5 Ugly Truths about Guitar Magazines

If you have been playing guitar for a long time (we're talking 10-15+ years), the you know what it was like to read guitar magazines. They were to way to find more information about the thing you love to do. They had everything. There were articles about your favorite guitarist, gear reviews, tabbed out songs, and girls holding guitars... I mean, it was all you could ever ask for, right?

They're Out Dated


Of course they are. In the internet age, nearly all print media is looking like a dinosaur. people are writing and publishing their thoughts on the hourly basis. The best way to get the latest information about you preferred artist is to follow them on social media.


They're Not Exactly Ethical


I don't mean to slight the competition here, but let's face it. If your lights are kept on by the people you are reviewing, then do you think there is a bias? I know that if would be difficult for me to be completely ethical if I had to manage a relationship with the people I am actively criticizing. So called reviews in these magazines read like reheated press releases. Good thing you are more savvy than to believe those wood-pulp-pushers and you read blogs!


They're Old Fashioned


So, remember those girl and guitar that I mentioned way back in the introduction to this post? Well, turns out that they are falling out of fashion. They were once was a strong presence in guitar periodicals, but recently guitar-babes have been view as a 'tacky addition' rather than 'attractive feature'. Even NAMM, once the home of many a booth-babe, has done away with the distraction. This is probably due the fact that woman are becoming more of a part of what has been traditional a male dominated hobby. It probably doesn't come as no surprise, but woman don't enjoy the objectification of other woman... go figure.


Tabs Aren't That Hard To Come By

One of the main attractions of these magazines are the transcript songs in the back of them. Unless you had a very guitar ear and a lot of patience, these magazines were a god-sent. Now-a-days we have website on top of website trying to shove their tabs down your throat. Not only that, but you have a dozen different versions to choose from. Honestly, the internet has not been nice to print media, but that's the way the world works.


There Will Be Boxes


... of magazines.  Anyone with a subscription to a magazine will tell you that sooner or later you will have a pile of paper that needs to be tamed. Typically this requires a large box of holding. Once that box is full (because it will be full) you'll put it in you closet... until you move it out to make room for you next box of magazines. Then, you'll put the boxes in you garage, or attic, or somewhere until that is overflowing with glossy pages on top of glossy pages. This will continue until the ghosts of all the murdered tree come and take you away to answer for  your crimes against tree-kind.


Conclusion


Keep reading my blog. Duh...

Support the blog by shopping on Amazon by using my link!

There should be an ad below:

Ugly Guitar Truth About Keeley Eletronics D&M Drive

NAMM showed us lots of interesting pedals and gear, but something stuck out like a bad pun about British dental work. I'm talking about the Keeley D&M Drive. Sadly we can't call this the DM Drive because then we could pretend that it was some allusion to a D&D dungeon master. I mean, nerdy table top RPGs are better than out-and-out product hocking. Yes, this pedal in question is specifically designed for That Pedal Show's host's D-name and M-name. What does this mean and why is it ugly? Ehh... let's see:

Let's Face It


Basically this is a three knob drive pedal glued to a three knob boost pedal and sold as a custom(?) pedal. They did do something right. They made the pedal order switchable. You will be able to boost into the drive circuit or drive into the boost. That adds a great deal of range to the sounds this pedal is capable of. However, they'd be able to do more if you allowed for a loop in-between the two sides, but that is a little over-the-top for a drive boost combo. However, with a G2 system you can have full functionality with the press of a button. So, There's that.


Speaking Of Faces


Just that. You have D-name and M-name looking at you from the top of the pedal. It looks like that got the same guy that did the Rhett and Link logo, but they paid him in high-fives, and he was hung-over... from meth...(you get hung over from meth, right? you know what, don't answer that). It's not that bad. However, if you didn't know that D-name and M-name had a YouTube show about pedals, then you'd probably wonder why there is a bald man in front of a setting sun and a reject Doug character on the pedal.


It's Hard To Find


Right now there is little information about this pedal. Just finding an image is tough to do. In fact the most information right now is the actually video that D and M did at NAMM for Keeley. In the video, They quote the old joke about NAMM: NAMM, Not Available Maybe May... So, we might be looking a few months off before common folk like us can get our hands on it.


Conclusion


Based on the very little information that is available, it is very hard to come to any real conclusion. But what we can here in the NAMM video is pretty telling. There isn't anything objectionable in the video as far as I can hear. The drive is officially described as 'Tight' and the boost is called a 'mid-boost'. The best thing is to take a listen to That Pedal Show, and if you like their tones then this might be up your ally. So, when 'maybe-May' get around here and you have $229-249 to spare. You can have you're very own D&M.

Support the blog by shopping on Amazon by using my link!

There should be an ad below:

Ugly Guitar Truth: EHX Synth9

Almost like clockwork, EHX has been issuing new versions of the 9 series. Each one giving us new voices to transform our guitars into. The B9 was so revolutionary that it was widely seen on pro and hobbyist pedal boards near and far. Electro Harmonix have continued to release up date to the line to keep us busy. The C9 gave us even more organ noises. The Key9 let us made keyboard sounds. The Mel9 was possibly the last thing many of us expected, but still expanded the pallet of sonic expression. Now, we can apply synthesizer noises to the now-familiar 9-series format. So is this all good new, or is there some ugly truth behind all this. Let's see...

It's A Little Bit Too Familiar

Five knobs, one switch. The try-and-true format of the 9-series is back and weirder than ever. The synth sound is a mystic and allusive beast for many guitar players. While synth-guitar is nothing new, the quality of said synth is something that has alluded many a play for quite some time. I've played several effects that are supposed to create synth noise but each one comes up shy. Line6, Digitech, BOSS and others have tried and have come up wanting. So, is this just more of the same? From the demo video they dropped recently, it looks like they are hitting at least a few of those sweet spots to recreate some classic 80's rock and synth pop hits. Is this the go to pedal for 80's cover bands? Probably.

This Is Not The Update You're Looking For

Much to the dismay of many of the 9-series fans, this is not the update that many are begging EHX for. There is no edit function, no customizable parameters, no usb connectivity. We now have 45 voices in the 9-series and no hint that we will even be able to mix-and-match or edit and deeper than the 4 parameters physically on the pedal. However, this pedal is the furthest we have ventured for any sound that we can create with a POG. Organ sounds were one of the key selling points of the POG for many player, but the Synth 9 gives us things the POG is not capable on its own.

Nailed It?

From the beginning of the 9-series, these pedals have been nearly perfect. Some would argue that they are, in fact, perfect. I would say to them, that the lack of some key features would show us that they are not. The B9 gave us great organ noises, but no expression pedal in or fast/slow Leslie feature (they stuck that is a completely different pedal). The Key9 did cool keyboard sounds, but lacked a little of the authenticity that we loved about the B/C9 units. The Mel9 was cool, but obscure. Now the Synth9 is taking on a huge task: upping the guitar-synth game. ... and it has? Look, the 9 series is great at what it does: being the next best thing to the real thing, or faking it just good enough.

Conclusion

Here is the next in what is becoming a long line of rather ingenious pedals. With the power of these pedals combined, you'd hardly ever have to hear the sound of your actually guitar again. I am impressed with the ability of EHX to keep finding niches for their family of funky sound machines. I thought they were running out of ideas. Turns out they are feverously coming up with new ways to make crazy sounds. And when you take a long at the guy running the show over there, it make a lot of sense. So, do  you need this pedal in your life? Well, you have to ask your self. Do I have a consistent need to play "Jump". 

Support the blog by shopping on Amazon by using my link!

There should be an ad below:

More Ugly Truth About JHS Pedals

Love them, or hate them, JHS Pedals have made quite a name for themselves. JHS has been designing and building effects for a few years now and there is a long list of high profile names that have endorsed them. They claim to be played by Andy Timmons, Ryan Adams, and John Mayer. So they must be doing something right. However, they are also doing something wrong and that's what I want to talk about.

Shame


JHS has a fair sized collection of effects that bare there name. Overdrives, distortions, Delay, Reverb, Boosts and more. All of them pedals demand a price that fans of boutique pedal are accustom to. $250 for an overdrive and boost is middle of the road for the market, but I've notice a few new faces in the line up that seem not to fit in the typical 'JHS' mold.  There are half a dozen or so utilitarian type pedals that seem affordable next to the other offering by JHS. So if they are a fraction of the cost of the others, then what's the problem?

Shame


These pedal include a Remote (Tap), Stutter (kill switch), Amp Box, Mute Switch, A/B, Buffer, and Splitter. "Great!" You say. Cheap boxes that do little jobs. That's not an ugly truth, that's just a good heads up. I'm sure that's what any JHS fanboy would think, but let look a little hard at the little boxes. When we do, we discover that there is little in these boxes that make it worth what they want for them. I know that the 'cost of materials' debate is not a new one (ie it only cost $40 for all the parts that go into a pedal. why do I have to pay $200 for it). Lets take the Red Remote for example. It is literally a footswitch wired to a 1/4" jack. A few dollars of materials and an equally few minute of work, but put JHS on it and it's a $35 pedal. The Stutter is no different. It is just the same switch between two jacks. The Mute switch adds an LED to the formula and charges an extra $10 for it. Wire that up slightly differently and you get the JHS A/B Box. The buffer does add some actual signal processing, but for the few part that it cobbles together you pay another $25 for it. Sad. Just Sad.

Shame


I know what JHS is thinking. Not everyone can afford their pedals, but they want everyone to own a piece of their gear and represent JHS on their board. Make something for the little guy or the beginner. Simple tools of the trade that everyone needs. Or they might just feel like they can charge a premium for simple boxes filled with mostly air. It kills me that I know you can get the same pedal for half of what they want for the JHS version. Maybe I'm missing something here. Maybe there is more to it. But from what I can see, this is just a case of taking advantage of you customer. I wish there was something redeemable about this 'pedals', but I just don't see it.

Support the blog by shopping on Amazon by using my link!

There should be an ad below:

Ugly Guitar Truth: EHX Canyon Delay/Looper

This little pedal flew completely under my radar. I paid attention to all the NAMM 2017 debuts but somehow didn't even get a hint of this pedal. Tell me if I'm wrong, but did you see anything about this pedal before now? Regardless, here it is, and we have to talk about it. Thankfully this pedal should drop on the 13th of February (2017) so there isn't much waiting for this one. As for price, well, there seems to be a little confliction as to what can be found online. Musicians Friends had posted a price tag of 158 USD, but EHX has been caught tweet a cost of 139 USD street price. So with the information that we have, Is this pedal a yay, or a nay. It's mighty morphing Ugly Truth Time...

It's Small...


Alright, small can be a good thing. Lots of good things come in small packages, but delays that occupy tiny spaces are usually lacking in the feature department. I mean, look at the Strymon and Eventide well-endowed delay boxes. Those are feature packed and massive. So this little box couldn't have that much to offer... Except it kind of does. 11 modes give you more than a BOSS DD-20. It can loop for a full minute and you get 2 "secret knobs when you hold the Tap/Divide button. This has to be one of the most feature laden delays in the size box. No, it isn't stereo. But you can control the rate and depth of the modulations. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a new trick for a compact delay.




Don't EHX Have A Lot Of Other Delays?




Yes. Yes, they do. The Memory Man/Boy/Toy line is extensive. And they do have some cross over as far as price. There is even a DMM (Deluxe Memory Man) setting on this pedal. However, this is a digital pedal. Kind of different for EHX, but I guess they were just waiting until they really had something that they liked before they put one out. Analog Delay users are going to analog, digital are gonna digital, that's just what happens. What has a lot of people looking at this pedal is the long list of modes and the affordable price. It could also be the neat tricks that this pedal is capable of that has people interest as well.. hmm, guess there is a few thing to like about it...



Wasn't There Another 3 Second Delay Released Recently?




Yes. I even wrote my thought on the DOD Rubberneck here. I like the DOD delay a lot. It has a lot of cool things going for it. It also has a $250 Street price, so fair is fair. The DOD pedal has features that this pedal can't touch. The titular feature, Rubbernecking, is pretty unique to that pedal. It also has a built in tap feature. Admittedly, the DOD looks cooler. But If I had to go with one delay on my board and also had to choose between these two pedals, then I would be picking the Canyon. The Rubberneck is a pedal that I'd be proud to own, but if I had to choose one, then I'd pick the one that can Loop, Reverse, Shim, Octave and Verb.

Conclusion




I like this pedal. I like this pedal a lot. You could probably tell that already. This pedal would be a great addition to a pedal board that wasn't already fitted with a delay. I'd even pick this one over the BOSS DD7 and the smaller Flashback delay. If you are looking to upgrade your delay but don't want to get one of the larger "do everything" units or if you looking to save a buck, then this pedal would be something to look at seriously. Should you drop everything and get this pedal for its wonderfully healing properties? Of course. But try to remember that this people isn't as powerful as one those others that have all the blinking lights and MIDI and extra holes... Oh, it has a dumb name too...

Support the blog by shopping on Amazon by using my link!

There should be an ad below: