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GEAR 404 • J. Rockett Archer vs Electro-Harmonix Soul Food – Klone Comparison

Gear, Pedals, , , , , ,

This demo compares two popular clones (Klones) of the Klon Centaur, the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food and the J. Rockett Archer. I already talked some about the Soul Food when I compared it to the Tube Screamer (link below), and so here I spend a little time looking at the Archer. J. Rockett built the first 1,500 KTR pedals for Klon, so they are familiar with the Klon’s build quality and design attributes. Rather than try to figure out which one sounds more like a Klon, however, my goal here is to evaluate the pedals on their own merits… and both of these pedals offer similar yet slightly different flavors of transparent overdrive. Compared to each other, the Soul Food is a little brighter, a little more cutting, and has more clarity. The Archer is warmer/darker, thicker, and has a little more hair/grit on the gain.

This demo was recorded with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups, Fender Original Bullet pure nickel strings) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.

The demo and comparison with the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer and the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food is here.

J. Rockett Audio – http://rockettpedals.com

EHX page for the Soul Food: http://www.ehx.com/products/soul-food

LIVE 004 • I’m on Fire by Bruce Springsteen

Classic Rock, Live, , , , ,

My mom is a big fan of Bruce Springsteen and used to play the Born In The U.S.A. album a lot. Listening to it again as an adult, it’s a sad, powerful album with some great tunes. I’m on Fire is a really cool little song – almost a sketch at under 3 minutes long, but it really creates a great atmosphere in that short amount of time. I had fun playing it fingerstyle and hope you enjoy my arrangement. Here’s to The Boss.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

All rights reserved to this arrangement, however students may perform the arrangement in public.

GEAR 403 • Joyo Sweet Baby Overdrive Pedal

Gear, Pedals, , , ,

Here is my review and demo of the Sweet Baby overdrive pedal from Joyo. An inexpensive clone of the Sweet Honey overdrive from Mad Professor, I prefer to evaluate this pedal on its own merits. The Sweet Baby specializes in low gain overdrive that is perfect for pushing a tube amp on the verge of breakup. The overdrive is mostly smooth and, well, sweet. Higher settings on the drive knob gave some mild grit – though this typical Fender characteristic could be coming from my amp in part. Maxing out the drive and volume gives you a sustaining lead tone, though chords are a bit fizzy. I’ve found the settings are better somewhere ‘in the middle,’ where you still get a smooth, sining lead tone and chords have a nice crunch. In general, I prefer buying pedals a step up in price point (especially used) as I find you get better build quality and (usually) better sound, but there’s no denying that some of these clone pedals sound surprisingly good for being in the rock bottom price point category.

This demo was recorded with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups, Fender Original Bullet pure nickel strings) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.

OPEN 101 • How to Tune Your Guitar to Open G Tuning

Open Tunings, Slack Key, , , ,

This lesson shows you how to tune your guitar to Open G tuning, which from low to high (in pitch) is D-G-D-G-B-D. When playing a G chord using the open strings (or the related ‘one finger’ bar chords), you generally want to leave the 6th string out of the voicing as it sounds muddy. Keith Richards went so far as to take the 6th string off his guitar when playing in Open G, though when playing slack key or fingerstyle you will use the 6th string (i.e. for a D or D7 chord) and thus want to keep it on the guitar. Open G is often called “Taro Patch” tuning by slack key guitar players, and most slack key songs – especially traditional ones – are in Taro Patch or a close variant.

GEAR 402 • Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer vs Electro-Harmonix Soul Food

Gear, Pedals, , , ,

In this demo I compare and contrast some of the sounds you can get from two popular overdrive pedals – the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer and the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food. The Tube Screamer, a mild overdrive with a midrange boost, has been a pedal board staple for years. The Soul Food is a clone (Klone) of the Klon Centaur, a boutique pedal known perhaps above all else for its high price tag. The Soul Food seeks to bring Klon tone to the masses, but rather than trying to figure out how close it sounds to a Klon we can just enjoy it for what it is: a transparent overdrive with lots of clean headroom and an emphasis on the trebles. So this is really not a shootout to determine which one is “better,” since they’re different from each other and both good at what they do.

This demo was recorded with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.

Ibanez page for the TS9: http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_effect_page14.php?year=2014&cat_id=6&series_id=153&effect_id=5

EHX page for the Soul Food: http://www.ehx.com/products/soul-food

LIVE 003 • Auld Lang Syne

Live, , ,

Here is a fingerstyle guitar arrangement of Auld Lang Syne I came up with. It’s a slack key tinged version with an added bridge/transition, but otherwise follows the familiar melody closely.

Happy New Year!

All rights reserved to this arrangement, however students may perform the arrangement in public.

Also – if you’re interested – here are the original lyrics to Auld Lang Syne, as penned by poet Robert Burns:

Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,
and never thought upon;
The flames of Love extinguished,
and fully past and gone:
Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold,
that loving Breast of thine;
That thou canst never once reflect
On Old long syne.

CHORUS:
On Old long syne my Jo,
On Old long syne,
That thou canst never once reflect,
On Old long syne.

GEAR 401 • Boss ’59 Fender Bassman Pedal

Gear, Pedals, , , ,

Here is a two part review & demo of a cool little under the radar pedal, the Boss FBM-1 Fender ’59 Bassman. The Boss Fender Bassman pedal has a lot of tone-shaping options; it has presence, mid range, bass, and treble knobs in addition to the gain/level knobs. There is also a regular input and a “bright” input, Fender Bassman style. So, this ends up being a very versatile pedal that does mild grit (tweed style), clean boost, or can just be used as a pedal to fatten up your tone.
I think of this as a milder, mellower Blues Driver pedal – with milder overdrive (but still lots of clean gain) and many more tone shaping options. It pairs well with another overdrive pedal, like a Tubescreamer, in addition to working as a stand-alone unit. I have used this as a pre-amp plugged straight into the mixer and also plugged into a solid state amp, but found that it really shines when used in conjunction with a tube amp.

Part I is an overview of the pedal’s features, my thoughts on the pedal’s unusual cosmetics, and a few thoughts on how you might use it.
Part II is a sound demo with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.

The YouTube window below will play both videos as part of a play list.

Boss page for the FBM-1: http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetails.php?ProductId=854