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Lisätiedot: Musamaailma
Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 – the Kitarablogi-video
Review: Warwick LWA 1000
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German maker Warwick is offering a wide range of different bass amplifiers alongside their famous basses.
One of their newest products is the Warwick LWA 1000 – an ultra-compact, yet very powerful amp head.
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The Warwick LWA 1000 (current price in Finland: 789 €) is small and lightweight enough (2.75 kg) to fit into many gig bags. Optionally, you can also get a rack installation kit or a padded shoulder bag for this head.
As hinted at by its name, the LWA 1000 offers you up to 1,000 Watts of power (into a 4 Ohm cabinet, 500 W into 8 Ohms). Warwick have managed to squeeze this all into a compact package by using a Class D power amplifier.
Warwick’s two-channel preamp has been transplanted from their Hellborg-series, and promises to offer audiophile sound quality from its low-noise Class A circuits.
The two channels of the LWA 1000 are identical, and they can either be used to amplify two different instruments (each plugged into their own input) or to offer two different sounds for use with a single bass (a footswitch comes included with the amp).
There’s a four-band EQ section in each channel, offering up to 12 dBs of cut/boost per band.
The last link in the preamps’ signal chain is Warwick’s easy-to-use compressor.
The master section offers an auxiliary input to feed your mp3-player into, as well as a headphones output for silent practice.
The stylishly understated look of the Warwick LWA 1000 calls to mind high-end HiFi-equipment. You can get the amp head in two finishes – brushed aluminium and matte black.
”Lightweight and compact” doesn’t equal ”stripped-down” in the LWA’s case – this is a fully featured bass amplifier:
Of the four jacks on the back panel one is the tuner output, two are used for the effects loop, and the last one is an unbalanced, line level output. This Warwick head also sports a built-in DI-box with its dedicated Pre/Post-switch, as well as a ground lift switch for safe earth loop breaking.
In addition to the amp head itself (and its power cord), the package includes a footswitch and a long, pro-quality TRS-lead (aka a stereo cable).
You use your regular instrument lead to connect your bass to the footswitch, and the TRS-cable goes between the footswitch and either one of the LWA 1000’s channel inputs. The TRS tip carries the bass signal, while the ring connection is used to switch between amp channels.
I tested the Warwick LWA 1000 through a Warwick WCA 410 cabinet.
The pro-quality WCA 410 (current price in Finland: 380 €) is a chunky bass-reflex cabinet, equipped with four ten-inch speakers and a four-inch treble horn.
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Warwick’s LWA 1000 offers truckloads of ultra-clean, quality bass tone in a very compact format. In contrast to many other bass amplifiers the LWA adds only very little unwanted colouration to your instrument’s tone.
Some bassists rely on certain sonic artifacts from their amp for their own signature sound (like tube saturation or distortion, or a non-linear frequency curve), and this is as valid an approach as others (rock on, guys!). Others – myself included – get their kicks from just the type of clean and linear amplification the Warwick LWA 1000 head provides.
The channel EQs work like a dream and the built-in compressors are musical and intuitive to use.
In the studio you will appreciate this head’s processor controlled ventilator, which works very quietly, and only springs into action when needed.
The sound clips I have recorded will give you a good idea of the sheer power this Warwick provides. If you listen closely, you can hear the metal grilles of the studio’s air conditioning system rattle along with the playing in places:
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Warwick’s LWA 1000 is just my kind of bass amplifier. The sound is very clear and dynamic, and there’s enough power on tap to shut up your guitarist.
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Warwick LWA 1000
789 €
Finnish distributor: Musamaailma
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Pros:
+ power
+ size
+ lightweight
+ ultra-clean tone
+ footswitch included
Review: EBS FuzzMo
The good people of EBS Sweden are now bringing a healthy dose of fuzz to the bassist’s toolbox.
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The EBS FuzzMo (current price in Finland: 169,90 €) is a fuzz-type high gain distortion developed especially for bass.
This stompbox is made in China to the EBS’ exacting standards. It’s a sturdy pedal with very positive feeling controls.
The FuzzMo can be powered in three ways:
If you use an EBS amp from the Drome-, Gorm-, HD- or TD-series, you can use a TRS-cable (aka a stereo cable) to feed phantom power from the amp to the effect pedal.
The FuzzMo pedal also runs off a standard 9 V battery, but you will need a screwdriver to take off the base plate first.
The third alternative is to employ a Boss-type power supply (9 V DC, centre negative) to fire up the stompbox.
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Even though the EBS FuzzMo looks somewhat similar to the company’s Billy Sheehan -pedal, the controls on the fuzz work in a different way.
The FuzzMo doesn’t do ”nice and sweet” – the Gain control offers fuzz from medium-crunchy to balls-to-the-wall-fuzz. Shape adjusts the tone of the fuzz effect – not in the way a traditional tone control does, but rather by changing the waveform of the fuzz signal. At seven o’clock the sound is quite warm and organic with the waveform approaching a square, while five o’clock is far brighter and more aggressive with the waveform resembling a triangle.
The mini-switch underneath the FuzzMo-logo (called Character) also plays an important part in the stompbox’ sound:
Switched to the left no EQ’ing is applied to the signal (FLAT). In the middle position there’s a slight attenuation of the mid-range. SCOOP on the right side results in a very Metal-style scooped-mid tone with plenty of bite.
Modern bass effects often split the bass signal at the input. One half is fed through the effect, while the other half is kept dry and mixed into the wet signal before it reaches the output. The advantage of doing things this way is that it enables you to keep your bottom end and dynamic attack intact.
This is just the way EBS’ FuzzMo works, too:
You use the Volume knob to adjust the fuzz signal’s volume level, and then use the Blend control to add the desired amount of dry bass. This feature is especially important in fuzz pedals for bass, because the hard clipping of a fuzz effect practically negates all your playing dynamics by design. With the FuzzMo there will be no problems with your tone becoming mushy, clogged up and indistinct, because the Blend control lets you restore your bass guitar’s punch and low end.
Here’s a bit recorded with a Jazz Bass (both pickups on) and a relatively low Gain setting:
In this clip I added some more fuzz and bite to a Rickenbacker played with a plectrum:
Thanks to the ability to blend in the dry signal, the EBS FuzzMo also works extremely well with a five-string (in this case a Yamaha BB with active EMGs):
Note that on all these audio clips the Gain control stayed below one o’clock. If you want you can take things much, much further with this EBS-pedal!
The FuzzMo is a typical EBS-pedal – it’s a sturdy, pro-quality stompbox and it sounds great. If you’re a purveyor of sleazy, dirty and aggressive bass tones, you should definitely give this baby a spin!
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EBS Sweden FuzzMo
169,90 €
Finnish distributor: F-Musiikki
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Pros:
+ build quality
+ can be powered in three ways
+ sound optimised for bass
+ three-way EQ-switch
+ Blend control
+ offers a lot of gain
Cons:
– no quick access to battery
Review: Amfisound Raudus Bass
Amfisound Guitars is a small company from the northern Finnish town of Oulu. Run by two master luthiers, Amfisound offers a surprisingly wide variety of different guitar and bass models, as well doing a lot of customising and repair jobs. Kitarablogi visited Amfisound’s workshop late last year – read all about it HERE.
Amfisound have introduced a new bass model recently, called the Raudus Bass, which is the subject of this review.
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The Amfisound Raudus Bass (prices for EU-customers starting from 2,520 €) clearly takes its inspiration from Fender’s classic Jazz Bass, but this new Finnish (passive) bass offers a number of modern updates and improvements. The easiest things to notice on first sight are probably the added 21st fret and the much deeper cutaway.
The Raudus sports a body made from Finnish alder and a bolt-on maple neck.
The neck comes finished in a very thin satin lacquer, while the body is gloss finished in a glorious tri-colour sunburst.
Our review sample of the Amfisound Raudus features two differences to the basic model – different tuning machines and different pickups.
This Raudus comes equipped with a set of Hipshot’s UltraLite tuners (additional charge: 50 €), which are built from aircraft-grade aluminium. The UltraLite machines work extremely smoothly and precisely, and they efficiently cut down on surplus headstock weight, which is a good thing on such a traditionally-inspired long scale bass, such as the Raudus.
The two-way truss rod is accessed from the headstock side of the neck.
The outstanding standard of workmanship displayed in the Raudus-model’s fretwork, is but one of many points bearing clear testament to the world-class standard of Finnish luthiery! This is genuine custom shop quality.
The fretboard is made of Indian rosewood, and it’s sporting 21 medium-jumbo sized frets.
Amfisound’s rounded body heel makes excursions to the dusty end of the neck very comfortable, indeed.
The bridge is a quality copy of the original, late-Sixties Fender bridge – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.
The review sample comes with a set of Jarno Salo Pickups from Finland. The basic version uses Swedish Lundgrens.
This instrument offers you Jazz Bass-type controls – separate volume-knobs for each pickup, plus a master tone-control.
Amfisound’s workmanship is spot-on and very crisp – even under the hood.
The list of available custom options from Amfisound is very long, and includes (in the Raudus-model’s case) an ash body, different bridges and/or tuners, as well as active Glockenklang-electronics (among other things). For more detailed information you should contact Amfisound’s Tomi or Sampo.
There’s also a five-string Raudus on offer, which is built with a longer scale of 35 inches.
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Amfisound’s Raudus Bass is a real corker of an instrument, with its sound and playability second to none.
The flatter-than-vintage fingerboard radius (9.5″) gives the slender neck a suitably modern playing feel. Thanks to Amfisound’s exemplary fretwork, our review sample’s low action (E: 2.0 mm/g: 1.6 mm) was completely free of annoying fret buzz or string rattle.
I’m a devoted Jazz Bass-fan, which made me feel right at home playing the Raudus. Yes, it’s true that the Amfisound offers much better top fret access, but overall this new bass feels like a dear old friend.
And this bass’ sound is outstanding, too, dishing out oodles of classic, Jazz Bass-style tones.
Jarno Salo’s excellent pickups are singlecoil designs, with the bridge pickup being reverse-wound and reverse-polarity in relation to the neck unit. This means that using both pickups together gets rid of any possible electromagnetic hum and buzz (from transformers, lighting or displays).
In terms of sound, these Salo-pickups really give you all those classic tones you’d expect from a bass such as this.
Listen to these three audio clips. Each clip has the neck pickup first, followed by both pickups on, and the bridge pickup going last:
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The Amfisound Raudus Bass is a very fine example Finnish luthiery, there’s no two ways about this. Finns must be very lucky to find such fine instruments right at their doorstep!
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Amfisound Guitars Raudus Bass
Prices starting from 2,520 € (EU-customers) & 2,032 € (outside the EU)
Hard case included.
Contact: Amfisound Guitars
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Pros:
+ Made in Finland
+ handmade
+ workmanship
+ playability
+ sound
Review: Blackstar HT Metal 5 + HT Metal 60
Blackstar Amplification’s very popular HT Venue-series has recently been joined by the company’s brand-new HT Metal-range, which offers you valve amplifiers tailored specifically to the needs of Metal-guitarists.
Kitarablogi has received the compact five Watt HT Metal 5-combo – meant for use at home, for warm-up and in the studio – and the chunky three-channel, 60 Watt HT Metal 60 -combo for this review.
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The Blackstar HT Metal 5 (street price around 450 €) is based on the company’s extremely successful HT-5R-valve combo, with the new amp sharing the older model’s main architecture and push-pull power amp.
The HT Metal 5 uses two different valves to amplify your guitar signal – one is an ECC83 (aka 12AX7), the other a model 12BH7.
Instead of a woven speaker cloth – like on the HT-5R – the HT Metal 5-combo sports a very sturdy metal grille.
The cabinet is a half-closed affair. The lower third of the back is covered by a metal grille, through which you can spot this Blackstar’s Chinese 12-inch speaker.
This compact combo weighs only 14 kilos, making it very easy to lift and carry around by its single top handle.
The Metal 5’s control panel looks like this (click for a larger picture):
This valve combo features two channels, called Clean and Overdrive. The Clean channel is equipped with a simple tone control, while Overdrive comes with a full 3-band EQ, as well as Blackstar’s patented ISF-control. Turning the ISF-control (ISF stands for Infinite Shape Feature) you can go from a USA-type response (with a loudness-style sound) all the way to what is known as a British tone (with its fatter mid-range).
The HT Metal 5 also comes equipped with a very nice digital reverb.
It is rather surprising to find so many different connectors and pushbuttons on such a small amp:
On the left, you will find the combo’s three speaker outputs.
Next up is Blackstar’s speaker-emulated output. A switch lets you choose between a virtual combo and an emulated stack sound. This output also works with headphones, and when the combo runs on standby.
The effects loop on the Metal 5 can be switched from a nominal signal level of -10 dB to +4 dB.
The line input on the far right allows you to connect your mp3-player to the combo.
A footswitch for channel switching is included in the price of Blackstar HT Metal 5!
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Blackstar’s HT Metal 60 (street price around 1.000 €) is a three-channel powerhouse meant for live use.
This combo is build around a pair of ECC83-preamp valves and two 6L6s in the power amp.
The HT Metal 60 is equipped with two 12-inch Celestion speakers.
The closed-back cabinet aims at giving this amp a stack-style tonality and punch.
Because of the considerable weight (30 kg) of a large tube combo, such as this, the HT Metal 60 has been equipped with two metal handles, installed into the amp’s sides.
You can choose between two different tonal characters in this Blackstar’s Clean channel, using the Voice-switch: Boutique Clean puts the amp in Class A mode, giving you a very dynamic response, but with less clean headroom than the voicing called Modern Clean.
The channel’s Bass- and Treble-controls make it very easy to find your sound.
The HT Metal 60 offers you two distinct overdrive channels – named OD1 and OD2 – which share the three-band-plus-ISF equalisation section.
OD1 has a tad less gain than OD2. Thanks to its slightly less compressed sound, as well as its drier bottom end, OD1 is the ideal choice for chunky and precise rhythm parts.
OD2’s massive gain reserves are combined with very creamy compression, but there’s plenty of bite here, too, to make sure your lead lines cut through with authority.
The master section comprises controls for the HT Metal 60’s digital reverb, overall resonance and presence, as well as master volume.
You can connect the HT Metal 60 to virtually any other speaker cabinet, thanks to the five speaker outputs found on the back panel.
In addition to Blackstar’s well-designed speaker-emulated output, and the combo’s effects loop, there’s also a switch to access two different types of reverb (labelled ”light” and ”dark”).
The blue D-SUB-port is meant for the combo’s chunky FS-7-board (included, see below), that handles channel-switching duties and allows you to turn off the reverb on the fly.
The regular Footswitch-jack allows you to connect an additional footswitch to activate the combo’s internal boost. This boost is factory preset, and its amount cannot be changed by the user.
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The Clean-channel on the Blackstar HT Metal 5 takes you from totally clean all the way to a mild Blues-crunch.
There’s more than enough volume on tap for living room and studio use. There’s a limited amount of clean headroom, though, which means that you will have to turn down the volume pot on a humbucker-equipped guitar.
This clip is played on a Hamer USA Studio Custom into the Blackstar’s Clean-channel, and recorded using a Shure SM57:
Here’s what the same clip sounds like recorded direct via the speaker-emulated output:
The HT Metal 5 dishes out delicious overdriven and distorted tones by the bucket load. Blackstar’s 12-inch speaker sounds fat and muscular, and makes it hard to believe that you’re listening to such a compact little combo!
Turning the ISF-control up full gives you a great Marshall-style tone, regardless of whether you’re using a mic…
…or the built in DI-output.
With ISF turned to zero the sound leans heavily in a Rectifier-type direction (first the SM57-clip, then the speaker-emulated output):
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Blackstar’s HT Metal 60 naturally offers a much wider tonal palette than its small brother.
You can get two different types of clean sounds, with Boutique Clean being the rounder alternative of the two.
SM57:
Line output:
Modern Clean comes across as brighter and somewhat more compact (first the Shure SM57 -clip, then the speaker emulated output):
Here’s an example of the OD1-channel with the guitar tuned to drop-D.
First the ”British” version (ISF=10):
Then its ”US” counterpart (ISF=0):
With the exact same EQ settings, OD2 has more bite.
ISF=10 (”UK”):
ISF=0 (”USA”):
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In my view, Blackstar’s new HT Metal-series is a fantastic addition to the company’s line-up, which takes the needs of modern Metal-guitarists into full account.
The HT Metal 5’s clean sound is very decent, even if the available headroom isn’t on a par with some larger amps. The distortion-channel is really where it’s all at with this compact combo – you will be floored by the big and fearless nature of the Metal 5’s mighty roar!
The Blackstar HT Metal 60 is the workingman’s Metal-combo. This is a professional grade combo offering both very tasty clean tones, as well as bone-crushingly powerful overdrive and distortion with spades of creamy compression. In all but the largest of venues this combo’s volume levels will surely be more than sufficient, even without adding any external cabinets.
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Blackstar HT Metal 5 & HT Metal 60
HT Metal 5 – street price ca 450 €
HT Metal 60 – street price ca 1.000 €
Finnish distributor: Musamaailma
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Blackstar HT Metal 5
Pros:
+ workmanship and finish
+ separate tone-control for Clean-channel
+ OD-channel’s 3-band EQ and ISF
+ big tone
+ speaker-emulated DI-output
+ footswitch inluded
Cons:
– Clean-channel’s restricted headroom
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Blackstar HT Metal 60
Pros:
+ workmanship and finish
+ metal grips
+ Clean-channel’s Voice-feature
+ Clean-channel has own EQ-section
+ OD-channels’ 3-band EQ and ISF
+ big tone
+ speaker-emulated DI-output
+ FS-7-board included
Review: Boss OD-1X + DS-1X
Boss unveiled two Special Edition pedals at NAMM 2014. These new stompboxes are updates on two classic Boss-models, and are called the OD-1X Overdrive and the DS-1X Distortion. These deluxe versions promise more gain, a tighter attack, and an even more versatile EQ-section.
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What is the difference between a fuzz, an overdrive and a distortion?
The fuzz pedal is the granddaddy of everything ”brang”, and it works in a rather neanderthal way, by means of brutal transistor overload. The resulting tone of transistors clipping sounds quite edgy and fuzzy (hence the name), and tends to work much better on solos and riffs, than it does on chords. A good early example would be the memorable riff on the Rolling Stones’ hit ”Satisfaction”.
The terms ”overdrive” and ”distortion” describe effects that try to mimick the way tube amp distortion sounds. In the beginning both terms were used as general descriptions of valve distortion-type stompboxes, but thanks to Boss’ way of labelling their pedals, the use of the terms has now become standardised: An overdrive effect usually offers moderate gain and less compression, resulting in a more dynamic tone, while a distortion pedal will give you more gain, more bite and more squashy compression.
Early on, Boss also came up with the idea of giving specific colours to specific effect types – an overdrive pedal, for example, is always yellow.
The brand-new Boss OD-1X Overdrive (155 €) represents the next generation of overdrive stompboxes, with its much more versatile range of sounds. In addition to the Drive- and Level-controls, you will find a very powerful two-band EQ-section.
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Both new Special Edition-pedals are based on Boss’ patented digital MDP-technology (Multi-Dimension Processing). MDP allows for the lightning-fast, multi-band processing of the guitar signal that is needed to keep the attack tight and chords free from sonic mud. There’s added clarity and note separation, even at the higher gain levels these new pedals provide.
The tangerine-coloured Boss DS-1X Distortion (155 €) offers you four control knobs – Distortion, High, Low and Level. Its sound has been optimised to also work fabulously with seven- or eight-string guitars.
Both pedals can be run either using a 9 V block (an alkaline battery will give you about nine hours of continuous playing time) or a power supply (not included).
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You can get all the legendary Boss-overdrive sounds (think SD-1 and OD-3) from the OD-1X, too. The difference here is the much more versatile EQ-section, which gives you way more scope for fine-tuning your tone, and a bit more overdrive at the extreme end of the Drive-control. This leads to a very tasty and dynamic overdrive sound that is more open than what your traditional, mid-range focussed overdrive pedal has to offer.
Here’s anice example of the OD-1X’s lush bass register (Vox Mark III, Drive 9 o’clock, High 10 o’clock, Low 2 o’clock):
A bridge humbucker will surely benefit from a sprinkle of added top end (Hamer USA Studio Custom, Drive 9 o’clock, High 11 o’clock, Low 12 o’clock):
Turn up Drive to full, and even a small Marshall-combo’s clean channel will sound like a stack. I used the Vox-guitar for this:
And here’s the Hamer with a similar setting:
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Boss’ new DS-1X broadens the sound palette of a traditional DS-1 in a very appealing way. There’s oozes of the type of tasty, chewey compression heard on so many great tracks. The DS-1X adds a much deeper low end, better note separation, a tighter attack and a more versatile two-band EQ to proceedings.
It’s clear right from the start that the DS-1X offers much more gain than its overdrive-sibling (Vox Mark III, Dist 9 o’clock):
Using humbuckers you will clearly notice the nice and creamy compression setting in (Hamer, Dist 9 o’clock):
Even though the pedal’s Distortion-control is on full in this clip, almost all of the hiss you can hear comes from the amp’s clean channel, not the DS-1X (Vox Mark III):
The DS-1X’s deep, but tight bass register is just the ticket for playing low Metal-riffs (Hamer, Dist full):
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It’s a known fact that a guitarist can never own too many overdrive and distortion pedals! But thanks to these new Boss Special Edition-pedals you might be able to cut down the number of pedals on your pedalboard, after all, because the OD-1X and DS-1X cover such a large amount of musical ground. Regardless of whether you’re after a mild Blues-overdrive or insanely distorted, ultra-low Thrash-riffs, these two pedals will do it all in style.
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Boss OD-1X + DS-1X – Special Edition -säröpedaalit
OD-1X: 155 €
DS-1X: 155 €
Finnish distributor: Roland
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Pros (both pedals):
+ sound
+ larger gain reserves
+ two-band EQ
+ very precise attack
+ low levels of hiss
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