NPD JHS The AT (Andy Timmons) Overdrive pedal

JHS The AT (Andy Timmons) Overdrive pedal

So it is new pedal day today (NPD!) and my JHS Andy Timmons Signature overdrive has just arrived, so I thought I would do a video blog for no other reason than I am very excited!! I will be doing a review soon, but needless to say it sound AWESOME!!Some just asked me on Facebook...

What are the main differences between AT Overdrive and the Angry Charlie v3?

The main differences are the Angry Charlie has 3 band EQ which closely represents the overall tone stack in a Marshall JCM800. So it is very close to the Marshall Gov’ner pedal. THE AT Drive, has an over all EQ control, which acts a bit like a lowpass filter is used to adjust the overall tone of the pedal (so a bit like a mid control ish!) and the Air is a LP filter too but seems to adjust the HF response. The main difference though is the toggle switch! This give you 3 levels of headroom and is represents a 25W, 50W and 100W power stage. So at 25w you get a lot of compression and more distortion but at a lower level, 50W is a bit more biting Crunch/Distortion, and 100W is a really loud power amp type tone. I have it set at 50W currently and then over compress it by running the EHX soul food into it, this gives gain compression but a boost in the mids which makes it stand out on solos!Any more questions, just shout!EnjoyPeaceNeil

Boss TU-12H Tuner : Oldest Gear I own

>Boss TU-12H Chromatic TunerI thought I would share this picture post of one of the oldest pieces of gear I own, the Boss TU-12H Chromatic Tuner. I brought this when I first started getting into guitar seriously in 1988!! I saved a lot of pocket money to buy this Tuner, after having previously brought a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal and the thing is about these two items, gear has come and gone but I still have them, I still use them and they still work really really well!! I guess it goes to show, the tuner isn't the most exciting piece of gear you can ever buy, but it is a fundamentally important item. If not the most important item a musician might own!! No it isn't as sexy as an effect pedal, but it is vital to being able to play in tune and with other musicians. At the time, the TU-12H cost a lot of money and there wasn't much choice around at that time, and remember this was long before guitars went total mainstream and the influx of cheap imports!So the moral of this story for me, sometimes it is worth investing in good solid gear, it can in many cases last a lifetime!!What is your oldest piece of gear? EnjoyPeaceNeil

Quick Tip : Using USB Battery pack to power guitar pedals or pedalboard.

Today I thought I would do a quick tip on powering your guitar pedals or pedalboard with a USB Battery Packs. Yes you can do this!! I have been wondering about this for sometime, given how USB battery packs (or recharge packs or powerbanks as they are called) seem to be cropping up all over the places now and they are super reasonable value. The only thing you need to make this work is something like this (Link to MyVolts 5v to 9V usb adaptor) which steps the 5V output of the battery up to 9V to power most pedals. This only costs a few pounds and you can even use it with a USB plug adaptor too, the main thing is it works really well!!I am going to do another video on working out the milliamps and all that stuff soon.Any questions, just ask!EnjoyPeaceNeil

Natural finish Strat Custom build project part 2

Here is another update to my strat custom build/makeover project that is have been working on for sometime! I will be posting a few pictures in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, I am now at stage two, the wood work has been done. The guitar looks amazing, and I have to thank Steve at theguitarworkshop for all his work on this. The neck has been refret and it plays amazingly! I can't actually put the guitar down at the moment.The next stage is to get all the electrics replaced and some of the other bits of hardware. I am opting for black across the board and I am just waiting for some of these pieces to arrive. The other thing I will be replacing is the bridge and that is the last item I have to order.Here is a little video diary from the project!EnjoyPeaceNeil

Line 6 G30 Wireless system battery compartment update

Here is a follow up to my review of the fantastic Line 6 G30 Wireless system, and it's slightly poor quality battery compartment. I did a video to show what happened at a gig to the battery compartment when I opened it. This was NOT a result of it being dropped, I take great care of my gear, and especially this piece as it had already broken the very rubbish plastic clip meant to hold the battery in place (this was the reason for the cable tie closing mechanism!). I do think that this is an AWESOME piece of kit and I wouldn't be without it, but it is such a shame that this couldn't have been made a tiny bit better!!Original review can be found hereEnjoyPeaceNeil

Profile on onlineguitarlessons.co.uk

I am really happy to say that I now have a profile on the fantastic onlineguitarlessons.co.uk website. So what is the website all about? Well, here is some blurb from the about section "Onlineguitarlessons.co.uk is a website designed to help you learn guitar for free. We have a full range of lessons ranging catering for the beginner right through to the advanced. If you’re struggling to work out how to play, then you’ve come to the right place! It’s our aim to grow this website into a great resource, and unless we get too distracted, a regular stream of great information shall flow!"Onlineguitarlessons.co.uk main mission is "to help people when learning guitar, through tips and providing regular and useful information." It is a really honour to be on the site, so head on over and take a look at some of the great lessons and tutors who are on the site.EnjoyPeaceNeil  

Steve Vai 25th Anniversary Passion and Warfare Show

A big day today!! I am so, so, so excited to be going to see Steve Vai on the 25th Anniversary tour of releasing Passion and Warfare. I cannot state how important that album and Mr Vai have been in and on my life. Sometimes something comes into your life and changes it for ever, for me it has been music and in particular a collection of albums which upon hearing I knew instinctively that my life would never be the same again, Iron Maiden’s Live after Death, Joe Satriani’s Surfing with the Alien and Extreme’s Pornograffiti being but three of many. Three works of art which on the first time listening left me floored, inspired, excited, thrilled and mostly thinking how the f*** did they do that. Passion and Warfare and Mr Vai have probably been the most responsible for a number of major life events, from being fortunate enough to get a Steve Vai Scholarship to study orchestration at Berklee, through to actually studying under Mr Vai on his Berklee course, something which was totally and utterly life changing. I can’t state how strongly his music and his life philosophy play a large part in shaping who I am.

No doubt I will get a bit emotional during this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuX1qwGtLzA“That sounds like noise Mr Vai”Review soon!EnjoyPeaceNeil

Studio pictures from 80 Hertz Studio

So, Groovething were fortunate enough to spend another day in the fantastic 80 Hertz studios in Manchester, recording a few tracks live for demo purposes on the band website. It really was a great day and here are a few pictures from it. I was mostly using my Fender 1999 American Standard Strat  and my Ibanez SC420 S-classic guitar for the recording duties. Very simple set up, the guitar went into Boss Tuner, Xotic Effects SL drive and the straight into my cranked Fender 68 Deluxe reverb. From what I have heard so far, it all sounded pretty awesome and I will post a few clips when I can. For now, here are a few pictures.

EnjoyPeaceNeil

Atomic Amplifier Firmware V3 Uploaded

Some very exciting news today courtesy of Atomic Amps, they have just announced a rather large update to the already amazing Amplifire. I am currently downloading it as we speak and once I have updated my Amplifire I will post another update review. But what is not to like? They took something awesome and made it even more awesome!!These are the updates posted on the Atomic Website.

AmpliFIRE Firmware Version 3.0 / System 1.10 Release NotesBefore proceeding, backup your AmpliFIRE using the editor. This firmware has been tested rigorously both internally and by our beta team but if for any reason (as unlikely as it may be) you need to revert to an older version you’ll need it since presets saved in the new firmware will not be backwards compatible. Current presets should sound the same after the update.That being said, we are very pleased to have a BIG update for you with many new features, amps and some critical bug fixes.

•  Marc IV Lead and Marc IV EQ amps have been added to the arsenal and have quickly become a go to favorites with our in house and beta teams. This one’s going to leave a “marc”. Did I just write that?

•  Rumble & Rumble Bright This instant AmpliFIRE classic inspired a certain “steely” guitarist to purchase the little red box on the spot after playing just a few chords and lines. After listening to some customer’s preference for a version with more bite we made it happen. All D style amps are unique so this is fitting. Thanks to “D” amp expert Scott Lerner for all your help!

•  Echo Block: Some have called AmliFIRE’s delays great sounding but somewhat basic. No longer! The Echo block has been completely reworked to be a 4-tap delay that can be run in series or parallel mode. Each tap having dedicated time, feedback, mix and pan parameters. We’ve added a highly accurate Bucket Brigade mode to make analog delays as cool and quirky as the real thing. In addition, another cool aspect of the updated Echo block is the ability to blend your favorite echo characteristics into one effect to create delays that can’t be recreated on their dedicated real-world counterparts. For example, you can put tape flutter on an analog (bucket brigade) delay. The options are limitless.

•  Effects Block: Check out this power move: The Effects block has been broken out to individual blocks. Previously, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser & Trem effects shared the same block and parameters which was pretty simple but very limiting. Now, each effect has its own dedicated block with more parameters that are specific to the effect. The chorus can now be a super lush quad chorus, the flanger has a dedicated regeneration parameter and a though-zero mode and much more. The clincher is that they can all be run simultaneously with no regard to resources!

•  Reverb Block: Spring2 has been added to provide classic D’Luxe lovers a very familiar experience. Reverb is a deep and broad effect and we’re still just scratching the surface. More on that later. 

•  Footswitch management just got a whole lot more fun and flexible. How about being able to assign any number of effects to one switch with the click of the button? 3.0’s got it. Want to turn an effect off when turning the other(s) on? Done! The inverse feature covers it. Check out the new “Footswitches” tab in the editor but make sure to set the Global Switch to “preset assign” to make it work. For those of you who prefer the old way, that’s still intact. Or you can mix and match on a per preset basis!

•  Copy & Paste: Editor now has ability to copy and paste block parameters so you don’t have to go crazy setting up your favorite reverb (or whatever effect) parameters in a different preset

•  Levels: Interestingly, one of the most requested features has been to make the main Level control assignable to main outputs, aux outputs, and headphones independently. Check!

•  MIDI Clock Support for Tap Tempo: Not much else to say but Amplifire’s got it.

•  MIDI CC AmpliFIRE now offers a continuous controller’s assignment page that lets you choose what MIDI CC number controls each assignable parameter (wah, volume, effect enables etc.). External controllers have never been so easy to set up.

What am I looking forward to most??

Well, there is a lot to digest there, but what jumps out instantly is....well the Mark IV model, really really excited to try this.The improved delay functions sound AMAZING!! I love delay so much and this has really excited meFootswitch management. Wow, I has always thought it would be awesome to be able to use one switch to switch on various different effects, i.e. you have your boost with delay sound switch on together rather than having to create a new patch or switch on both, That is a massive one for me!!Love the fact the modulation blocks have been broken down an separated out, that is pretty fantastic and the fact they can be run simultaneously!I do already like the reverbs, but I am a sucker for reverb, so looking forward to trying that out!Okay I need to get on with this, I am about to enter the rabbit hole!EnjoyPeaceNeil