Guitar

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TC Nova System Review - Follow up

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So finally I have got around to doing a video review for this amazing unit after my initial review. And you can watch it hereI have been exclusively gigging this unit for well over a year, and I am still finding out things I love about it. I have mentioned in the video some of the common complains about the unit which forums tend to post about and I try and answer them. In particular, I talk about the problems with patch switching and the delay in patch switch, and give the solution to this, I also talk about the 4 Channel Method (4CM) that many users wonder about. (you can read more in this post)So here it is...enjoyPeaceNeil

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Bare Knuckles Miracle Man review and comparison to stock pickups

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A short video of the fantastic Miracle Man pickups in an basswood Ibanez RG-350. I have also run along side this a comparison between the Miracle Man pickups and those in an Ibanez RG7321 which is also an basswood body. Hopefully this helps demonstrate audibly the differences between the two. I have done this because purchasing pickups can be a complete nightmare, primarily as they aren't something you can try out in the shop. You generally have to base your choice on internet demos (okay I realise the irony!), which are in some instances well produced and mastered, or feature the guitar in buried in tracks. I decided to try and do a direct comparison by cutting between the guitar with the Miracle Man and another similar (in this case with basswood body...but different neck not maple, but same construction apart from fingerboard) guitar.The miracle man really is a great pick up, it is obviously based on Zakk Wylde style sound. Zakk uses active EMG pickups, and personally I really don't like active pickups or the way they sound. The Bareknuckles is totally in a world of it's own. It has tremendous output, but retains a passive humbucker sound, full of air and depth rather than bland like an active pick up. The think I love most about this pick up is the sound. It have very pronounced mids (in my opinion) and this really helps with cut through and not end up in mush. When split it has a really funky fender strat type sound, which is fantastic and makes the guitar infinitely versatile. I think I am going get the neck pickup coil tapped for ultimate in versatility and that lovely single coil sound in the neck...which I love. I would certainly recommend taking a look (listen!) to these pickups, I spend a long time considering which ones to go for, my choices were between the VH II (For that Van Halen PAF sound) and the Rebel Yell's. I spend a fair amount of time thinking about (and listening to demos!) about which would meet my needs, as well as conversations with Steve at The Guitar Repair workshop in Manchester about what to go for and we ended up with the Miracle Man. I certainly do like what I hear about the Rebel Yell though, which seem to also have a wide range of tonal options.Here's the video..You can also listen to an audio only version here. The audio version has all the clips with the BareKnuckles Miracle Man pickup first and then that is followed by the stock Ibanez pickups in the RG-7321.Hope that is of use to you guys out there.EnjoyPeaceNeil

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How to play “Price Tag” by Jessie J - Quick and Easy Guitar

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Been asked by a few people to perhaps post some easy guitar lessons for contemporary songs, so I thought what the hell and decided I would give it a go. I thought I would label them “quick and easy” guitar lessons, so here we go…..a quick and easy guitar lesson to teach you the basics of playing the guitar parts from Price Tag by Jessie J.Any questions please drop us a line in the comment box below.EnjoyPeaceNeil

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Joyo JF-09 tremolo pedal review

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Here is a quick review of the Joyo JF-09 Tremolo pedal. It is really cheap, but don't let that stop you considering it. It is really well made, it works and sounds great....believe it or not it is True bypass (I forgot to mention this in the video!), it is yellow and it is less than £30!! I mean perhaps there is something ethically bad about the labour employed to make this (I hope not, but you never know) to get it that cheap. But all in all a great little pedal.Here is the review!EnjoyPeaceNeil

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Jim Dunlop Jazz III Picks

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Thanks to Sanj of www.friendlysanj.com, I have been using Jazz III's for about 13 years now and it is nice to know that you have made the right choice, even after all these years as stated in the recent article in Premier Guitar Magazine"If you make the conversion to a Jazz III pick, you’re not coming back. If you suddenly were to go back to a standard-size pick after that, it would be like putting on a pair of clown shoes and trying to run the 40-yard dash. You simply develop a more articulate style with a pick like that."*It is so true! I can't live without my (red) Jazz III's!EnjoyPeaceNeil* Full Article can be found here http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2012/Jun/How_to_Pick_your_Pick.aspx?Page=2

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Current guitar pedal board - 2012

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Okay, so thought I would do another post on my the pedal board that I am using this year. It is very similar to the one I was using last year funnily enough! You can read in more detail about that one here and the reasons for the choice of pedals. The Blackstar HT-Dual has long gone to be replaced by the Suhr Riot (which I love and you can watch my review here and read all about it here), primarily because I love the Suhr, but had a few niggles with the Dual, I still stand by the fact it is a great pedal though.So here isAs you can see most elements are the same, my beloved TC Nova System is still there and I now have the G-switch attached to enable me to switch presets instantaneously and have access to all the effects in those patches. This is a really important factor, as many people thing that there is a delay in switching presets with the TC Nova System, which there kind of is if you use the preset mode. The delay is the fact that the preset changes when you remove your foot, which is a strange thing to get used to, but it does work.So the major changes are the addition of a volume pedal, a Boss RC-3 Loop Station and a Brightonion switching pedal for the Blues Junior's fat switch. I added the volume pedal to give me a bit more control over my overall levels and gives me the ability to be a bit more dynamic, as on a couple of my guitars, the volume pots aren't that well calibrated! The RC-3 is in mainly to help with practicing and potential looping gigs. I have changed the bag from the Electro-harmonix pedal bag to the Gator 30x16 Wood Pedalboard to accomodate the extra pedals and give it a bit more stability. And that is it!BUTAfter gigging this board a couple of times, there were a few issues and here they are...the first was that surprisingly the Boss RC-3 had an excessive amount of noise on the output, basically a high frequency hissing sound, like a large gain increase being put in the chain, but without the actual gain increase. I have turned both the levels down, but to no avail! Given that it was only being used to enable me to practice it came straight out! The biggest problem (and get your violins out!) was that the case and pedals ended up weighting a ton and I have recently injured my back, so carrying great weights around isn't my highest priority! It was close approaching 20Kgs and that is heavier than my amp! And the bag itself is very heavy (about 8Kgs empty!), I think the Pedaltrain is a future investment! Also after having one gig where I had many footswitching problems, I decided to make my life easier and just take out the actual effects I am using with Groovething - the North West Premiere function and party band set no more no less! So I am now using thisSorry for the dodgy image (it was taken with the rubbish camera on my Samsung Galaxy S2!)So, this is just a nice simple board.

  • Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah, because we all need a wah! Although I am going to swap this with my Vox Wah as there is a slight crackle currently and I will need to do some investigating.
  • EHX Soul Preacher - using this a compressor for funk rhythms and a boost as well (gives a bit of extra gain to distorted sounds for leads)
  • EHX Micro Q-tron - my most used pedal with this band, sound great, instant funk disco, works well on Stevie Wonder tunes like Superstitious too!
  • Boss SD-1 - I really really don't know what it is about this pedal, it is cheap, I have had it since the beginning of time, I have better pedals, but I just love the sound. It is clear and open, something about it which really works for me
  • Suhr Riot - Say no more, this is THE distortion pedal
  • Boss GE-7 - A pedal that I keep coming back to, it has so so many uses, so many infact I will do a separate post on this amazing pedal. I am using it as a solo bost (similar to the boost on the TC Nova System), simply boosting the mids to cut through.
  • MXR Phase 90 - used for most of my modulation needs, I have been using Tremelo and chorus (for stuff like Valerie - Amy Whitehouse) to Flange and Phaser (for stuff like Are you gonna go my way - Lenny Kravitz), but this one pedal seems to work well covering all bases. I might throw in the amazing (and horrendously cheap but fantastic) Joyo Tremelo.
  • Boss DD-7 - very short delay left on most of the time to give a bit of body to the sound. Really miss the Awesome TC Delay's and the variety of options, but 99% of time I am not using them during a gig. So this is perfect
  • Finally, Boss TU-3 Tuner, well I never go anywhere without it!

So what am I missing? Well the number of delay options, the quality of the delays, and the octaver. But that is about it at the moment, and my back is happy!