Hands On Review Of The Electo Harmonix Crayon Overdrive

There has been a lot of talk about this little pedal. Most web-stores don't even have the Crayon on there sites yet. A local store selling through Reverb.com was able to hook me up with one. The main thing is that everyone wants to know what other pedal it sounds like. Well I've tried it out and I can now tell you. However, that would be blowing my load a little too soon. So here's what owning and using this particular pedal has shown me.

It's Pretty Good. 

A lot of people liked what they heard from the EHX video demos. The Soul Food was a huge hit, so when they debuted a new light/medium overdrive peoples ears perked up. The Four knobs are a departure from most of their small drive pedals. Giving us Bass and Treble to manipulate is a step up. The clipping is musical and satisfying. The Bass and Treble are responsive and flexible. The Gain take you from clean to filthy with a twist. There is plenty of meat on these bones too. Playing a Tele through a Vox AC15 you'd expect twangy and spanky, but with this pedal engaged you plenty of grunt to thicken up that Tele sound.

The Name Is A Little Silly, Considering...

This pedal is one of the best clean boosts with the gain dialed back. It really preserves the sound of your guitar when playing through it. It doesn't jack with your tone in a bad way. Tube screamers will always add that mid-hump, but this pedal, when set correctly, will give you your tone right back to you, only louder. But not much louder. Much of the volume remain hidden until you start to add gain. But that is the reason to buy an overdrive, right? Besides being named after a childish art utensil, "coloring you tone" is considered a no-no, so when the hype video said the pedal did just that, well, it was a little bit of a face-palm moment.

It Gets You Close To That Sound With Minimal Effort

If you look at my pedal board, you will see that I like stacking my gain pedals. I have a Soul Food almost always on and cranked up to push the next pedal (Tube Screamer/OCD/Super Badass). Some times I'll run the TS into the OCD to get really noisy. I like combining Overdrives with other pedals to simulate the effect of a overdriven amp while keeping to bedroom levels. Not to say that other pedals need  a another in front of it, but this pedal has gotten pushed-a-little-too-hard (in a good way) sound all by it's self. There are a lot of things that I like about the Soul Food in this pedal, but mixed with better EQ and great clipping section.

In Conclusion

If you are in the market for a single pedal to do must of the heavy lifting of your dirt section and don't want to full with stacking different pedals, then this might be right up your ally. What the Soul Food lacks in flexibility, The Crayon Does rather well, with the bonus of being transparent in the best way possible. This pedal is a little more than just the "pre" section of you gain section. It has the grunt to be your entire overdrive section. It does play well with other though. Especially if the other pedal is heavier. All in all this pedal is a great box. Even if it turns out to be heavily "inspired" by another pedal, this pedal is a great addition to an already pretty stellar list of pedals in EHX's line.

Guerilla Warfare Pickups: Tactical Tele Humbucker

If you know me much, you should know that I am pretty big Tele guy. I've been playing Tele for nearly as long as I've been playing the guitar. I've played and owned several other guitars but it seem that I trend toward the T-shape. So when I saw this boutique pickup builder making this particular 'bucker I got very excited. I mean, look at it:

eww... preeeetty

Besides looking like awesomeness in pickup form, The description of this pickup makes you would to buy a pair... or all of the pairs:

Built for attitude and definition; these pickups offer a great blend of PAF Humbucker warmth and vintage Telecaster tones. Designed to maintain that traditional Tele tone, while providing a bigger sound with more volume, and of course, no 60-cycle hum or buzz. Tactical Tele Pickups have a raw, aggressive midrange, clear creamy treble and a fat bottom end to provide plenty of punch and attack. Pickups include nickel silver covers, mounting rings, and are wax potted with either single or 4 conductor shielded pickup leads. 

Alnico V magnets 
Moderate/High Output 
Neck Pickup 11.75K 
Bridge Pickup 12.50 
DC resistance is approximate

Check it out for your self, here.

5 Guitars That Every Guitarist Should Own

There are a lot of guitars out there. If you've been playing for a while then you've no doubt found what you like. It take little more than a trip to the music store to see what you like and what works for you. For me it is the Fender Telecaster. There is something comfortable about the shape and weight. For others it might be a SG or something from Ibanez. There is nothing wrong with any of these, but sometimes we gravitate toward a particular shape and style. If you are the collector type, like myself, then one guitar is never enough, nor is one type. So, how do we go about being a well rounded guitar owner? Diversity.

5) The Pawn Shop Special

There is something about find a diamond in the rough. Sometimes you have call them like you see them. If the guitar is a dud, its a dud. Sometime you find a guitar that was made for about five minutes by a company that doesn't exist any more. Other times you find a guitar that has been loved a little too hard, but despite the looks, the guitar of a soulful tone machine still lives. The best part is that prices are usually pretty flexible. This is a great idea that for the collector with limited cash. It can also serve as a great platform for mods and experimenting.

4)The Classic

We are talking the big four. Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG. Many of these are made and lots of people make clones. It is actually hard Not to own one of these guitars once your collection reaches a certain size. There is not a lot to say hear. There are some icons that should be experienced. If you do not already like one of these options then look into these guys. Many people like at their choice of guitar as a reflection of themselves, and to an extent it is, and getting one of these classics seems to cliche. There is a reason that these are so prolific.

3)The obscure

Just like owning a classic is important, owning a guitar that no one really knows or has ever thought about since the last one rolled off the production line. Often times these are terrible guitars, but every once in a while these surprise us and end up being fantastic guitars. The pawn shop is a great place to look, as is craigslist.

2)The "Out of your comfort zone"

Get weird. Get way out there. BC Rich is a great place to start. Maybe a flying V or Explorer for the more timid. A seven or eight string guitar will challenge you in many ways. Perhaps it as simple as losing the low E string and tuning a guitar to and open tuning. You should also consider extended range guitars such as a baritone. Resonator or slide guitar could be your "walk on the wild side". Everyone has their own comfort zone, try to find something that is definitively not typical for you.

1))The Fixer-upper

With a little luck and a few tools, you can take a guitar that others would pass up and make it into an absolute player. Maybe this a low-end model that could use some new guts, or a used unit that needs a nice set up. In any case, there is nothing that connects you to your instrument like putting honest work into bringing it back to life. This is a great experience for any guitarist. Working on a guitar and improving its status is good practice for when your main ax develops a hiccup. Skills like soldering and wiring take practice to perfect, so working on a guitar that isn't already an important part of your emotional well-being might be preferable.