IK Multimedia iRig/AmpliTube Review

The Short Version

IK Multimedia’s iRig is a handy, lightweight interface connecting your guitar to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. It also features a jack for a set of headphones. Besides this piece of equipment, you don’t need any hardware that you don’t already have (a guitar cable and a pair of headphones and hopefully an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad). The interface works amazingly with IK’s AmpliTube software for these devices as well and creates a headphone amp that will rival any other headphone amp and in some cases even practice amps. You’ll have a great time rocking out and the people around you won’t have to know just how hard you’re rocking.

If you have one of these devices, I can’t recommend it enough.

The Longer Version

The Hardware

The iRig is a simple interface with one end plugging into your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad and a place to connect your headphones, the other featuring a place to plug in your guitar. It’s sturdy, lightweight, doesn’t require batteries and it amazes me with how hi-fi this $40.00 connector is. You can hear if you have a substandard cable, something that’s easily blamed on other things if you were to play a normal amp (perhaps you use compact fluorescent light bulbs or you’re playing near a monitor or neon, or it’s the second Wednesday of the month, etc).

The best part about it being lightweight is that it won’t drag your device off your leg or make it difficult to secure your device or if you’re like me, won’t pull your device to an angle that makes the screen invisible.

I use Castiv’s Guitar Sidekick to cradle my phone beyond the nut on the headstock so I can see what I’m playing if I happen to be using an app that features TAB or chords, or in this case, it’s probably the most handy thing in the world for changing amps, pedals, cabs, speakers, or just tweaking the settings of what you’re using in IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube app.

The Software

Which brings us to the equally important part that is the software. If you have bad software but a great interface, your interface’s quality is kind of moot, just like if you have great software but a bad interface. They go hand in hand and I’m stoked to see that IK paid just as much attention to the software as it did the hardware.

So what is included in the software? Well, that depends on how much you want to spend. There’s a free version which features one amp (Marshall inspired from the looks of the faceplate), two effects (delay and a noise filter), two microphones and a slew of cabs.

I recommend everyone with a device that can support this app to go ahead and download the free version, even if they don’t own an iRig. It’s important to take a look and see what you think of the software and IK is giving you a great opportunity to dip your toes in before diving in. I downloaded the free version and loved the beautiful looks and ease of use so much that I skipped the next tier and went for the full $20.00 version which features everything.

That is the most expensive app I’ve ever bought, but I’m glad I did. There are some amps that I don’t use all that much (like the bass amp) and some effects that I don’t use (flanger, phazer, etc) but I’m glad they’re there because they may come in handy one day if I ever get bitten by the Van Halen bug.

The full software features five amps which are pretty easy to figure out what they were inspired by not only by their faceplates, but by their names. See if you can guess what they are:

Clean

Crunch

Lead

Metal

Bass

I will say, I’m not familiar with basses or bass amps so I don’t know what IK was inspired by when it comes to that one, but I had a pretty good grip on what the other ones were leaning toward and this is a good thing because it makes using the whole app easier. If you know what amp they were going for, it’s easier to decide which to use when you want, say, a Marshall-ish crunch. It’s just one more instance where ease of use is well-implemented.

And how do these amps sound? In a word: Amazing. I’ve owned plenty of small amps, battery powered amps and headphone amplifiers and this is the best. I like this more than I like the modern Fender Champ which is quite a bit more expensive. It sounds crazy to say but there’s an organic tone to this beast of a software package and it’s great! It boggles the mind because 1) It’s coming out of a pair of headphones, not a 4X12 cab, 2) No tubes, and 3) It’s being made by your PHONE. Yet the tone from the amps is amazing and the effects are just as on-par. The only effect that I keep off is the noise filter because I hear some slight degradation in tone, maybe making it a little darker, and I prefer the more alive tone and I’m willing to deal with any extraneous noise.

Speaking of effects, this package includes a wah which has controls that read “off, on, auto and tilt. The tilt feature means you can tilt your device and rock the wah. I asked IK what exactly they were seeing when they put this feature in considering that your hands are probably both tied up at the moment when you’re playing and they responded that they didn’t really know.

I like this. It’s encouraging when a company puts something cool out that they don’t have a dedicated use for and let the user use their creativity to come up with a way to utilize it if they’re so inclined.

And I’m inclined.

Like I said, I use the Castiv Guitar Sidekick and because the phone is perched on my headstock, I was able to dip the neck down and raise it up and rock the wah that way, similar to a B Bender. That’s just further proof that you need this device cradle for your practice time.

The other standout effect is the fuzz and it demonstrates just how much the software lets your guitar’s controls and tone shine through. With the fuzz cranked all the way up (the way I like my fuzz) and playing my Tele, I was able to go from the bassy Big Muff kind of tone to the higher-pitched transistor sounding fuzz that I associate with Jack White and all that by switch from neck pickup to bridge pickup and that’s ALL. No messing with the tone knob on my guitar or the “pedal.” Just the flick of a switch.

Honestly, with a lot of amps I leave my tone controls wide open (or bypassed in the case of my Gretsch) because I don’t hear that much of a difference or if I do, I don’t find it particularly usable. That doesn’t apply here. I was switching like a madman finding great jazz tones, that crazy just-less-than-ice pick chicken picking tone, a pretty raucous rockabilly tone, a cool classic rock tone and my guitar seemed more versatile and fun to play and considering the software is so easy to use, I was having a blast playing and in what seemed like the blink of an eye I realized that couple of hours had gone by.

My only concern was that the free distortion "pedal" that you get for registering the product kept on closing the app and when I reopen it, it still says I need to register even though I received email notification that my account has been registered. This doesn't really bother me though because it seems like ti would be an easy fix and the next time you open up your app store it would let you know there's an update to download.

In Summary

The iRig should be looked at like a ticket to the best portable amp in the world to date (at least the best that I’ve tried) and if you have one of the devices that support it, you should download the free version and take a look at it and if it strikes you as worth-while, invest in the full version. All told, sixty bucks for a pocket amp with a connector that can be kept in your guitar case or gig bag is not a bad deal at all, especially considering the tones you can achieve. Add in another $30.00 for the Castiv Guitar Sidekick so you can adjust any settings easily even while standing and you’re still well below what most practice amps cost, have access to a ton of tones, amps and effects AND not annoy any neighbors or relatives as you stumble through learning something new.

For more information, check out this site.

-Pappy

The Comfort of More is Less?

Recently I made a strange discovery when it comes to my own listening habits. See, I am more then a person who likes music, I am a music collector and in some aspects a bit of a completest. Yes, I am that guy, the one that buys the greatest hits album even though I already own every song on it. I simply have to have it. So, to make a long story short, I have put together a very extensive collection of music on my iTunes.

Now for the longest time I have been frustrated by my listening habits. Here I have this giant library of fantastic music to draw from, yet each and every day when I turn on some music, my selection comes from a very small list of my own greatest hits. It is almost as if the more music I acquire, the less I actually listen to.

However, this has bothered me, so I have put a great deal of thought into it. Here is what I came up with...

Day in, day out, I have been listening to my "comfort music." Music that I don't need to think about, music that I know and can just turn on and run with. The problem is that despite the fact that I love so much different music, it takes a lot for something to fall into that level of "comfort music." You need to listen to it enough to really know the details of it. Listen to the point that you know it like the back of your hand.

It should come as no surprise that my listening habits translate into my playing- art is usually a reflection of its creator. Not only have I come to a point in my listening where I rely on "comfort music", I also find myself turning to "comfort playing."

It is logical when you think about it. We all play guitar because we love the instrument. The feeling of bringing that wood and wire to life in our hands is invigorating to say the least. For myself I know that after a long day when I pick up my beloved guitar, the last thing on my mind is working at playing. I want to simply enjoy playing. Which means I don't work on a new song or riff. I play the same standards I have been playing. I don't have to think, I don't have to work, I just turn it up and enjoy it.

But where does this get me? Sure I enjoy my playing, but I never get anywhere with it. See there is a point, a point where you forget about what is comfortable and you explore. It is right there at that point where the magic happens. This is where your playing progresses.

It is far to easy to slip into our own "comfort zones" whether it be with what we play, listen to, or any other aspect of life. But I think it is even easier to slip here with playing because for most of us it is a hobby. Realizing this has led me to decide that I need to forget about comfort. So today when I turned on my music, it was not the same music I listen all the time. That is a start. But tonight, when I pick up that guitar, it is time to step out of my comfort zone. I need to find a balance of comfort and exploration.

So join me this week and forget about comfort, lets explore a bit and see what kind of magic we end up creating.

Talk hard, play harder!

Pipes

The Hidden Track

We live in a glorious age. The technology we have today is amazing. Not only do we have phones that are also our calendars, email boxes, movie theaters, and video game arcades but we can RECORD to them as well with companies putting out amplifier simulation software for your phone and a cord to connect your guitar to said phone and even a headphone jack so you can hear what you sound like.

We also have MP3 players which is probably one of my most favorite inventions of all time. I can tote around my entire CD collection and listen to whatever I want, whenever I want, WHEREVER I want. Because of this and online music services, CDs are bordering on the obsolete (but are still clung to because 1) there’s no denying that we own them and can do whatever we want with them and 2) it’s a physical thing which is important when you’re spending money).

I don’t think CDs are going to die anytime soon though. Not only for the reasons above but because it’s also easier to press a bunch of CDs and sell them out of your trunk or off of a table at a gig than it is getting the music approved by a label of some kind and then approved for an online music retailer like iTunes.

One thing about CDs DOES need to die though.

The hidden track.

What a worthless thing. I have never seen the point of them. I seriously doubt the band or artist is really fooling the label into releasing something that they normally wouldn’t approve of. If it’s an issue of hiding a song of sensitive material from over-protective parents, it’s just as easy to name the song something inconspicuous.

These tracks come in two varieties: You have the track that is a stand-alone track, say, track 99 of a CD. If you must include a hidden track, this is the preferable way to go. The reason is when I rip the CD to my iTunes account I can get rid of all the tracks filled with a few seconds of silence and make it seem like that last track is worth actually including on the album. It’s way better than the other option which is putting an indeterminate amount of time between the last track and the hidden track.

I’ve been thinking about the options regarding why someone would want to do this. If a song isn’t of high enough quality to include on the album, it seems kind of silly to include it anyway and just not give it a name as if it’s not good enough for one. If it’s not good enough for a name, perhaps it’s not good enough for an album.

Most times the hidden tracks aren’t that great and I end up not importing those like I do the other tracks and I call it good but when the track is at the back end of the last song, I’m kind of stuck with it aren’t I? It’s like the band is saying “this song isn’t good enough for a name or a track of its own but it’s too good for you to just not include it on your iPod without the last song on the album.”

And that seems a little hypocritical.

The really bad part is when the last official track isn’t that great but the hidden track IS.

My point of all this is that hidden tracks are useless and obsolete if they EVER had a purpose in the first place. I don’t see the point of them, but perhaps I’m missing something (and if I am, please let me know). If you MUST include a hidden track on your album though, at least give it the dignity of having its own track. Maybe it WASN’T good enough for the album. Making it its own track will let the listeners be able to decide just how valuable it is to them.

-Pappy

Gorchestras

I was listening to the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet today, and it got me thinking about how great guitars can sound together with no accompaniment by other types of instruments. There is an organic sound to a band of guitars. It creates a natural and pleasant collection of tones that would be impossible to replicate any other way.

So why don’t we have more guitar orchestras? Or, as I shall now call them, gorchestras?

I mean, think about it… 90% of all the musicians I know are guitarists. So why is it that we spend our time fighting over the few drummers and bassists in town and don’t just go make something happen on our own? And when we do participate in guitar-only jams, it becomes quickly clear that we don’t really know how guitars should support one another. Generally it is two guitarists playing the same chords, sometimes in different positions if they are especially creative, and one or the other occasionally ripping out a solo. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – Lord knows I’ve spent many a happy hour jamming in just that fashion – but there is so much more possible.

I think the problem here is a lack of education. Trumpet players are taught how to play together. Violinists understand the ways their parts of piece relate to the whole.

As guitarists, we don’t get that education. Most of us are literally too cool for school and don’t have any formal musical education at all, let alone orchestral training. Maybe that is why we sometimes put our part in the song above the song itself.

The whole essence of an orchestra is to use multiple instruments to build something grander that any one instrument could accomplish on its own. I want to figure out how to do that with my fellow guitarists. I want to do more than just double my buddy’s part in a higher octave and count the bars until my next lead. I want to learn how to fuse guitar parts together in a new and interesting way. But I am not sure where or how to begin my journey.

Any suggested listening of bands that really do something interesting with multiple guitars?

Until next week, who wants to start a gorchestra?

Bliss out.

- PT

Decisions, Decisions

I’ve mentioned in the past that I love cheap stuff – guitars in particular – even though there are strong arguments for pricier materials (like quality of wood, electronic switches, etc.). I even said that a perk of playing cheap guitars is that not a lot of people are going to be playing the same gear and it’ll set you apart a little bit.

I have a Squier Telecaster and it’s a pretty cool guitar. For $170.00 I got a seriously roadworthy guitar that has some pretty decent tone and has held up magnificently over the years that it has been taken apart, put back together, taken apart, put back together, etc. etc. It goes everywhere with me and I’ve grown attached to it.

And it’s developed some cool things too. The fingerboard is starting to show a bit of wear. You can only see it when the light is just right but you can definitely see where the strings are and where the oil of my fingers have been in contact with the fingerboard. I see some great potential there. It’s also developed some cracks in the finish, like shrink lines. They aren’t as prevalent as finish cracks you see on a lacquer finish, but they’re THERE (and awesome. I love the look of a worn Tele).

My issue is that the electronics are a little scratchy and the selector is bent. And I lost a knob. When I bought the guitar I was thinking of upgrading it as I could afford and make it an awesome AND roadworthy guitar, but veered to the thought process of replacing parts as they needed it instead. You know, use the guitar to the point of failure and then replace it. I figured over time it would yield some interesting results.

Those are my options.

Replace as much as possible and try to make it as pretty as possible OR replace only what’s necessary.

Of course, considering that it’s the selector that’s messed up and I need a volume knob, I was thinking that I might as well replace all of the electronics except for the pickups since they still work (and sound pretty good). Acme Guitar Works has what looks like an awesome package of electronics already ready to go (you can even get it ON a new control plate if you like) including the wiring for the knobs (included knobs are also an option), a new switch, the plate, etc. I was thinking that I might as well get the whole thing. New knobs, new plate (not only because it’s there to be replaced but also to guarantee the spacing is correct for the wiring), and new switch (round tip instead of the top hat which always seems to get in the way when I’m playing). My thinking is that since everything is so close together already, why not, right?

Ah, but it will end up being more than a hundred bucks. The inner practicality of me says that’s too much to spend on a guitar that cost me $170.00. I can kind of see getting the frets replaced with stainless ones to a) fix the issue of seriously dinged frets and b) provide much more longevity and THAT is going to cost upwards of $200.00.

$300.00 is a LOT of money to spend on a $170 guitar don’t you think? Part of me thinks that I might as well just save up for another guitar to bring around with me but seems like a huge waste too! Ugh.

I THINK what I’ll end up doing is getting the frets repaired/replaced first and then I’ll be able to say “Well, the guitar’s had $370.00 put into it.” Hopefully this will make it easier to swallow a one hundred dollar switch plate.

But that’s just an option right now. Options eventually become decisions though and when it comes time to decide, I’ll let you know.

-Pappy

Mod Kits DIY Review: The Piledriver

The Short, Short Version

If you like building things - anything, really - you should look at these pedals or even their amp if you have a bit more time and space to work. The instructions are easy to follow and because they're easy to follow the build is fun. And they're cheap. If you've ever been interested in the inner workings of gear, want to have something a little unique or you just plain want to build something guitar-related, this should be among the first places you look at.

The Much Longer Version

I’ve always loved the idea of building things. I started out building Legos, moving to models, making stools and CD shelves and even tried to build an amp and it was with the amp that I stopped. The reason I stopped building is because the amp was a traumatic experience. It was a kit amp and I bought it, even though it was WAY over the price range of similar kit amps from other companies because I heard the instructions were superior. Just like how you need a good map to get where you’re going (even with GPS – outdated info’s no good), you need good instructions to build a quality product ESPECIALLY if you aren’t the most experienced person in the world.

After I had assembled the amp head I plugged it in and turned it on only to hear a high whine. I called the company who advised I do this or that and afterward there was no whine. There was no sound at all actually. I could hear the power but no guitar. I gave up on the company and brought it to an amp tech who made it work but it didn’t sound good and I traded it for a Fender Blues Jr.

I hated that amp. It took me years to save up for the kit little by little and the amount of time I spent with it was so traumatic that I lost all will to build anything. As much as I WANTED to get into the building world, I would just sigh and say it was for someone else. Obviously not me because I couldn’t even build the “simplest” amp circuit.

One day I woke up and there was a spring in my step and I thought why COULDN’T I build something? Who made the world’s best amp on their first attempt? I’m not stupid, just lacking in practice and I went looking for amp kits – from a different company of course. I found the amp kit from Mod Kits DIY which features 60 watts of power and 32 different wiring configurations to get it closest to what you want (and everything is included for all 32 configurations). Still a little leery, I looked at their PEDAL kits and those looked more interesting and far more sane choice for another build.

Mod Kits DIY donated a pedal to me to build and see how it goes and write about it and write about I will (right now). They sent their simplest pedal, called the Piledriver, which is a clean boost with 32 decibels of extra volume inside it. When I opened the box there was a brochure for Jensen Speakers (more on them in another post), the instructions for the build and the pedal. Every component you would need is screwed into the pedal and what more secure way to ship something then to screw it into a metal box and then wrap it in bubble wrap and paper?

I set up shop on the dining room table and needed wire strippers, needle-nose pliers, a ruler, solder and a soldering iron (and of course a damp towel to clean the soldering iron – not a good towel, but more of a rag). With a deep breath I opened up the instructions and it detailed how to solder and de-solder, the parts list to inventory and written colors of the lines on the cathodes/diodes (handy considering the instructions are in black and white).

The instructions themselves for putting the pedal together were great. It started out very easy with installing the input and output jacks, then moved on to mounting the terminal strip which is merely screwing it in place, then making your very first connection. Then another, then another, then a few more and pretty soon you're on to actually wiring it.

I only had one moment when I was hesitant. When something new comes up in the instructions, there are instructions on what to do with it and how to do it right. Yet in the first part of the instructions it says to mount a 2" jumper wire and I thought "what are they talking about?" I FIGURED they meant use the three feet of wire included but it's on the NEXT page that they deal with stripping, twisting and tinning wire, so why would they just throw in such an instruction without going into how to do it?

So I cut off two inches of wire, looked at the instructions on the next page, stripped the end of the wire shield off, twisted the wires together and "tinned" it (putting some solder on it to hold the twisted wire together and prevent fraying) and moved right along.

In the end it took me three hours to build the pedal and 2.5 of those hours included me working during commercial breaks of whatever train-wreck reality show my wife was watching. All in all it didn't take long and it was fun to do. Mine was ugly with more metal ends than Pinhead's face sticking out, looking like a minefield for fingertips should the need to fix anything ever arise, but it was complete.

Here's a picture of Mod Kit's:

And here's mine:

No matter how easy the instructions are to follow, no matter how easy and fun the build, a pedal kit is completely worthless if the pedal doesn't actually work. Once I was done wiring the pedal and boxing it back up, I held it in my hand and looked at it. One more tool in the tone toolbox or world's most complex paperweight? I went to the Phoenix Studios and plugged my Squier Telecaster into my Vox AC15 with only the pedal separating the two.

Intermission

When I was a kid my brother and I shared a room and in this room was a TV and VCR. The plug for the VCR always came loose and my brother was always climbing under the bed to plug it back in (that's where the outlet was). One day I was talking to my mom in the living room and we heard a giant pop.

The pop was my brother getting electrocuted.

Don't worry, it only fried the part of the brain that deals with intelligence (heh heh). He screamed like a banshee though and I pulled him out from under the bed and you could see where the electricity entered his hand via the tip of his thumb, to where it came out at the base of his palm. The doctor said that if the electricity had decided to take an alternate route, he'd probably be dead.

I think because of this I'm more than a little cautious with electricity. Growing up, I messed around with fire, water, firecrackers, climbed tall trees and did stupid, crazy things but I never messed around with electricity. It seemed (still seems) so... final.

And Now, Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

I have two amps, the Vox AC15 and a Shanghai 64/1. The Vox is cheaper and in far greater supply on the market and wasn't custom made for me.

I also have four guitars, three electrics and one acoustic and the cheapest and most... road worn is my Squier Telecaster which takes more of a beating than most guitars.

Armed with a feeling of nervousness about plugging a new pedal that I built and considering I don't really trust my hands in the first place, for all I know, I just assembled an electronic weapon that with simultaneously destroy my guitar, my amp, and me (me last so I know for a fact that I really messed up the build), I turned off the Standby switch and the guitar was audible.

OK. First step, hearing the guitar through the amp with the pedal blocking the way? Check.

Now, to step on it. An inhaled deep breath and a move of the foot and *click*.

I held that deep breath as I strummed the first chord.

It was way louder than it was with the pedal off. I had assembled a WORKING clean boost. It sounded good too. I could picture using it on stage to take a solo or just to cut through the mix.

So let's run down the list of pro's here: All the parts were included and safe in delivery, the instructions were crystal clear with one small exception, the build was easy and fun, the pedal worked and then there's the price which we'll get to in just a little bit.

That's a pretty sweet list in my opinion.

So, how much does the Piledriver cost? $25.00.

Yup, that's all. $25.00 gets you an awesome boost pedal and a fun evening or afternoon with your soldering iron.

The reason these pedals are so cheap is because a lot of corners were cut in the effort to keep the price down. The paint on the pedal is a little thin, a little scratched and not showboat-ey at all. The artwork consists of a silver sticker that was cut with the words more to one side than the other on my pedal. the knob is light and plastic feeling. There are no rubber grommets to keep it from sliding on your pedal board.

But my opinion of this is that it's a GOOD thing that they did this. There's already a risk of buying something you have to build not working when you put it together because you gave up or wired it incorrectly. Why would you want to increase the gamble by paying a ton of money for top-notch parts too? That's only going to add more pressure and worst of all, keep people who are just looking to have some fun or save some money out of the club of building their own stuff.

So I say kudos, Mod Kits DIY! Your low prices enable everyday folks like me to have the opportunity to try our hands at building something new, experiencing something we may end up loving to do, and not breaking the bank or upsetting spouses or significant others. Low prices make this hobby anyone's game and the pedal sounds great too, so it's got everything going for it.

And even if you're building it and somehow get stuck, even after reading the instructions and looking at the included illustrations, you can always email the company and they'll be more than willing to help out.

In Summary

Do you like to build things? Are you interested in seeing the inner workings of the gear you know and love? Are you just bored and looking for something to occupy a couple of hours of your time? Then this is something you should consider. In this case, the pedal may be cheap in cost, but it's rich in fun and tone.

You can find out more here: http://www.modkitsdiy.com/

-Pappy

Excuses, Excuses...

A while back I was chatting with Pappy. Being the Gretsch advocate that he is he asked me "Pipes, how is it that you do not have a 6120?"

Today on my drive into work I mentally revisited that conversation. I was listening to the new Skinny Jim album and I realized that about half of my top ten albums that I listen to all the time are played on a Gretsch. The Gretsch guitar has an unmistakable tone that is absolutely integral to a lot of the music I love. So today I asked myself why don't I have a Gretsch.

When Pappy asked me that question a while back my first response was money. Well money is a very true reason, but lets be honest here money has been an issue for as long as I can remember in my adult life and it really hasn't stopped me from acquiring gear that I want... Sure it may take a lot of planning, but I have gotten gear that is important to me. So with that road block shattered lets move on to my second response...

"I am not good enough to play a Gretsch!"

Now to be fair... I do believe this to be a valid reason... I mean I do suck at playing guitar. If my knowledge and love of the instrument transcended to my playing skills I would be incredible. Don't get me wrong... I am far from horrible. I am just not good. So yeah, why would I degrade such a fantastic instrument with my subpar playing.

So while I am not the best player, I am beginning to realize that this is more of a personal mental block then it is a valid reason. A mental block that not only keeps me from having a Gretsch, but also keeps me from being a better player. See I have two musical loves if you really get down to it. Old School California Punk and Rockabilly. Now the punk genre was easy to jump into as a player. While I still maintain that it is not simple to play punk, however it does lend itself very easily to the basic guitaring skill everyone learns. Whereas Rockabilly... jeez that just seems like greek compared to typical guitaring skills. So it is very easy for me to sit here and continue playing my punk rock standards and come up with thousands of excuses as to why I cannot begin to play the Rockabilly music I love so dearly.

But now there is a flip side to the conversation... The side that says

"Having a Gretsch would actually motivate you to play better."

I am beginning to truly believe that it would. Coming home from a long day to a big ole Gretsch would certainly be motivation to play. But also foster the desire to learn some of those Rockabilly riffs that my heart has been dying to play.

So I think within this little conversation with myself I have sold myself on buying a Gretsch. Now we go back to the original money issue. Well that will work out in time now that it is part of my plan. So hopefully within the next year I will be writing you talking about my new Gretsch! Really I think Gretsch should see this as a great opportunity to chronicle how owning a Gretsch can make one a better player and thus give me one :). Hey you gotta at least try, right?

Talk Hard, Play Harder!

- Pipes

About Us

Welcome

Welcome to the 5th Fret, a place of all things musical with varying points of view, reviews, and rants sure to entertain or at least help you kill some time. If you like the blog, please tell a friend (or two) and visit often to see the updates. Normal articles are posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but more manage to slip through every now and then.

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Advertisers

If you or your company are interested in advertising on the Fifth Fret you would probably be interested in the guidelines:

1) We only advertise products/shops/services/companies that we think offer something unique or better to the guitar world. We see no point in advertising something we don’t believe in and this benefits both the company and the Fifth Fret in the long run. Readers know that the Fifth Fret truly supports the company and therefore RECOMMENDS it and because of this hopefully there will be more genuinely interested readers checking your company out and not just random clicks.

2) This doesn’t mean we’re familiar with you though, so by all means, email us at rhythmandboos@gmail.com and tell us about your company or shop or product. Include a link so we can check it out for ourselves and if we like it, we would be more than happy to advertise.

3) There is a maximum amount of 13 advertisers allowed per month. Why only 13? Because at the end of each blog post there is a “brought to you by” section where we include a small JPEG from your company and brief blurb about why we here at the Fifth Fret think it’s worth the reader’s time to check out. This is attached to the post permanently and stays there even if we reach the end of the agreed-upon advertising term and you wish to not renew. We think it’s a pretty sweet deal because posts are often referenced much later after publishing on random discussion boards throughout the Internet so your investment will be one that potentially grows. We want all advertisers to get at least one post with a blurb about them in a month, so we limit the amount of advertisers to accommodate this.

4) In addition to that, there will be a description of the company and why the Fifth Fret likes it as well as a link in the sponsors section. Also, there will be a JPEG link in the right-hand column, visible on all Fifth Fret pages.

5) How much does all of this cost? $5.00 a month is all it takes and you can buy as much times as you would like (the minimum is one month). If there are more requests for advertising slots than available slots, we will let you know the closest expiration date and, should that company choose not to renew their ad, it's all yours.

6) All payments will be made through PayPal.

If you have any questions, please let us know at rhythmandboos@gmail.com.

Thank you for your time and have a great day!

Sincerely,

Pappy

Strat Potato

Back in the days of George Bush Sr. when I was a beginning guitarist, I practiced in the basement. I would lock myself away for hours, struggling with F chords and my first scales, trying to make my pinkie fret the string I wanted it to through sheer force of will. Back then I believed that practicing required isolation, a commitment of many hours and an extreme level of concentration.

These days I don’t spend a lot of time practicing down in the basement. My time with my family is short enough as it is. No, most of my practice time today happens late in the evening, when my daughter is asleep in bed and my wife and I are in front of the TV watching that night’s drama or reality show.

I always practice in front of the TV with an unplugged electric guitar. Sometimes it annoys my wife when my plucking gets a little too loud and exuberant. Still, practicing while watching TV has some great benefits, not the least of which is making something productive out of the usual mind and time suck of television.

Here are a few tips for practicing while watching the tube.

- For me, TV practice is great for mastering licks, solos and new techniques but not so great for practicing a full song. Anything with lyrics, and I am likely to start unconsciously humming along and receive an elbow in the ribs from my wife.

- TV practice is not the time to learn something brand new. The background noise of your favorite show will prove distracting and frustrating. It is also not the time to run through all your old favorite riffs like some greatest hits reel. That won’t help you and will serve to purposelessly annoy your couch-mate. Rather, TV practice is the perfect time for those riffs and licks that are somewhat new to you, the ones just on the edge of difficult. The ones you can play without full concentration but cannot yet play at full speed. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you improve. Whenever I get to a certain level of competence with a new technique, be it reverse bends or Travis picking, I know it is TV time.

- Here’s a tip I picked up from an old interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan: When you are not sure what to play, create your own soundtrack to the TV show you are watching. If it is a sad scene, break out the most heart-rending licks that you can coax out of your guitar. If it is a funny scene, play some off the wall Zappa-esque stuff. I guarantee you will have fun and make yourself laugh out loud at least once or twice. Note: This especially fun while watching sports or melodramatic shows. Other note: This is very annoying for your couch mate.

That’s all the tips for this week. Now go watch some TV!

-PT

The Perfect Amp

I think it’s safe to say we all have a different idea about what the perfect amp would entail. One knob, a billion knobs, head, combo, 8X15, 1X8, tubes, solid state, etc. etc.

As potentially misleading as the blog topic is, I MEAN to talk about a good (as close to perfect as possible) all-around amp, not the perfect amp for you or me.

Basically my thinking is this: it doesn’t exist.

Whereas with guitars your fingers help craft the tone and at the end of the day the guitar is as versatile as you are, amps seem to be a lot more… Dedicated. This is why we have pedals, after all. Your amp isn’t giving you enough of what you want so you supplement it and add on with a pedal or two. It’s not a big deal, it’s just that amps seem to have very few real tonal options. I think the amp that comes closest is the module-using Randall but it’s versatile because the entire pre-amp section can get swapped out which seems to be a disqualifying factor.

What got me thinking about this was a recent Guitar World interview with the guitarist from Shadows Fall, Jonathan Donais, where he was talking about his problem with most amps. He said most amps either excel in the classic thrash/metal tone but fail in the modern low end usage or they excel in that low end chunk but aren’t really articulate. The amp that he’s most satisfied with is a Rivera and playing it, I could see why. He was making it sound pretty great.

Is it a good goal for an amp manufacturer to attempt to make the perfect amp?

I don’t think so. Joe Carducci of Gretsch Guitars says that if you try to please everyone you become nothing. I believe it. I think with all of the classic and modern tones that people are wanting there’s just too much ground to cover and then you add the fact that some people don’t like a lot of knobs (I love the Mesa Boogie sound but the number of knobs is intimidating) and it’s difficult to think that pursuit of this goal is just a painful way to lose all sorts of money in R&D and production.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention modeling amps since this seems to be their exclusive goal. My problem with these amps is NOT that they’re solid state, is NOT that there’s a heavy circuit board in it that would be difficult/impossible to repair or replace in the future but solely because there are numerous comments (not even complaints) that these amps excel in one or two tones.

Anyway, in the end I look at amps more like specific tools with specific tonal flavors and it is a far better idea to try to make the best possible tone in that specific range. Trying to nail ONE tone is just as silly as trying to nail ALL tones. The Shanghai 64/1 is a great example of what I mean by making the best possible tone in a specific range. It’s plenty versatile as you turn up the volume, going from cleans with just a BIT of hair to the notes, to having a very satisfactory punk rock crunch, but I doubt Jonathan Donais will be ordering one to replace his Rivera for his Shadows Fall gig because a metal amp it is not.

But there are plenty of great metal amps out there.

There are plenty of clean amps out there.

There are plenty of amps that hearken back to the tones of the 60’s or 70’s.

If you’re looking to buy an amp that is as close to perfect you should look at what you like the MOST as far as music goes. What genre is the most played in your iTunes library? Perhaps that’s the kind of amp you should look at and then if the amp bug bites you (it bites hard) or you find yourself really jonesing for an amp that does something ELSE very well, then start saving for that one. Collecting amps is just as cool as collecting guitars to a guitarist because of the wealth of tones. The biggest difference between the two, however is guitars look radically different where amps are generally wooden boxes that vary slightly in looks which means it’s a lot tougher to justify. In the end though, I doubt any guitarist would say “why do you need another amp? You already have ONE!”

-Pappy

Sponsors Home

This is a page dedicated to the sponsors who help make the Fifth Fret possible. I hand pick any and all sponsors based on quality of gear, customer service, or sheer awesomeness of their wares. Please visit their sites and check out their stuff because there’s a reason I’ve picked them and I’d like you to see what is so cool about each of them.

Shanghai Music And Sound

A small guitar shop in Ponca City, OK, but they’re able to order you anything from the companies they stock with popular names like Ibanez, Orange, Vox and others. They’re more known for their great Gretsch prices and offering the customer modified budget Gretsch guitars that are upgraded to reflect specs closer to the ones that cost close to $2,000.00 and up. They are also the sole manufacturer of the Shanghai 64/1, a modified Princeton Reverb clone that is built completely in-house, with point to point wiring and a truly awesome tone. You can see my review of the Shanghai 64/1 here and some videos of the amp being demonstrated here.

Mod Kits DIY

Mod Kits DIY achieved what I believed to be the impossible: They made me confident that I could build anything provided I had a kit with all the correct parts and a great set of instructions. After butchering an amp kit from another company and spending far more than you should be able to justify for a home-built 5 watt amp only to have it fail twice for different reasons, then get taken to a tech only to come back sounding awful, I thought I was done with building.

Mod Kits DIY sent me a boost to build though and it came out wonderfully. A little ugly on the inside but that's just my inexperience showing. They're also incredibly affordable. Check out my review here.

Flatline Guitars

Flatline Guitars offer a classy twist on the classics, offering three shapes that are familiar to the eyes but packed with more tone and power than most. They're amazingly easy to play, amazingly versatile and are awe-inspiring guitars. The Flatline Delta 90 is quickly becoming my go-to electric guitar and is almost always what I use to test out recording software because it sounds so good to begin with. You can read more about the company, my feelings on them and a review for the Flatline Vistaglide Custom HERE. Check it out. Visit their website for some eye-candy, great photos and more information about their great guitars. You'll be glad you did!

Pro Tone Pedals

I'm a huge fan of Pro Tone Pedals. I've been a fan ever since I heard an interview with owner Dennis Mollan and he expressed a little frustration at a short review he had received in a magazine. I had never heard a builder lash out at a major publication before and it was refreshing. After that I got in contact with Dennis and we hit it off pretty well. I did a review on my own Body Rot II (the craziest distortion I've ever used), and a bassist friend of mine's Monster Fuzz (my favorite fuzz). I also did an interview with Dennis that I think turned out pretty great. Pro Tone strives to give you investment-level pedals that are unique in sound and look. There's no mistaking a Pro Tone Pedal on a board visually and I've never heard a pedal that sounds like either the Body Rot or the Monster Fuzz. They're awesome. Check out the site and see the videos and sound samples and see for yourself what Pro Tone can offer you!

Guitar Noize

How weird is it to be advertising another blog? Not weird at all, honestly. Jon at Guitar Noize controls one of (if not THE) biggest guitar blog on the Internet and it's packed with news, reviews, videos, lessons, interviews and just about everything you could want when you look for things to read about guitar that can't be found here. Guitar Noize is active on both Facebook and Twitter and posts entertaining statuses and tweets and between those and the blog coming through my RSS reader, I'm never desperate for a guitar fix.

Six Strings

When Six Strings contacted me they informed me that in Germany there aren't very many guitar-instruction websites that used the German language to instruct and this was something they were aiming to correct with high-quality lessons aimed at a German audience. Personally, I think the more instructional outlets the better, especially when they're high quality ones. If someone could benefit from an instruction site taught in German more than they could any other language, I would hate for them to be deprived of lesson goodness.

Pick Punch


I've been a fan of the Pick Punch since I saw an ad for it, and then when I was able to do a review of it, I was sold!  It belongs in every guitarist's gig-bag or guitar case.  You'll never be without a pick again.  You just keep a gift card (or better yet, buy some pick material from Pick Punch for an average of $3.00) in your wallet or with the Pick Punch and when that inevitable gig happens where you reach into your pocket to pull out a pick and instead come out with lint, you'll know your covered because your Pick Punch is in the bag.  There are a lot of tools pitched to guitarists, but nothing more useful/valuable than the Pick Punch.  AND they're low-cost at $25.00 each, available in both standard and jazz size!

God Box FX


Like I've said before on the Fifth Fret, I only advertise what I like and when I first laid eyes on their Tesla pedal, I was half-way sold (as a big fan of Nikola Tesla), but it was when I stepped on it that I was fully sold.  Not only did I contact them offering advertising space, but I flat out told them that they probably weren't going to get this pedal back as I have become smitten with every part of it.  They're a young company, offering some seriously stellar boxes with amazing tones, all as boutique as you want.  They're actually built down the road a ways from me, so it's even more local than usual.  Check them out, folks.  They have some great stuff!