Old Guitars

I really love old guitars. Love them. It doesn't matter if it's a Gibson, a Fender, or even an old Matsumoku no-name. The vast majority of old guitars sound and feel great, regardless of monetary value. A cheap 60's Dano can sound as good as any modern day Gibson in the right hands.
Boom. Dano. In my experience, there is NO SUCH THING as an old guitar that sounds bad, once it's fixed up and set up. There's a sort of magic that comes with vintage. Go find some old Sears or Montgomery Ward guitar and play around with it. You'll have fun.

Spider Capo and Harmonik Gloves!

This is a cool contest; check it out here: http://www.guitartrump.com/2011/12/giveaway-spidercapo-harmonik-gloves.html

Line 6 Echo Park delay!!!

     So this summer I made some money selling some old trading cards I had. I got $100 for them, and I was planning to spend the money on a Dunlop Fuzz Face; I'm a huge Jimi Hendrix fan. Then, being a big U2 fan as well, I realized that a delay would be a lot more useful. The best I could find for my price range online was a Boss DD3 Digital Delay. After I got my money, I asked my dad to take me to Guitar Center to buy the DD3. I got there, and after messing with it for a few minutes, I asked the guy if there were any more delay units in that range. He showed me a Line 6 Echo Par for $100 on clearance. My friend had of these, so I knew they were good. I would have planned on one from the start, but they're about $150 new, and that was mostly out of the question. I went to check out, and it turned out there was some other sale, bringing the price down to $70. I ended up purchasing a protection play and a couple of 6 inch right-angle cables with my extra money, bringing my total up to about $116, if I remember correctly. Happy with my purchase, I went home and started messing around. Since I bought it, I have learned multiple U2 songs, and have gained even more respect for The Edge (How does he come up with those parts anyway?). I've also been left wanting even more pedals so I can play more U2 songs (hopefully I'll be able to get a Digitech Whammy review up after Christmas!). Anyway, down to business.
     The Echo Park is a great delay. My favorite feature is the Tap Tempo. It's great for U2, because you just have to set it to Dotted Eighth Note, tap to the tempo of the song, and it'll automatically convert your beats into  dotted eighth note delay intervals. You can also set it to Reverse, Ping Pone, Eighth Note Triplet, Slap Back, Quarter Not (or course!), and more. I also like how it can emulate tape or analog delay, or use straight digital delay. I usually use digital, as that is what The Edge usually uses, but I have messed around with the tape and analog settings, especially when I need good modulation for my infinite-repeat soundscapes! Setting the Repeat knob to max and twisting the Time knob produces some pretty spacey and siren-like sounds, that scare the living daylights out of my cat, especially when I'm using stereo outputs. I have virtually nothing bad to say about this pedal. The only thing that could make it better would be a digital readout of exact milliseconds. The Echo Park is the perfect delay for an Edge wannabe on a budget. I highly recommend it to anyone who plays guitar.

Fender Stage 100 DSP Combo Review!

The Fender Stage 100 DSP is a great little (or not so little) combo amp. At 100 watts (solid state), it packs a punch even at low volume. I rarely use it above 3 or 4 on the volume, or I'll blow my ears out in my reverb-filled basement. It has great tone, and the onboard effects are mostly pretty good. It has nice drive, and even an effects loop, so I can actually use my delay AFTER the amp effects. My only complaints are pretty minor. First, the amp always has a slight static/hum that can be heard when you're not playing. Most amps have this, but it is definitely more noticeable on this amp, and is very undesirable for recording. Second, It only has a single Celestion speaker. There's easily room in the cab for 2 speakers, and I'm planning to add another sometime in the future. It sounds great, though, and it has an output for an extension cab, too. I got the thing for $100, so I shouldn't complain at a buck per watt. Third, every once in a while, the amp will develop a hiss beyond what it normally has. At first it's just annoying, but eventually it overtakes the guitar signal, and you have to turn the amp off and leave it for a while before it works again. This happened a couple times a few months ago, and didn't happen again until very recently, and now it's doing it a lot (any help in the comments would be appreciated!). All in all, this is a great amp, and I love the tones I can get from it.