5 Year Old Rock Stars
Someday, when my oldest daughter asks me what the first song was we ever played together, I'll get to tell her it was "Another Brink in the Wall, Part 2."
I think we could have done a lot worse.
Truth be told, the first song she ever sang along to while I played was "Let it Go", from Disney's Frozen, because of course it was. That doesn't count though. She was just singing. This time, she was actually playing drums... Kind of. She was hitting various drums and cymbals to the rhythm, so in my book that counts.
Seriously though, everyone should go out and buy a TC Electronics Ditto. For such a low price, you can have a creative tool that allows for jamming all by yourself as well as layering opportunities that might arise when you've got a 5 year old eager to become a rock star.
Why so Angry?
Years and years and years ago, I remember going into the local music store and asking my favorite guy for a recommendation. It was probably one that he had heard about a thousand times before, and I'm sure he was sick of kids asking it:
"I want a pedal that will give me that Marshall sound."
While today that question seems easy to answer, I was asking long before the appearance of the MI Audio Crunch Box, which to me was the first step towards really good "Marshall-in-a-pedal". I won't get too far into why I didn't keep that one, save to say that the interaction with the guitar's volume was non-existent.
Back to the question though, the sales associate suggested the just-new-on-the-market ZOOM Hyper-Lead, which was part of Zoom's first attempt (and maybe only) at stand alone pedals. The price was right, and I trusted this guy, so I took it home that afternoon.
I've hated it ever since. I've tried to sell it. Nobody wants it. There didn't seem to be a single usable sound in the thing, mostly on account of there being much too much compression. Getting it to interact with an amp properly was near impossible, though with a hyper-clean amp it seemed to do best (might explain the name?).
Why am I going on about this? The Angry Charlie, that's why. After all these years, the problem seems to have been solved with a pedal that interacts with the guitar like a good overdrive should, but sounds like a JCM 800 set to "melt-face".
Good Grrrrrrrrrief.
Boss makes a bunch of pretty reasonably priced, rock solid, pedals. While they seem to have fallen considerably out of favour int he rush of boutique builders flooding the market, I still think they make great sounding gear that is second to none in terms of durability.
I can't think of a Boss pedal I've owned and now miss though, so uh, yeah... Which brings us to the above posted Boss ME 50. $180 bucks for a multi-effect unit that is supposedly the innards of many Boss pedal is a pretty good deal, though I've always been skeptical: If one of these units is ACTUALLY equivalent to all of the pedals it claims to be, isn't that a terrible business model?
Boss has pretty much killed the used market for these with the introduction of the Katana amp range. Why pay $180 for this when for a bit more you could pick up a Katana? Well, a lot of reasons actually, but none really matter here. Buyers for this type of thing fall into two categories if you ask me:
In either case, this unit will still be a cool "have it but don't really need it", but the price would have to come down to the sub-$100 level for that to happen.
This could almost be considered a "Mary Kaye" Stratocaster, except for that terrible pick guard, and while that makes this guitar a head turner, $500 is ludicrous for this instrument. Considering new ones list for slightly over $500, you have to ask yourself what this seller has been smoking.
Something I've noticed on every Classic Vibe I've picked up is the fairly thick finish on the necks. I've never been a big fan of this, and have actually recently taken sandpaper to my maple boarded EJ Strat to bring the back of the neck closer to my American Series Telecaster (400 followed by 2000 in case you're wondering).
That success has me thinking that something like this might make for an interesting project, though probably not one that I'll have the commitment or patience for.
This seems like a pretty cool amp for someone looking for Fender vintage-vibe without having to spend the money associated with the name. There's a great video by Shane of "InTheBlues" covering the reissue of this amp. I don't think this one is a reissue, but to be honest I'm not too sure. If this IS an original, it seems like a great price.
Honestly, if I hadn't just spent the money I did on the Z, I'd probably take a chance on this thing.
Call me crazy, but I think Peavey is making a bit of a comeback in terms of reputation. Aside from the 5150 (which is no longer the 5150 thanks to FMIC), they've never really had much sex appeal, but that wasn't their game. Their game was solid, affordable, good sounding amplifiers.
They were/are good at that. The ValveState range is, for my money, the best bang for buck in the solid state amp world in terms of tone and reliability. I had a silver stripe studio pro that got me through High School without complaint, and the red stripe envoy currently sitting in my living room is a great little amp (though little is a misnomer for something that loud).
So Peavey makes great solid state amps that sound just like tube amps and are affordable, but decides they need to make the Valve King amps as well. I should probably reserve judgement until I hear one, but I'm highly skeptical that Peavey would make an affordable Tube amp that was so clearly superior to their long-celebrated "sounds like a tube but isn't" technology.
I think we could have done a lot worse.
Truth be told, the first song she ever sang along to while I played was "Let it Go", from Disney's Frozen, because of course it was. That doesn't count though. She was just singing. This time, she was actually playing drums... Kind of. She was hitting various drums and cymbals to the rhythm, so in my book that counts.
Seriously though, everyone should go out and buy a TC Electronics Ditto. For such a low price, you can have a creative tool that allows for jamming all by yourself as well as layering opportunities that might arise when you've got a 5 year old eager to become a rock star.
Why so Angry?
Years and years and years ago, I remember going into the local music store and asking my favorite guy for a recommendation. It was probably one that he had heard about a thousand times before, and I'm sure he was sick of kids asking it:
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| Pictured Here: Years of Disappointment |
While today that question seems easy to answer, I was asking long before the appearance of the MI Audio Crunch Box, which to me was the first step towards really good "Marshall-in-a-pedal". I won't get too far into why I didn't keep that one, save to say that the interaction with the guitar's volume was non-existent.
Back to the question though, the sales associate suggested the just-new-on-the-market ZOOM Hyper-Lead, which was part of Zoom's first attempt (and maybe only) at stand alone pedals. The price was right, and I trusted this guy, so I took it home that afternoon.
I've hated it ever since. I've tried to sell it. Nobody wants it. There didn't seem to be a single usable sound in the thing, mostly on account of there being much too much compression. Getting it to interact with an amp properly was near impossible, though with a hyper-clean amp it seemed to do best (might explain the name?).
Why am I going on about this? The Angry Charlie, that's why. After all these years, the problem seems to have been solved with a pedal that interacts with the guitar like a good overdrive should, but sounds like a JCM 800 set to "melt-face".
Good Grrrrrrrrrief.
Boss ME 50 - $180
Boss makes a bunch of pretty reasonably priced, rock solid, pedals. While they seem to have fallen considerably out of favour int he rush of boutique builders flooding the market, I still think they make great sounding gear that is second to none in terms of durability.
I can't think of a Boss pedal I've owned and now miss though, so uh, yeah... Which brings us to the above posted Boss ME 50. $180 bucks for a multi-effect unit that is supposedly the innards of many Boss pedal is a pretty good deal, though I've always been skeptical: If one of these units is ACTUALLY equivalent to all of the pedals it claims to be, isn't that a terrible business model?
Boss has pretty much killed the used market for these with the introduction of the Katana amp range. Why pay $180 for this when for a bit more you could pick up a Katana? Well, a lot of reasons actually, but none really matter here. Buyers for this type of thing fall into two categories if you ask me:
- Someone who wants to dabble in a bunch of different effects, to inform the next addition to their higher end setup. For these folks, which includes me, I feel like the Katana and the companion software are just the ticket. Plugging in a unit like the ME50 to my carefully considered signal chain seems like sacrilege.
- Someone who wants an all-in-one solution, for which the Katana seems specifically designed.
In either case, this unit will still be a cool "have it but don't really need it", but the price would have to come down to the sub-$100 level for that to happen.
Squier Classic Vibe - $500
This could almost be considered a "Mary Kaye" Stratocaster, except for that terrible pick guard, and while that makes this guitar a head turner, $500 is ludicrous for this instrument. Considering new ones list for slightly over $500, you have to ask yourself what this seller has been smoking.
Something I've noticed on every Classic Vibe I've picked up is the fairly thick finish on the necks. I've never been a big fan of this, and have actually recently taken sandpaper to my maple boarded EJ Strat to bring the back of the neck closer to my American Series Telecaster (400 followed by 2000 in case you're wondering).
That success has me thinking that something like this might make for an interesting project, though probably not one that I'll have the commitment or patience for.
Music Man RD Fifty 122 - $500
This seems like a pretty cool amp for someone looking for Fender vintage-vibe without having to spend the money associated with the name. There's a great video by Shane of "InTheBlues" covering the reissue of this amp. I don't think this one is a reissue, but to be honest I'm not too sure. If this IS an original, it seems like a great price.
Honestly, if I hadn't just spent the money I did on the Z, I'd probably take a chance on this thing.
Peavey Valve King 112 - $250
Call me crazy, but I think Peavey is making a bit of a comeback in terms of reputation. Aside from the 5150 (which is no longer the 5150 thanks to FMIC), they've never really had much sex appeal, but that wasn't their game. Their game was solid, affordable, good sounding amplifiers.
They were/are good at that. The ValveState range is, for my money, the best bang for buck in the solid state amp world in terms of tone and reliability. I had a silver stripe studio pro that got me through High School without complaint, and the red stripe envoy currently sitting in my living room is a great little amp (though little is a misnomer for something that loud).
So Peavey makes great solid state amps that sound just like tube amps and are affordable, but decides they need to make the Valve King amps as well. I should probably reserve judgement until I hear one, but I'm highly skeptical that Peavey would make an affordable Tube amp that was so clearly superior to their long-celebrated "sounds like a tube but isn't" technology.
