Sep

13

Custom Audio Amplifiers (Suhr) OD100 Classic Plus - third time is the charm!

Filed Under amplifiers, audio clips, musical instruments, pete lacis, technology | Leave a Comment

Suhr Badger, Custom Audio Amplifiers OD100 Classic Plus and Diezel Herbert MKII

After about a month in the shop, I received my newly modded Custom Audio Amplifiers OD100 Classic Plus (+). This is actually the third time this amp has been modded (was originally an OD100 Standard, then SE, now Classic Plus).

My first impressions on this amp are as follows: the character of the gain is still 100% Suhr. It lives in the same family as the SE version of the OD100, however through the conversion to the plexi transformer and the EL34’s some things have really changed.

Normally I would associate sustain with compression. The SE was pretty compressed, but only in boost mode, IMO. The CAA Classic Plus is a much easier to play amp. Notes just seem to sustain without sounding compressed. Everything just oozes out of this amp while still retaining the sound of the guitar/pickup. That’s how John’s described the amp and that’s why I went with this version. So far, I’m totally digging the change.

Special note should be mentioned about the DEPTH and FEEBACK controls. The tonal shaping that can happen as a result of these additions is really something else. If you want to have that “rounded” Dumble style tone, you can roll off the Feedback entirely.

One other thing that should be mentioned is that this is the first of the OD100 series where I feel the amp works equally well for single coils and humbuckers. That, to me, is one of the best parts of this amp. I just works!

Here’s a little sample of what the amp sounds like:

http://www.petelacis.com/clips/od100classicplus.mp3

Custom Audio Amplification OD100 Classic Plus through CAA 1×12 Eminence Governor mic’d with a SM57 just off center. Guitar is a stock Gibson Les Paul VOS 1960.

Sep

6

iPhone: the cost of being an early adopter

Filed Under apple, technology | Leave a Comment

iPhone

In typical Steve Jobs fashion, yesterday Apple unveiled the newly refreshed iPod line including the iPod Touch (or neutered iPhone). While most of these products were well received (not so for the iPod Nano “Fatty” - what were they thinking?), the annoucment that thrilled, yet shocked many was the $200 price drop of the 8GB iPhone.

I was an early adopter of the iPhone (July 19). My wife followed suit a few weeks later (her six month old Treo WX just wasn’t looking so sexy next to my iPhone). Typically, the price you pay as an early adopter is that something newer comes out in six to twelve months that makes ones “lastest thing” yesterday’s news (i.e. all but obsolete). The other price of being an early adopter is literally that, the price. But how could we expect that the price of the darn device would drop by a third just weeks later?!! That’s just wrong.

Well, looks like Steve and company have heard some of our cries and responded via this post on Apple’s website. Personally, I would have preferred a $200 credit on iTunes.

I’m not happy.

Sep

4

The Ultimate Invasion of Privacy…..RFID Implants

Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Given that California is the most liberal state in the union, it boggles the mind to believe that this measure was 1. taken so seriously,  2. actually got to a vote in the state senate and 3. that nine senators supported it.  Perhaps we should be RFID tagging all the funds destined to all the “War On Terror” efforts……it would be fascinating to see where all that green is winding up.