Tag: features

Rickenbacher Model 200A

• Preamp tubes: 6SF5, 6N7
• Output tubes: two 6L6G
• Rectifier: 5Z3
• Controls: Volume
• Output: 15 watts RMS +/-
• Speaker: one 12″ Lansing Model 212
Photos: Karl Irwin. Amp courtesy of Craig Randolph.

Several vintage amplifiers that have graced these pages over the years have taken us back to the early days of guitar amplification – the early 1950s, maybe even late ’40s with some of the crustier subjects. This month, however, we travel way back, to the dawn of the electric guitar itself, to visit an amplifier born even before the instrument that would commonly be plugged into it had solidified from its nebulous conceptual state.

This amplifier, the Rickenbacher Model 200A, was built to accompany a variation of what is widely recognized as the first commercially available solidbody electric guitar, the Rickenbacher Electro Spanish made by the Electro-String Company. But the particular guitar it partnered was itself one of the rarest “standard” models in early production, the legendary Rickenbacher Vibrola Spanish.

Though all of these guitars look today like early Hawaiian – or “lap steel” – models, the name reminds us that they were actually built to be played in the upright, or Spanish, style. The stand on this rare example of the Model 200A, which is original equipment, also tells us that the Vibrola rendition was extremely heavy, weighing far too much for the performer to simply hold it on his or her lap or to hang it from a shoulder strap. While the standard Electro Spanish models were heavy enough, molded as they were from Bakelite (body and neck together, including molded Bakelite frets), the deeper-bodied Vibrola Spanish also carried a motor-and-pulley system that ran an onboard mechanical vibrato effect, designed by none other than Doc Kauffman himself, future partner (if only briefly) of Leo Fender. Of the relatively few people who have experienced a Vibrola Spanish guitar in person, though, far fewer have seen in the flesh a Model 200A amplifier with its stand. And a stirring experience it is; this old warhorse takes us back to an age when the guitar was just starting to bust out in all directions, seeking more volume in myriad bold and quirky designs. The National Resophonic guitars were one such venture, and less than a decade later two of the founders of that effort – George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker – along with a few other key players, had stepped the volume war into overdrive with the “electric” guitar, and the amplifiers that necessarily went with them. And while the badge on this one echoes the more familiar Rickenbacker name that was passed down when Adolph later sold the Electro-String Music Corporation to Francis Hall in 1953, its noteworthy “Rickenbacher” spelling was still an effort to cash in on the persistent fame of WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacher, a cousin of the guitar-making pioneer. The fact that this example came to its owner as a simple Craigslist “old tube amp” find makes its presence here seem all the more miraculous.

A circa-1938 Rickenbacher Model 200A.

This Rickenbacher Model 200A is owned by Craig Randolph, a professional drummer who has an abiding interest in vintage guitars and amplifiers. After acquiring the amp in “works, but needs service” condition – with neither buyer nor seller really knowing what they had in front of them – Randolph took it to amp tech Bob Dixon, who has maintained amps for the Rolling Stones, among others. The original 12″ Lansing Model 212 speaker, meanwhile, the cone of which “was basically crumbly powder,” was farmed out to Orange County Speaker for a re-cone. While this repair work was underway, Randolph sent photos around to try to ascertain what the thing was.

The answer came back quickly, and pegged this as one of the few, possibly only, existing examples of one of the rarest and earliest production amplifiers in the history of the electric guitar. Randolph’s research indicates that fewer than 90 Model 200A amplifiers were ever made (it’s possible the actual number was far fewer), and he was unable to turn up another survivor all these 75-odd years later. While not what you’d call plentiful in and of themselves, the Vibrola Spanish guitars do seem to exist in greater numbers, and tend to pop up now and then in prominent collections or on the sales sheets of notable vintage-guitar dealers. Electro-String sales literature lists a price of $198.50 for the Model 200A in 1938, a pretty penny in the latter years of the Great Depression, but there’s little on which to base its vintage value today.

Under the chassis, the Model 200A proves an archaic piece of work, as you’d expect, but it’s impressively neat and efficient, too. The circuit is a robust, if minimal, affair laid out across a combination of point-to-point and tag-strip connections, using minimum components to get signal from input to output. Octal 6SF5 and 6N7 preamp tubes take care of gain and phase inversion, with only a Volume control for user interface – no Tone – while a pair of 6L6 output tubes pump around 15 watts.

From the look of it, you’re probably imagining certifiable old-fart tone, and that’s much what the Model 200A’s owner was expecting even post-service, but Randolph says the Rickenbacher has a few tricks up its sleeve.

“Bob [Dixon] told me he was very surprised with the sound of the amp, he wasn’t expecting much. He said it’s a really great-sounding amp. We pulled out a Les Paul and the amp was very warm and punchy with a nice overall tone. We hit it pretty hard to see what kind of drive it would have at higher volume… it had a nice warm, fuzzy gain sound that was very clear and precise.” Further explorations with a Strat-playing pal on the way back from the repair shop earned another two thumbs-up for the old Rickenbacher.

While the backline-rental fixer in Randolph says he can see some use for this as a recording amp, he would rather find an interested collector or museum already in possession of a Vibrola Spanish guitar with which to reunite it as a full set, and it’s hard to disagree with those intentions. As cool as it is to hear a genuine museum piece like this in action, it is undoubtedly an amplifier worth preserving, given its near-originality. And if that plan doesn’t leave the rest of us much chance of ever hearing it in person, you can dig up an early Bing Crosby recording that featured Perry Botkin on Vibrola Spanish guitar, and groove to the emotive tone of a fully electro-mechanical vibrato tone through an original Rickenbacher Model 200A.

This article originally appeared in VG December 2013 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

August 5, 2015
Steve Cropper

All but forgotten today, with his low-slung guitar, stylish rhythm licks, and tasty leads, Lowman Pauling was one of the great guitar heroes of the ’50s. Guitarist for the R&B doo-wop band the 5 Royales, not only did Pauling pick melody lines and play leads, he also composed many of the band’s songs, sang in the five-piece group, and served as a sort of musical director.

Pauling was one of Steve Cropper’s first guitar inspirations. “Bo Diddley had the rhythm and Lowman Pauling had the notes,” he said.

Cropper is paying credit to Pauling and the band with Dedicated: A Salute to the 5 Royales, a new album with 15 5 Royales songs re-made with Cropper’s funky licks and vocals from special guests.

Cropper remembers the night he and bandmate Donald “Duck” Dunn snuck into a 5 Royales show in the Beverly Ballroom near Memphis. Their band played downstairs at the Tropicana, but when a big act came to town, the club closed as the promoters knew everyone would be climbing the stairs for the main feature.

“Duck and I were 18 or 19, and we’ve reminisced many times remembering that night and seeing those guys. He was influenced by the bass player and I was influenced by the guitar player.”

They carried that inspiration with them into the Mar-Keys, and Booker T and the MGs.

“Lowman Pauling looked great onstage,” Cropper explained. “He was the action guy. He had the moves, man. He could do that shuffle. He had this long strap that just blew me away – I’d never seen that before, you know. Straps only came in certain lengths – they still do. I couldn’t wait to get home and put belts together to make my own long strap for my Gibson Byrdland.”

Cropper and Dunn later crossed paths with Pauling. In fact, the CD’s cover picture was taken at the Royal Peacock Lounge in Atlanta, with Cropper wearing his Byrdland slung low in emulation of Pauling.

“The Mar-Keys had a record, ‘Last Night,’ which I think was number three in the nation, and I didn’t know the 5 Royales had played the Royal Peacock Lounge two or three weeks prior; our tour followed the 5 Royales and Ike and Tina Turner for about four weeks. I don’t know how we made it!”

Cropper borrowed more from Pauling than just strap length; his melodic style was one of Cropper’s main inspirations. “In the Mar-Keys, we always played the 5 Royales’ ‘Think.’ That’s the one, as far as those stamp fills… I copped that from Lowman, and I’ve been using them forever on all the Stax stuff.”

The idea of giving thanks to Pauling came from the album’s co-producer, John Tiven. After releasing three solo albums from 1969 through the early ’80s, Cropper he was in no rush to try again. “John called one day and said, ‘How would you enjoy doing an album with nothing but 5 Royales songs, as a tribute?’ I went, ‘Wow! Why didn’t I think of that!’”

The duo listened to the 5 Royales’ catalog and selected songs. Cropper then was faced with the question of how faithful he should be to the originals.

“I called John and said, ‘You know, it’s not impossible to copy Lowman’s licks, but how close do you want me to be to this?’ He said, ‘I don’t want you to be that close at all. I want you to play Steve Cropper.’

“Lowman always played very melodically,” Cropper added. “So where he played definite lines, those are the lines I picked up on, like intros and that kind of stuff. The rest of it, I’m sort of just on my own. I did most of those important licks on a session, played rhythm, then went back later and overdubbed the solo stuff. So there’s a couple there where we have two or three tracks and left them in there – made one pass, made another pass. We just kind of put them together and said, ‘Hey, that sounds pretty good!’”

Cropper was happy to play guitar, but preferred not doing vocals – especially on an album of doo-wop tunes. “I proved to myself long ago that I’m not really a singer – I never thought I was one anyway. If I had my preferences, I’ll just be a member of the band and have fun doing that; I love backing other people.”

So Cropper and Tiven began calling friends; Sharon Jones added vocals to “Messin’ Up,” Brain May sang and played guitar on “I Do,” Lucinda Williams sang “When I Get Like This,” and there are more tracks featuring B.B. King, Steve Winwood, Buddy Miller, Delbert McClinton, Bettye LaVette, and others.

Cropper played much of the rhythm parts using a vintage Fender Telecaster from his Stax days. He still has the tweed Fender Harvard he used to record “Green Onions,” but opted for the old Quad Reverb used on many later Stax tracks.

For the lead lines, he used his stage workhorse Peavey. Some solos employed the Quad Reverb, and “…some were done at John Tiven’s house and we went direct.”

What about effects pedals? “Naw, just straight into the amp,” Cropper said. In fact, he has never been a big user of effects. “I use an A/B box,” he laughed. “One side goes to the tuner, the other goes to the amp.”

Perhaps the hottest track on the album is an instrumental version of “Think.” Cropper had long played the 5 Royales’ version with the Mar-Keys, but for Dedicated, Tiven suggested they cover the funkier James Brown arrangement. On the track, the band simply cooks. “Steve Jordan was there playing drums, and Lord have mercy, we didn’t ever want to stop playing it!” Cropper explained. “We got through, and he and I were laughing. I said, ‘Guys, that’s the way you make records!’ Just spontaneous.”

This article originally appeared in VG October 2011 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

August 5, 2015
Traynor’s Darkhorse DH15H

Hugely popular in its native Canada, Traynor amps are a formidable force from north of the 49th parallel and its line includes a variety of quality tube amps. The company’s latest “lunchbox” amp is the Dark Horse DH15H, little brother to the company’s Iron Horse model.

The Darkhorse has a cool, old-school public-address-amp vibe, with a matte-gray-finished steel chassis, exposed transformers, perforated tube cage, and vintage Bakelite-style knobs. The DH15H has a small footprint – 11¹/2″ x 5″ x 6″ – and weighs 11 pounds. Its tube complement includes a pair of JJ Electronics 6V6s (producing 15 watts in high-power mode), a single Electro-Harmonix 12AU7 power tube (producing two watts in low-power mode), and two Sovtek 12AX7 preamp tubes.

The front-panel layout is straightforward; there’s a ¹/4″ input jack, controls for Gain, Bass, and Treble, a three-way Mode switch, Master Volume, jewel light, Standby/6V6/12AU7 switch, and a Power switch. The three-way tone switch has a Brit setting that positions the tone stack after the second tube stage and before the phase splitter, with a midrange boost. The USA setting positions the tone stack between the first and second tube stages and, lastly, the Pure setting bypasses the tone stack entirely. The rear panel has a standard power socket, a single ¹/4″ 16-ohm jack and a pair of ¹/4″ 8-ohm jacks. Also notable is the easy-access tube cage – just remove four thumb screws and remove the cage for access to all five tubes.

We tested the Darkhorse with a Fender Custom Shop 1960 reissue Strat with the stock pickups and a Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus with Burstbuckers. We also used a variety of speaker cabinets, among them, a open-back 2×12″ loaded with a pair of Celestion Vintage 30s, an open-back 1×10″ loaded with a Celestion G10 Vintage 10 and a Randall 4×12″ closed-back cab loaded with Celestion greenbacks.

With the Mode switch set to USA and the Strat plugged in, the Darkhorse hit the Fender mark nicely when using either of the two open-back cabinets. The amp delivered a clean, punchy tone with a round low-end and the mids slightly pulled back. The two-band EQ is voiced well and offers just enough depth to quickly dial in tone without having to noodle too much. Even with the Gain control dimed and the Master pulled back to about 12 o’clock (still in the USA mode), the amp presented clean, thicker overtones with just a hint of overdrive. Cranking the Master volume along with the Gain control and pushing the power tube, however, results in a thick, smooth overdrive at a fairly loud volume; this little amp has more horsepower than one would expect.

The overdrive gets boosted when you switch into the Pure Mode (completely bypassing the tone controls) and, thanks to Burstbucker humbuckers in the Les Paul, the Darkhorse produced a classic crunchy distortion with a respectable amount of sustain. We wouldn’t, however, classify the DH15H as a high-gain amp, since the preamp section is on the tamer side and needs the power section to be driven hard for higher-octane distortion. Since the amp relies on its power tubes for a good portion of the overdrive, the Darkhorse has a more natural, open overdrive sound with none of that thin, buzzy top-end you can get from too much preamp clipping. The only downside is the overall volume may be a bit loud for some situations, while the low-power setting with the single 12AU7 – which brings the volume down to a nice apartment/practice level – does suck out a bit of that punchy 6V6 sound. But pairing the DH15H with the 4×12″ closed-back cabinet helps it get a thicker, trashier sound with a bit of thump to the low-end in both the USA and Pure Modes. Clearly, there are a lot of tonal possibilities with this amp.

The Traynor DH15H Darkhorse is a compact, lightweight head with a surprisingly big punch and a range that covers a fair amount of territory from the U.S. to British tube tones. And of course, there are plenty of fat, toasty Canadian tones, too.

Traynor’s Darkhorse DH15H
Price: $649
Contact: traynoramps.com

This article originally appeared in VG October 2011 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

August 5, 2015
Harmonic Design’s VP-90

Harmonic Design’s VP-90
Price: $100
Contact: www.harmonicdesign.net

Harmonic Design must be doing something right. Specializing in replacement pickups, they boast a roster of satisfied customers that includes folks like Redd Volkaert, Otis Rush, Bill Frisell, Robben Ford, and Neal Schon. One of their latest offerings, the Harmonic Design VP-90 (for Vintage Plus) is intended as a replacement for vintage soapbar and dog-ear P-90s.

But P-90 aficionados can be a picky lot, so to test the veracity of Harmonic Design’s list of high-octane testimonials, two of their California-made VP-90s were loaded into a late-model Les Paul Deluxe and A/B’d with the stock P-90s in a pair of vintage guitars: a 1955 Gibson Les Paul TV Special and a 1963 Gibson ES-330. The results were pleasantly surprising.

The first noticeable difference was that the “thunk” which normally occurs when switching from the bridge to the neck pickup was absent on the test guitar. Gibson used the same pickup in both positions, which results in a louder, boomier, and sometimes muddier tone for the neck pickup and a nasally bridge pickup. Vintage P-90s sound great by themselves, but on two-pickup guitars they quite simply just don’t match very well when played through the same amp settings. Switching pickups on the Harmonic Design-equipped Les Paul was more transparent than on the Special and ES-330, and it was very evident that both pickups, made with Bakelite bobbins, were perfectly matched from an output perspective. The neck position pickup, while remaining warm, actually produced more articulate note definition than the vintage pickups, with greater clarity and individual string separation. The bridge pickup retained the same level of volume as the neck pickup, but had more bass response than the vintage P-90s while retaining the right level of bite. Rolling the volume back slightly in the middle position gave the same clear bluesy tone that one would hope for from a vintage dual-P-90 guitar.

The other big improvement that the Harmonic Design-equipped guitar displayed over the vintage test guitars was a substantial reduction in noisiness. This was noticeable both when each individual pickup was used, and, because VP-90s are hum-canceling in the middle position, when both were engaged.

Fans of vintage P-90 pickups who aren’t wild about some of their limitations – or who maybe are even unaware of their limitations – really need to check out a balanced pair of Harmonic Design VP-90s. They just might open their eyes to the way their guitars were meant to sound.

This article originally appeared in VG November 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

August 3, 2015
Steve Morse

Photo Credit: Jim Arbogast.
Already busy touring and recording with Deep Purple, axe virtuoso Steve Morse has added another dish to the menu – Flying Colors. Featuring well-known aces like drummer Mike Portnoy and keyboardist/singer Neal Morse (no relation), this quintet straddles the line between rock, prog, and pop with extraordinarily melodic songs. With the release of its second album, Second Nature, Morse says the band is ready to rock… more.

What’s the attraction of working in yet another band?
The reasons I got into music in the first place – the thrill of creating something that didn’t exist before and being part of a group that’s bigger than the parts separately.

The new album seems to lean more on the prog-rock sound. As a teen, were you into Yes, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull and King Crimson?
Yes, big time. Back then, music like “21st Century Schizoid Man,” Yes’ Fragile, and Tull’s albums were all favorites of mine, though nothing was classified as “prog rock.” It was expected that every band should be different in the early ’70s – and they were.

A lot of the solos on the new record sound like you’re using the neck pickup, and relying less on blues licks than stately melodic phrases.
The album is very melody driven, so the solos had to be, as well. Tone-wise, I’ve always used the neck pickup turned up high, and switched to the bridge pickup once I get to a lower register, in order to get more clarity.

What’s in your Flying Colors live rig?
I’m putting together the pedalboard right now. It has four TC pedals, including the tuner, plus a Keeley compressor. All are true-bypass, but the two delays are 100 percent wet and controlled by Ernie Ball volume pedals, which are summed to a separate “wet” amp only.

Any new tweaks to the latest version of your Music Man signature guitar?
The newest versions have a whammy bar and it really sounds good. They’re also doing some beautiful finishes on them – I’m almost embarrassed to have such nice-looking instruments. I’ve also started playing my ancient number one Music Man guitar again, since it has a new bridge. We just installed a brand new “roasted” (i.e., kiln-dried wood) neck on that guitar, too. I had too many fret jobs done on the original and literally wore out the fretboard. Lastly, I have a new four-pickup Music Man SM guitar with all the moisture roasted out of the body and neck, and it has a very lively, screaming tone.

What makes your signature DiMarzio pickups or Engl Special 100 head unique, tone-wise?
The spacing of the pickups, for one thing. My neck pickup sounds rounder because it’s mounted about where the 24th fret would be, closer to the center of the vibrating string. For my amp, the Engl has flawless clean and gradual distortion if you want it, as well as clarity in the saturation with a clear high-end.

What’s your opinion on how acoustic/electric preamps and pickups have evolved for live work?
It just keeps getting better. Back in the day, you would actually have a cheap microphone in a tin box sitting in the sound hole. Now, my classical guitars have a Fishman EQ preamp that sounds fantastic. There’s no excuse for not playing great music now.

Where is your old Tele from the Dixie Dregs era?
I gave it to a dear friend, Michelle Morgenstein, before she died after a long battle with cancer. She was with [Dregs drummer] Rod Morgenstein back in our University of Miami days, and that was the guitar I played in those days, so she associated it with all the good times we had back then. Michelle asked if I would will it to her when I died, but I thought it would make more sense for her to have it before she passed rather than to leave it in storage.

How are you a different guitarist today compared to when you first played with the Dregs in 1981?
I have better phrasing and definitely better equipment. My improvisations and phrasing are the biggest improvements, but then again, I’ve played a lot of gigs since then!

In your mind, what is the Dixie Dregs’ lasting legacy?
Our legacy would be as an instrumental rock band. I don’t think there were many other all-instrumental bands during our time, and for good reason, such as lack of commercial appeal. Certainly, there were instrumental jazz-rock bands, but we were different in that we blended the usual rock and roll, classical, and jazz with Celtic and bluegrass influences. And we always tried to have a sense of humor.

This article originally appeared in VG February 2015 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

August 1, 2015
Providence Anadime Chorus ADC-4

Providence Anadime Chorus ADC-4
Price: $249 (list)
Contact: www.providence-ltd.com

The chorus pedal holds the distinction of once having been extremely popular, becoming dated and undesirable, then enjoying a resurgence of popularity. This classic stompbox chorus reached its peak in the mid ’80s, with bands like The Fixx and The Police before fizzling again by the ’90s.

The chorus has steadily crept back onto pedalboards, and with this rebirth have come fresh and useful ways to add fullness to a guitar rig without sounding passé. Providence Effects’ newest offering, the Anadime ADC-4, is an analog chorus with old-school warmth and new-school flexibility. Three knobs let the user control Depth, Mix, and Speed, while a single mini-toggle switch gives the option of three Deep settings. It’s a mono pedal that uses a bucket-brigade delay device and a multifunctional LED for visual battery-power monitoring and rate status.

The Anadime’s S.C.T circuit (single-contact true bypass) allows the signal to pass through one switch contact when bypassed to preserve signal quality, while the double contact grounding (DCG) circuit ensures that the sleeve of the plug inserted into the output jack is grounded at two contact points. This minimizes intermittent contact and preserves tonal integrity. The pedal is lightweight, uses a 9-volt battery or adapter, and takes up very little real estate on a pedalboard.

With the Deep mini-toggle set to the down position and control knobs set to 12 o’clock, dark, King’s-X-style shimmer can be heard with the help of a clean amp and a dirty bridge humbucker. The cool blue LED pulsates in time with the rate, and when the mini-toggle is set to the upper positions, the effect’s dimension, thickness, and speed increase exponentially. Sounds become more intense. Each mode of the mini-toggle is a different chorus unto itself; each click upward adds thicker waves of malleable speed, chime, and wetness.

Experimenting with single-coil pickups and cleaner amp settings offers a range of complex chorusing and flanging opportunities, but the ADC-4 lives on the dark side. It lacks brightness, but its darker personality accentuates its rich, full-bodied depth and warmth. It’s extremely flexible and adds thickness to dirty chord work and makes arpeggios cascade, yet delivers all the over-the-top rotary sounds anyone could want.

The Anadime ADC-4 inspires creativity and could surely prove useful to chorus-loving guitarists past and present.

This article originally appeared in VG March 2015 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

July 31, 2015
Metal Pedals JH-3

Metal Pedals JH-3
Price: $235 (list)
Contact: www.metalpedals.com

Like a Swiss Army knife, the multifunction Metal Pedals JH-3 Johnny Hiland has more options than you’d expect in such a small package.

Hiland, solo artist and session man for folks from Toby Keith to Hank III, was so inspired after playing through Metal Pedals’ Bomb Shell distortion (VG, June 2011), that he offered his working-man’s ideas for a variation on the design.

The resulting hand-wired (in the U.S.A.) JH-3 has the expected Gain and Volume controls, supplemented by Treble, Mid, and Bass controls, and a noise-reduction circuit for heavier gain stages. Housed in a rugged aluminum box with a sensible layout and an image of Hiland (perhaps a bit less seductive than the Bomb Shell graphic!), when plugged into a Fender Blues Junior and with its Gain and Volume knobs at 3 o’clock, the JH-3 offered plenty of fat, sustained distortion. The tonal controls functioned as subtle shaping tools, without radically EQ’ing the sound – rather tweaking their respective sonic ranges, allowing the amp’s controls to define a bass-, mid-, or treble-heavy sound.

With the JH-3’s Gain knob at 12 o’clock, blues lines and country picking were fluid and defined, with great sustain. Sustained power chording and advancing the Gain knob created more satisfying crunch, but also activated upper harmonics, and not just the predictable octave and two octaves up. The JH-3 allowed each note to have some clarity even through the pulsating sound. Maxing out the Gain resulted in a power-chord sound thick enough to butter bread. Backing off the guitar’s Tone knobs resulted in a “woman tone” with warmth and sustain that conjured images of the Ultimate Earth Mother.

Hiland’s day gig requires a little country-treble snap in his arsenal, so it’s no surprise that single-coil tones also benefited from the JH-3, with tones ranging from a sustained twang perfect for slinky double-stop bends to a full-throated chainsaw snarl. It sounded downright orchestral through a Holy Grail Reverb using volume-swell techniques.

The JH-3’s noise-reduction circuit is effective in reducing 60-cycle hum and focusing the response from a Vox wah while decreasing the racket from other pedals.

Despite its load of options, the Metal Pedals JH-3 is nonetheless intuitive, inspired as it is by the needs of a performing guitarist.

This article originally appeared in VGMarch 2015 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

July 31, 2015
Lazy J 20

The Lazy J 20
Price: $2,700 (reviewed)
Contact: www.lazyjprojects.com

After moving to England and leaving behind the vintage Fender Deluxe he modified as a gigging amp, Jesse Hoff decided to build a new amplifier from scratch, using the modded Deluxe as his inspiration. After many requests from other players for one for his tweed-inspired creations, Hoff began the Lazy J Project, building amps to customer specs.

The Lazy J 20 has a solid-pine finger-jointed cabinet with a plywood baffle, a lacquered tweed covering, a Celestion G12 Blue 12″ alnico driver, a pair of EHX 6L6 power tubes, a 5AR4 rectifier tube, and a pair of 12AX7 preamp tubes. For those looking for more traditional Tweed Deluxe performance with less power-amp headroom and more output sag, the Lazy J 20 can also accommodate 6V6 power tubes and a 5Y3 rectifier without the need to re-bias. Under its hood, the J 20 sports all point-to-point circuits utilizing top-notch components like Heyboer transformers, CTS pots, Sprague filter caps, and Switchcraft jacks.

On the surface the Lazy J 20 looks like a typical narrow-panel Deluxe-inspired boutique amp. However, it happens to have several hidden treasures, the first of which is evident on the control panel. Along with the Bright and Normal channel dual inputs, corresponding Volume controls, and master Tone control is Lazy J’s optional Variable Attenuation Control (VAC) in place of the ground switch, a feature which allows the player to seamlessly dial the amp’s output down from 18 watt to 5 watts. Inspection of the amp’s back side reveals a tube-driven tremolo unit with Speed and Intensity controls and a tube-driven spring-reverb unit with Volume and Tone controls. At first, housing the reverb and tremolo in the back of the amp might seem a bit inconvenient for making adjustments, but the Lazy J comes with a dual-button footswitch to turn both units on and off, as well as corresponding controls to adjust tremolo speed and reverb depth on the fly.

The Lazy J 20 test unit was put through its paces with a Fender Custom Shop ’60s Strat and a Gibson Les Paul ’54 reissue. The bridge pickups in both produced a crisp, lively tone where open chords rang with overtones, while single notes jumped. The amp displayed a nice amount of gig-worthy headroom with the 6L6 tubes, and backing down on the guitars’ Volume controls cleaned things up nicely without losing life. The J 20’s single Tone control is very well-voiced, offering anything from bright and crispy to dark and round, and has the bonus of a subtle but effective push/pull mid boost to fatten the sound of the Strat’s single-coils.

Two interactive channels with independent Volume controls affected the sound regardless of which channel the guitar was plugged into, not only adding a bit of gain but a nice midrange boost that thickened the tone when both Volume knobs were dialed in. In addition, the Lazy J was capable of some seriously crunchy overdrive with both volumes cranked up and the tone set to the treble side. The neck pickups on both guitars had a tendency to loosen up the low-end on the amp and make it wash out with the volumes turned up, but this was easily rectified with another of the J 20’s features: a subtle but very effective low-cut toggle switch nestled between the two preamp tubes. Once overall volume shifted to the loud side, the Lazy J’s VAC attenuator brought it down without negatively affecting overall tone or the thickness of the overdrive. The optional tube-driven reverb had that classic Fender sound – clean and crisp, with a warm decay to accommodate anything from super-drenched surf licks to subtle, laid-back blues. The optional tremolo circuit likewise does not disappoint, with its thick, smooth, and slightly dirty effect that’s not overly choppy and doesn’t eat up a lot of gain or overall volume.

The J 20 certainly lives up to its “deluxe” inspiration, with outstanding tone and a host of nicely conceived features.

This article originally appeared in VG September 2013 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

July 30, 2015
Lee Ritenour

Lee Ritenour’s career accomplishments are the stuff of greatness. With thousands of classic recording sessions and more than 40 albums bearing his own name, Ritenour continues to work his magic straddling the world of jazz, rock, fusion, and Latin music.

Ritenour’s Yamaha Six String Theory Guitar Competition recently came to a close, and 16-year-old guitarist Shon Boublil was crowned the winner. Boublil bested 13 competitors from around the world and won a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music. He also gets an endorsement deal from Yamaha guitars and will make a guest appearance on Ritenour’s Six String Theory CD.

Along with Rit, the album features Keb’ Mo’, B.B. King, George Benson, Taj Mahal, Steve Lukather, John Scofield, Joe Bonamassa, Pat Martino, Mike Stern, Neal Schon, Slash, Vince Gill, Jonny Lang, Andy McKee, Joe Robinson, Guthrie Govan, and Shon Boublil.

What’s it like judging guitarists with such a high level of musicianship?
It wasn’t easy, especially since we did something that was quite unusual. We had six different styles being represented. So at the end of the story it was very difficult to have the parameters of how you pick one guitarist over another who plays completely different stylistically. We were also judging how well they were doing within their own genre, and how well they were fairing against the others when it finally got down to the top six.

The guitarists were amazing, but the judges had a tough job.
A couple of guitar players I thought were in the running earlier who had done really well in the first round, didn’t do quite as well in the second round, and that’s sort of the nature of the beast. I’ve done judging of guitar competitions a couple of times; I did one at the Montreux Jazz Festival two years in a row and it was exactly the same thing. The first round, some guys really shine. The second round… didn’t go so well. Then some other guy came roaring through.

Do you think the quality of the performances differ from round to round because of song choices or nerves?
I can pinpoint a couple guys who were pure nerves. But I can also pinpoint a couple who maybe didn’t think they would get that far and were not as prepared on their second tune. Or they picked a vehicle that didn’t feature themselves as much. [Players need to consider] all the parameters of what could happen. Sometimes, experience will do that, and sometimes it’s just the pure artistry of the particular guitarist.

Being seasoned helps…
That didn’t hold true with our winner. He’d only been playing the guitar for five years, but his nerves were rock-steady. He played his hardest piece second and it was a seven-minute extravaganza. I think he had probably played them in competitions before, or at concerts. The other guitarists, I’m sure, played their pieces before in public, as well. It was nice because the top six were all winners within their category, and all fine guitarists.

Talk about the Six String Theory album.
It’s my concept from beginning to end, but I’m not on every tune. I am on quite a few of the pieces. There’s 15 songs in all and 20 guitarists represented.

Including the winner of the competition.
Absolutely. Shon did a beautiful job. His tone on classical guitar is wonderful and we might wind up putting his song at the end of the album, right after Guthrie Govan, which is a bit of a dichotomy. He did an awesome track called “Five.”

You’ve got a ton of great artists on this recording, from John Scofield to B.B. King.
What I love about it is that it doesn’t sound like a bunch of guitar players just shredding and showing off. It’s a very musical record. I kept the arranging and the orchestration rhythm-section oriented. It’s really just keyboards, bass, and drums. Most of the time, the accompaniment instrument is organ, so it has a thematic rhythm section. The guitars, because there are so many different colors and sounds, were the orchestration and color. The tunes are cool, the playing is cool, and it’s really a shared experience. I think anyone can enjoy the album tremendously. It’s not just for guitar players.

Sounds like it’s varied, as well, with Vince Gill, George Benson, and Neal Schon.
It has a lot of variety. There’s some combinations probably never heard; Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, and I play one tune and jam at the end. Lukather and I are on a couple – we wrote one together called “In Your Dreams,” which is a big rock ballad. It’s one of the strongest tunes on the record. We’re also covering “Shape Of My Heart” by Sting. There’s four or five tunes I’m heavily featured on, along with the other guitar players. And I’m playing rhythm guitar on a number of other tracks.

On the B.B. King track “Why I Sing The Blues,” we have B.B. King, Keb’ Mo’, Vince Gill, and Jonny Lang playing and singing, with me on rhythm guitar. Joe Bonamassa and Robert Cray do the Tracy Chapman tune “Give Me One Reason.”

Pat Martino is on the record, too.
That’s a great track. It’s organ-based, with Joey DeFrancesco, Will Kennedy, myself, and Pat. It’s a tune I wrote called “LP” which has sort of a double meaning. Lee and Pat, but it’s also written for Les Paul. I wrote the melody with kind of a modern version of Les Paul in mind. It’s a pretty uptempo be-bop tune with Pat and I soloing with Joey DeFrancesco. Most of the album was cut live with the guitarists in the room which was really a blessing.

This article originally appeared in VG December 2010 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

July 29, 2015
Visual Sound’s H20 V3 Liquid Chorus & Echo and VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive

Visual Sound’s H20 V3 Liquid Chorus & Echo and VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive
Price: H20 V3 $199 (list); VS-XO $199 (list)
Contact: www.visualsound.net

Since bursting on the scene with its Visual Volume, Tennessee-based Visual Sound has earned a reputation for sounding great and for solid construction.

The company has introduced the next step in its series of redesigned dual-function pedals with the H20 V3 Liquid Chorus and VS-XO Premium Dual Overdirve.

Along with a new look/housing that takes up less real estate on a pedalboard come connection points that are well-conceived and make for a more-natural wiring flow and more flexibility than the bigger box. The H20 V3 also has significant updates in its chorus and echo sections. The chorus has Speed, Width, and Depth knobs similar to many chorusing effects on the market, as well as mini slider switches to control Intensity and Detune. The Detune function, in particular, is extremely useful for miming classic analog chorusing sounds of the ’70s and ’80s. The chorus section has mini knobs to control tone and chorus/vibrato, a welcome addition. Tones can even be dialed in between the sections for further sonic explorations.

The H20 V3’s echo section also features some notable changes. In addition to Delay, Repeat, and Level knobs, there’s a slider switch for short and long delays, while the controlled oscillation brings the echo effects to new heights. As with previous H20s, the V3 has individual true bypass switching for each effect. New separate inputs and outputs allow the effects to be wired in any order. Don’t worry, though – there’s a default connection point so that they don’t have to be wired separately, thus saving on cabling.

The VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive is similar in construction to the H20 V3 and also offers flexible inputs and outputs and true bypass switching for each effect. This is where the similarities end. The VS-XO is indeed a “premium dual overdrive.” There are separate Drive, Tone, and Level controls for each side, and the right channel has a different EQ curve that makes it a bit more midrange-heavy without getting honky. There are also separate three-way switches for bass voicings and clipping diodes. The right channel has a Clean/Mix mini knob, and the left has a Bass knob.

The VS-XO’s versatility stands out immediately because the EQ curve for each channel has a very different sonic voice. Players of virtually any genre will find these settings useful for the gentlest of breakup or full-on overdriven lust. The warmth on both sides summoned by just the basic knobs makes this a very useful pedal, but from there it just gets better. The three-way Bass switch adds welcome girth to the midrange for heavier sounds, and each position makes way for numerous possibilities. The different clipping settings also demonstrate that, in addition to guitars, this box is perfect for basses and analog keyboards.

The real bonus comes from the Clean/Mix knob. Roll the right channel all the way over to clean for a clean boost for leads. The left channel can be driven harder by the right channel for much higher gain overdrives. Use the clean boost for a unique tone or drive into Drive for a full-on freight train of tone. The left channel is the more useful side for a main bass overdrive setting as it can fur up while retaining the low end needed to drive a group.

All in all, Visual Sound is making strides without losing sight of what has made them successful. The new housing designs will please players, and the new sounds are all top-shelf. The H20 V3 is sure to continue its legacy as a classic, while the VS-XO should join the ranks of boxes to be reckoned with.

This article originally appeared in VG October 2014 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

July 29, 2015