16"
22 vintage-size stainless steel frets
Floyd Rose R2 locking nut
1-5/8" nut width
Chrome hardware
EVH-branded Gotoh tuners, chrome with pearloid buttons
EVH-branded Floyd Rose locking tremolo
EVH humbuckers (neck and bridge)
3-way pickup switch
Master Volume and Tone Controls
2 Bourns low-friction pots 250k/500k
SKB case with molded stripes

Unique features:
Hard mount pickups
Magna Coatings paint
2 graphite neck reinforcement rods
Schaller chrome string retainer
EVH D-Tuna
Square jack plate

Crazy J Player Guitar

2009-01-12T12:24:00.001-05:00

Crazy J has officially brought me to Geek Tech Heaven! Player Piano meet Player Guitar.

Presenting: The Crazy J- guitar playing machine

The Crazy J is made up of mechanical parts, electronic components and software control.

The mechanical parts can be seen in the picture above and include a fingering module (on the left) and a plucking module (on the right).

Here is a close up of the plucker:

Here is a close up of the teflon picks that actually contact the strings, and the solenoids (top, pink and blue wires) that power them, via the pluck rod linkages (middle).

The fingering on the guitar is actuated by solenoids also (below), which connect to levers (above).

The "fingertips" that press the strings to the neck are seen close-up here, the springs that return the fingertips after a note is played are also visible:

This next picture shows the banks of solenoids that actuate the fingertips and the springs, which serve to damp the slapping of the solenoids (held by two nuts on threaded rod).

The control part of the Crazy J is a Motorola HC11 Micro-Controller. The output ports B and C of the HC11 connect directly to the Control Board shown below (ribbon cable on left of board). The control signal is sent through adressable latches (column of black chips) and then to the Power Boards (3 ribbon cables on right of board). Each signal line has an LED connected in parallel with it, so that the LED lights up when a signal is sent (yellow, green, red bulbs). This helps in debugging.

One of the two Power Boards for the fingering solenoids can be seen below. The blue potentiometers allow for adjustability and fine tuning of the power sent to each solenoid. The transistors see a lot of current and are therefore connected to heat sinks (metal bars in back). The connection to the solenoids is made via a 15 pin connector (back right of board).

The Power Board for the plucking solenoids is very similar to the fingering board. One difference is in the connection to switches, which act as hard stops for the plucker (brown connector with cable coming out, in middle of board, behind blue potentiometers).

The switches can be seen in this end-view of the Crazy J (small black tops touching levers between solenoid connections).

The positioning of the Power Boards in the black box below the guitar can be better seen in this picture:

The MIDI signal that comes into the HC11 connects in the right connector on the top end of the box, shown below. The power cord plugs in to the left of the MIDI cable, and the other end is plugged into any AC wall jack. The metal grate on the right covers the cooling fan.

And here is one more picture of the entire Crazy J.

Tom Morello's Rig

2008-12-31T13:24:00.001-05:00

Tom's Gearbox

Whether in Audioslave, Rage or solo as The Nightwatchman, here's the gear Tom keeps close by:

GUITARS
“Arm the Homeless” Frankenstein guitar

The body is a Kramer Pacer that was routed so that the Floyd can go up and down. It contains EMG single coils in humbucker housing, Ibanez Edge Floyd Rose Tremolo, toggle switch, and a locking nut on a 22- fret Kramer neck.

1982 Black American Fender Telecaster “Sendero Luminoso”

“Whatever It Takes” custom Ibanez Galvador Acoustic
A nylon string acoustic guitar used during concerts as The Nightwatchman.

Ibanez Custom Talman
Three single coil pickups, an Ibanez Lo-Pro Edge Floyd Rose Tremolo, and the killswitch. He noticed that the guitar made a weird noise when the middle pickup was selected and the noise could be manipulated with the tone knob. Ibanez built him a new guitar with that internal noise.

AMPS + CABS
Marshall JCM 800 2205 50-watt head
Peavey 4x12 cabinet

PEDALBOARD

DigiTech Whammy WH-1 (original)

DOD FX40b Equalizer

Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah
Boss DD-2 Digital Delay
Boss TR-2 Tremolo
MXR Block Phase 90 Phaser
Ibanez DFL Flanger
Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2

HTML clipboard

Drums by ZZ Top

2008-12-22T15:48:00.002-05:00

The pix below are not in chronological order and in no way is this an exhaustive list of all their Drums. But it's still nice to see how the pros do it. IMHO Frank Beard is one of the most Under-rated Drummers ever.

Exhaust Pipe Drums

The RECYCLER TOUR

The Year: 1983 "ELIMINATOR"

Welcome to the Trailer Park

2008-12-22T14:35:00.002-05:00

Still looking for the best in a Pro Series Pedal Board? Well then you haven't been to the Trailer Park.

Plexiglass tops allow for your choice of colors to shine through.

Classic Valve Amp - Now that's Old School

2008-12-10T13:10:00.003-05:00

II-classic

15W Valve mono power amplifier

Introduction

A faithful reproduction of the original, the new Quad II-classic offers audiophiles the chance to recreate the spirit and atmosphere produced from one of the most famous amplifiers in audio history. The original Quad II was first launched in 1953, designed by Peter Walker. At the time, many of his contemporaries were also producing good quality valve amplifiers. The Quad II looked, in comparison, very simple and unassuming, but its performance was far beyond that which its diminutive dimensions might suggest. The property which set the Quad II amplifier apart from other amplifiers of the time was its output stage. It was arranged such that the cathode coupled circuit emulated the performance of triode operation, but with the size and efficiency characteristics of pentode operation. It was this breakthrough that ensured the Quad II was to remain in continuous production until 1970. Peter’s circuit, notably the design of the output transformer, has become the stuff of legend amongst electronics engineers. Studied and analysed by the finest minds in the industry, the elegance and coherence of the design is still regarded as a reference today.

Given the quite modest components of the day, he was able to engineer something which was quite literally greater than the sum of its parts. The Quad II-Classic has been recreated accurately with output valves and input valves the equivalent of those used in the original design. The same balancing act has been employed to ensure the same wealth of detail and gentle tone of the original. The output valves produce around 15watts per channel, operating in Class A which, although slight by modern standards, allows a gloriously sweet and refined sound with appropriately matched contemporary loudspeakers.

See more here.

Jimi's Rig

2008-12-10T10:26:00.067-05:00

Effects

During his career Jimi used many effects both in the studio and in live performance. For example, Jimi used many fuzz box units among which were the Arbiter Fuzz Face, the 'Axis' fuzz , and the Mosrite Fuzzrite.

Another effect that Jimi used and has since become synonymous with his name was the Vox wah-wah pedal. Jimi employed this effect on many of his studio recordings such as "Voodoo Chile (slight return)," and "Burning of the Midnight Lamp."

A third type of effect that Jimi used in the studio was a Leslie Speaker cabinet. This effect created the swirling sounds heard on studio tracks such as "Little Wing" and "House Burning Down."

The Uni-Vibe was yet another effect used by Jimi predominantly in live performance. This created a swirling effect quite similar to the Leslie Speaker cabinet, although it differed in that it had a speed control, unlike the Leslie cabinet. This meant that the swirling effect could be sped up or slowed down. This effect was employed on tracks such as "Hey Baby (The Land of the New Rising Sun)," "Earth Blues," and "Machine Gun."

A fourth effect Jimi used was the Octavia. This device, as noted by "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy," "gives the effect of a multiple mirror image of the actual sound," but phased inverted. So really it produces a sound that absolutely multiplies all the harmonics up, almost to infinity, so you get an extremely high tone out of it." The Octavia made it first appearance on "Purple Haze."

Finally, there is undoubtedly a plethora of other effects that Jimi used in the studio other than just the ones that were mentioned above but to name and detail all of them would take far too much time. The only thing left to be said is that Jimi Hendrix was enormously gifted and was one of the most brilliant musicians that has ever lived.

Most of the information on this page came from the book "Jimi Hendrix: Electric Gypsy," by Harry Shapiro and Caesar Glebbeek.

The Vox wah became an integral part of Hendrix's setup and he kept many Vox wah pedals in his collection of gear. According to Michael Fairchild, one of the earliest photos showing Hendrix using a wah pedal dates from a gig on August 15, 1967 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Almost all photos taken after that time show him using a Vox wah pedal, which at the time, was manufactured by Jennings Musical Industries Ltd. of Kent, England.

This particular Vox wah pedal was used by Hendrix during his Band Of Gypsys period in 1969-1970. In 1970, it was traded to Stuyvesant Music, a New York City music shop (now long out of business), along with a burned Stratocaster. The guitar and pedal were exchanged for another instrument. As a fan of Hendrix and a budding young guitar player himself, the owner's son kept this pedal and it still remains in his personal collection. The bottom of the pedal is marked "J.H. EXP" in black marker, written across a strip of red electrical tape. This was a common ID used to mark much of the personal stage gear belonging to members of the Experience.

Jimi's Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face

Jimi's Roger Mayer Octavia - Uni Vibe Prototype

Jimi's Vox Wah-Wah Pedal

Jimi's Jax-Vibra-Chorus Pedal

The Hendrix Rig

Several photos taken by photographer Joe Sia at a gig on December 31, 1969 clearly show Hendrix's chain of effects and the order of setup for that particular show. His setup would sometimes vary and it is believed that the type of Fuzz Face pedal he was using (as described above) had a lot to do with where it was placed in the effects chain. Sia's photo shows the Vox wah as the first pedal in line from his guitar. The wah was connected to the Octavia prototype pedal (marked "Octavio"), then linked into the Fuzz Face, followed by the Uni-Vibe, and finally plugged into a Marshall amplifier and matching 4x12 cabinets. (Due to technical difficulties I had to replace the original photo. This was the best I have been able to find. You can still see Jimi's chain of effects and amps but I'm not sure if it is in the order as described.)

"Crushed" Blue Velvet

2008-11-26T16:15:00.002-05:00

ZINKY "BLUE VELVET" Guitar Amplifier

Configuration: 1 x 12 combo
All tube - (4) 12AX7, (1) 12AT7, (2) EL84's - (Power: 25 watts RMS), or 4 EL84's (Power 50 watts RMS)
Driver: (1) 12” Zinky Custom speaker built by Eminence® in the U.S.A. exclusively for Zinky
Output: (2) 1/4” outputs switchable to 4, 8 or 16 Ohm
Size: Combo 18” x 18.5” x 9.5” (h/w/d)
Weight: 40 lbs. (25 Watts) or 48 lbs ( 50 watts)
Cabinet: All premium Baltic Birch Construction made in the U.S.A.
Reverb: Classic tube-driven with full size spring reverb pan
Tube-driven effects loop
2 Channels: Clean & Overdrive
Footswitch: Channel & Reverb (included)

Danny Gatton's Original Magic Dingus Box!

2008-11-26T13:57:00.001-05:00

Danny Gatton

Here is a piece of history, predating MIDI for multiple ffects control. Pictured from top of photo to bottom: Echoplex tape, Magic Dingus Box and cable, Echoplex, MXR EQ. The Magic Dingus Box also controlled the speeds of the rotating horn in a Leslie speaker cabinet (not pictured). When not in use, the Magic Dingus Box is stored in this specially built box that houses what you see here. The box is vented, and has a small plaque on the front engraved "D W GATTON".I found this Dingus Box (along with its twin) laying in a cardboard box, covered with old newspapers and old dust. What a piece of history the Dingus Box is! For those of you who are unaware, Danny used these home-made inventions during the 1970s in the Redneck Jazz Explosion era.
Designed by Danny and his dad, Danny Sr.

One of Danny's favorite amps, a late '50's (1956 I think) Fender Twin. This amp has a pair of 12" SRO speakers and is super-heavy...and LOUD. Despite its cosmetic appearance, this amp was in perfect working order.

Danny and his father designed and built the original box (pictured further up in this page) to control a variety of effects and amplifiers, all with the push of a button, the rotation of a knob, or the flick of a switch. Actually, Danny utilized all of these features at once to get even more settings. If you've ever wondered what those metal plates on Danny's working guitars (behind the tailpieces) were for, here's your answer. The Dingus Box attached to the plate on the guitar. The Dingus Box was designed to control various effects such as delay, reverb, and echo. It also controlled two Leslie speaker cabinets. The cable that connected out of the box to the effects was a large flex-duct enclosure housing all the wires necessary for the Box to work. Danny mainly stopped using the Boxes when critics started confusing his talent with these Boxes. Critics claimed that Danny was all about effects, and he wasn't so great without these Boxes. What a bunch of morons. Danny sure settled that issue. The boxes pictured here are updated versions of the original Magic Dingus Boxes.

Diablo Blues with Fixed Bridge

2008-11-25T23:38:00.001-05:00

Driskill Guitars

Driskill is getting some serious color with the special dye he uses.

Nashville Number System

2008-11-25T16:26:00.002-05:00

This is posted as a reference for anyone wanting to learn the NNS. Most musicians already know this and use it regularly so for those that are wanting to learn it here is the chart, just click it for a larger view for a good print out. For more information on this and much more check out the archives from Worship Guitar Guy.