Guitar/gear Reviews, Reviews of Guitars and Gear that I've owned/used for gigging/recor Options

[Todd Simpson]

P.S. If you get a chance, try the new Guitar Rig 5 demo, and Amplitude Free. Both are really good. Also, try the OVELOUD products Th1 and Th2. I have some presets available for download. They were created with zero additional input gain so they should rip hard!

Here is my TH2 Preset Thread

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=42250

and my TH1 Preset Thread.

https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=42013

Todd

Hi Todd,

I noticed that "guitarRigMonsterGain" isn't in the tone vault thread.

It seems like without the 20db gain the tones are muddy. I have an M-Audio Mobile Pre which offers a 40 db gain boost to my guitar. I see a little difference. But overall, I am not pleased with the tone that I hear when I record on the PC. I think I may just continue to mic my 4x12 amp, even though I'd prefer to use Guitar Rig because it is easier.

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[Todd Simpson]

MEGA CHEAP DISTORTION PEDAL/BOX

$20 U.S. For this "Danelecto D-3 Metal" Distortion Pedal

It honestly can't be very good for this price, but at that price I had to try it Also, I want to evaluate it as a really really really cheap preamp to be used with software emulation patches like Guitar Rig etc. I know most folks don't have rack mount preamp like I"m running to spice up my custom Guitar Rig/Overlour TH1/TH2 patches, so I figured I'd look for something really cheap that does the job well enough.

To be sure, if you bought a tube based stomp box/preamp it would sound WARMER/BETTER/etc. but those are pricey and out of immediate reach of many players so I wanted to find a "Make Do" pedal that would get you most of the way there. I'm going to review this one and try to use it in Next Saturday's Video Chat.!

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Feb 21 2012, 04:21 AM

[Sinisa Cekic]

It's really bargain! You sure it's not plastic toy ? .. I mean- it is, but anyway !

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[Todd Simpson]

It's really bargain! You sure it's not plastic toy ? .. I mean- it is, but anyway !

For $20 U.S. you were expecting a Metal case? Nope. My goal was to find the cheapest possible way to to put a little more gain ahead of a software emulator the same way people put a tube screamer before a mesa boogie, to give it more punch This far from a Mesa and Tube Screamer, but again, going for minimum dollars spent.

Here is an Audio Demo!

1.)FIRST SOUND BIT IS GUITAR RIG 4 PATCH ONLY (No blue light on Pedal)

2.)SECOND SOUND BIT IS GUITAR RIG 4 PATCH WITH PEDAL ( Blue light is on)

(PEDAL SETTINGS: GAIN 0% - TONE 25% - VOLUME 75%)

BOTTOM LINE:

It really punches up the sound of a emulated patch. I was pretty impressed that it gave the patch this much chunk and crunch for only $20. I'm all for great pedals that cost $300 each, but with a cheap pedal and a decent emulator (EVEN A FREE ONE LIKE AMPLITUDE FREE) you can have just TONS of CRUNCH!

Todd

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Feb 21 2012, 04:26 AM

[audiopaal]

Great, thanks for sharing!
Good read

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[Todd Simpson]

Great, thanks for sharing!
Good read

Happy to do it It was a fun test and I was shocked how much punch that little pedal added and it's sooooo cheap!

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[Todd Simpson]

IBANEZ XIPHOS XPT700

Todd here with a review of the IBANEZ XIPHOS XPT 700

First up. The Features.

The Ibanez XPT700 is a Xiphos series electric guitar model, introduced in 2007 as part of the Ibanez X series. It is the first Xiphos model introduced by Ibanez. Featuring include a neck-through-body construction, a double locking tremolo and DiMarzio pickups.

Body material:
Mahogany
Neck joint:
Neck-thru
Bridge:
Edge III tremolo
Hardware color:
Cosmo Black


NECK
Neck type:
Wizard II
Neck material:
5-Piece Maple/Walnut
Fingerboard:
Bound Rosewood
Inlays:
Reversed Sharktooth
Frets:
24 / Jumbo

ELECTRONICS
PU Config:
HH
Neck PU:
DiMarzio D Activator
Bridge PU:
DiMarzio D Activator
Controls:
1 Volume / 1 Tone / 3-Way Toggle

REVIEW

This is a SHREDDERS guitar plain and simple. First off, it's pointy. Jazz/Blues men, seldom walk on stage with reverse head stocks, and pointy star shaped guitars. This Axe looks the part of what it's built to do. Play METAL. Not to say you couldn't play jazz or blues on this guitar, because you certainly could. You could honestly play pretty much anything on it. The neck is VERY thin and VERY fast, and the pickups are DIMARZIO ACTIVATORS and can go from super clean to FACE MELTING with the turn of the volume knob. So it's a sonically flexible instrument. But one look and you know what it wants to do. It wants to Kill and Destroy

I really like this guitar. The neck is one of the best I"ve played and reminds me of my precious RG560. So fast and thin it's crazy. Also, the pickups SCREAM and the double locking trem is stable and smooth. The NECK THROUGH BODY construction aids in sustain and playability. The large body points also seem to help with sustain and overall tone. Pickups are hard mounted so that helps a bit as well.

I had bought this guitar instead of saving a bit more and getting either an original Ibanez RG565 or the Reissue version. And while I really dig the guitar, I still prefer the body on my RG560, perhaps because I"ve been playing for 10 years. So I"m going to part with this shredding beast and try to find it a good home and start saving again.

**VIDEO REVIEW TO FOLLOW
(For now here are some pix!)

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[Todd Simpson]

Here is the first of my ORANGE TINY TERROR JIM ROOT EDITION videos that I'm working on. The Video is unliested and not released yet, but you guys get a preview!!

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[korblitz]

Here is the first of my ORANGE TINY TERROR JIM ROOT EDITION videos that I'm working on. The Video is unliested and not released yet, but you guys get a preview!!

Whoa..just whoa!

Amazing video review, amazing player, amazing video editing. I love the off-axis interview part...I love that you said it like it is..."not a lot of clean headroom", people usually skip the "negative" parts of the amp.

Looking forward to see new gear videos.

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[Todd Simpson]

Thanks man! I think your the only one who saw the post Or at least the only one who commented. Thanks for the feedback! We really put a lot of work in to this vid so I honestly thought it would generate more response. It turned out great '

Whoa..just whoa!

Amazing video review, amazing player, amazing video editing. I love the off-axis interview part...I love that you said it like it is..."not a lot of clean headroom", people usually skip the "negative" parts of the amp.

Looking forward to see new gear videos.

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[Todd Simpson]

[b]DEAN RAZORBACK CUSTOM PROJECT:

[/b]


I"m doing some work on my Dean Razorback and I have to share how AMAZING the neck turned out. I had a luthier re-profile the neck so it's more like my IBANEZ RG560, which has the fastest/thinnest neck I"ve ever found on a guitar. It's finally been put back on the guitar and I"m gonna give it a whirl!!!

Here is a pic. Is that not the thinnest Dean Neck you've ever seen?

*Next Up!!! Pickup Replacement. The stock pickups in the razorback are just not doing the trick for me. I"m going to try some custom, hand wound, crazy output pickups. More to come!!

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[Todd Simpson]

BLAKHART CUSTOM GUITARS

This is my FIRST CUSTOM BUILDER GUITAR!!!!. I usually buy off the rack and I"ve been wanting to try a guitar from a custom builder for a while.


QUESTION: Anyone else have a guitar from a small builder/vendor/custom shop?

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Oct 12 2013, 04:03 AM

[Todd Simpson]

PRO TONE MISHA MANSOOR DELUXE OVERDRIVE.

*REVIEW TO FOLLOW!!!

After a few months of painful waiting (I fear I nagged Dennis @ Pro Tone nearly to death) Dennis offered to upgrade my purchase of the Misha Custom Overdrive to the Misha DELUXE overdrive and I said, "YES!!!!!!"

It showed up and plugged it in and WOW. I have to tell you guys. GET ONE OF THESE PEDALS!!!

I've tried many, many overdrive pedals as you guys know. I own about a dozen of them currently. I'm going to put them all on ebay. I can't go back to them. This pedal is so much better, so beyond what the others can do that it's just staggering.

These pedals are not cheap and they are not easy to find. It's a limited edition run, and they are going to stop selling them @ Pro Tone so you may have to use Ebay or a music store to get one. But either way, GET ONE!!!

Here is a vid about the new features. It really is the secret to MISHAS killer tone.



Here is my personal unit My new baby.



Paired with a Strictly 7 Cobra 8 string, it's pure ARMAGEDDON!!!

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 30 2013, 05:37 AM

[Todd Simpson]

QUICK DEMO OF THE BULB DELUXE ON BASS GUITAR

Here is a quick and dirty vid I did to show the Bulb Deluxe Overdrive from ProTone Pedals on BASS GUITAR. I'm using a cheap Ibanez GIO 5 String bass. The pickups in this bass are crap and sound like there is a blanket over them. But click on the pedal and BAM, the tone gets clear and aggressive.

It's an old studio trick to use a Tube Screamer on bass guitar to make it "growl" a bit I"ve done this myself. But it's never sounded like this. I WOULD NOT USE THIS SIGNAL BY ITSELF. I'd layer it over top of the original bass recording to add definition and clarity. That way I can keep the really low bits from the original track and dial in as much definition and growl as needed.

This would mean "re-amping" through the pedal but that's not complicated and well worth teh benfits of tone. So far I have not found a setting on my fav plugins that adds this kind of clarity and growl for bass but I'll keep looking

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[Todd Simpson]

STRICTLY 7 CUSTOM COBRA

( 8 String Version with Lundgren M8 Pickups)

I FINALLY was able to shoot my review/playthough video for the Strictly 7 cobra. I gave up on shooting in the DAEL studio where I shot my ORANGE vid and shot in my home studio. Turned out spiff Here is the vid.

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Nov 5 2013, 04:39 AM

[Todd Simpson]

LINE 6 POD HD (Bean Version)
*Used Gear of the God's Edition

The HELIX is the latest thing from line 6, but the venerable POD HD is still kicking around. You can get them VERY cheap on the used market and they are great value for money. I recently bought one off Ebay for $150!! Here are the quick pros and cons.

PROS

*Fully functional as an Audio Interface/Soundcard with XLR input.
*Can be the centerpiece of your entire home studio for recording/playback/processing.
*Presets for VOCALS, BASS, GUITAR, etc.
*WADS of FX, umpteen different kinds of each effect. E.G. Umpteen overdrives, delays, compressors, chorus, heads/cabs etc.
*Software Patch Editor! (Thank God)
*CHEAP! (For the cost of one pedal you can have a full on processor and audio interface)

CONS

*FIZZ!!!! Yup, despite being "HD" and having new models on deck, my experience was the same as previous Line 6 devices when going for high gain tones. There was that unmistakable "Line 6 Fizz" that was very hard to dial out.

That's about it. Mostly, it's a great little unit that is very cheap for everything it does and if you don't have an interface yet, it will work as that and be a very portable full on guitar rig. Just plug in to a P.A. and bam. You are ready to rock. You can add the foot switch to get patch control and a wah/volume pedal.

The only thing that hinders it IMHO is that same problem of high gain fizz. If you are a "Metal Guy" this can be very frustrating. However, for nearly every other genre, it's a near perfect unit imho. Even for Metal, it's good, just not great. That about sums up my experience. I ended up selling it back to ebay to fund whatever is next for my gear collection I still have my 11 Rack and my 3 Ibanez guitars. Ready for new gear in 2017 to try

Here is a video with some patches to give you an idea of how the unit really sounds.

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[Todd Simpson]

DIGITECH GENESIS 3

*Old Gear (used only)

The DIGITECH GENESIS 3 can trace is lineage all the way back to the Johnson Jstation. One of the original "Pod" type processors. Digitech bought the technology and it eventually became the rack mounted 2112, 2120, etc. Then went on to the GNX1, GNX1, GNX3, GNX4. The line stopped there when they changed chips/algorithms and started to sound a bit crap imho. But this is the start of all that. The Digitech Genesis. one of the first to offer the "Blend" option of blending two entire setups together. You could then save that, called a "warp" setting, then blend two of those together and so on. The sonic options are nearly limitless. here is a demo of a Genesis running through a small 2.1 speaker setup from cambridge audio. The genesis does cab emulation so it's a full rig. You can get them on ebay for about $50. Makes a great, cheap, one piece rig.

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Feb 26 2017, 10:12 PM

[Todd Simpson]

DEAN Rusty Cooley Exotic Edition 7 String Guitar

Quick review of the Dean Rusty Cooley Exotic Edition 7 String. These are no longer made so there are a bit rare, but the good news is that you get a great deal on them used on ebay and such. They started out going for $2,000 but now can be had for $500 or so. Quite nice playing and looking for the current price range I like the lower horn cut as it allows better access than my ibby 7. The top is spiff as well. EMG 707 pups may need a swap if they are not your bag.

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[Fran]

Thanks Todd for these reviews. I'll add them to our wiki! (the ones that are not already there!)

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[Todd Simpson]

Thanks much ! Here is a video with some good sound comparisons using the POD HD BEAN a REVV 120 amp and POSITIVE GRID BIAS. Gives a good example of why I just didn't like this unit. Great on cleans, great on fx, but for me the High Gain channel is yes or no button for any bit of kit.

Thanks Todd for these reviews. I'll add them to our wiki! (the ones that are not already there!)

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