Month: September 2011

  • Mesa Launches Mini Rectifier Twenty-Five

    Mesa Mini RectifierThe Mesa Mini Rectifier Twenty-Five is an all-tube amp using two EL-84 power tubes and five 12AX7 tubes in the preamp. A lunchbox-sized amp, it has an all-metal chassis with black crinkle-coat finish highlighted with a diamond-plate face. It has Mesa’s channel-assignable Multi-Watt technology providing two power levels (10 or 25 watts output) with different wiring configurations and its two power tubes operate in Class A/B triode or Mesa’s Dyna-Watt Class A/B Pentode and its independent channels can operate in four style modes. The amp is available as a stand-alone head or with a matching 1×12 cabinet in either slant or straight configuration. Other features include:

    • controls for Presence and Master

    • Vintage or Modern gain modes with multi-watt power switch (10/25 watts) and independent Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass, Presence, and Master Controls (in channel two).

    • Buffered effects loop with true hard-bypass switch.

    Learn more at mesaboogie.com.

     

  • Oli Brown

    Oli Brown

    Guitarist Oli Brown is a bright light in the world of blues guitar. While plenty of youngsters are playing, not many in their mid 20s are carving a sound and feel of their own.

    On Heads I Win Tails You Lose, Brown shows an affinity for standard blues and funk, but he’s a clone of nobody. He has chops to burn, but his playing is tasteful, especially given
    his age.

    “Makes Me Wonder” is a jazzy shuff le highlighted by fine ninthchord comping and his skill building a solo. While considered a blues artist, Brown is not afraid to push the envelope. “Speechless” is a soul/ pop tune full of tasty soloing and a mix of single lines, double-stops, and one-note pops. He’s got a real penchant for writing hooky lyrics, too, proven by “Keeping My Options Open” which also has a pinched-out solo that drips with soul. “No Diggity” is similar, but with its own hook and a nasty solo.

    The sky just might be the limit for Brown, who is the proverbial “triple threat” of the blues – and guitar, in general – could use if it is to thrive.

    This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Roy Jay

    Roy Jay

    Roy Jay’s music flutters between swaggering suburban bar blues to California country/rock; sometimes within a single song, as on “Fatal Mistake.” But he’s a good player, with a fine acoustic sound (“John Brown”), funky enough most of the time, and with a voice that bears an eerie resemblance to that of Ricky Nelson.

    As surprisingly appealing as that is (as on “Bird Of Paradise”), his voice is also a little light for this album’s heavier material, like “Movin’ On,” though it’s shored up by great bass from Rob Wasserman and keys from Chris Joyner. And much of the album’s strength comes from the guitars (in unspecified combination) of Jay, producer Chris Seefried, David Immergluck, and John Zias.

    This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’11 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Eastwood Introduces Airline ’59 Coronado

    Eastwood Airline '59 Coronado

    Eastwood Guitars ’59 Coronado has a white body with black rubber binding, offset with white binding on a black headstock , a zero fret, and a Bigsby. It’s a 25 ½”-scale guitar with a chambered mahogany body, bolt-on bound-maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, block markers. TonePros roller bridge, and Wilkinson tuners. It has a 3-wayswitch plate, two Alnico Hot-10 Humbuckers, and dual Volume/Tone controls. See more at  eastwoodguitars.com.

  • BC Audio No. 9, No. 10 amplifiers

    BC Audio No. 9 amplifier
    BC Audio No. 9

    BC Audio’s new Amplifier No. 9 is a 45-watt non-Master-Volume amp with variable Boost. It uses a pair of KT66s and a GZ34 rectifier with three 6SL7 preamp tubes and has controls for Normal Volume, Bright Volume, Boost, Presence, and Depth. BC’s Amplifier No. 10 uses a pair of EL34s and four 6SL7s, and is BC Audio’s first amp with Bass, Mid, and Treble controls. Other controls are Gain, Gain Boost, Volume, Volume Boost, Presence and Depth.  Gain Boost and Volume Boost are independently foot-switchable with the included dual footswitch. Learn more at bcaudio.com.

  • Martin Six String Customs Holy Grail Harness

    Martin Six-String harnessThe Martin Six String Customs Holy Grail harness uses CTS 550K short-shaft audio-taper potentiometers with 10 percent tolerance to give the pot a gradual increase in volume through the entire shaft rotation. Its pots are grounded with 20-gauge bus wire and have been hand-aged, and the harness uses ’50s Sprague Bumblebee .022/400V 20 percent capacitors with hand-aged sleeving. It is mounted on a flamed-maple template finished in nitro lacquer. Learn more at martinsixstringcustoms.com.

  • Lollar Thunderbird Pickup

    Lollar Thunderbird pickupLollar’s Thunderbird-style replacement pickup uses Alnico V magnets, nickel-finished covers with chrome or gold options. Other options include black pickup surrounds and shims for retrofitting Epiphone basses. For more, go to lollarguitars.com.

  • Guitar Sleeve

    Guitar Sleeve is a fabricated cover designed to protect a guitar from scratches, nicks, dirt, sweat and wear. Its draw string allows for easy installation and removal. Read more at guitarsleeve.com.

  • Fender Launches American Vintage Series, Blacktop Basses, Mustang

    Fender American Vintage '69 Tele Thinline
    Fender American Vintage '69 Tele Thinline

    Fender’s American Vintage ’69 Telecaster Thinline has a semi-hollow mahogany body with f hole and gloss lacquer finish, C-shaped maple neck, maple fingerboard, single-coil pickups with three-position switching, vintage-style three-saddle string-through bridge, “top hat” switch tip, and vintage-style F-stamped tuners. The American Vintage ’72 Telecaster Custom has a solid ash body with gloss lacquer finish, C-shaped maple neck with gloss lacquer finish, maple fingerboard, American Vintage single-coil telecaster bridge pickup, three-position switch with aged white tip, and vintage-style three-saddle string-through bridge. Fender’s Blacktop Precision Bass uses two humbucking pickups with Volume for each, master Tone, alder body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, chrome hardware, and a HiMass bridge. The Blacktop Jazz Bass has dual Blacktop split-coil Precision Bass pickups, alder body, maple neck with gloss urethane finish, rosewood fretboard, three control knobs, HiMass bridge, open-gear tuners and chrome hardware.

    The Mustang Mini amp uses a 61/2″ speaker and produces seven watts output. It has 24 pre-sets built from eight digital amp models and a dozen digital effects, USB port control knobs including Gain and Treble, a “tap” button, and it operates on AC or DC power. Visit fender.com.

  • Boss Intros BC-2 and FB-2 pedals

    The Boss BC-2 Combo Drive overdrive/distortion category offers three voices that can be dialed in with the pedal’s Sound, Bass, and Treble controls, while the Level controls overall effect volume. Boss’ FB-2 Feedbacker/Booster combines an adjustable tone/gain boost with the ability to engage feedback on-demand. It has controls for Boost, Level, and Tone, and a Character knob that adjusts treble boost. The pedal’s Feedback knob tweaks time taken to boost the point of frequency to feedback. Learn more at rolandconnect.com.