the Drift

d r e a m

we try
but we don't belong

you'll know where you are

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Fender CIJ ST71-93TX | Yamaha AES620
Line 6 M13 > ^Effects Loop In > OM Labs Sahasrara > Xotic BB Pre-amp
Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret > Tech 21 Liverpool > Effects Loop Out^ >
Stereo Out >> Boss FV-50L > Vox AC4TVH 4W amp & V112TV 12" cab
>> Vox Pathfinder 15R

ASIO bit-matched WinAmp > ASUS Xonar Essence STX >
Denon AH-D2000 | Audio-Technica ESW10jpn | Nakamachi Soundspace 1

iPod Touch 2g 16GB > Sennheiser IE8

Total Damage: $7010+++

Other notable gear I own or have owned/loaned/tested extensively -

Epiphone WildKat | Monsterpiece NPN Fuzz | Goosoniqueworx Boosty | Visual Sound Route 66
Voodoo Labs Tremolo | Electro Harmonix White Finger | Electro Harmonix Mini Q-Tron
Red Witch Medusa | Death by Audio Total Sonic Annihilation | Line6 DL-4
ProCo Rat2 | Tonefactor Huckleberry | Boss CH-1 | Boss DD-20 | Yamaha Magicstomp
Empress Effects Tremolo | Boss RE-20 | Moog MuRF
Vox VBR-1 Brian May Special | Blackheart Little Giant & 12" Cab

Audio-Technica AD700 | ALO Cryo SXC 18g| Ultimate Link Silver Master-i | Crossroads XBi
Sony MDR-EX71 | Westone UM1 | Etymotic ER6i | Graham Slee Voyager
Mogami 2549 OFC IC | iBasso D3 Python

Feel free to ask me for mostly unbiased reviews in proper english - with pratical considerations from the viewpoint of a budget-conscious student

but for now we are young
let us lay in the sun
and count every beautiful thing we can see

guitarists, materialism, deceptive post titles, and epic updates.

Saturday, October 10, 2009 ( 3:27 PM )

‘cos when it comes, it comes. Been neglecting my gears for several months. Heck, I haven’t even changed the Blackheart’s plug to a 3-pin. Then again I haven’t even been playing guitar at home. The usual considerations preface any gear purchase: How useful is this for expanding or improving my tonal pallet? How much will this benefit my playing in a worship setting? Are there better value-for-money options? Does this have teh MOJOz? These questions form useful guidelines, but the real question often goes neglected – would God approve of this purchase?

Too many times my acquisitions have been based on human reasoning, greed, and snazzy marketing. It’d be unfortunate to use God and the worship ministry as an excuse to be materialistic. A few years ago I might’ve had a strong case to upgrade my gear (Cheapo short-scale Yamaha -> Boss overdrive and chorus. Plastic pick. Muddy, undefined amp. No delay!) as I genuinely required more tools in order to truly contribute in my service and give my best to God. Invariably, however, my needs became wants, despite a sense that I was abusing my privilege as a worship guitarist to fulfil my GAS. Fortunately, over the years I've managed to trim off most of the excess and now possess a solid, if not particularly interesting, gear rig.

Honestly – and I’m not pointing fingers here – most guitarists (worship or not) are a privileged lot, and overindulge in their passion or hobby. This is especially true for the inflated market of boutique pedals, which, like hi-fi equipment, airline excess baggage charges, and bottled water, are blatantly overpriced yet somehow immune from the need for justification. I doubt God would agree paying $100 extra for a true bypass circuit yields a better ROI than putting the same money into offertory, or donating to charity. Fortunately, by God’s grace and love, He overlooks or allows our indulgences, and frequently blesses us way beyond our needs...but it is imperative to keep in mind why we’re doing this, and seek ways to glorify Him, rather than ways He can glorify us.

"Enough for today is all we can enjoy. We cannot eat, drink, or wear more than today's supply of food and clothing. The surplus gives us the care of storing it and the anxiety that someone might steal it. One staff aids a traveler; a bunch of staves is a heavy burden. Enough is as good as a feast, and more than gluttony can enjoy. Enough is all we should expect; a craving for more is ungratefulness. When our Father doesn't give you more, be content with your daily allowance." – Charles Spurgeon

I’m sure in the long absence of updates no-one even reads this blog anymore, but it remains the platform for penning my thoughts. So here’s the not-quite annual review of my gears (actually it’s the first since I decided to stop swapping stuff every few weeks) in order of signal chain, and the changes I’m considering.

Fender CIJ ST71-93TX

Ash body, maple neck and fretboard. Heavy as heck for a strat. It’s about a decade old and has aged nicely. My love affair with this has toned down considerably from a year ago, when I was using in almost exclusively at the expense of my Yamaha. Nothing replaces its luscious sparkle and sweet middle-pup bell-like chime, but now that I hardly play outside of worship, these characteristics don’t score quite as many points with me. The strat’s renowned versatility is also diminished by the fact that my church’s youth service sound system isn’t exactly big on transparency and clarity. Still, I love its vintage tone, unique grains, form-factor, and strat-o-sexiness; and don’t plan on parting with it anytime soon. I would love to upgrade to an American Standard in Sienna sunburst, but that’s a $700 upgrade I can certainly live without.

Yamaha AES620

Mahogany and alder body with a lovely faux-flame finish, and mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard. Always held a soft spot in my heart as my first proper electric, but in recent months I’ve been picking it over the Fender with increasing regularity. For the stuff I play for worship, humbuckers are more useful 75% of the time when taking into account the whole 5-song set. When we play Planetshakers, I absolutely need this for the chug-chug. Nigel Hendroff uses a Gretsch, and humbuckers come closer to that thick, rich tone on Hillsong solos and harmonic riffs. I’ve got a coil tap on the Seymour Duncan as well...it doesn’t quite nail the single-coil tone, but it comes close enough, especially through the PA. To this day, I consider the AES620 an extraordinary value in the overcrowded $700-$1000 double humbucker, cutaway guitar range; and Yamaha should really have christened it with a snazzy monicker (seriously, AES is just a nuisance on the tongue). Strangely, it’s no longer in production, so needless to say I’ll never part with mine.

OM Labs Sahasrara
This was almost a luxury afterthought when I decided to purchase it, but it’s become a core of my rig. Remarkably transparent and really shows off the different characteristics of both my guitars. I tend to employ it for a mild, point-of-breaking-up OD – it cleans up well, and the pre-gain knob really allows me to bring up my presence without adding more gain or treble. Also often used as a heavier OD for rhythm work when the BB Preamp’s thick, compressed tone might end up muddy or loose. Most of time though, it’s a boost into the BB Preamp - stacked with the BB, it adds delicious bite and helps bring out the notes’ definition.
No doubt there are better, more transparent ODs out there...but for what price? I’m most susceptible to OD GAS though :(

Xotic Effects BB Preamp
SRV in a box? Smooth and versatile OD. The bass and treble tone knobs really make a huge difference, but it’s honestly difficult to get an unpleasant sound out of this little wonder. It’s not exactly transparent, but that doesn’t matter when the resulting tone is sweet, harmonically-rich singing. My “solo” pedal, definitely. Stacked, it gives plenty of power and punch. Abit too thick for quick rhythm work even on my strat, and I’m sure a Lovepedal eternity might sound better...but honestly, I’m never swapping this for any other OD.

ProCo Rat 2
For what I paid, the Rat is perhaps my best-value purchase. Modded to Keeley specs. Huge range of gain that easily goes into dirty distortion and even filthy fuzz. Cuts through any mix, can be ear-piercingly nasal or even somewhat mellow. Widely regarded as a classic, versatile distortion stompbox, it’s been my reliable high-gain pedal for 4 years. But. It’s never sounded good through the church PA :( If I were to guess, it’s an impedence issue, as there are times when the bypass doesn’t quite engage or cut off. A huge pity, as I’ll probably never come close to finding another distortion pedal this good this cheap.

Tonefactor Huckleberry
Supposedly a purple box full of mojo. No-frills, classic-styled fuzz stompbox with an unnecessarily big range. Cleans up fairly well at low-mid gain, but at those levels it simple feels like a muddy OD on steroids. Never quite goes into a wall-crushing gobsmack of fuzz like the more modern-voiced fuzz pedals. I suppose you could call it versatile, but I don’t use fuzz in church, I don’t play Hendrix, and I can’t quite get the sound I want out of it. Pushed by the Sahasrara or BB it gains a fuller, more forward sound, but I suspect it’s only a matter of time before it goes.

Boss CH-1
Pretty decent. I find it’s best for dialing in just a touch of leisurely-paced chorus. Lush and fairly organic when applied tastefully. I don’t use it anymore, mainly due to space constraints (not because it’s buffered…I don’t notice any tone suck actually) and the fact that I can get chorus sounds from other pedals in my chain. It’s something of a gift though so I won’t be selling it.

Boss DD-20
The cornerstone of my pedalboard…I use delay on almost every song, especially in church. The first pedal I bought, and the longest-serving one. Its relative age and ubiquity - as well as the introduction of the Nova Delay and new Boss DD-7 – means it’s no longer quite revered by the average guitarist, but it’s still a feature-laden digital delay which covers most delay requirements. The joy I’ve experienced tweaking its myriad settings, playing around with the reverse and warp modes, and hooking up stereo delay is genuinely priceless. The standard and analogue settings sound great to my ears; not as clear and full as the TC delays, but they possess a lovely decay and warmth. The chorus delay is good enough that I don’t feel the necessity of using a separate chorus pedal. I’ve never heard an actual tape echo unit, but the simulation here sounds decent at the right settings – which fit nicely into the 4 available preset slots. I just wish the dual delay and looper settings were better implemented, and that it had a smaller footprint. I’d love to have an Empress Superdelay, but that’s too expensive to be realistic, and I’m doing perfectly fine with the DD-20, so I foresee it remaining on my board for a long, long time.

Yamaha Magicstomp
My pocketknife stompbox. There are some truly amazing sounds in this magic box – the delays are pristine, the reverbs gorgeous, and the flanges are downright amazing for the price. Most often I’m using this as an additional echo over the DD20’s dotted eight delays, or to add ambient reverb effects. It’s my go-to whenever a song requires a flange or wah effect as well – I use a custom phaser setting in place of a wah sound. On songs when I’m not using any of those, I’ll switch to a clean amp emulator to provide some much-needed body for my guitar tone through the PA. Honestly, the two (and they’re big) shortcomings of the Magicstomp are weak drives (no surprise for a modeler) and terrible, terrible design. The editor software is excruciatingly frustrating and unintuitive, and the stompbox itself is poorly-designed for live use even as a single effect. Yamaha could have made a real killer multi-effects unit… As it is, the Magicstomp sounds too good and is too useful for me to give up on, but it’s a love-hate relationship at times.

Empress Effects Tremolo
The most recent addition to the family. I got it early in the year for a steal. Sadly, I haven’t spent the amount of time I should be playing with the pedal. To me, the Empress trem strikes a good balance between simplicity and features. There are trems like the Guyatone Ultrem and Cusack Tap-a-Whirl that allow you huge control over the waveform; and that’s great, but ultimately, I find myself using the same few settings most of the time on the Empress. More importantly, it sounds wonderful – as good as, if not better than, feted tremolos from the likes of Fulltone, Voodoo Labs and Red Witch – whether I need deep throbs or frenzied staccatos. The depth knob goes from a gentle shimmer to a lush quiver; and the gain knob is excellent, clever design. I was pleasantly surprised with the faux-Leslie speed effect on the 2-speed mode, although the effect isn’t very effective through PA. The tap-tempo is a must for me, cos I’m obsessive about syncing tempos live; and often tap my DD-20 to check if the drummer has sped up. Its relatively small size is icing on the cake. I don’t often use tremolo, but this orange surprise is an absolute keeper.

Boss FV-50L
Ugly. But it works. Very plastic, but it’s not like I abuse it anyway. Don’t really like the sweep of it, could be more even. I use it mainly for volume swells and, well, adjusting my volume live. Sometimes I prefer doing swells with my guitar’s volume knob, so it sorta “blooms” into overdrive. Maybe if church gets a proper sound engineer some day I can give this pedal away.

Vox Pathfinder 15R
The best bedroom practice amp (for the budget-conscious, at least – shouldn’t that be everyone?). Excellent clean tone, takes pedals wonderfully. Seems to prefer single-coils ever so slightly to humbuckers, where the overall tone can get a little muddy. The drive section is pretty lame, but who uses it anyway? Tremolo is nice, but I don’t use it. The reverb is essential for getting that Vox vibe in my opinion; and considering the price difference I can’t justify getting the non-reverb version. But honestly, it’s 15W and retails at about $150 these days…what’s not to like? It’s to the Pathfinder’s considerable credit, rather than any shortcoming on the Blackheart’s part, that I continue to use and enjoy the Pathfinder frequently – most often in a stereo set up.

Blackheart Little Giant
5W Class A tube amp out of a matching 12” cab. Having read plenty of opinions, comments, and reviews; and then actually playing it in my bedroom, I have to wonder – just what volume do some guitarists play at? It may only be 5W, but this amp is plenty loud and boasts more than enough headroom for absolutely clean playing in a room. If I was playing with a drummer in a studio then yes, I can foresee cranking it to overdrive as a realistic proposition. But at home, I rarely get to turn it up past 7 – where there are only the faintest hints of overdrive – and my ears are already ringing. The 3W/5W switch is definitely useful for home application, although to my ears the 5W is definitely fuller and more defined. Still, I suppose I got what I paid for – a cheap half-stack that give my bedroom mojo, and my guitars that warm, dynamic tube richness. There’s a definite magic to playing through a tube amp, although the difference is certainly less pronounced than some advocates would have you believe. If I sound somewhat disappointed, it’s because I really haven’t spent the time I should breaking-in the speaker and tube. I’m always kinda lazy though…

And below are the additions/upgrades I’m considering:

Korg Pitchblack pedal tuner - $84
Yeah, I think it’s pretty funny too that I don’t have a tuner. I’m not a very physical player by any means, and both my guitars hold tuning well – the Fender is exceptional in this regard – but there’ve been plenty of time when I’ve noticed a string that’s out during a session, especially with distortion on. The Pitchblack seems like my best bet – small size, true bypass, more accurate than the Boss TU-2, big and bright LEDs. The Magicstomp does have a built-in tuner function…but let’s not get into that.

LyT 32” Pedalboard – About $140 before shipping
The Electro-Harmonix bag’s been serving me well for many many years, but let’s face it – the Velcro is junk, and the padding simply isn’t adequate protection for my precious pedals. Not to mention I can’t fit them all into it. Even then, it’s a heavy load to be lugging around, a Pedaltrain is gonna be back-breaking. This LyT board seems to be garnering lots of positive attention – it’s ultra light and thin, has a well-designed second tier, and is a lot cheaper than Pedaltrain. I’ll need to find a friend to help bring it in from the States though…shipping is prohibitive. Failing that, I’ll probably settle for a Gator Pedaltote Pro.

Goosonique Worx Seventheaven – About $400?
I’ve always been impressed by local pedal-maker Gsonique’s stuff. High-quality sounds at a considerably cheaper price. I owned and used the Boosty for quite awhile as well with no reliability issues, so it’s not like they’re skimping on parts. The Seventheaven seems like the Next Big Thing as far as the local guitar scene is concerned. Regarding the prototypes, people have said it nails the dynamics and tone of high-gain amps’ distortion. Consisting of a drive section with low and high gain channels, as well as a boost section, EQ and presence controls in addition to the standard drive and volume, its certainly comparable in features to something like the Fulltone Fulldrive. The demos and sound clips certainly sound impressive, but I’ll reserve further comments till I actually get to try the pedal out. I’ve been wanting to upgrade my distortion pedal for a long while, although I’ll probably have to sell both the Rat and the Sahasrara to help fund this beast. Expected launch date is in November…I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled, that’s for sure.

Wah-wah pedal - $200 – 500
Well, truth is, I’m not interested in a wah pedal at all. If there’s a cliché pedal effect, it’s got to be the wah-wah. Overused and often misunderstood, the wah pedal’s cause is not helped by the myriad of different voicings and sweeps – unlike drive pedals, few musicians are going to have more than 1 wah on their board at a time. It’s often a long and frustrating search to find a suitable and pleasant wah pedal; and an even long one to master it. It’s an interesting effect when used tastefully, but I just can’t see myself ever using it outside of a couple of worship songs. I use a phaser effect to mimic the sweep-wah effect used with ambient delay, as well as parts with a consistent rocking wah-wah sound. I’d need a wah pedal for parts where the wah sweep is not fixed, such as the solo on What the World will Never Take, but it seems a waste to splurge (good, reliable wahs are notoriously expensive) for something used so sparingly, and it’s not like worship leaders require an exact replica of the sound used on the recording anyway. A low, low priority for me.

TC Electronics Nova Repeater – About $240-265 before shipping
I didn’t realize how much I’d miss having 2 tap-tempo delays on tap till I sold my Space Echo. I’m forced to use the Magicstomp for a second delay now which is a real hassle; and there are times when I need it for other effects. Definitely a lot more rhythmic and ambient possibilities. The Nova Repeater supposedly has the same delay sounds as the Nova Delay, just minus the presets, display screen and fancy features, which would be an interesting foil to the DD-20. I wouldn’t say I need it, but I can’t think of a better investment in any other type of sound effect. And at this price it seems like a genuine bargain. Slightly cheaper from the States, but I think I’ll have better luck asking my brother to help bring one in from UK…assuming I can find in stock online.

Danelectro ’59 Reissue – About $350-380 before shipping
Not the upcoming original specs reissue, although those sure look sweet. The ’59 oozes retro cool and the lipstick pickups are full of win and mojo. The price in Europe is almost insulting…but I’m just not sure about buying a guitar for vanity purposes – though from all accounts it kicks up quite the stir with a healthy dose of distortion.

Comments are welcome. More importantly, pray that I’ll seek and receive advice from the Lord.