Lisätiedot: EM Nordic
PRS SE Custom 24 30th Anniversary – the Kitarablogi-video
Review: Bogner Harlow, Wessex and Burnley
This time Kitarablogi has had the pleasure to review the fruits of a cooperation between two legendary designers:
Custom amp guru Reinhold Bogner…
…and the grand old man of recording studio electronics Rupert Neve have unveiled a line of three Bogner effect pedals (made in the USA), which were designed around Rupert Neve’s famous audio transformers.
Audio transformers are rarely seen (or mentioned) when it comes to pedal effects, for both reasons of price and mass production.
In valve amplifiers audio transformers play a crucial role, because they are the last stage before the signal reaches the speaker. Audio transformers ”translate” the signal for the speaker, which is why they have a direct impact on the tone and dynamic behaviour of a tube amplifier.
At the moment three different Bogner/Neve-pedals are available – the Harlow booster (current price in Finland: 235 €), the Wessex overdrive (229 €), and the Burnley distortion (235 €).
Each pedal has a glowing ”eye” indicating the current signal strength of the stompbox.
****
The Bogner Harlow gives you two effects in one pedal:
In addition to it’s boost function, the Harlow also incorporates Bogner’s Bloom compression circuit, which promises to give you a very natural, three-dimensional and musical type of compression.
You’ll find three control knobs on the Harlow – a level control for the booster, a Bloom-control for the compressor, and a master tone.
****
Bogner’s Wessex is the overdrive pedal in the Bogner/Neve-family.
In addition to its gain and level controls the Wessex also includes a two-band EQ, as well as a E/N-switch. ”N” stands for ”normal” and this mode will give you a slightly more traditional, mid-range centred sound. Switching to ”E” (for ”enhanced”) there’s more gain on tap, coupled with a fatter, more full-range tone.
****
The third pedal, the Bogner Burnley, is a distortion effect.
The Burnley offers three controls – level, gain and tone – plus an F/T-switch. ”T” (for ”tight”) promises you a more aggressive distortion effect than the warmer and fatter ”F” mode.
****
Both Mr Bogner and Mr Neve are known for their uncompromising commitment to both sound and workmanship. This commitment is well represented in this range of pedal effects.
In the Bogner-pedals the circuit board is hidden inside a black plastic box. This is a workable solution weighing the risk of direct backwards engineering against the possible future need for repair or servicing. Components completely covered in black resin (some boutique manufacturers do this) are the bane of any guitar technician!
As you can clearly see in the pictures, all three stompboxes can be run using a nine volt battery or an external PSU (using the Boss-standard).
****
Bogner doesn’t divulge the precise amount of boost that can be had from the Harlow, but let me tell you it will most probably be enough to overdrive even the cleanest of amplifiers.
The Bloom-circuit in the Bogner Harlow sounds deliciously chewy and reacts very musically.
Bogner’s Harlow is the type of pedal you want to leave on the whole time, because any guitar will sound better with this box running. This pedal also reacts very well to changes in your guitar’s volume control setting.
There’s a nice attack click, when played with a Stratocaster:
The Harlow stays clear and clean, even when you play a neck humbucker (I’m using my Hamer USA Studio Custom):
The overdrive and distortion tones of Bogner amplifiers are already the stuff of legend, and the amp guru has managed to pack these sounds into two Bogner/Neve-pedals.
The Bogner Wessex luckily isn’t just another Tubescreamer clone; instead this stompbox gives you Mr Bogner’s vision of the perfect overdrive sound.
Even though there’s a healthy amount of gain on offer in the Wessex, the sound always stays transparent and well-defined. This pedal also keeps the inherent character of your guitar intact.
Wessex’s Enhanced mode will even make your vintage-styled Strat sing:
On the other hand there won’t be any boxiness, or mud, when using humbuckers:
If you’re a Hendrix fan you should definitely try the Burnley’s Fat mode. It will make your Strat sing and growl in Woodstock-fashion, even when played into a clean amp channel at bedroom volume levels:
Bogner’s Burnley, too, is sensitive to guitar volume changes. Using Tight mode and humbuckers will give you a modern distortion tone:
Here’s the audio track off the Youtube video. All guitar parts have been played on a P-90-equipped Gibson Les Paul Junior:
****
Rupert Neve and Reinhold Bogner aren’t men ho do things by half – and these pedals are a fitting testament to this commitment!
The Bogner/Neve-series of guitar effects offers you Bogner’s boutique tones in a very compact guise, and at a very fair price. Try these pedals out – you won’t be disappointed!
****
Bogner Amplification Harlow, Wessex & Burnley
Harlow – 235 €
Wessex – 229 €
Burnley – 235 €
Finnish distributor: Musamaailma
****
Pros:
+ workmanship
+ compact size
+ genuine boutique amp tones
P-90s vs Humbuckers on Thinline Semis
Here’s a guitar-only mix:
Testipenkissä: Halla Custom Instruments SG-Style
Halla Custom Instruments on pieni kitarapaja Tampereelta. Firma on erikoistunut custom-tilauksiin, joissa valmistetaan kaikenlaisia kielisoittimia asiakkaiden toivomuksien mukaan. Halla Customin vetäjä on soitinrakentaja-artesaani Ville Mattila. Mattila kuluu Suomen Soitinrakentajien Kiltaan.
Kitarablogi sai Halla Customilta oikean kaunottaren testiin. Kitara vaikuttaa ensisilmäykseltä kunnianosoitukselta Gibson SG:lle, mutta asiat eivät ole niin suoraviivaisia kuin miltä ne näyttävät!
****
Kyllä tämä Halla Custom SG (hinta noin 3.000 €) on varsin henkeäsalpaava ilmestys. Se on turkoosinvärinen, uhkeanmuotoinen soitin, johon metalliosien kultainen hohto sopii kuin nakutettu.
Mutta tämän kitaran upea viimeistely (kovalla akryylilakalla) ei ole Halla Custom SG:n tärkein piirre: ”It’s an SG, Jim, but not as we know it!”
Tässä Halla Custom -kitarassa yhdistetään saumattomasti kahden klassikkokitaroiden ominaisuuksia – Gibson SG:n muotoiluun on sekoitettu reilusti Fender Stratocasterilta tuttuja piirteitä:
Vaikka tässäkin kitarassa on Gibson-klassikon virtaviivaistettu runko ja liimattu kaula (tosin paljon sulavammalla liitoksella), käytetään Halla Customissa Fenderille tyypillisiä materiaaleja – nimittäin vaahterakaulaa ja leppärunkoa – sekä täysipitkää mensuuria (25,5 tuumaa/64,8 cm).
Floyd Rosella varustetulla Hallalla on kartiomaisesti muuttuva otelaudan radius (ns. compound radius), jossa otelaudan kaarevuudesta tulee sitä loivempi mitä lähemmäksi runkoa mennään. Reunalistoitettuun ruusupuisen otelautaan on asennettu 24 kullanväristä teräsnauha.
Kaksi grafiittitankoa kaularaudan vieressä lisäävät entisestään kaulan lujuutta.
Laadukkaat, kullanväriset virittimet ovat peräisin japanilaisen Gotohin valikoimasta.
Huippulaadukas Floyd Rose tulee sekin Gotohilta. Ruuvattavan vibrakammen istuvuutta säädetään nailonkauluksella ja pienellä kuusiokoloruuvilla.
Halla Custom SG -kitaraan on asennettu kaksi firman omaa humbuckeria. Halla Venla -nimiset kaksikelaiset ovat vintagea selvästi kuumempia tapauksia.
Neljä säädintä ja kolmiasentoinen vipukytkin – asetelma näyttää harmittomalta, mutta tähänkin on lisätty yksi herkullinen lisäominaisuus:
Tässä Halla Customissa on mukana passiivinen (= ei tarvitse paristoa) säröpiiri, joka laitetaan päälle kaulamikin tone-säädintä nostamalla.
Myös sisäisesti Hallan työnjälki edustaa ehtaa custom shop -laatua, jollaista on lähes mahdotonta löytää ison tuotannon soittimista.
Asiantuntijat ovat varmasti jo huomanneet, että volume-potikoihin on myös lisätty treble-bleed kondensaattoreita.
****
Tätä Halla Custom SG:tä on tilattu hot-rod Rock-kitaraksi, jossa on Gibson-kaltainen ulkonäkö, mutta Superstrat-tyylinen soundi.
Voin vain todeta, että tuli täysosuma. Tämä on suorastaan fantastinen ja erittäin inspiroiva soitin!
Jotkut Gibson SG:t voivat tuntua hieman hauraalta, ja monilla yksilöillä on sisäänrakennettuja vireongelmia soitintyypin erittäin pitkän kaulan takia. Halla Custom SG on täysin vapaa tällaisista ongelmista – soittotuntuma on (sanojen parhaassa mielessä) erittäin tukeva ja tanakka. Tämä kitara rokkaa!
Omistajan valitsema paksu kaulaprofiili, kaulan grafiittivahvennukset, Hallan Gibsonia paksumpi leppärunko, sekä Ville Mattilan osaaminen soitinrakentajana nostavat Halla Custom SG:n selvästi valtavirran yläpuolelle.
Testikitara oli säädetty omistajan toivomuksien mukaisesti Es-vireeseen ja se tuli hyvin matalalla kielten korkeudella. Soittotuntuma oli erittäin nopea ja vaivaton, ja kevyellä plektrakädellä kitara soi rämisemättä koko otelaudalla.
Myös soittimen Gotoh-floikka toimi kiitettävästi.
Halla Customin valmistamien Venla-mikrofonien soundi sopii täydellisesti rankempaan Rock- ja Metal-meininkiin. Mikrofonien lähtötaso on suhteellisen korkea, mutta – ihme kyllä – niiden soundi on silti vintage-maisesti avoin ja helisevä:
Halla-kitaran sisäinen passiivinen säröpiiri on erittäin kätevä lisäys, etenkin kun käytössä on yksikanavainen kitaravahvistin:
Tätä kitaraa on kuitenkin luotu rokkaamaan rankasti, ja niin se tekeekin selkeällä atakilla ja rouhealla äänellään:
****
Halla Customin SG on loistava esimerkki soitinrakentamisen erittäin korkeasta tasosta täällä Suomessa.
Tällaisella käsintehdyllä laadulla on luonnollisesti hintansakin, mutta vastineeksi saa tässä aidon custom-soittimen, joka on tehty kokonaan omien toivomusten mukaan.
****
Halla Custom Instruments SG-Style
Halla Custom -kitaroiden hinnat lähtevät noin 1.200 eurosta ylöspäin, riippuen kitaratyypistä, sekä soittimen varustelusta ja viimeistelystä. Testatun kitaran hinta olisi noin 3.000 €.
Lisätiedot: Halla Custom Instruments
Kiitokset menevät Make El Weirdolle (aka Mutantti Make) oman kitaransa lainaamisesta!
****
Plussat:
+ käsintehty Suomessa
+ työnjälki
+ vireen pitäminen
+ kitaran säädöt
+ sisäänrakennettu särö
+ soundi
Review: Halla Custom Instruments SG-Style
Halla Custom Instruments is one of a number of cool small instrument makers in Finland. The company is run by trained luthier-artisan Ville Mattila and specialises in one-off custom electric and acoustic string instruments. Ville Mattila is a member of the Guild of Finnish Luthiers.
Kitarablogi received a stunning Halla Custom electric for testing. The guitar may look like a tribute to the Gibson SG, but there’s more to this Halla than meets the eye!
****
Just looking at the Halla Custom SG (price approximately 3,000 €) I had to catch my breath. This is a turquoise bombshell of a guitar, with a healthy dose of additional glitz added by the golden hardware.
But the fantastic paint job (using very hard acrylic lacquer) is only part of the story: ”It’s an SG, Jim, but not as we know it!”
The Halla Custom SG fuses design aspects from two classic guitar models – the Gibson SG and the Fender Stratocaster.
We find the classic lines and the set neck of an SG, but the Halla uses Fender-typical materials – namely a maple neck and an alder body – as well as a long scale (25.5″/64.8 cm).
The Floyd Rose-equipped Halla comes with a bound rosewood fretboard with a compound radius and 24 gold-coloured stainless steel frets.
Hidden beneath the fretboard lie two neck-stabilising graphite rods, placed either side of the truss rod.
The instrument sports a set of golden Gotoh tuners, as well as a neck wrist-strengthening volute.
The Floyd Rose is a top-drawer Gotoh unit, which comes with a screw in vibrato arm. An adjustable nylon cuff lets you decide how loosely (or tightly) the arm stays in place.
The Custom SG is equipped with a pair of Halla Custom’s hotter-than-vintage Venla-humbuckers.
There’s a nice little twist to the seemingly standard four controls plus three-way toggle set-up:
This Halla Custom guitar features a built-in passive fuzz circuit, which can be activated using a push/pull-switch hidden in the neck pickup’s tone control.
You really get what you pay for with a Halla – quality components, ultra-clean workmanship and thoroughly applied foil shielding.
The eagle-eyed among you will surely have already spotted the treble-bleed caps on both volume pots.
****
The Halla Custom SG was ordered by its lucky owner (a man known as Make El Weirdo) as a hot-rod Rock guitar with Gibson-esque looks, but a Superstrat sound.
What can I say? This is a fantastic guitar that ticks all the right boxes!
Some Gibson SGs can feel a little bit insubstantial, and many suffer from tuning problems due to their long necks. The Halla Custom SG has no such problems, this is a rock solid, chunky instrument.
The owner’s preference for a ”baseball bat” neck profile, this guitar’s thicker-than-a-Gibson alder body, and Ville Mattila’s considerable skills as a luthier take the Halla Custom SG to a different level altogether!
This Halla came tuned to E-flat, and set up with a very low action, as specified by the customer. The playing feel was extremely fluid, and with a light picking technique this Halla played buzz-free all across the fretboard.
The Gotoh Floyd Rose worked great, too.
Halla Custom’s own Venla-humbuckers are the bee’s knees for fans of the harder styles of Rock guitar. The pickups pack an enormous punch, but miraculously manage to sound as open and chiming as vintage, low-powered ’buckers:
Halla’s built-in passive fuzz is a fun little addition that’s more than a gadget, especially when you’re playing with a single channel amp:
But with a guitar such as this, you will surely spend most of your time enjoying its precise attack and chunky crunch:
****
The Halla Custom SG is a shining example of the high standards of luthiery in Finland.
Naturally, handmade quality such as this comes at a price. If you have the money, though, you should really ask yourself if you want to spend it on an off-the-peg, production line guitar, or rather on a special instrument made exactly to your own specifications.
****
Halla Custom Instruments SG-Style
Prices for Halla Custom guitars start from 1,200 €, depending on the guitar type and options chosen. A similar guitar like the reviewed instrument would cost approximately 3,000 €.
Contact: Halla Custom Instruments
Thanks to Make El Weirdo (aka Mutantti Make) for the loan of his personal guitar!
****
Pros:
+ handmade in Finland
+ workmanship
+ tuning stability
+ set-up
+ built-in fuzz
+ sound
Kitarablogi.com – Finland's premier Guitar and Bass blog 