Overdrive pedal 101

Top 3: Best Low Watt Tube Amp

By Leave a Comment

If you are looking to buy a guitar amp ( or low watt tube amp for example ) that you will use for and jam session, we say that you will hardly need more than 5 watts of tube power.

These days, the technology has seriously advanced on all fronts and you can find genuinely killer amps that will do a top job in providing you with all the power you need in an incredibly compact and affordable package.

Therefore, we delved deep into today’s market in an attempt to find the best low watt tube amp. Our quest yielded a lot of goods, and these are the top 3 picks.

Bugera V5 Infinium

We will commence our journey in the budget friendly domain with the Bugera V5 Infinium – 5W 1×8″ Guitar Combo Amp. The first thing we have noticed on this amp is that it looks incredibly classy and that it comes with an incredibly affordable price tag. The device is loaded with one 12AX7 tube and one EL84 power amp tube, securing a warm and organic sonic output.

The goods are delivered through a single 8-inch speaker, featuring a built-in reverb, a tube-life multiplier, as well as standard Gain, Tone, and Volume controls. For an item from the lower side of the spectrum, this amplifier delivers an incredible tone. If you want to start your playing journey with renowned tube sound, this is the best choice.

Marshall SL5C-KIT-1 Slash Signature

Let’s bring out the big guns now, shall we? If you want the best, we bring you the mighty Marshall and a signature model from none-other than Guns N’ Roses guitar icon Slash. The Marshall SL5C-KIT-1 Slash Signature is packed with just 5 watts of power, but is capable of delivering a load stronger that products with seven times more wattage.

The amp utilizes two standard channels, a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, full EQ control, a digital custom voiced reverb, as well as high and low sensitivity inputs.

Now the sound – it’s just pure rock ‘n’ roll screaming from that speaker! This is one of the ultimate products you can get to achieve pure rock sound and we can say nothing but good things about it.

Laney L5T-112 Lionheart

If buying a full-blown Slash amp sounds too much for you, we recommend this Laney puppy, a very valid choice and a tube amp you can fully adjust to your sonic needs.

Apart from those sleek and elegant looks, the Laney L5T-112 Lionheart 5 Watt Class A Guitar Tube 1×12 Combo features a single 12-inch Celestion speaker, a built-in type 4 reverb, two channels and an included footswitch, along with a class A construction.

The sound is full of roar, but roar that can be controlled. It’s classy, elegant, and subtle, but powerful enough to ride with the best of ’em. A class act!

Conclusion

Overall, each of these fellas is worthy of consideration for the flattering title of the best low watt tube amp. They are all valid choices and the only thing you need to do now is specify your exact needs and then treat yourself to one of these bad boys as early as today. Top notch stuff, highly recommended!

Top 3: Best Lollar Tele Pickups

By Leave a Comment

If you are interested in boosting your Fender Telecaster guitar with non-traditional pickups that will give the instrument a top-notch sound that’s amazing yet different, we say check out Lollar.

Ran by seasoned luthier Jason Lollar, the company has a variety of items to offer, and each of them will present you with a distinctive type of sonic attack. We took the liberty of testing these puppies out a little bit in an attempt to bring you the best Lollar Tele pickups. While they’re all great in their own way, it is our opinion that the following three fellas stand out the most. Let’s dig in!

Novel T Bridge

This is the one that many people recommend, a shoo-in for our list and a top choice to kick things off around here. The T Bridge features a standard humbucker size, securing a chunky, yet organic and elegant tone. The product comes with a set of custom A5 magnets, a nickel surround, as well as a classy flat black top. It’s available with a black or chrome cover, both of which look super sexy.

The tone is full of roar and purr, but does the thing every high-end guitar item should – remains natural, authentic and organic. This is not just one of the company’s top items, but one of the best Tele pickups in general.

Lollar ’52 T Series Bridge Pickup

Wound to the iconic 52 specs, the ’52 T Series boasts a vintage tone that will take you to the early – and golden years of the Telecaster guitar. Very clear and distinctive, the sound of this pickups features strong basses and a soft, yet prominent attack. Combine this one with a an AC 30 or a Fender Tweed amp and you will get yourself the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll tone.

The item is wax potted, and comes with Alnico 2 flat poles and a vintage-style cloth-covered lead wire.

Regal Humbucker

Finally, something very special – the company’s version of the wide-range humbucker. This thing is fully custom sized and utilizes an entirely different mounting pattern, but it’s well worth it. These things will allow you to tear the house down. They are the loudest pickups of this niche we have ever encountered – fat, clear, sparkly, earth-shattering!

The Regal packs a strong set of mid-range frequencies, allowing your tone to bloom while never sacrificing clarity and note definition. If you want to make your Telecaster the best one out there, it’s not a bad idea at all to hook it up with this puppy.

Conclusion

As noted, while these the entire catalog is nothing short of top-notch, these three stand out a bit above the rest in terms of uniqueness and sonic quality, making them our contenders for the flattering title of the best Lollar Tele pickups. We now recommend jotting down your exact needs, personal preferences and spending budget and single out the one that you want. Feel free to browse around and if you’re up for it arm yourself with one of these mean dudes. Good stuff!

Top 3 Best Guitars with Ebony Fretboard

By Leave a Comment

When it comes to guitars, it is a well known fact that fingerboard requires the most expensive type of wood and highest build quality. Therefore, the high-end rosewood is a frequent ingredient used to produce fretboards, but there is another material of even higher quality that many fans and critics agree produces the abosolute best sonic quality and secures the highest level of playability – ebony.

Typically associated with top-level instrument, ebony is the best material that can be used for fretboards in our humble opinion. The frets are very well secured in it, the sound quality and playability are at the utmost highest level.

So with all that in mind, we ventured off into today’s market to bring you three of the best guitars with ebony fretboard across various price ranges. Dig in!

Jackson RRTMG Pro Series

We are going to kick things off with one of the finest heavy metal guitars you can find on today’s market – the mighty Jackson RRTMG Pro Series. Featuring the iconic V shape, the six-string utilizes an alder body with classy gloss finish, a maple neck and that cherished ebony fingerboard.

In the electronic department, we are looking at a set of EMG 85-X Active and EMG 81X Active Humbucker pickups that are very much gain driven and metal oriented. The instrument has a very slim and playable neck, and the ebony fretboard combo makes it very much perfect for heavy metal shredding.

Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci JPX 7

In the high-end section, we highly recommend checking out the John Petrucci signature guitar from Ernie Ball Music Man. Although this 7-string carries the name of Dream Theater’s guitar champion, it is in fact an instrument that can be applied for just about any genre you can imagine, a perfect tool for any guitar player out there.

Apart from the ebony fretboard, the guitar features alder body with a mahogany neck and top of the line DiMarzio Liquifire and CrunchLab pickups. The listed components forge together an amazing sonic punch that can cover any style you can imagine from light pop to death metal. Is this the ultimate guitar? Yes, it just might be.

Parker PDF80 Maxx Fly P Series

In the affordable section, we recommend giving the Parker PDF80 Maxx Fly a try. This is a very modern guitar crafted by the latest standards and featuring a somewhat futuristic design. It is perfect for players of modern jazz and progressive rock or metal, but also capable of covering a solid variety of many other styles.

The axe comes with a carved mahogany body, a maple neck, an ebony fingerboard of course, a radical neck joint, and a set of two humbucker pickups. The sound matches the highest standards, making this fella the No. 1 item with definite best value for money on the entire rundown.

In the aesthetic department, we especially like that cut-off headstock – it gives the guitar a unique vibe and something to stand out with, which is no mean feat these days. A top product, highly recommended!

Top 3 : Best Guitar Pedal Case on the Market

By 1 Comment

As your guitar-playing tendencies grow, you are bound to delve into the intricate reams of effects and stopboxes at a certain point. Altering the sound of your instrument can be a mind-blowing and very inspiring experience, and something we thoroughly recommend.

But then, carrying and storing those pedals can become a bit of a nightmare. Sure, one or two pedals is no problem, but you can expect to feel overwhelmed with as little as three pedals. Seeing that the majority of serious guitarists easily carries 6+ pedals to live gigs, it becomes painfully obvious that obtaining a pedal case is a must.

We took the liberty of singling out what we see as three strong contenders for the title of the best guitar pedal case on today’s market. Let’s dive in!

Stagg UPC-424

The first choice we’d like to bring you comes from Stagg under the UPC 424 mark. Sturdy and small, this is the perfect choice for an intermediate player with around four pedals under his or her belt.

Crafted in the US of A, the casing features a medium-weight rugged design with chrome hardware and high density foam padded interior. The item operates as a standard case with the ability to fully remove the top by sliding off the hinges. The product’s total size is 17 x 9 x 4 inches.

Mooer FC-M6 Firefly Series

As the most versatile option on the list, an item that serves as a pedal case, pedal board and a travel case, the Mooer FC M6 is a fine choice for guitarists of any skill level. It is capable of packing a set of the company’s six micro series stompboxes, packing a variety of useful features such as the preinstalled power outlet strips and a removable lid.

Also included in the mix are optional Mooer Z-connectors and an aluminum construction with foam padding. If you travel frequently with your pedals, this would be our No. 1 choice for you.

CNB PDC-300D

Another affordable and sturdy option comes in the shape of CNB PDC-300D. Crafted from light and durable aluminum, the casing is soft and cushy on the inside and strong and reinforced on the outside.

Made to meet the size demands of carry-on luggage, the casing comes with a total size of 22 x 11.75 x 3 inches. This is also the largest item on the list, and can easily fit 8 pedals, or even 12 if you squeeze them in properly. Therefore, if you have a lot of pedals, this one is for you.

Conclusion

As noted, we can see ourselves pointing at any of these three fellas when asked on what is the best guitar pedal case on the market. All of the items here meet the general quality standards, and it is now just a matter of jotting down your personal needs and preferences, and singling out the product that suits you the best. Once that is our of the way, feel free to treat yourself with any of these fine puppies as early as today. Highly recommended, a major thumbs up from here!

Top 3: Best Guitar Equalizer Pedals on the Market

By Leave a Comment

As far as guitar pedals go, guitar equalizer is not something the majority of players tends to grab onto, but in reality, these can prove as absolutely essential devices.

Having a strong EQ pedal can be essential for obtaining a killer sound, especially if you don’t have a regular amp. If you happen to change amps frequently, or rely on venues and studios to provide you with an amplifier, this stopbox makes all the difference.

The reason why is the fact that this puppy allows you to dial in a certain sound and keep it regardless of amp switches. Anyhow, we took the liberty of sifting through today’s market in an attempt to bring you the best guitar equalizer pedals on the market. These are the results.

Boss GE-7 7-Band EQ

We’ll get this thing on the move with a prominent EQ pedal and a choice of many musicians out there – the Boss GE-7 7-Band EQ Pedal. This is a seven-band EQ offering a strong control over the sonic output. We are looking at a great mixture of quality and affordable pricing.

Each of the controls is very sensitive, and you can really feel even the minute changes affecting the final output. As far as seven-band models go, this is as much control as we can imagine. Additionally, the sturdy Boss casing and renowned design should be enough to crown this one as the king of mid-priced peals of its niche.

MXR 10-Band EQ

When it comes to top-quality items with a slightly higher price tag, we would like to draw your attention towards the MXR 10-band equalizer. This is the most versatile item on the entire list, offering an incredibly accurate tonal control.

We believe that a 10-band model hits the ultimate sweet spot so you aren’t overwhelmed with too many controls, but you can still make all the adjustment you imagined. The item also offers 12dB of cut or boost, and can turn your sonic attack into anything from bass-driven roar to treble-packed brightness.

Joyo JF-11 6-Band EQ

As far as somewhat more affordable items go, we recommend giving the Joyo JF-11 6 Band EQ Guitar Pedal a spin. This one is a true bypass 6-band EQ, packing all the essential controls a player needs. We’d also like to add that the pedal looks quite sleek and elegant, and offers probably the best value for money on the entire list if you strike a good deal.

Each of the bands offers the user with an 18Db range of tonal control, covering the following set of frequencies: 100 Hz, 200 Hz, 400 Hz, 800 Hz, 1.6 MHz, and 3.2 MHz.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, we will point out that each of these bad boys is worthy of consideration for the flattering title of the best guitar EQ pedal. They all rule their respective price domains and offer a stellar bang for the buck. Now we just recommend you to jot down your exact needs and personal preferences and treat yourself with one of these puppies as early as today. Highly recommended!