Month: January 2013

The Warwick LWA 1000 has a class D power amp that produces 1,000 watts output and weighs just over six pounds. It has two channels with a separate four-band EQ and compressor, an effects loop, independent Gain control with a separate Master Volume, Aux In (stereo), Headphone Out (stereo) with integrated amplifier, and outputs for DI with selectable pre/post, and a tuner. Check it out at warwick.de.

Sonic Fusion Pedals’ new Seven Thunders Rob Carlton Fuzz Pedal strives to reproduce a Jimi Hendrix fuzz vibe. For more, go to sonicfusionpedals.com.

The annual Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards show recognizes achievement in audio technology and production, and acknowledges the work of sound engineers, editors, and producers as well as professionals who work in recording, sound and live music. This year, Who guitarist Pete Townshend was presented with The Les Paul Foundation’s Les Paul Award during the January 25 ceremony.

The award was presented by producer and humorist Martin Lewis, a longtime friend who in 1979 recruited Townshend for Amnesty International’s first Secret Policeman’s Ball. Lewis arranged for Mick Jaggar and Paul McCartney to send messages, the latter via video.

Framus’ Vintage 5/168 Golden Strato De Luxe is based on  the company’s ’60s guitars, with a mahogany body, bolt-on maple neck and bound rosewood fingerboard. It uses Framus Vintage machine heads, Framus Vintage single-coil pickups and has dot inlays, 21 medium jumbo nickel-silver frets, gold hardware, and a Tune-o-matic bridge with a vintage vibrato system.

Framus’ AK 1974 S is a modern rendition of the Jan Akkermann guitar from the mid ’70s. It has a hollow body with mahogany neck-through construction, a flamed-maple top with binding, an f-shaped sound hole, ebony fretboard, 22 extra high jumbo nickel-silver frets and fluroescent side dots installed with Framus’ Invisible Fret Technology and dressed with Plek technology. It uses Seymour Duncan pickups in closed gold covers, and its passive electronics come with a single-coil boost, and it has gold hardware, Sperzel Trim-Lok machine heads, TonePros bridge, and a GraphTech Black Tusq nut.

The Wolf Hoffmann Signature was devised in the Framus Custom Shop with Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. It has a maple body with an ergonomic shape, its fretboard is ebony with block/pyramid inlays, and the 24 nickel-silver frets are installed with Invisible Fret Technology, dressed by Plek technology. It has an active EMG 81 bridge pickup, EMG SA neck pickup, passive electronics with a single-coil boost in the electronic compartment, a Floyd Rose bridge. Learn more about these and other new Framus guitars at framus.de.

Takamine’s EF250TK Toby Keith signature guitar is based on Keith’s personal instrument, with a jumbo cutaway body, solid spruce top with scalloped X bracing, and flame maple back and sides. The guitar is equipped with Takamine’s Palathetic under-saddle pickup and the CT4B II preamp with three-band EQ, Volume control and built-in tuner. Other features include abalone and mother-of-pearl fingerboard inlays, split bone saddle, and a pinless bridge. Check it out at takamine.com.

Schecter’s Nikki Sixx signature bass has a mahogany body, five-ply maple/walnut neck, rosewood fingerboard with 34″ scale, Graph Tech Tusq nut, EMP P/J pickups, Grover tuners, and a Schecter Custom bridge. Schecter’s Hellwin USA 100 is an all-tube amp built by James Brown in conjunction with Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Synyster Gates. Made in the U.S., it’s MIDI switchable and has three Channels with independent EQ and Gain Boost, a custom noise gate, active/passive inputs, and a four-position Focus control. See both at schecterguitars.com.

Boss’ next-generation TE-2 Tera Echo, DA-2 Adaptive Distortion, and MO-2 Multi Overtone pedals are designed using the company’s Multi-Dimensional Processing (MDP).The TE-2 has familiar controls and dynamic sensitivity, and a Freeze function that allows players to hold a sound for lead backing and unique effects. The DA-2 adapts sound in real time to create an ideal tone for every register. The result is a musical distortion.

The MO-2 provides tones only possible with MDP. Using the guitar’s harmonic overtones as a starting point, it builds unique sounds in three modes that offer diverse sound-shaping options, while the Detune knob unlocks a range of modulation effects from shimmery multi-string resonance to flute-like transparency to powerful textures reminiscent of organs and synths. For more information, visit rolandconnect.com.

Ampeg’s Heritage B-15N is a circuit-board-based all-tube amp. It has two channels (labeled “1964” and “1966”), the company’s flexible Baxandall EQ, and selectable bias modes. Its flip-top, double-baffle cabinet is covered in black-diamond tolex.

The PF-800 is a compact 800-watt head with hi/lo boosts and, five-position Midrange control, and onboard compression. It attaches to the flip-top lid of Ampeg’s PF-115HE or PF-210HE cabinets. Learn more at ampeg.com.

The Line 6 James Tyler Variax (JTV-89F) has a Floyd-Rose-licensed double-locking vibrato and the ability to virtually tune down a whole octave without impacting playability or intonation, a custom-designed bridge with piezo crystalshoused ins GraphTech String Saver. The guitar is available in Black and Blood Red finishes. Learn more at  line6.com/jtv-89f.

The Lâg Guitars Arkane double-cutaway and Imperator single-cutaway guitars have basswood and mahogany bodies. The Imperator has a mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboards, while the Arkane has a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Both use Lâg’s neck-body alignment design. For more, visit usa.lagguitars.com.