FrugalGuitarist.com - Jeff-Baker

Digitech Hot Head Distortion

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:00:00 -0500

Sometimes Frugal means downright inexpensive. Digitech’s Hot Head Distortion pedal runs a smooth fifty dollars, budgeted within the means of any guitarist considering buying a first pedal – and I imagine that’s partly the intention, getting the attention of people who aren’t familiar with the pedal industry with a product that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Digitech has a bit of a PR problem in today’s market that seems to stigmatize “digital,” especially digital distortion. Not everybody cares, but a lot of people insist (for better or worse) on analog only gear. Unfortunately for Digitech, their name and the prolific history of their digital effects and modeling units means that they have to go pretty far out of their way to get people to notice when a pedal isn’t digital. I think that might be why this pedal and others in the same series, which are all absolutely fully analog, get overlooked. I say it is unfortunate because for those willing to check it out, there’s a surprisingly useful pedal at a very attractive price!

To start with the basics, the Hot Head Distortion is packaged in a sturdy metal housing. It’s powered by either a battery in the easily accessible, spring-loaded battery compartment lock setup which you can access with a guitar cable’s pointy end, or by a standard Boss or Ibanez style 9V DC center-pin negative adapter. On top, it has four controls, a fairly standard setup of Level, Low, High, and Gain. They all do exactly what it says on the tin. One thing that stands out about the pedal (and the others in the same line) is that it has two outputs, one labeled Amp, the other labeled Mixer. The Mixer output is nothing sophisticated, no fancy, complex cabinet simulator here, but it does chop off the annoying, buzzy highs that are associated with going direct-to-board, and I imagine in the right (wrong, very wrong!) circumstances it could be a gig-saver.

The operation of the unit is perfectly familiar to anyone, I would imagine, though its intuitiveness doesn’t imply perfection. On the one hand, it’s a very “plug and play” pedal. The tone-shaping options are effective for what they are, giving you some boost and cut on the lows and highs, a setup that is easy to understand. On the other hand, the mids are pretty much fixed, and the pedal has more treble than many distortion pedals at the neutral position. The low frequency adjustment is very capable of dialing in the right amount of mid-bass, but it can be a little tricky to get the highs just right. A little clockwise and it’s way too bright, a little counter-clockwise and it’s muddy. The High knob has a narrow sweet spot with a given setup, somewhat compounded by the pedal’s potential lack of maximum output. If you have a high-output guitar and you’ve dialed back the High knob to get a more even tonal balance, you might find yourself cranking the level control and still just barely reaching unity – or, undesirably, just slightly shy. The last thing you want when you kick on a dirt box is for your sound to get aggressive and distorted but noticeably quieter than your clean tone!

Still, the level issue isn’t one that most people will encounter. What is remarkable about the pedal is that the actual distortion character is really beefy and full. That won’t come across if you’ve got the High knob cranked up, but keeping it closer to noon or a little before demonstrates a nice, chunky distortion, responsive to playing dynamics and pickup changes, with some real “Marshall-in-a-Box” flavor when dialed in. Its distortion can get harsh if you crank the Highs, and dull if you cut them too much, but there’s some wiggle room in which you get a variation on a nice tonal theme. Considering a lot of pedals at this price point are looked down on (rightfully or not) for just messing up your sound, I think the tone of the pedal is very much worth the small amount of time it takes to dial it in for your gear.

There are three things about the pedal which might affect your decision based on your other gear. First, it definitely doesn’t take “boost” pedals well. In fact, it sounds terrible with them. If you’ve got a high-output boost pedal that really cranks up the gain of your signal (in the electrical sense, not just a crunchy overdrive but a true level booster) the Hot Head responds by basically folding under the pressure, becoming very indistinct and almost sounding like a very badly designed fuzz pedal that decays into a mediocre distortion sound as the signal level goes down. Second, it is a buffered pedal, and while its buffers are suitable and compare perfectly well to other pedals in the price range and even higher, some pedals just don’t sound like they should when run after a buffered pedal, because they’re expecting the very different output impedance and voltage that a guitar plugged in direct provides. Then again, some pedals sound better with a buffer. It’s not a bad buffered design, just keep in mind that it is buffered. Third, it is my opinion that the switch design of this pedal is going to be relatively prone to failure. It’s a board-mounted micro-switch, triggered by a metal extension with some foam on the end. That definitely won’t hold up to repeated, aggressive use, and the “soft” feel of the pedal’s activation might inspire some guitarists to just stomp on it so they know it’s on. All switches fail eventually, but this particular type I have had negative experience with in the past.

Price: $49 USD
Pros: Very affordable; metal enclosure will hold up; a good sound, if a little bit of a one-trick pony; a primitive but effective mixer out that could save a gig if your amp goes south!
Cons: Limited sweet spot for any given guitar and amp setup; not quite enough level for some knob configurations; a less-than-robust switch combined with a “soft” activation will probably mean some players mash it and end up killing the switch early

IK Multimedia AmpliTube 3

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:00:00 -0500

AmpliTube 3 is the newest product in the venerable lineage of developer IK Multimedia's bass and guitar amp and effects modeling software. Every release in the history of the AmpliTube line has brought improvements, and AmpliTube 3 continues that tradition quite substantially, implementing a number of user requested features. They have definitely gone very far in their effort to make AmpliTube 3 the electric guitar and bass headquarters of your virtual studio, with more included gear than can be found in any other single AmpliTube-family release. Substantial usability improvements will make this a friendlier program for musicians of all stripes to break into, while simultaneously offering studio gurus more control over every aspect of the software.

Loading up AmpliTube 3, the first striking thing is just how much modeled gear there is at your fingertips. Fifty-one stomps, thirty-one amps, forty-six cabs, 17 rack effects, fifteen microphones, and, of course, a tuner, though it too seems to have been improved from the AmpliTube 2 family of products. It locks down quickly on the note without much jitter up and down. AmpliTube 3 includes all of the gear that came with AmpliTube 2, AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix, and AmpliTube Metal, plus some brand new models. For AmpliTube Fender and Ampeg SVX owners, don’t worry, the gear models from those programs show up and can be intermixed as usual with the AmpliTube 3 gear as long as you have the respective software installed and authorized. Amplitube 3 has, in a way, replaced X-Gear. There is no need for an external software shell when the program itself can handle add-ons as needed.

Don't think that the inclusion of the previous models is a lazy move on IK's part; they've all been practically reinvented, updated with IK's latest modeling technology to match the quality of their most modern models. It really shows, too; going from the new Orange model to the first-in-AmpliTube-2 THD Bivalve model, there's no drop off in quality in Amplitube 3. Comparing the AmpliTube 3 models directly to their AmpliTube 2 counterparts on the other hand is an eye-opener. If you've got a respectable audio interface, I feel comfortable saying you'll be as impressed as I am with the quality of the amp sounds in AmpliTube 3. It definitely earns the appellation “next-generation.”

Amp sounds don't work in a vacuum, though; there has to be a speaker there or else you've just got a fizzy mess. AmpliTube 3 has a brand new speaker module that has the most realistic full microphone spatial adjustment that I've yet encountered. Other companies have tried it, but with only limited success. Controlling the phase relationship between the two microphones has traditionally been the biggest problem, next to “just being a lame filter.” Well, IK Multimedia seem to have solved the former, and certainly aren't falling victim to the latter. Of course it's still possible (as it should be, realistically) to end up with an out-of-phase dual mic setup, but there are plenty of sweet spots, and they do sound sweet. Compared even to the great cabinet simulation in AmpliTube Fender, this is miles ahead. We're musicians, not mathematicians, but 41 cabinets, two mikes each, and 15 microphones with no limits on their placement makes for a lot of tonal options.

Given how successful the dirt pedal industry is, it shouldn't come as a surprise that there are a ton of dirt pedals to be found in the software (after all, just combining the huge selection of overdrive and distortion pedals from AmpliTube 2 and AmpliTube Metal, and all the vintage fuzz from AmpliTube: Jimi Hendrix gets you a lot). They've definitely received the treatment that the amp models got, too; the Tubescreamer model in AmpliTube 2 had a tendency to cause some undue fizz and hiss in the high end, but that's no longer the case, nor is it with any of the dirt pedals. I've got a box of physical dirt pedals, but I don't think that I can honestly say that my real distortion pedals sound better than these emulations. In cases where I was able to directly compare the emulation to the real deal, the differences were minor enough that they could be chalked up to normal part differences in a production run. Of course I don't own all or even a majority of the pedals modeled, but my experience with the ones that I do own was – if I may say again – impressive.

There are some really interesting effects in this go-around, including some synth-like effects which will bring new possibilities to AmpliTube users. For instance, there's a “Step Slicer” module which is essentially a user-controlled volume sequencer, good for making any sort of choppy sound that you can't get with a normal Tremolo. I particularly liked the Rezo filter, which can go before or after the amp, and which can be used to achieve some very interesting, highly layered sounds. With its combination of sympathetic resonance and post-filtering, plus a healthy dose of the rack Tube Compressor to catch swells before they got out of hand, I was able to get some very cello-like sounds out of a highly distorted amp. Combined with the Swell module, I'd imagine you could get pretty close to simulating a bowed instrument. Those new rack effects can be found in the Pedal section, as well, service to users who have requested interoperability between the two modules for years. There are new pedal effects this time, too, including some emulations of well-loved modulation pedals whose physical inspirations are made by companies like EHX, Marshall, Ibanez and others.

Considering how much you get with AmpliTube 3, and considering the uniformly high quality of the amps and effects this go-around...if I had the decision before me to stick with AmpliTube 2 and X-Gear or to go ahead and upgrade, the limiting factor would be how fast I could get out my wallet.

Something that everyone will appreciate about the new pedals and rack units is that they can be dragged-and-dropped, a feature that has been absent from the AmpliTube family of software until now. No longer will it be necessary to plan everything in advance or risk having to load all of your pedals or racks all over again one slot over. In addition to drag-and-drop editing, you can now also save and recall individual presets for pedals and rack modules – again, a feature that users have been wanting for a long time, and which IK is now glad to deliver. The Noise Gate has been substantially improved, as well, with a Depth control; previously I found it best to use an external noise gate, but now there's no need for that. Other small usability improvements and conveniences are present, as well, including three easily accessible quality buttons so you can choose the power:performance ratio that's right for your setup without having to understand what oversampling at various stages does for you and why you would want it. As usual the software fully integrates with IK Multimedia's StompIO and StealthPedal interfaces, and will also work well with any MIDI controller that you own.

While I don’t think I’ll be using it much in my own studio (where I prefer to run my modeling software as plugins inside my DAW), the standalone AmpliTube 3 does include a neat little 4-track recorder which makes it very easy to jot down ideas and put together quick jam tracks. It’s more fun to play when you’ve got a backing track, and this lets you quickly make your own. I can see it being a useful creative tool for users who like to run their software as a stand-alone application, and perhaps even as a live performance tool as well. Another new feature I will be getting quite a lot of use out of is the new preset manager. Previously, manipulating presets was a little bit clunky. Now, they’re stored with full meta-data that you can fill out, with easy folder management. That takes the trouble out of recalling the right sound for the job.

Considering how much you get with AmpliTube 3, and considering the uniformly high quality of the amps and effects this go-around, I don't hesitate to recommend the software. For new customers, the price is reasonable considering the vast and powerful array of options available. For those who already have any non-AmpliTube IK product, a crossgrade discount is available, and a steep upgrade discount down to $199.99 benefits those with an AmpliTube product most of all. If I had the decision before me to stick with AmpliTube 2 and X-Gear or to go ahead and upgrade, the limiting factor would be how fast I could get out my wallet.

Price: $349.99 new, $269.99 crossgrade from any IK product, $199.99 upgrade from AmpliTube 2 family products

Barber Direct Drive

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:00:00 -0500

I had initially planned on reviewing the Barber Direct Drive as part of our Marshall-in-a-Box Roundup. Sometimes things in the industry can get hectic, and their generally quite affordable pricing relative to the boutique market means that the economic downturn meant even more attention than usual for the good folks at Barber Electronics. The timing of everything just didn't work out to include the Direct Drive in that lineup. Perhaps that was for the best, though. I've been putting this pedal through the paces for several weeks now, and I don't think it really belongs in the Marshall-in-a-Box roundup. While it can pull off some convincing British-flavored tones, it doesn't seem to be aimed at capturing the well-known qualities of those amps specifically so much as giving you a flexible tool to nail your own sound.

I can understand why a lot of users say that the Direct Drive gets them a Marshall-like sound, and why Barber Electronics' page on the pedal draws on the ever-popular description “amp-like.” This is definitely one of the better overdrive to distortion pedals I've used, with a remarkably dynamic feel even at higher gain settings. It's no mystery that some guitarists plug into it and the first thing they think of is a cranked-up classic amp. All the same, I think there are a lot of clever features that make it a subtle and complex pedal. Some of them look you right in the eye, and some of them are under the hood. Having adjustable settings on the inside of the enclosure, I have found, is something of a staple in Barber pedals; I imagine users might have mixed feelings, some appreciating the “set it and forget it” interior controls, others wishing they could tweak the internals as easily as the external knobs. I fall reservedly in the first camp. Normally I would want all of the controls out on the front, but David Barber is a very smart designer and he has done a good job of making sure you've got the important things out front without sacrificing quality, usability, and space by loading down the exterior.

This is definitely one of the better overdrive to distortion pedals I've used, with a remarkably dynamic feel even at higher gain settings. It's no mystery that some guitarists plug into it and the first thing they think of is a cranked-up classic amp.

In the case of the Direct Drive, the outside gives you the classic three knobs, Volume, Tone, and Drive, one of which – the tone knob – is also a push-pull pot to switch between two different styles of drive. Inside, two trimpots control Bass and Presence. If the external Tone control were less effective, you might wish for those two on the outside, but in my usage I found that the external Tone really does a fine job of getting the sound you're after, and the internal controls are best used to give the pedal an initial setup for your particular rig. Once you have the overall bass and high-frequency characters dialed in to match your amp and cabinet, chances are you will have all of the adjustment you need out of the Tone control alone. Volume does exactly what it says, and there is plenty of output on this pedal. I tested it with a range of guitars and even with high-output active pickups, reaching unity gain was well below its maximum Volume. All the boost available is a handy feature in conjunction with the impressive versatility of its actual overdrive options.

I mentioned before that there is a push-pull pot to switch between two styles of drive, one more open and midrange-heavy and the other more compressed and rich in upper harmonics. The instruction sheet which ships with the pedal refers to these as being more British and more California in sound, respectively, and that's a fair ballpark assessment. In either mode, there isn't a spot on the Drive knob that sounds bad. Considering the amount of Volume output available, you could easily use this pedal as a traditional overdrive (with more tonal flexibility than most) to push an amp over the edge. Start turning up the Drive, though, and the pedal shows itself to be a powerful and responsive distortion pedal, easily capable of making your clean channel (or clean amp) roar. Any trick you can pull with a ripping amp can be done with the Direct Drive, from fat chords to liquid lead, from hot harmonics to controllable feedback, provided your amp is up to the task! And as you should expect from a high-quality dirt pedal, the Direct Drive is extremely responsive to volume knob changes and playing dynamics.

Barber's build quality is legendary among enthusiasts who scrutinize the internals of any pedal they come across, and the Direct Drive is no exception. I hesitate to use some of the common descriptions like “military spec,” because frankly I'm not sure how a guitar pedal relates to military matters, but I can say with certainty that the build quality of this pedal is such that it will be around for a long time to come. To top it off, at $119 its price compares favorably with many other boutique builders and big companies alike. It is a very frugal choice for the discerning guitarist.

Price: $119.99 USD direct
Pros: Excellent construction and tonal versatility
Cons: Some users will wish the internal adjustments werer top mounted

Wampler Ego Compressor

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:00:00 -0500

Though not the first compression pedal to feature a blend knob, the Wampler Ego compressor is one of the few, and among good company. Parallel compression, the practice of running a signal into two channels in parallel, one of which has a compressor in the signal path, has been a well-known and well-loved trick in the studio for some time. For instruments, you get the benefits of compression including improved sustain and a fuller sound without sacrificing the instrument's natural attack. Taking the concept from the studio to the stage was bound to happen eventually, and it did in the form of the pioneering Barber Tone Press, a few years before Brian Wampler's take on the concept made it to market. However, Brian is no copycat and his implementation of the concept includes some prudent and novel elements designed to allow a musician to get the most out of the pedal, whatever your compression needs. It might be the most comprehensive and flexible compression pedal of its kind.

...[The Ego Compressor] can give you a nice Nashville flavor for chicken-pickin' or result in an even, measured sound well suited to jazz runs. Add in its Tone control which allows you to get more or less presence, and it is a very flexible compressor...

You see, the Ego Compressor takes both sides of its compression very seriously. Brian describes the compression circuitry as being similar to the Ross and Dynacomp line of compressors, voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) compressors which have formed the basis for nearly all other VCA pedal compressors since their initial release decades ago, including some boutique favorites. Pretending for a moment that there is no blend knob, that the pedal is solely a compressor, it stands very well, with controls for the traditional Volume and Sustain (compression) knobs but also an Attack control to give you a range of adjustment over how fast the compressor starts its compression action. Adjusting the Attack slower results in gradual increase in sustain as you hold the note or chord, while faster Attack settings (depending on how much Sustain you've set) can clamp down on the loud transient when you pick and can give you a nice Nashville flavor for chicken-pickin' or result in an even, measured sound well suited to jazz runs. Add in its Tone control which allows you to get more or less presence, and it is a very flexible compressor for those who just want compression.

I doubt that folks looking into the Ego Compressor want “just compression,” though. The designer did well in making it a very worthy compressor, but the Blend knob is an important feature. The ability to get just the right ratio of unaffected, clean signal. Adjusted properly, your transients – the important split-second attack sounds that give different instruments a lot of their individual character – come through loud and clear, while still getting the fullness and added sustain that a compressor brings to the table. When using the Blend knob, the Attack knob has less affect by the nature of the parallel compression: the natural attack of the instrument is heard seamlessly over the compressed signal, and as the uncompressed signal starts to fade, the compressed signal becomes louder. It's a very good trick, well executed in this pedal, and not the sort of thing you will ever be able to pick out. You'll only hear your sound, with your natural attack, but fuller, fatter, and with more sustain. Add some Tone knob presence in the mix to taste.

The pedal is not inexpensive. At $199.99, Wampler clearly considers theirs a product worth investing in. Compared to its competition, though, I have to acknowledge that it offers the best of both worlds, and in that respect it is price competitive with its peers. A direct comparison will help illustrate the value of the pedal, and the two pedals that should be mentioned alongside are the well-respected Barber Tone Press and Keeley Compressor. It offers even more control over the compression side of things than the Keeley Compressor, while giving you the added benefit of parallel compression, and costs less. It is more expensive than the Barber Tone Press, but the Tone Press doesn't give you the same level of control over the compression, meaning if you find the attack not to your tastes there's not a lot you can do about it. Both the Barber and the Keeley compressors are made with high-quality components, and the Wampler Ego Compressor features similarly excellent construction with top-quality components and a rock-solid enclosure (finished in a sparkling metallic blue, to boot). My testing has proved to me that it has a great sound, with all the control that you could ask for and quiet operation as well. Whether it will find a place in your collection is up to you, but if you're in the market for a compressor that gives you everything that a compression pedal has to offer, consider the Wampler Ego Compressor.

Price: $199.99
Pros: High quality components and a sturdy enclosure, Extremely flexible
Cons: While it is price-competitive with other high-end compressors and offers a lot of features, $199.99 does mean that some frugal guitarists might have to save up if Santa is a little bit tight this year, or look to lower-priced alternatives.

Softube Effects Bundle

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:00:00 -0500

Some software packages are a mixed bag. It's not at all unheard of to buy a bundle just because you want half of what it's got, and the rest will sit more or less unused. The economics of bundles as a result isn't always straightforward. Thankfully none of that is the case with Softube's Effects Bundle. Consisting of Acoustic Feedback, Tube Delay, and Spring Reverb, each plugin makes a unique contribution to your virtual studio, and the package pricing is right on target for the functionality that they provide.

My introduction to the Effects Bundle was Acoustic Feedback, a plugin billed as a realistic guitar amplifier feedback simulator. There are three controls: one adjusts the mix of “feedback” to your dry signal, one controls how fast and strong the feedback comes on (including the upper harmonics that are generated), and one is a three-position threshold switch which lets you control how quickly it clamps down on the feedback or how wild it lets it run. Softube has allowed enough flexibility to use Acoustic Feedback as something like a harmonic tone generator at its more extreme settings.

Acoustic Feedback...[is] a must-try plugin, you might find that you can't let it go.

For realistic, controllable “cranked amp” feedback, I found subtle settings gave me the best results. While you do have to learn how it responds to your playing, after less than fifteen minutes with the plugin I was able to control the feedback very well. I really try not to gush over anything, because frankly very few products are perfect, but when you spend the time to get Acoustic Feedback dialed in it really does add a new level of dimensionality and authenticity to your virtual amp experience, and it works with any amp modeling software, free or commercial, Softube or otherwise. It isn't totally flawless, and you don't have quite as much room to play the feedback itself as you might like (because in the end it is still triggering on the input signal, which isn't infinitely sustained as with real feedback), but it definitely moves your whole modeling setup that much closer to virtual reality. A must-try plugin, you might find that you can't let it go.

The second plugin in the bundle is Spring Reverb, and it is modeled extremely carefully, simulating the whole operating range of a three-spring tank with adjustments to allow you to control the tension of the springs and even how many springs are engaged, as well as a mix control and a useful EQ section with a bass and a treble knob. The springs control adjusts smoothly and continually between just one spring in use, or a full three springs, and any ratio in between. I found that I like the in-between sounds quite a lot. The tension adjustment has a profound impact on the sound, just as it would in the physical world, and you should take care to experiment with the various options at hand. I appreciate the subtle spring reverb sounds available just as much as the clangier stuff, because many spring reverb simulations tend to emphasize the drippy and “big” reverb tones at the expense of a more nuanced range of reverberation. That isn't to say that really wet spring reverb isn't available, far from it – surf rockers shouldn't be disappointed. A unique feature is a fully automatable “Shake” control which replicates the brash, spontaneous jumble that happens if you jar a spring reverb (for instance, by kicking it!). Assign that to a midi foot switch and you can make your sound crash and clang on command.

The final plugin in the bundle is one that will take more getting used to for many. Called Tube Delay, the plugin offers all of the characteristics of a vintage tube-driven delay unit, including an extremely colorful preamp which is engaged whether the delay is adjusted wet or dry. Because the tube preamp has a very strong effect even on the direct signal, I preferred using this effect on its own track, blending the processed signal back in with the dry signal afterward. However I could see there being instances where you would want that really pronounced, vintage tube pre sound, and of course the option is there. Both the dry and wet paths have their own Drive control, providing control over the saturation present. The delay itself can be tuned with a number of adjustments, including a delay time from 1ms to 1000ms (which becomes different note steppings if the Tempo Sync option is engaged), a feedback control which sounds great wherever it's set, and Treble and Bass adjustments which impact the main sound as well as repeats. In any configuration, the sound is pretty lo-fi and characterful, but that's to be expected from this type of delay. It is a faithful recreation of a sound that isn't easy to get these days, and while it will take some getting used to for musicians used to modern, pristine digital delays, I think many will find it endearing after they give it a fair shake.

Softube's Effects Bundle is a powerful set of tools. Acoustic Feedback seems totally unparalleled, at least for now – they're the only game in town and they've done the job extremely well. Their Spring Reverb is natural and warm, with the appreciated ability to rumble and clang on command. Tube Delay is saturated in vintage mojo. While the price may seem steep at first glance, high-end effects plugins with this kind of sound quality can cost far, far more than what Softube is asking. Each plugin is $99 on its own, meaning if you really like the sound of two of them, you might as well get the bundle for $199 so that you have all three – and having all three will almost certainly add something to your studio that it could use. The one thing that might keep some away is the iLok requirement, even to demo the software. Still, if you have an iLok, I definitely recommend checking out the demo so that you can see for yourself what Softube can add to your sound.

Price: $199
Pros: Fully cross-platform, including a Deluxe version of Acoustic Feedback for ProTools users; Very fine effects quality, some of the best in the business.
Cons: iLok only

Softube Amp Room Bundle

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:00:00 -0500

What do users expect from amp modeling software? Some are “going virtual,” seeking a one-stop-shop with a warehouse full of amps and effects. Others need a quick fix, a way to get ideas down fast before they're lost sparing the hassle of recording equipment. Then there are those who are concerned first and foremost with getting an authentic amplifier experience: studio hands, professional or project, who want to be able to treat their virtual amplifier plugin as though it were a real amp in more or less every way. Softube's Amp Room series is aimed squarely at those users.

For the sake of amp “experience” realism, there are few effects packaged with any of the Amp Room software. Bass Amp Room has a limiter, Metal Amp Room has a noise gate, and Vintage Amp Room's amps only have whatever effect would be found on the original. Bass Amp Room comes with three cabinets and Metal Amp Room with two, and both the amps and cabs can be turned off for use with other plugins. Vintage Amp Room has the matched or attached cabs, but the same functionality is planned in the near future. Only Metal Amp Room has two microphones per cab. Bass and Metal Amp Room both have one amplifier, while Vintage Amp Room collects three.

I imagine some of you might be scratching your heads at the relative simplicity of these plugins, but Softube's philosophy involves giving the end user the ideal tool set for getting the amplifier sound just right. Their products offer someone who knows what sort of sound they're after the exact means to get that sound. It's no coincidence that though they are fully cross-platform compatible, they strongly service the ProTools market; their plugins end up in hands that have been on the amplifiers they digitally recreate, lending a sense of familiarity to those who have worked with the real hardware before.

There are a number of user-friendly touches that make dialing in your sound fast and painless. First, the cabinet modeling on all three programs is extremely well done. In each case, microphones (usually just one, except for Metal Amp Room's two) move only along a pre-determined path which takes them from the room, up to the amp right at the speaker cap, and then changing to a steep angle as the user drags it toward the edge of the cone. There are no apparent intermediate “steps” in the microphone's path of adjustment, and every point along the line has a good sound. Every microphone configuration possible is there for a reason, and I imagine users will find themselves using the full range of adjustment at different times. The neat thing about the microphone simulation is just how sophisticated it must be under the hood to give such an approachable, deceptively simple experience to the user.

The quality of hidden sophistication goes for the sound generally; I find it hard to fault Softube's sound quality in any of these programs. The Vintage Amp Room models are loaded with immediately recognizable character and depth. I found myself thinking of them as the actual amp being modeled rather than amp models in a program, which I believe is really Softube's goal. Metal Amp room brings modern, aggressive tones to the table, with the options – including easy dual-microphone control – needed to get a range of high-gain sounds appropriate for albums where the guitar parts might be tracked four at a time or greater. Bass Amp Room fills in the low end nicely, with a DI output that can be blended with the selected cabinet tone as needed for best results. Everything is simple, direct, and easy. Softube tells the truth when they say their software is intended to get great tones quickly “from a plug-in you don't need a degree in computer science to handle.”

Even so, having used the Softube Effects Bundle it is clear to me that Softube are very capable effects programmers as well. While I do understand the logic behind their choice to give the bare necessities for good tone, I still can't help but wish for some of the bells and whistles that they argue get in the way of dialing in real amp sounds. That just hasn't been my experience with software, and since I doubt the argument, I find myself wanting them to flex their effects muscles more than they have. I can see this being a point of contention among some users, especially given the market-relative price tier of the Amp Room software. Then again, some users will agree with Softube that the more you pack into a program, the more diluted becomes the focus of getting it to do its most important function best.

Effects or no effects won't matter to some, and Softube isn't alone in offering amplifier-focused modeling products. A more likely barrier to entry for many will be the price of their software. $300 for three amps in Vintage Amp Room and $199 for one amp in Metal and Bass Amp Room is steep, though with the Amp Room Bundle there are some savings to be had if you want the whole shebang. Again it will come down to whether you side with Softube on the question of what a user expects from modeling software. If you expect a warehouse of amps with a truckload of effects, you won't be satisfied with Softube's Amp Room products. If you just need something to jot down ideas, these plugins are not what you're looking for. But if you need a virtual amp that you can treat in nearly every sense as a real amp, which recreates the hands-on experience of turning some knobs and miking a cab for “that” sound, then you might be thinking about just the right product.

Price: $499 bundle; VintageAR $299, MetalAR $179, BassAR $179 Direct
Pros: Exceptionally realistic sound and response, user-friendly interface
Cons: Market-relative high price for few amps and next to no effects, Requires iLok.

ProTone Jason Becker Distortion

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:00:00 -0500

What makes a distortion pedal a Marshall-in-a-Box,? Different manufacturers would answer the question differently. Some would insist that it's the sound that counts, and that a pedal is a Marshall-in-a-Box if it can make your amp sound like a Marshall. Some would say it has to be flexible, so that you can achieve a wide range of Marshall-inspired sounds. ProTone takes the approach that in order to make a Marshall-in-a-Box, you need to take a well-loved Marshall amp and, with the power of electronics wizardry, make it smaller and smaller until it will fit into a little box - and once you've got it in there, why not take it even further and make it a Marshall-in-a-Box driven by a good dirt pedal, and fed into a boost to give you the power to kick in for a solo? To do it right, maybe you have to get the input and ears of someone whose work with Marshalls is well-regarded and recognizable... Take those ingredients and bake them in Dennis from ProTone's brain until golden brown, and the end result will be the ProTone Jason Becker Distortion.

If you aren't aware of Jason Becker's story, I recommend heading over to the wikipedia entry on him so that you can learn more. In short, Jason Becker was an amazingly talented and very creative guitarist who was one half of Cacophany (with Marty Friedman), recorded the solo instrumental album Perpetual Burn, and replaced Steve Vai in David Lee Roth's band. After recording the guitar work for that album, however, he was diagnosed with ALS, and was unable to tour with Roth in support. It was not long until Jason became completely paralyzed. However, his strength of will and the dedicated, loving care he's received from his parents have enabled him to outlive doctors' expectations many times over, and true to his passions he continues to compose music using an eye-movement communication system that his father developed. Jason Becker has been inspirational to many guitarists, including Will Chen and myself. Though he supplies a network of dealers that span countries with his other products, Dennis sells the ProTone Jason Becker Distortion pedal directly from the ProTone web site so that a substantial portion of each sale goes to Jason and his family.

The Jason Becker Distortion is styled much like Jason's signature guitars over the years have been, with a playful, childlike rainbow color scheme for the controls, and a graphic provided by Jason Becker's father, a painter. This pedal, pictured, is one of the early runs; since then they have changed to a graphic which prominently features a stylized image of Jason Becker's favorite guitar. The circuit and controls are the same. There is also a limited edition, hand signed and numbered in a run of 250, which features the lower half of the painting pictured here.

...the Master Volume adds its own flavor to things...if you turn the Master Volume up, something interesting happens and the sound gets thicker and ballsier, much more than you'd expect from a traditional pedal level adjustment.

The look matters because it's special and uniquely Jason, but of course there's much more to a pedal than its appearance. The Jason Becker Distortion is actually two pedals in one: first, an amp emulator with added overdrive as though boosted by a good pedal, with six controls: Preamp, Drive, Master, and a three-band Hi/Mid/Lo EQ. The second half is a class-A boost with a very warm sound, capable of getting some nice grit going as you crank it up. The amp side of things is extremely authentic. As you'd expect you can get very Becker-like distortion characteristic with some settings, but there's plenty more than just Becker's tone from this pedal. I'll say it again, it really does configure and respond a heck of a lot like a real amp, as though behind the colorful face and knobs, you're somehow adjusting the settings on a Marshall stack from the golden days of guitar gods.

The interaction between the Preamp and Drive controls is responsible for tuning the majority of your distortion, but the Master Volume adds its own flavor to things. I wouldn't say it's exactly like a 100W tube amp, because you can get killer, authentic British distortion using Master settings as low as 9 o'clock. However, if you turn the Master Volume up, something interesting happens and the sound gets thicker and ballsier, much more than you'd expect from a traditional pedal level adjustment. At lower Preamp and Drive levels you can add substantial crunch and girth to your tone by cranking the Master. For my tastes, I prefer the Preamp and Drive quite high, with the Master adjusted mostly for the right level of output rather than for tone, but I have to stress that adjusting it is more like adjusting an amp than any other pedal I have used. Everything that adds crunch, adds volume up to a certain point, just as you'd expect from a tube amp. The Boost side is no exception. It comes after the amp emulation circuit, so the amp side's output level (the sum of its Preamp, Drive and Master controls) will overdrive the Boost side further, adding even more thickness and warmth to the tone. Just as with a master volume tube amp, you have to balance your dirt in the signal path; too much drive, preamp and master volume crunch will be muddy, and too little won't give you enough output or sustain. Treat it like an amp with a solo boost and you'll do just fine.

The ProTone Jason Becker Distortion can be picky in how it responds to different amps. However, in my testing I was able to dial it in to sound great with all of my amps, and many modeled ones as well. While the 3-band EQ gives you control over the tone, the pedal's voicing is brighter than neutral so you might take care with very bright amps. It has a great deal of midrange to punch through the mix, and the bass is never unreasonable and it is easy to get the right amount for your needs. The only thing that a frugal guitarist might balk at is the price. $289 for a distortion pedal is not a trivial expense in any sense of the word, though part of its price is due to the hefty cut that Jason Becker and his family receive from each sale. Its dual functionality adds value, since good boosts can run $100 or more, and you'll be hard pressed to find a more authentically amp-like experience in a pedal. Ultimately, the choice is yours. What would Jason do?

Price: $289 Direct ($319 for the Limited Edition, 250 hand-numbered and signed with a special graphic)
Pros: Very good response to playing dynamics and volume knob changes, Gain-staging is exceptionally amp-like,a good portion of the proceeds from each one sold goes to Jason Becker and his family
Cons: Brighter voicing limits compatibility with treble-heavy amps, High price compared to much of its competition puts it out of reach of some frugal guitarists

Radial Tonebone Hot British Tube Distortion

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:00:00 -0500

Radial is a Canadian company with a reputation of providing high-quality pedals and other tools to professional guitarists. Luckily, regular folks like me can get their hands on them, too, at prices which are competitive given their market and sophistication. Before I dig in to the details, I imagine you are wondering what sets this pedal apart. By now you've heard a number of pedals in our roundup which all claim to get some aspect or era of the Marshall Sound, and you might have noticed that each pedal accomplishes its goal of sounding like one Marshall or another. It might not seem amazing, then, just to say that the Tonebone Hot British achieves the basic goal of a Marshall-in-a-Box. You might be more impressed to hear that with the Hot British, it's really more like having a big box full of Marshalls. If that piques your curiosity, read on!

One glance at the Hot British confirms that a lot of thought has been given to versatility. The face of the pedal might be imposing if it weren't arranged neatly: there are five knobs (Level and Drive, as well as High, Low and Contour) and three switches (Top End, Voicing and Mid Boost) with three positions each and a true bypass switch. Just looking at the controls does a great deal to explain their nature. We're all familiar with High and Low, but the switches all have a little frequency-response graph picture by each position to give you a visual representation of each one's effect on the sound. The controls are interactive and in some cases quite related. The High control and the Top End switch are used together to configure your treble, while the Contour knob is like a parametric midrange adjustment with center frequency and width controlled by the Voicing switch.

The Mid Boost switch doesn't directly interact with the other controls, but it has such a profound effect on the sound of the pedal that you might find yourself setting the controls flat, picking a Mid Boost position, and then working from there. While the initial impression might be that the pedal's tonal adjustments are dauntingly complex, the learning curve is manageable. Read the documentation and if you have any trouble the thorough instructions on Radial's web site, with charts to explain how everything fits together, should have you up to speed in no time.

...with its powerful tone shaping, the Hot British can give you at bare minimum a recognizable representation of any Marshall amp's voicing, and in many cases it goes well beyond that.

If the downside to sophisticated tone controls is a learning curve, the big pay-off is versatility. The eras of rock and roll to date each have an iconic Marshall amplifier that powers many of the hits, and while the basic formula and circuit changed only in small increments over the years, those small changes gave each its own unique voicing and overall character. The majority of classic Marshall amps have a strong family resemblance in their basic sound, but just as in a real family, the interesting stuff is in the nuances. Equipped with its powerful tone shaping, the Hot British can give you at bare minimum a recognizable representation of any Marshall amp's voicing, and in many cases it goes well beyond that.

Is it the perfect product, then? Have we finally found the absolute be-all, end-all of Marshall-in-a-Box pedals? As competent and multifaceted as this remarkable pedal is, I can offer some critique. The only notable shortcoming of the pedal is an intermittent problem with output level which occurs with some EQ settings, especially darker ones or those in which the Mid Boost is set to zero. If you happen to like a really dark, grungy tone - say, a Big Muff into a JCM900 kind of sound – you might find yourself with the level maxed and still not at unity output. On the other hand, with the Mid Boost engaged and the Treble set to Flat or higher, you'll find that you might only be at a little over half-way and already at unity. The other thing worth mentioning is really just something to keep in mind. With hot pickups, and depending on how the tone controls are set, higher Drive levels can become quite grainy and fizzy, leaving Marshall territory for something less auspicious. However, that is really only because of the amount of gain available – for reference, in the demo clip, I never had the Drive control above two-thirds using a Seymour Duncan JB bridge humbucker. With single-coils, all that gain on tap comes in handy.

The Hot British does have special power needs, provided for by the included 15V DC/400mA wall wart, and the industry as a whole has a problem with the barrel-ends of adapters all being the same, even when incompatible power will kill a pedal. In this case, you might want to label the end of the included adapter so that you don't inadvertently plug it into a pedal that can't handle the juice. That extra voltage translates into superior headroom in the hybrid solid-state/tube clipping circuitry compared to 9V pedals, a fact you will appreciate when playing dynamic rhythm and leads. Radial has done a fine job with the Tonebone Hot British, providing a pedal which manages to capture the essence of the Marshall tone while simultaneously allowing you the freedom to pick which sort of Marshall tone you want, all in a sturdy and attractive package at a competitive price.

Price: $199 Street
Pros: Rugged construction and flexible tone shaping
Cons: Inconsistent output on some settings, hot pickups can cause a grainy, fizzy sound if you're not careful with the Drive control

Wampler Plextortion and Super Plextortion

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:00:00 -0500

Wampler may be a relatively small builder, but they have big ambitions, a big selection of pedals, and big sounds. I've had the pleasure of reviewing two of their products for this Marshall-in-a-Box Roundup, the Plextortion and the Super Plextortion. These two pedals sometimes perplex potential buyers, as evidenced from threads at places like Harmony Central and The Gear Page asking about the differences between these outwardly similar pedals. By the end of my review, my hope is that you will have all the information you need to determine whether one or both of these pedals is right for you, and why. They each have particular strengths and their own pros and cons, and though they do have similar names, boxes, and even prices, they each have their own distinctive characteristics and sounds. To discuss their similarities and differences, I have to start somewhere, so I'll begin by giving the Plextortion (which, in fairness, came first) its moment in the spotlight.

The Wampler site describes the Plextortion as having been originally aimed at getting tones similar to a Marshall JCM800 head into a Celestion Greenback cab. I find that description isn't too far off. The pedal as a whole is voiced darker than neutral, but with a really strong midrange bark that probably underwrites their claim to Greenback fame. There are five face controls and a two-position switch, including the usual Volume and Gain controls as well as a three-band EQ in a standard treble/midrange/bass arrangement. Unlike many three-band pedal EQ sections, the controls function with an appropriate degree of separation that ensures they will all be useful throughout their whole range, no matter where the others are set. In addition to the EQ controls, there is a characteristically cool, very Wampler feature (Brian's other designs feature similarly thoughtful “extra” features): a vintage/modern switch which adjusts between two overall voicings which do about what you would expect. I preferred the Vintage voicing, which has a somewhat more relaxed midrange, though not scooped by any means. However, both modes are perfectly usable, and which you prefer will depend on your preferences and your setup. The option is more than many pedals provide, and I appreciated it.

The Plextortion has a surprising range of available gain. When I first got it in, I spent a lot of time playing it with my strat with the pedal's gain at around 10 o'clock or so. At that level, I was getting great “strat into a Marshall” tone, from clean to crunch just by digging in harder. In the demo clip for this pedal I used my Schecter C-1 Classic with the bridge Seymour-Duncan JB coil-tapped to demonstrate some of the lovely lower gain tone the pedal packs. However, listen further in the clip and you too might be surprised by just how much distortion the Plextortion packs. To my ears, the range of gain goes from Plexi-era crunch and even before, all the way to '80s hot-rodded modified JCM800 distortion. With an EQ after the pedal to more precisely sculpt its frequency profile, you might even be able to play some of the 1980s metal that made use of Marshall amps. The stock EQ controls will do everything you need shy of metal, quite impressive for a three-band; don't take it as a blow that to do more extreme music, it might need a little help tone-shaping. There's a whole range from sizzle to scream that this pedal covers all on its own. Speaking of help, though, if you're like me and you like stacking overdrive pedals, you'll find this pedal to be extremely fruitful and fun; it is flattering to overdrives placed before it, and the right combination can sound absolutely incredible.

If you've ever wondered how guitar virtuosos get such clear, ringing tone even with high amounts of gain, a lot of it comes down to picking, and while you won't get clean-to-dirty with your pick at lower gain settings, the Super Plextortion will easily follow expressive pick attack when things are already roaring.

The Super Plextortion also has five face controls and a switch. Though its EQs share with the Plextortion the benefit of working well together regardless of how they're set, the tone controls are voiced brighter overall, with less thump and more chug to the bottom end, less sizzle and more edge in the top, and a more focused midrange adjustment resulting in a more modern voicing than the Plextortion. My observation there jives with the description on Wampler's site that the Super Plextortion was voiced for a more contemporary distortion sound. There's more to the Super Plextortion than just modern distortion, though: its switch has three positions, each of them a distinct gain pathway that changes the nature of the circuit fundamentally to give you what amounts to three pedals in one. On the lowest setting, you have a range of gain from practically clean boost up to a standard overdrive-pedal grit, while the highest setting ranges from crunchy to all-out, almost Soldano-ish high gain distortion. The middle switch position is extremely versatile, with a range from light grit to harder edged distortion. You can play anything from classic rock to grunge to modern hard rock with the middle switch setting. All three switch positions give you a whole pedal's worth of sound to work with, and virtually guarantee that you'll find some flavor of “your” sound in this easy to use but quite deep dirt pedal. The Super Plextortion has an interesting, highly textured character to its distortion that is smooth but gritty, the balance between them depending on how much gain you've got going. I think you'll be impressed by its dirt regardless of where you've got the switch and gain set.

You can probably tell that there are some real overlapping proficiencies between these two units. Take my word for it that their fundamental distortion tones are not identical, but they each have some things clearly in common. As they say, though, the devil's in the details, and in this case your decision to go with one of these pedals over the other might very well come down to the subtle differences between them. Of the two, the original Plextortion is the more dynamically responsive pedal, more easily going from clean to crunch with only your picking attack. Both can be controlled very effectively via your guitar's volume knob, and the Super Plextortion still has admirable dynamics for a modern-voiced pedal, but the Plextortion achieves something really special in its ability to clean right up but then really get down with some pressure on the strings. It will even pull that off with medium-high output humbuckers, which in my experience is genuinely something special.

While the Super Plextortion doesn't have the dynamics excellence of its brother (which, remember, in this context only means that it responds perfectly “only” to volume knob changes), it makes up for that in extreme versatility thanks to two things. First, the three distinct gain pathways available are all really useful, and you can get a good sounding, recognizably Marshall-esque tone in nearly any idiom. Second, its EQ, thanks to the generally higher focus of all three bands, plays nicely with nearly any amplifier or cabinet. It also wins out in how it sounds at higher gain settings, retaining clarity and cohesiveness with complex chords. At those higher distortion levels it also makes up some ground on the dynamics of the Plextortion, with great amp-like dynamics when you dig in with your pick. If you've ever wondered how guitar virtuosos get such clear, ringing tone even with high amounts of gain, a lot of it comes down to picking, and while you won't get clean-to-dirty with your pick at lower gain settings, the Super Plextortion will easily follow expressive pick attack when things are already roaring.

Both pedals succeed in the area that is most important for this roundup: they both sound immediately, recognizably Marshall. For the demo clips, I ran it into the '65 Twin Reissue model on AmpliTube Fender. As Wampler says on their site, running any pedal into a Marshall results in a “Marshally” sound, so I thought the best choice here would be to show how these pedals can take a Fender Twin clean sound and morph it into something very British in flavor. That, after all, is the goal: through the power of a little box (or two!), lend some of that classic Marshall magic to your beloved clean amplifier. Each of these Wampler pedals has some magic to contribute to your setup, though such magic has its price, substantial enough to keep all but the most dedicated seekers from enjoying the sounds of both. Take heart, though, and may my review help you make the decision which, if either, are for you.

Plextortion
Price: $189
PROS: Extremely dynamic; darker classic Marshall voicing; Modern switch gives you some more contemporary tones if you want them
CONS: Price might put it out of reach of some frugal guitarists; darker voicing might make it tougher to dial in for especially dark amps

Super Plextortion
Price: $199
PROS: Great versatility;distortion character really shines for crunch and higher gain
CONS: Also relatively pricey; the lowest gain switch position doesn't benefit as much from the pedal's strengths as the medium and higher gain switch positions

Groove Monkee

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:00:00 -0500

The drums are among the most difficult instruments to record well. From room selection for proper acoustics, to ensuring good phase between the many microphones used, to getting consistently high-quality takes, drums present challenges which are significant even for seasoned audio engineers, and which can be a real headache for project studios. Modern software solutions to the problem of recording drums are exciting and useful, but they are a double-edged sword. In getting rid of the problem of recording drums, they have also gotten rid of perhaps the most important aspect of getting a good drum track: the drummer.

While drummers might be the butt of the majority of musician jokes, the fact is that drumming is a unique and creative enterprise, and good drummers have an effortless groove and feel to their playing that drum machines are notoriously unable to match. Even if the drum machine were up to it (and modern drum software has made great advances in this area, with intelligent humanizing that can introduce just the right level of “swing” into a track), the no-drummer problem still isn't solved. You still have to be able to actually program the drum tracks to get a good final outcome. After all, even though modern drum sequencing software usually comes packed with MIDI drum loops and segments, there are always gaping holes in your default options, and that puts a producer in a hard spot if he or she is unable to program drums to the same level of quality.

At least it used to. A companion industry to modern drum sequencing software has well and truly risen, and some third-party companies are now offering drum MIDI libraries. Groove Monkee is one such company, but their product stands out to my mind. First, they offer a wide variety of libraries, ranging from traditional music like pop, rock and country, to more esoteric genres like metal, fusion, jazz, funk and progressive, and more besides. Second, their collections are both expansive and sensible, with many loops but arranged carefully and intelligently for easy and speedy programming. Finally, they successfully address the no-drummer problem by having real drummers record their grooves. Buying a Groove Monkee package is like getting your very own session drummer who's always on call, royalty-free.

To get an idea of how versatile these packages are, in the Blues library alone, even though the style is well known for its relative simplicity, there are over 800 drum loops. In the Progressive library, there are 1,900 loops! The Studio Pack combines the majority of the Groove Monkee products and adds more than 11,000 professional-quality drum loops to your creative toolbox, representing more than 70 musical styles. If any one pack is like getting an on-call session drummer, the Studio Pack is more like having your very own percussionist guild at your beck and call. Big numbers don't mean much without quality, but given that the Groove Monkee loops are, in my experience, uniformly high quality, those numbers translate to hundreds, thousands, or even more unique, great sounding drum tracks for your recordings.

The basic nuts-and-bolts are well thought-out, too, with individual installers and/or installation instructions for all of the major software drum sequencers. I personally tested them with Toontrack EZdrummer, and while EZdrummer is well loved for its included libraries, I admit that after installing Groove Monkee's comprehensive Studio Pack it's hard to go back to the comparatively limited loops that come with EZdrummer. Other software has even more flexibility in tuning the “acoustics” of the performance, so as impressed as I was using Groove Monkee's libraries with EZdrummer, I can only imagine how much more satisfying it would be with a more thoroughly tunable sequencer. Groove Monkee offers a good sampler on their web site, so if you're curious to hear the product for yourself before making up your mind, I encourage you to check it out. After you put together your first song with the easier, better sounding, grooving loops they offer, I doubt it will be a hard decision. A harder decision might be deciding whether to tell them the truth when your friends hear your recordings and ask who is your great new drummer!

Price: $29.95 for individual packs; $249 Studio Bundle; Smaller bundles ranging from $49.95 to $69.95
Pros: Excellent integration with a variety of sequencer software
Cons: None