Monthly Archives: February, 2012

BOSS AC-3 Acoustic Simulator

February 13, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Are you a die-hard electric guitar player that sometimes likes to lighten things up with an acoustic number or two? Are you tired of lugging around an electric and an acoustic guitar so you can play that one acoustic driven song in your set. If so, you can save yourself some heavy lifting and get an acoustic sound at the stomp of your foot.

As the name suggests the BOSS AC-3 Acoustic Simulator simulates the sound of an acoustic guitar when you’re playing an electric guitar. It incorporates BOSS’s COSM ®
Acoustic-Modeling technology derived from their top-of-the-line AD-8 Acoustic Guitar Processor and let’s you quickly and easily dial up an acoustic sound.

There are four great acoustic simulations to choose from with two different acoustic body shapes to choose from: Standard or Jumbo. These can be further controlled with the Body and Top knobs. The Body knob cuts or boosts the resonance which would emanate from the sound hole of an acoustic guitar. While the Top knob lets you dial in the right amount of presence or ‘zing’ that is captured by a condenser microphone.

You can also add further depth to your sound with the built-in digital reverb effect making you sound like you’re playing in a great sounding room.

When it comes to output paths you have two options: send it to your amp for local sound and send it to the P.A for front of house sound.

BOSS’s AC-3 Acoustic Simulator gives the electric guitarist the option of leaving their acoustic guitar at home (if they have one) and seamlessly switching to a great sounding acoustic guitar with the stomp of a pedal. It means you can keep your preferred guitar always in hand while adding another guitar to your arsenal.

ab4e2097d32a3cfb2d407817c82c42dd BOSS AC 3 Acoustic Simulator

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in Electric Guitars, gear, guitar effects / pedals | Tagged , ,

Ampeg’s New GVT Tube Guitar Amplifiers

February 13, 2012 — Leave a Comment

In October of 2011, Ampeg announced the release of their latest all tube, GVT Series Guitar Amps inspired by the classic, no-nonsense Ampeg stylings of the 70’s. The all American tone is achieved through the use of 6V6 and 6L6 power tubes.

The new range offers a selection of amps with different power ratings from the 5-watt right up to 50-watt and include the option of a separate head unit and cabinet or an all in one combo unit. You can even add an extension cab if you need some extra juice.

newsletter32 gear ampegvt models Ampeg’s New GVT Tube Guitar Amplifiers

All amps have dual power modes and can be switched to half power for when you’re playing in a smaller venue or practicing at lower volumes. You’ll still get the warm, saturated, tube sound, just without the neighbor-annoying volume.

The Baxandall EQ provides true flexibility with enhanced tone control over and above previous designs and with stunning black looks and simple and straight-forward design, you’ll have no trouble tweaking the sound to your liking.

The 15 and 50-watt options have an added Mid EQ knob added before the highs and lows so it acts as a second gain stage for the amp as well as altering the mid frequency. There is also the additional of the spring reverb effect and a series effects loop which are both foot-switchable.

The amps react dynamically to the players’ attack, so by merely adjusting your picking ferocity and winding back the volume knob on your guitar, you can achieve a warm clean sound without having to touch the amp.

The GVT extension cabinets feature Celestion ® Vintage 30 speakers while the combos feature the Celestion ® Original series speaker designs. These are well matched to beautifully translate the feel of these all-tube amplifiers.

And to top it off, they come with rugged good looks to ensure they provide you with years of uncompromised gig worthy tone.

Check out this Youtube video from the guys at TheMusicFarm:

ab4e2097d32a3cfb2d407817c82c42dd Ampeg’s New GVT Tube Guitar Amplifiers

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in amplifiers / pickups, gear, music, Rock | Tagged ,

How can I train my musical ear?

February 13, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Many players don’t take the time to tune their ears before they play. Ear training is a crucial skill for any musician to have and it can greatly improve your musicianship if you have a skilled ear.

When you are first learning the guitar the best and easiest way to train your ear is to tune your guitar. That’s right, by listening to the notes your guitar is playing when you tune up you can improve your ear. So even if you have an electric tuner, take some time to try and tune your guitar by ear before you tune it with the tuner.

After you have tuned your guitar start with some scales and note identification. The best way to do this is to sing out the notes. Even if you are not a singer and you have no intention in becoming one, singing out notes will quickly train your ear into identifying scales and intervals.

If you have a good ear for music you will find playing a lot easier and more rewarding.

So start singing those notes and you will noticed some ear improvement… guaranteed!

Posted by Ben Edwards

Posted in learning, music | Tagged , , ,

How can I make money playing my guitar?

February 8, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Becoming a professional musician is a long, hard road. However this is not to say it is impossible. Anyone with a desire to become successful at something can do it. This applies to music and any other field that you could want to apply yourself to. When I first decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to music many people questioned my decision. However in my mind I knew that I had a passion to become a successful artist and that nothing was going to stop me. This is the most important part of becoming a professional. The simple fact is the entertainment industry is the most fickle industry out there, it’s hard and there are ton of people trying to ‘make it’.

I was born in a small town and grew up playing the bars and clubs there, making a small amount each week, but I wanted more. I initially thought that the only way that I would make a ‘decent’ living would be to become a famous musician and to be able to tour the world in my private jet (well I never quite got a private jet but I did manage to tour extensively overseas).

Most people, like myself initially, think the only money in the industry is with being a famous musician and many people overlook the other options that are out there to make money from your guitar. Here are a few ideas:

- Teaching guitar (once you have mastered the skills share them with others for a fee)
- Making/designing guitars or amps (if you are handy with tools or electrical knowledge this could be an option)
- Playing covers in café’s/bars (there is a large market for playing songs that everyone knows and loves)

The most important thing, however, is to DECIDE you’re going to succeed and don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Like anything, just stick at it and you will succeed. Well, that’s about it for this newsletter. Next week I’ll talk about the Star Spangled Banner, and in our Tech Tips section I’ll answer a question about getting a “metal” sound on your guitar.

Good luck with your practice.

Posted by Ben Edwards.

Posted in Artists, learning, music | Tagged , , ,

Electro Harmonix Stereo Talking Machine

February 8, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Guitarists have been experimenting with sound possibilities for as long as they have been around. Many recognize the voice as the most expressive of instruments and many guitar FX pedals have tried to emulate that expressiveness through various talk-box like effects.

Electro Harmonix (EHX) have produced a very versatile pedal in the Stereo Talking Machine. It not only has great presets right out of the box, it’s also highly programmable giving you even greater control over the way the pedal alters your notes. With 9 selectable voice types, you too could be  AH-OOing and OW-EEing in no time at all.

Like the sounds created by a mouth harp, where the metal reed is plucked and the vibrations altered by changing the shape of the players mouth, a Talk-box takes the sounds/notes you put in to it and alters them according to the volume you’ve played them and the shape of the specific filter you have chosen.

Because the sweeping effect is driven by how hard or soft you play the strings there is a massive scope of what sonic sounds can be achieved using the EHX Stereo Talking Machine. And because each sound choice responds so differently, it’s worth spending time experimenting with each to get a good grasp on what is possible.

The unit is a rectangle box affair, with the 6 control knobs across the top: Blend, Voice, Attack, Decay, Sensivitiy, and Preset. The preset knobs gives access to auxiliary functions for each knob including Volume, Fuzz tone, Fuzz Gain, LFO Rate and LFO Shape. A Low frequency Oscillator or LFO is a filter that responds over time rather than to playing dynamics and creates a more regular filter sweep.

You won’t find any lose of your guitar tone, but instead applies the different tonal colors of the ‘voices’ available from the unit. From the dark and smooth/soft tone of the EE-ER voicing to the midrange-heavy and rather resonant sound of the I-A voicing.

For each voicing, you can reverse the voicing for example EE-ER to ER-EE or I-A to A-I which gives you further options with the flick of the Preset/Sweep knob. You can also control this function via the expression pedal option.

The Stereo Talking Machine is an extremely versatile pedal with a wide variety of voicings and multiple control options of those voicings. Add to that access to a distortion circuit and sensitivity control and the tonal possibilities really grow. If you’re not familiar with talk-box effects sitting down and having a chat with the Stereo Talking Machine may result in a new found friendship.

 

ab4e2097d32a3cfb2d407817c82c42dd Electro Harmonix Stereo Talking Machine

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in Electric Guitars, gear, guitar effects / pedals, music, Rock | Tagged , , ,
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