Satyricon logo

Notice the differences between the older (top) Satyricon logo & the latest? Besides the C & N getting more thorns in their respective outlines, the Baron's cross in the O had been dropped.

Wampler: Pinnacle 2 (Part 3)

I've finished putting the Pinnacle 2 through my playing rigours, some stuff:

• this is the revised Pinnacle pedal (hence the '2'), in a dimension which would appeal to pedal board users
• the pedal has the primary aim of replicating Van Halen's Marshall brown sound but let it not put you off because for someone not keen on this signature tone, I find the overall offering very appealing
• the BOOST feature here adds more intensity to the overdrive to such an extent you'd hear distortion grittiness instead of more drive so it's really a mode switch which would take you from overdrive to distortion. Judging from the mere change in tonal output, I believe it's wired to be post-drive, giving the output a bump in volume as well. It also alters the overall tone character, giving it more depth in overall EQ- to the rest of us, it sounds 'fatter'
• Mr. Wampler took time to give us a pedal which has a good palette of tonal offerings; the TONE/ CONTOUR controls are capable of serving the vintage & modern tone mongers alike in terms of EQ. These are in addition to the immediate tone-shaping flick switch which takes the user into the aforementioned vintage & contemporary settings in terms of drive character

So much fanfare, can the Pinnalce 2 serve the metal dweebs?

• immediate answer: NO. It's not an intense distortion type, not in the same league as your favourite (BOSS) Metal Zone
• but wait till you attach a mild overdrive/ distortion pedal between your guitar & this pedal (the reason you see my Coolcat overdrive in the pic above); listen to the heightened saturation & intensity (but still not the metal-type ferocity) of the final output. The Pinnacle 2 accepts other mild drive type pedals very well. If you've tried the Sound Drive amps (especially the SG612R) & like what you hear in terms of drive, then you'd like what this red menace has to offer

What's that? You don't have a clue what the Brown Sound is all about? It's time you find out, you're 30 years behind...

Ibanez: PGM 2009 (speculation)

The reverse Iceman may take the PGM 2009 anticipation limelight but this is the other PGM (there's still one more though...) which might make it to production; an SSH model- note the blocky heel. While design revision allows a rounder, all-access neck joint to facilitate upper frets reach, Paul Gilbert believes the block design somehow gives the single coil output more depth/ meat.

The Chinese apprehension

The above 3 guitars I own are made in China. I have no regrets buying them considering the total expenditure of these 3 instruments could get me a robust American instrument (which I do own). Friends have been asking me recently if the Chinese guitars are worth it or should we regard them as pariahs considering they are the subsequent country of manufacture for companies wanting to trim production costs.

Should we travel back in time, say 15 years or so ago, if you ask me to fork out my hard earned cash for a Chinese guitar, I'd think real hard before parting with a single cent. There were instances of Chinese instruments manifesting some of the most revolting QC & these are the affiliated products of a very prominent guitar brand name. It was a sheer case of riding on the parent company's branding goodwill but in truth, the products were semi-duds.

It was the documentation of these horror episodes which led to the distrust today, compounded by the fact that all things Chinese (electronics especially: washing machines, refrigerators, hi-fi sets, etc.) were tragedy-in-waiting products. Am I propagating some Chinese sympathy here considering the aftermath of the recent case of toxic Chinese dairy products? I am merely advocating for players in general to value the product as it is- horrible production exists everywhere. Far-eastern production gets blamed all the time but there is a need to understand the level of technology which exists in these places before being conveniently dismissive. The level of production supervision today is different from the days of the past; individuals from the parent company (eg: Yamaha products in Indonesia) make a conscious effort to monitor the output standard in the outsourced country of manufacture. Reputable raw materials are used & the end products are different in performance standards compared to the wares of yesterday...

Ibanez may not suffer from the made-in-China stigmatism compared to Epiphone; potential buyers are skeptical when buying the Les Paul models of the latter manufacturer (because the previous generation of Epi LPs are Korean & deemed to be of better standing in terms of QC). The rookies in guitar buying would fall for this apprehension without knowing what the rot is all about. It is also an uphill battle convincing them to exercise due fairness when assessing a particular product because despite being aptly educated & having the capacity to make sound judgements, they still fall for prejudiced opinions & treating them as forthright references.

Ibanez 2009: JEM non-whammy

Don't rub your eyes, this might be (one of) the new JEM 2009 models- it's a hard tail (non-whammy). As it is, the debut of this model is still unconfirmed (as per Paul Gilbert's reverse Iceman model).

Beta Aivin: NG-100

This is my new noise reduction pedal, something very affordable by Beta Aivin (NG-100). It works very well to say the least & very easy to use as well. I do own the Carl Martin noise reduction unit but that pedal is only equipped with a threshold control. Yes, that helps a lot for those of us who do not wish to tweak ther noise reduction unit but it's no harm owning a variation of the same thing.

Beta Aivin: NG-100 Noise Gate
Availability: Standard Value
List: $65