Archive

Archive for the ‘audio clips’ Category

Alder vs Swamp Ash, Maple vs Rosewood and a Neck Swap – The Definitive Comparison with Audio Clips

July 8th, 2010

Alder - one piece maple neck | Swamp Ash - maple neck with Brazilian rosewood fingerboardA while back I wrote this post concerning the differences between alder and swamp ash when used in a strat-style guitar and what tones/genres of music those combinations suited best. I originally wrote that post to satisfy my own curiosity, but also to share with others and participate in discussion. Three years later it is still the most searched topic on this site and continues to bring in a steady stream of traffic. Apparently I’m not the only one curious about these things….

Since I wrote the original post, I realized that I was missing a big chunk of the puzzle: how the wood the neck and fingerboard were made from influence the tone of the instrument. I realized the only way Adler - maple neck with Brazilian rosewood fingerboard | Swamp Ash  - one piece maple neckto truly see this was by comparing the two most popular neck wood combinations for a strat-style guitar (maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and one piece maple neck & fingerboard) on the same guitar.

To conduct this comparison I used two Suhr Classic guitars with identical electronics (V60LP pickups and the Silent Single Coil system). One was alder with a one piece maple neck and the other, swamp ash with a maple neck and Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. I recorded both clean and dirty passages utilizing every pickup combination on each guitar, then swapped the necks and repeated the process.

note: swapping necks on a Suhr guitar will void your warranty if the factory doesn’t perform the work.

What follows below are the audio clips organized by pickup position so that you can  compare the sounds of the different wood combinations within the same context.

 

NECK POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

NECK POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

NECK + MIDDLE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

NECK + MIDDLE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MIDDLE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MIDDLE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MIDDLE + BRIDGE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MIDDLE + BRIDGE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

BRIDGE POSITION – CLEAN TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

BRIDGE POSITION – DIRTY TONES

Alder Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Alder Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swamp Ash Body – Once Piece Maple Neck

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Swam Ash Body – Maple Neck with Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboard

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 

audio clips, guitar, musical instruments , , , , , , , , ,

OD100 Classic Plus vs. Friedman Modded Egnater Seminar Head

December 10th, 2009

DSC_0003A while back I had the opportunity to attend Bruce Egnater’s amp building seminar at his shop in Berkley, Michigan.  During this class we learned about the basics of amp building and were taken through the step-by-step process of assembling our own amp – a Mojo Tone JTM45 kit who’s circuit was tweaked by Bruce Egnater to mirror his own design from his modular series (according to Jeff Hilligan its the “3″ in the EG 3/4 module with more gain) .  Premier Guitar Magazine was on hand to cover the event and I was featured in this video demonstrating the capabilities of the amp we had constructed.

As much as I enjoyed the experience, once I got the amp home I had difficulty incorporating its tones into my sound and playing style.  As described by the folks at Egnater, the EG 3/4….

Here in our worldwide headquarters, we asked what would happen if we were to take the SL2 and smooth it out a bit for soloing. We darkened it up a bit, and added a touch of mid range emphasis, and created what is the perfect sound for mic’ing through a p.a. system (which is more and more common for you guys that gig regularly).

Channels A and B were taken from the acclaimed Egnater TOL amplifiers and act as great rhythm and lead channels for guys who favor a lead tone that is a little smokier.

Here’s an example of what the stock Egnater Seminar Head sounds like:

Stock Egnater Seminar Head

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Since I found this voicing to be too compressed, dark and saggy for my tastes, the amp sat for some time as the backup that never got played.  Fast forward about a year or so and I became aware that David Friedman of Racksystems was offering his services to mod these amps.  After hearing some pretty amazing clips of his “Brown Eye” and “Hairy Brown Eye” mods on a number of sites and speaking with David at length about what type of sound I was looking for (tight, focused, punchy yet warm), I knew I had to have my Egnater seminar head modded to give it new life.  After all, David is Eddie Van Halen’s rig guru so I knew the amp would be in good hands.

As my #1 amp for the last few years has been John Suhr’s OD100 Classic Plus (under the Custom Audio Amplifiers moniker), I though it would be great to compare these two amps so that folks to hear some of the differences and see what they do well.

Guitar used was a Gibson Les Paul VOS “G” ’60 with stock Burstbucker pickups but upgraded with the RS Guitarworks vintage upgrade kit.  Cab was a CAA 1×12 loaded with an Eminence Governor.  Mic was a Shure 57.  I/O was a MOTU 896.  DAW is Ableton Live 8.  I switched between the amps using a Custom Audio Electronics Amp selector.

CAA OD100 Classic Plus Ch 2

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

CAA OD100 Classic Plus Ch 2 Boosted

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friedman Modified Egnater Seminar Head – Brown Eye – Gain at 5

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friedman Modified Egnater Seminar Head – Brown Eye – Gain at 10

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friedman Modified Egnater Seminar Head – Hairy Brown Eye – Gain at 5

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friedman Modified Egnater Seminar Head – Hairy Brown Eye – Gain at 7

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friedman Modified Egnater Seminar Head – Hairy Brown Eye – Gain at 10

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

amplifiers, audio clips, guitar, musical instruments , , , , , , , , ,

Gibson Les Paul VOS 1960 vs Edwards Les Paul LP130

November 5th, 2008

In an effort to decode the mystery between high-priced Gibson Les Paul’s and their lower-priced Japanese siblings manufactured by Edwards, we are comparing a Gibson Les Paul VOS 1960 with a Edward Les Paul LP130.

We recorded four clips with each guitar, playing essentially the same riffs/changes through the exact same amp & volume settings in order to get a truly fair comparison. To that point, example 1 is a riff (same one that I used to demo the Egnater seminar head last February for Premier Guitar), example 2 is a series of distorted chords, example 3 is a brief solo/lick and example 4 features some changes played clean through the neck pickup (all other examples feature the bridge pickup). Each clip is short so you can go back and forth between them for comparison purposes.

Edwards Les Paul

http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-1.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-2.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-3.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Edwards-4.mp3

Gibson VOS 1960

http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-1.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-2.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-3.mp3
http://www.petelacis.com/music/gibson-vs-edwards/Gibson-4.mp3

A few interesting points to note. First off, the Edwards was considerably lighter in weight and rang much more loudly when strummed acoustically. The body seemed to just resonate much more than the Gibson. To that point, when I bought the Gibson, it was after playing about 30 Les Pauls and this one was the lightest and most resonant of the bunch, so take that into consideration. The Gibson did feel more solid to the touch…..but dare I say it was like the “solid” you feel from late 70′s and early 80′s Les Pauls by comparison…..they’re solid, but they don’t sustain well acoustically. Point for Edwards.

The stock Burstbucker 1 & 2 pickups in the Gibson are clearly hotter than the Seymour Duncan Antiquities that are features in the Edwards, but I think that was certainly a plus for the Edwards (for my tastes), especially when the neck pickup was concerned. When plugged in, the Gibson appears to have more “ass” to the sound (i.e. low-end) which I found surprising, because I’ve found that guitar to sound much brighter and less “thick” than many other Les Pauls, and I have since been interested in finding a LP with more “ass.” I had recently played a Warren Haynes model that had the same pickups as my VOS 1960 and it just sounded so much thicker…..still kicking myself for letting that one go.

From a playability standpoint, the action and set up on the Edwards (out of the box, actually) was fantastic. The fretboard radius on the Edwards appears to be flatter than that of the Gibson. As a result, I’d dare to say that the Edwards played better with lower action than the Gibson could. At first glance, one concern about the Edwards was that the tune-o-matic bridge was set up rather high. However, after close inspection, it appears as if the neck angle on the Edwards is considerably more steep that that of the Gibson VOS. Not sure what that means….just found it interesting. You can see examples regarding this in the pictures which will follow below.

Bottom line is that I would be impressed with the Edwards if it was as $2,000 guitar…..but its a $800 – $1,200 guitar and that’s just fantastic. If anyone was hesitating to give these guitars a try, I don’t see what could possibly be stopping you now. I wonder if they make a non-reverse all mahogany Firebird!

audio clips, music, musical instruments , , , ,

Danelectro Cool Cat! Pedal Sound Clips

June 1st, 2008

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.

amplifiers, audio clips, musical instruments , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

February 27th, 2008

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:

amplifiers, audio clips, music, musical instruments, pete lacis, technology , , , ,

HRI Denver – Boulder Area Ampfest Recap

November 11th, 2007

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

audio clips, music, musician, pete lacis , , , , , ,

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

September 13th, 2007

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.

amplifiers, audio clips, musical instruments, pete lacis, technology , , , , , , , ,

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

August 29th, 2007

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

audio clips , , ,