Jun

1

Danelectro Cool Cat! Pedal Sound Clips

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Through a relationship I’ve built over at the Huge Racks Inc Forum, I was asked to participate in a pilot program to help test out and launch the new Cool Cat! pedals from Danelectro.

Pedals tested: Vibe, Fuzz and Metal II Danelectro Cool Cat!

In attempt to keeps things equal, I played each pedal via a Suhr Classic (alder body, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, Suhr V60LP single coil pickups and Suhr SSC system) through a Custom Audio Amplifiers (CAA) OD100 Classic Plus. Cabs are CAA 1×12’s with Eminence Governors and I mic’d one of the cabs with a SM57. There are two clips for each pedal: one through the clean channel of the amp and one through the overdrive channel. Each clips begins with an un-effected riff for two bars and then alternates between effected and un-effected each two bars after that. Some clips have a little extra “stuff” going on at the end to demo the pedals a little further.

Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe - Clean

Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe - Dirty

Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz - Clean

Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz - Dirty

Danelectro Cool Cat Metal II - Clean

Danelectro Cool Cat Metal II - Dirty

Out of the three pedals, I dug the vibe pedal the most. That said, it had a rather pronounced (or perceived) volume boost when the pedal was engaged. It was the only pedal I tested that does not have a volume control (only mix).

Being that these pedals were true-bypass and of solid construction, I’d say that they would make a solid addition to any pedalboard. I’m certainly interested in checking out more of their product line. So far, so good.

Feb

27

Egnater Amp Building Seminar, Premier Guitar Magazine & Video Feature of Yours Truly

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This past weekend I had the priveledge to attend the Egnater amp building seminar outside of Detroit, MI. It was an amazing experience to build my own JTM 45 - inspired amp, let alone to learn about all of the theory behind how and why these things work. I was amazed at seemingly how few of the amp’s components actually let to it sounding like a Marshall, Fender, Vox, etc. The amp sounds great as is, but I’m psyched to get back under the hood and start some tweaking!

In related news, Premier Guitar Magazine’s Joe Coffey was in attendance to participate and document the class. Afterward he asked be to demo my completed amp (with my Suhr Standard). I just learned that the magazine decided to put that video up as a feature on their site! Check it out:

Nov

11

HRI Denver - Boulder Area Ampfest Recap

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Just over a week ago I had the pleasure of hosting the Huge Racks Inc Denver - Boulder Ampfest. This was 7+ hours of tonal ecstasy for those of you who are guitar gearheads. It was amazing to hear everything in one place, side by side. It was also amazing to meet so many wonderful people from the Denver/Boulder and greater area. Now that I think my ears have recovered, I can’t wait to do it again!

01 - Fargen - Dave DeMichaels 80’s Shecter strat.mp3 — this was a Fargen’s version of a Deluxe with more power. Great sounding clean amp with single coils. LOVES pedals. Dave is a gigging musician and his setup is 100% utilitarian and does the job very well. I think the mic was a little far off the cab on this one so the tone isn’t has in your face, but you get a good vibe for what the amp was all about.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0strat.mp3

02 - Budda - Tom qatcat and his Budda rig with Tylers.mp3 — Tom is a monster player and is was cool to hear him rip through the tones on his Budda Rig (combo and extension cab). He had two Tylers - one was a Landau with the “secret humbucker” which was really, really bright, and the other was a Burning Water. Hear Tom play that Burning Water later in the day through the VH-inspired rigs was just awesome! Big ups to a man that loves Ty Tabor riffage as much as I do!

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..Tylers.mp3

03 - Suhr Badger - Pete Lacis.mp3 — I demoed my Badger (as well as switched off to use Eric “Solo-Act’s” Badger as well to see if we noticed any differences. I used my Suhr Classic Swamp Ash with Braz Rosewood Board and V60lp’s - I tried to demo the power scaling here (and got a little clipping as a result on the audio track) — its just a great amp. If anything, I think Eric’s may have sounded a little thicker and darker whereas mine was a little clearer and punchier, but that may be my imagination! FYI - the Badger was demoed through a CAA 1×12 with an Eminence Governor.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Lacis.mp3

04 - Ceriatone - NomadGtr Steve and an alder Suhr Classic with Rosewood Board.mp3 — One thing I learned this day was that Steve and I have very similar tastes in our Suhrs! It was a treat to hear him play through his super toneful Ceriatone (before it started to freak out with a tube problem - hence why the clips are so short). During this clip Steve played through his Suhr Alder Classic with rosewood board. The interesting thing about his Classic was that while he had V60LP’s in the neck and middle, he had a V60 in his bridge. After hearing him play through this rig, I handed Steve my Suhr Alder Classic with V60LP’s and a one-piece maple neck to hear the difference……you’ll hear that in clip 5 next.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Board.mp3

05 - Ceriatone - NomadGtr Steve and an alder Suhr Classic with Maple neck and Ceriatone.mp3 — as discussed above, after hearing Steve through his Suhr Alder Classic with rosewood board and V60 in the bridge, I handed him mine with one-piece maple neck and V60LP in the bridge to hear the difference. Very cool to hear this stuff back-to-back.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..iatone.mp3

06 - DRZ SRZ.mp3 - I know very little about this amp, but man was it packed full of tones! I’ve never heard such a versatile and aggressive DR. Z. The amp was demo’d by Brent, who was introduced to us all by Chris. Brent is a Grosh afficianado (brought a LOAD of guitars for us to try) and chose a few favorites to demo this amp. That Grosh hollow-body still hanunts me!

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..%20SRZ.mp3

07 - Bludo Drive Marshall Flavored Dumble Clone - Kevin.mp3 – Kevin was another guest introduced to us by Chris. Kevin and I also have some similar tastes in guitars and amps (his new korina BX3 still haunts me!). In this first clip, you’ll hear Kevin play his new Marshall flavored Dumble Clone built by a local Denver tech. He played his new-to-him Grosh with mahogany body and maple neck. FYI - this demo (as is the next several) features Chris’ EVH 5150 III cab.
http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Kevin.mp3

08 - Bludo Drive Marshall Flavored Dumble Clone - Pete Lacis.mp3 — After Kevin played for a little bit, he said “Does anyone have any experience with Dumble style amps? Otherwise you’re going to hear VH licks through this thing!” Being that I’ve played the “brown Dumble” at Ultrasound and have played a bunch of other D*-Inspired amps in the past, I decided to step up to the plate with my #1 Suhr Mahogany Standard in tow.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Lacis.mp3

09 - Bludo Drive Marshall Flavored Dumble Clone.mp3 — this clip features a few other attendees putting the Bludo through its paces.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Clone.mp3

10 - There is no number 10. Apparently as I was naming the files it became obvious that I can’t count. Discuss amongst yourselves.

11 - Cameron Jose Mod Marshall - Chris with VH Tyler.mp3 – And now the VH-inspired amp series. Chris (47SYD47) leads the discussion (and examples here) with his VH set up Tylers (which were SICK) and the 5150 III cab. I would say that from this point on forward things began to get expensive for everyone!

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Tyler.mp3

12 - Cameron Jose Mod Marshall - Pete Lacis with Les Paul.mp3 – after hearing the tonality of the Cameron Marshall, I had thoughts of Dough Aldrich and Whitesnake dancing through my head. The rest is history.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..20Paul.mp3

13 - Cameron Jose Mod Marshall - Tom qatcat vh licks of doom.mp3 – this is where some of the real fun started. Someone handed Tom his Burning Water Tyler (among some other axes I believe) and he proceeded to SMOKE the room with his “vh licks of doom” - it was sick, sick, fun to watch and listen to him play!

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..20doom.mp3

14 - Cameron Jose Mod Marshall.mp3 — you can tell the amps everyone dug because everyone wanted to play through them! Here are a few other attendees taking a shot at this beast.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..rshall.mp3

15 - Cornford MK50H MKII.mp3 - Chris (47SYD47) continues our VH-inspired series through the Cornfor. This is one sweet sounding amp that loves to be loud. Wild the tone this thing gets being that it was 50 watts and has 6L6’s!

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..20MKII.mp3

16 - Blankenship with variac - Chris.mp3 – Up to this point we were rocking the master-volume vh amps. Now the gloves are off and the the Variac is on! Just wished we knew about the Marshall Channel, as we were apparently playing through the VOX channel! DOH! This sucker roared!

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Chris.mp3

17 - Blankenship with variac - Pete Lacis Basswood Suhr.mp3 — after hearing Chris through this amp, I had to try my basswood Suhr through it. This amp was a joy to play through.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..20Suhr.mp3

18 - Blankenship with variac change demo - Pete Lacis Basswood Suhr.mp3 — the great thing about demoing amps with friends is that you can play and adjust an amp as the same time. During this clip, I vamp on a riff and have Chris play with the Variac to demonstrate how it affects the tone.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..20Suhr.mp3

19 - Blankenship with variac - qatcat Tom with cable test.mp3 — No VH amp test would be complete without Tom riffing our heads off. During this clip we also begin to experience with different cables as well as put Tom through some of the effects on my pedalboard.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..20test.mp3

20 - CAA OD100 Clasic Plus - B3 - Korina - Pete Lacis.mp3 – For this demo I’m playing through my CAA 1×12’s with Eminence Governors. This was less formal a test because Kevin had to split and I wouldn’t let him leave without letting me try out his BX3 Korina through my complete rig. Here I demonstrate how I use a low-impedance volume pedal in the effects loop of my amp as a master volume (notice some audio clippage as a result).

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Lacis.mp3

21 - CAA OD100 Clasic Plus - B3 - Mahogany - Pete Lacis.mp3 — Same rig as above, but now I’m playing Chris’ (47SYD47) BX3 Mahogany as a comparison to Kevin’s Korina BX3. These guitars continue to haunt my dreams!

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..0Lacis.mp3

22 - Mojave Peacemaker - Steve Nomadgtr and others.mp3 — the amp fest was running long (we started at noon and it was around 6pm now) and we lost a number of people to their Saturday evening obligations. Their loss! Steve whips out his Mojave Peacemaker through his StoneAge 4×12 and just starts to melt faces. I’ve heard a lot about Peacemakers in that they vary wildly in quality. Well, this was a good ‘un! I think each of the rest of the attendees took a whirl through this rig.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..others.mp3

23 - Soultone - Steve Nomdagtr and others.mp3 — last but certainly not least, this wicked head through the StoneAge 4×12 just killed. This was the other “power scaling” entry for the day and I was equally as impressed with it as the Badger. This was a great, great sounding head. Again, I believe the rest of us in attendance took turns at this amp.

http://www.petelacis.com/music…..others.mp3

Sep

13

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

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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.

Aug

29

Alder vs. Swamp Ash - what is better on a Strat style guitar? The tale of two Suhr Classics.

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Suhr Alder Classic and Suhr Swamp Ash Classic
Being totally obsessed with how to make certain sounds (i.e. tone and timbre), for as long as I’ve been playing guitar I’ve been curious about which woods lend themselves to which sounds and tones. A common question that comes up is which is more preferable, alder or swamp ash?

The answer to this depends on what style of music you play and what kind of feel you’re going for. When compared with the exact same electronics (Suhr V60LP single coil pickups and the Suhr Silent Single Coil system) there’s plenty of difference in the tone of the two. The alder is all mids whereas the swamp ash is all low’s and highs. Alder cuts through the mix best whereas nothing has spank and twang like swamp ash. I would say that alder is a little more common for rock and blues (especially), and that swamp ash is more common in country and funk. To that point, if you want an even, round, warm and fat sound, alder is the choice. If you want something with more characteristic bite, growl and sizzle, then swamp ash is a great way to go. I LOVE the sound of the bridge pickup on my Suhr Swamp Ash Classic when using low to medium gain sounds on my Suhr Badger to go for a Robben Ford “Chevrolet” kind of thing. Nasty!

To help further this discussion I have recorded a short clip of each guitar, playing the same riff through each pickups configuration. All things are equal (amp settings, mic placement, etc). Hopefully this will help give a better idea about some of these wood combinations and their resultant effect on tone.

SUHR ALDER CLASSIC - ONE PIECE MAPLE NECK - V60LP PICKUPS

SUHR SWAMP ASH CLASSIC - MAPLE NECK - BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD - V60LP PICKUPS