At SL

These brand names are now being officially distributed at Swee Lee & it happened within a spate of less than 3 months. There is an increasing number of effects brand names calling it home there. While we are glad to see more options available, we hope Swee Lee spruces up its lineup of the seasoned brand names like:

• Way Huge- missing some newer models, the Overrated Special would be a good addition
• Fender- the manufacturer added a significant few in January 2018 which garnered critical acclaim but none are available here. Summer NAMM 2018 saw three more joined the range but the only Fender effects unit which is relatively current in store is the Malmsteen OD which won't excite that many here
• TC Electronic- the newer budget models still not seen (Choka trem/ Crescendo auto swell/ Eyemaster distortion/ etc.)

In Prizm

Not a firm advocate of Epiphone but this one's worth considering judging by the specs (a new Summer NAMM release this one)- the LP Tribute Prizm Plus. That stunning finish aside, it features American pickups & quality parts by Switchcraft & Mallory. 👍

Mini bug

Guitar dweebs- Summer NAMM 2018 is upon us. The Vox camp believes it's time to rev things up with a scaled down version of what the Beatles equipped themselves with in their heyday- a Vox stack. Seen here the aforementioned amp- the Mini Superbeetle MSB25 they call it- in its stacked glory featuring Korg's Nutube technology so you get tubes in there but not the standard affair. 

The amp features an open back cab sporting a 10" driver & a DEEP/ FLAT rear switch for a wee bit more EQ refinement. This might get the nostalgic among us going but a Vox affair of this nature shouldn't stir the drive inclined among us into real interest. Unless of course, you are the nostalgic type living in denial while going round in that heavy metal outfit. 😬

Berry boost

I guess I'm in the mood for another booster unit, this time it's the Raspberry Booster by One Control. Dimensions-wise, it's definitely in the mini pedal league without being feeble in terms of weight & construction. I love the fact that the pedal in question features both level (Master) & gain control. These are the details that add to drive differently in terms of definition but keep in mind that it's a booster unit. Any high expectations in terms of drive responses should be kept in check. That Z knob is simply a presence control & affects your tone quite markedly if you're the type who keeps varying your guitar's volume control every now & then. For high gain dweebs like me, it adds hair to tone, simply put, you'd hear a touch more top end in the mix. 

Fake impressions

This was in the news some days ago. I'm moved to give an opinion on the topic because I do product appraisals here (& elsewhere). Rest assured, I'm in no way sponsored or paid by any commercial entities in furthering their commercial interests. I'm the guy who represent the other guys at the receiving end. Most of the time, our opinions tend to be personal but we return to being objective at the end of the day because we have no vested interests in any products out there. Our opinions are for the common good. 

The article just signalled a whole other level of desperation in the open market because in this cyber age, producers are dealing with a different set of vantage points as opposed to the past. It is called appeal. Who better to trust than the people with a personal take on the products when it comes to appeal. But we now know that behind the veiled enterprises lies desperation & companies are willing to stoop this low to get their numbers crunching. If reputation is of importance to these people, they would've thought twice about such engagements.

As for me, I'd like to be friends with fellow gear geeks out there, more importantly, I wish to manifest a fair representation in the midst of it all. There's no point being too inclined to a certain brand name or commercial entities for that matter (stores, distributors, etc.) because we are dealing with differentiation- we are all different, we have our own preferences, your honey might be my turd, vice versa. 

New screamer

Greetings, gear geeks & Tube Screamer fans alike. The following is my personal take on the Ibanez NTS which debuted this year. I have always held the Tube Screamer as the standard in that slight drive in kicking an already driven amp into finer definition (whatever that means to you). I also own some TS-alike pedals/ variations to keep things in perspective.  

Be informed that this version of the TS is devoid of the iconic JRC4558D that gave the pedal its individual flavour. In lieu of this goodness, Ibanez had teamed up with Korg to create a tube equipped PCB-based substitute seen here, dubbed the Nutube technology. 

Despite the tube technology on board, the NTS is still accommodating battery power in addition to PSU applications. The implication here is that the current draw for this technology is small & not power sapping as many of us would've expected. I've been playing mine with a 9V battery in there to keep track of possible tonal changes if the pedal is running on a draining dry cell unit.

This isn't exactly the best visual representation of the pedal in use but that's the amount of light given off by the on-board tubes once the pedal is put to use. The tubes also double as a clipping device so the brightness corresponds to the guitar's string vibrations which trigger the magnetic/ electrical inputs accordingly. The other major difference is the pedal's MIX knob which allows the player to balance the level of NTS drive performance against the instrument's unaffected signals.

In use, the Nutube technology kerbs the pedal's peculiar midrange hump by making the overall tone a little warmer & less prickly with all controls set at noon. This is more obvious if you turn your amp's volume up. Be informed that there's no extra drive to be heard just because there are tubes in there. If you wish for a more commanding Tube Screamer in this aspect, the Turbo version or even the TS7 in its boosted mode would be a more practical consideration. 

Moving on to single coil equipped guitars, this is where the MIX feature proved its exclusive worth. The usual approach in cleaning up driven voicings with any given overdrive unit in use is to - you guessed it - lower its drive level. As such, we have players who eliminate the drive entirely & dimed the level knob to retain the twang from their single coils. The MIX knob here allows the player to retain whatever drive saturation they prefer but reducing its dominance by allowing more unaffected signals through. I must say I enjoy this application with clean-esque tones coming from single coils, definitely. 

In conclusion, the NTS is not a fresh take on the TS tone but a differentiated one. It might be a preferred pedal for a certain camp of players with a certain tone take but the NTS is definitely a proven drive booster regardless of the incarnation. That white-based colour scheme is not ideal for a device designated to be stepped on, yes?