Three examples showing the different basic styles of wah-pedal use: • ”Papa…” – whacka-whacka Motown/Funk • ”Voodoo…” – expressive wah-wah use • ”Money…” – so-called ”cocked” wah-wah (pedal parked in one position) **** • Vox V845 wah-wah • Mad Professor Simble Overdrive • Ibanez 850 Fuzz Mini • Fender (Japan) Stratocaster and Hamer USA Studio Custom guitars • Juketone True Blood valve combo
The Vox V845 is an interesting wah-pedal for at least three reasons – it’s made by the inventors of the wah-wah, it is very affordable (around 70-75 euros in Finland), and it is much lighter than regular Vox- or Dunlop-made wah-wahs (only 900 g compared to approx. 1.6 kg).
This drastic difference in weight is achieved by using a plastic core for both the main casing and the treadle. This core is then coated with an aluminium-based coating that gives the V845 the traditional look of a wah.
Electronically the Vox V845 is virtually identical to a vintage Vox-wah, apart from being built with a couple of PCBs and modern components.
An important improvement over the originals from the 1960s and 70s is the addition of a DC input, which allows you to power the V845 from a modern power supply.
The Vox V845 looks like a wah-wah, feels like a wah-wah, so it’s no surprise that it also sounds like a genuine Vox-wah. The V845 switches on and off in the traditional way by giving the switch beneath the treadle a push in the toe-down position. The sound is big and warm, and, typical for a Vox, a little less abrasive in the top end than a standard Dunlop Cry Baby. What’s not to like?
I’ve been using the Vox V845 for four years by this point, and it hasn’t given me any trouble so far. Check it out!
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Here are two recent recordings I’ve used the V845 on:
Yllättävän monelle kompressori on jotenkin mystinen laite, joka käyttää musta magiaa soundin muokkaamiseksi. Todellisuudessa kompressori (yleiskielessä: kompura) on (puoli-) automaattisesti toimiva signaalitasoon vaikkuttava piiri, jolla kavennetaan signaalin dynamiikka – siis: hiljaisten ja kovien äänien välinen ero – toivotulla tavalla.
Etenkin puhtailla kitarasoundeilla kompressorista voi olla paljon apua, silloin kun kaivataan lisää sustainea, tukevampaa soundia, tai vaikkapa rauhallisempaa äänikuvaa. Esimerkiksi monille kantrikitaristeille kompura on lähes pakollinen varuste, jolla saadaan nopeat lickit, joissa usein sekoittuvat otetut äänet ja avoimet kielet, kuulostamaan tasaisempana ja sliipattuina.
Kitaristille tarjotaan nykypäivänä monta eri kompuraa pedaalin muodossa, joista suurin osa toimii ”enemmän tai vähemmän” -periaatteella, ehkä vielä lisätyllä atakki-kytkimellä.
Suomalainen Bluetone Compura (330 €) lähestyy aihepiiriä toiselta kulmalta tarjoamalla laajasti säädettävän studiokompressorin kitarapedaalissa. Kuusi säädintä voivat aluksi näyttää hieman pelottavalta, mutta kun niiden toimintaa käy ensin rauhallisesti läpi, niin homma alkaa nopeasti selvenemään.
• GAIN on Compuran esivahvistus. Tässä ei ole kyse säröstä, vaan siitä, että eri kitaroissa (ja bassoissa) on eri mikrofonien vuoksi erilaiset lähtötasot. Gain-säätimellä pystyy siis optimoimaan valitun kitaran signaalitasoa kompressiopiiriä varten.
• THRESHOLD (kyllä, kuvan varhaisessa tuotantomallissa on pieni kirjoitusvirhe) tarkoittaa kynnystasoa. Threshold-tason alle jäävä signaali pysyy kompressoimatta, kun taas kynnyksen ylle menevät osuudet puristetaan dynamiikan osalta kasaan.
• RATIO on kompressiosuhteen säädin. Studiokompressoreissa lukee ratio-säätimen vieressä tavallisesti numeerinen suhde, jossa esimerkiksi ”1:1” tarkoittaa, ettei kompressoida lainkaan, kun taas ”8:1” tarkoittaa, että jos tulosignaalin taso nousee kahdeksan desibeliä kynnystason yli signaalia kompressoidaan niin, että lähtötaso nousee vain yhden dB:n verran. Bluetone Compurassa säädöt tehdään korvakuulolla.
• ATTACK ja RELEASE säätävät kuinka nopeasti kompressori alkaa vaikuttamaan signaalin tasoon sen jälkeen, kun kynnystaso ensin ylittyy (Attack-säädin), sekä silloin kun tulosignaalin taso taas laskee kynnystason alle (Release-säädin). Attack-säätimellä pystyy siis vaikuttamaan esimerkiksi siihen, kuinka paljon äänten atakista säilyy muuttumattomana, kun taas Release-säädin vaikuttaa siihen kuinka nopeasti kompressiopiiri ”nollauttuu” signaalipiikkien välissä.
• VOLUME-säädin on Bluetone Compura -pedaalissa lähtötason säädin, siis sama säädin jota kutsutaan monessa studiokompressorissa make-up gainiksi. Volume-nuppia säädetään korvakuulolla omien tarpeiden – esimerkiksi signaaliketjun muiden efektien – mukaan. Jotkut tykkäävät käyttää kompressorit miedoina boostereina, kun taas toiset haluavat, että kompressorin toiminta on signaalitason osalta lähes huomaamaton.
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Studiossa kompressorin mittaristo on hyvin tärkeä työväline, josta saa tietoa siitä kuinka ”kuuma” tulosignaali on, kuinka monta desibeliä signaalin dynamiikka puristetaan kasaan, ja millä tasolla efektin lähtösignaali on.
Kitarapedaalissa tällainen mittarointi on minusta usein tarpeeton; usein värikkäät mittarit lattialla jopa vievät soittajan huomiota pois kaikkein tärkeämmästä – omasta soundista.
Tärkein on minun mielestäni se että muistetaan, ettei ole olemassa ”ainoa oikea tapa” käyttää sellaista kompressoria kuin Bluetonen Compura, koska mukana on aina kokonainen kasa muuttajia, kuten soitin, oma soittotatsi, musiikkigenre, muu signaalitie, käytössä oleva vahvistin jne.
Kun ottaa itselleen ensin hieman tutustumis- ja kokeiluaikaa Bluetone Compuran kanssa, löytyy hyvin helposti ja nopeasti sellaiset parametrien asetukset, jotka toimivat sinun omassa musiikillisessa työympäristössä. Se mikä sinun mielestäsi toimii sinun omassa musiikissa, on oikea riippumatta siitä, mitä toiset ehkä sanovat.
Helsingissä käsintehty Bluetone Compura ei ole halpakompura, vaan huippulaadukas pro-tason kompressoripedaali, joka tarjoaa studiokompressoreista tuttua säädettävyyttä kompaktissa muodossa. Siihen nähden laitteen hinta on jopa edullinen.
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• Puhtaat komppiosuudet ja soolokitara – Fender ’62 Telecaster Custom Reissue • Puhtaat ja säröiset komppiosuudet – Fender ’57 Stratocaster Reissue • Vahvistin – Bluetone Black Prince Reverb • Pedaalit – Bluetone Compura, Mad Professor Simble OD • Mikrofoni – Shure SM7B • Mikkivahvistin – Cranborne Audio Camden EC2 • Interface – Universal Audio Volt 2
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DEMO CLIP 1 Kompressorin ansiosta puhdas kitarariffi tulee kokonaiskuvassa paremmin esiin. Aluksi neljä tahtia ilman kompressoria. **** DEMO CLIP 2 Puhtaan vahvistimeen soitettu wah-wah ei aiheuta niin paljon säröä/klippausta, jos käytetään kompressoria wahwah:n ja vahvistimen välissä. Aluksi neljä tahtia ilman kompressoria. **** • Kitara – Fender ’57 Stratocaster Reissue • Vahvistin – Bluetone Black Prince Reverb • Pedaalit – Bluetone Compura, Vox V845 • Mikrofoni – Shure SM7B • Interface – Universal Audio Volt 2
From the late 1970s on, Fender’s student-oriented models began to find their way into the hands of musicians from the Punk, New Wave, Grunge and Alternative Rock genres.
The reasons for this can be found both in the musicians’ budgets, as well as in the guitars’ image. The average guitarist wanted to play with ”familiar and safe” models, and in Fender’s case, these were the Telecaster and Stratocaster.
At the end of the 1970s, Fender’s so-called student instruments, that were very popular in the 1950s and 60s, could be found very inexpensively second-hand. With the Mustang, Duo-Sonic or Musicmaster, the young New Wave musician got genuine Fender quality at a very affordable price, and since these instruments were not – at least at the time – collector’s items, modifying the guitars to suit the needs of the ”new music” was no problem.
Many guitarists of the new genres – e.g. the Talking Heads’ David Byrne, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain – added more powerful pickups to their Duo-Sonic or Mustang to better suit their sound. This resulted in distinctive guitars that certainly weren’t ”your dad’s Country guitar”.
Last year, Fender’s subsidiary Squier Guitars changed the name of its most affordable line from Affinity to Sonic, and at the same time expanded the range of instruments in the series.
There are now two different Mustang guitars in the Sonic series, of which the Mustang HH offers two humbucker pickups, while the Mustang SS, like the original Fender, comes equipped with two single coils. Both models are offered in two different colour options as standard, which in the case of the Mustang SS model are sunburst and Torino Red. The Mustang HH comes in light blue and pink. The Sonic Bronco bass is now available in three different colors – white, red and black.
A vintage enthusiast would be the first to point out that, according to Fender’s original terminology, the Squier Sonic Mustang SS (street price approx. 180-200 €) is not a Mustang, but a Duo-Sonic, as the model has a fixed bridge and a three-position pickup selector. I would bet that Fender and Squier have decided that the name Mustang is simply cooler and better known than Duo-Sonic, which is why all their short-scale models with the same body shape are currently called Mustangs, despite the streamlined electronics and bridge.
However, the familiar basic recipe still applies:
The Squier Mustang SS is an electric guitar with a 24-inch scale. The bolt-on maple neck has a maple fingerboard and well-installed 22 vintage-style frets.
The offset body of the Mustang SS is a slab number with rounded edges, but without any chamfers.
The thick single-layer plastic pickguard is typical for Sonic series instruments. Mustang’s two single-coil pickups – with closed black plastic covers – and a three-position mic selector are installed onto the pickguard.
The Squier guitar’s volume and tone controls, as well as the output jack, are placed on a chrome-plated metal plate.
The Mustang’s modern sealed tuners work well, as does the Sonic model’s fixed bridge with six separate saddles.
Straight out of the shipping carton, the test guitar is almost ready to play – only the action and intonation had to be fine-tuned. The guitar doesn’t suffer from sharp fret ends sticking, or other ”cheap guitar” problems. The workmanship seems fine.
The new Squier Sonic Mustang SS weighs a bit more than the original edition from the 1960s, but in light of the Mustang’s very affordable price, this is to be expected and perfectly okay.
The Squier Sonic Mustang SS model has a decent 009 set of strings installed at the factory, which is probably a good choice for the guitar’s target group (children and young people). The playing feel is very effortless and light, and the Mustang chimes very nicely. I played all the guitar tracks in the demo video with Squier’s factory-installed strings.
However, the feel of the 009 string set on a guitar with a 61 cm scale is too loose for me, which is why I changed over to the same 010-052 strings that I use in all my electric guitars. With these strings, the Sonic Mustang SS immediately has a firmer playing feel, which is not very different from, for example, a Gibson SG.
Although the scale of the Sonic Mustang is much shorter than that of Telecasters or Strats, there is a definite dose of ”Fender-ism” in the sound of the guitar, thanks to the single-coil pickups. Because the Mustang’s pickups are placed in somewhat different places relative to the scale than, for example, in the Telecaster, the model always displays its own recognisable sound. The Mustang’s tone rings like a bell, but is never as biting as, for example, the output of a Stratocaster.
• Guitar used – Fender Japan 60s Stratocaster • Amp used – Bluetone Black Prince Reverb • Bass used – Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass • Bass amplifier – Bluetone Bass 200 • Mic used – Shure SM7B • Preamp used – Cranborne Audio Camden EC2 Check out Laundromat’s Instagram page HERE.
Laundromat is the name Finnish fuzz builder Antti Karttu has chosen for his line of handcrafted fuzz pedals.
The Thunderbird Mk I (390 €) is based on Gary Hurst’s legendary Tone Bender Mk I. The 1965 Tone Bender was one of the first fuzz pedals ever, and it started the fuzz craze in the UK.
Laundromat uses its own extremely rugged case design and only the best available components. The Thunderbird Mk I circuit is built around three NOS germanium transistors – namely a pair of Mullard OC75s and a Texas Instrument.
Like the original, the Laundromat Thunderbird Mk I isn’t a subtle fuzz pedal. This pedal grabs you by the lapels and shakes you, screaming in your face.
There isn’t much in the way of dialling down the fuzz with your guitar’s volume control, like on Fuzz Face-style circuits. This here is more of an on-off-affair.
The sound and behaviour of the Thunderbird Mk I is just as you’d expect – this is a rude sounding fuzz with a clear tendency towards gating, which adds crackles and spitting sounds to note attacks.
Vintage Tone Bender’s these days command silly prices, even for road-weary units.
Laundromat’s Thunderbird Mk I is clearly built to last, meaning it will give you delicious fuzz tones reliably.
Finnish boutique amplifier company Bluetone Custom Amplifiers offers a wide range of different all-valve guitar amplifiers, from gnarly tweed-style combos to the full-on assault of modern high-gain Metal machines.
Over the last few years Bluetone’s dynamic duo of Harry Kneckt and Lauri Vuojolahti seem to have hit on a winning concept with their range of amplifiers with the word ”Black” as the first word in their name.
It all started in 2021, when Bluetone introduced a thoroughly updated version of the Black Prince Reverb. That particular model – which is basically a handmade cross between a Fender Blackface Princeton and a Deluxe, coupled with a very versatile power amp section – has very quickly become the company’s top selling model. This success has spawned several smaller Black Prince models, which have also become very popular. I own a Black Prince Reverb myself, and it has become my go-to guitar amplifier.
When Harry told me that Bluetone was about to introduce a new model – called the Black King Reverb – that would combine a Fender Vibro-King’s preamp section with Bluetone’s Black Prince-power amp, I was very eager to test drive one.
I’m a huge admirer of Pete Townshend’s (The Who) oeuvre, and he has been using Fender Vibro-Kings as his live amps, ever since they were introduced in the mid-1990s.
The first couple of Bluetone Black King combos were sold as quickly as the guys could make them, but now I’ve finally managed to grab one for a couple of days.
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The Bluetone Black King Reverb (current price: 1,900 €) is twin-speaker all-tube combo, loaded with a pair of 10-inch speakers, but it still weighs in at less than 14 kilos. Most of the musician-friendly weight reduction is down to Bluetone using solid paulownia wood for its cabinets. Paulownia is an ecologically viable species that offers a superior strength-to-weight ratio for amplifier and speaker cabinets.
As mentioned before, the Black King lifts its extremely flexible power amp section from Bluetone’s Black Prince combo. The power amp runs off a pair of valves – virtually all available octal power tubes can be dropped in without the need for rebiasing. A pair of 6L6GCs or EL34s will give you approximately 28 to 30 watts of output power, while a pair of 6V6GTs will drop the output down to about 14 watts. Refer to the manual for details.
The Black King’s preamp is built around three 12AX7, but will also take other valves from the 12A_7-range, if you want to experiment with different gain structures (again, refer to the manual).
The toroidal power transformer (the black doughnut in the far left) is another long-standing hallmark of Bluetone amplifiers, which cuts down on the amp’s weight, as well as reducing hum interference noticeably.
The Black King Reverb normally leaves Bluetone’s workshop with a pair of 10-inch Warehouse Guitar Speakers Veterans, but – Bluetone being a custom builder – you can also request different speakers, should you so desire.
The long reverb tank is installed to the bottom of the combo’s cabinet.
Despite making all-valve amplifiers, Harry and Lauri are all about hard technical facts, leaving all the snake oil and tube voodoo for others. In the Black King’s case this means – among other things – that the reverb’s signal path is using their unique op-amp-powered circuit, for a cleaner, more dynamic and hiss-free tone.
For a single-channel combo Bluetone’s Black King Reverb offers plenty of scope for adjustment:
The preamp section sports controls for volume and 3-band EQ with an additional two mini-switches for Bright- and Fat-boosts. Everything does what it says on the tin, offering a wide variety of fantastic guitar tones that keep the core character of each guitar intact.
The Black King is a reverb connoisseur’s nirvana, not only offering a top-quality full-length spring tank, but also a full set of three controls for maximum tonal range. Dwell adjusts how hard you drive the spring reverb’s input – higher Dwell-settings will result in longer reverb times, as well as more saturation. Tone controls the tone of the reverb’s output, from dark to bright, while Mix lets you choose how much of the Black King’s super lush reverb will be used to bolster your guitar signal.
The output section offers you controls for the Band King’s scrumptious bias-modulated tremolo, the level of the solo-boost, and the master volume control. As the master volume is placed after the phase inverter stage, setting the master control to full will remove it completely from the power amp’s circuit.
All three amp effects – tremolo, soolo-boost, and reverb – are switched on or off with the supplied three-switch foot-switching unit.
There’s a lot going on on the Bluetone Black King Reverb’s back panel:
There’s an unbalanced line level output with its dedicated signal level control, so you can plug the combo straight into a speaker modeller. If you need to go completely silent, for example in the studio, the Black King includes a built-in switchable dummy load.
Next to the three speaker outputs we can find a mini-switch labelled ”NFB On/Off”. This allows you to choose whether or not you want to run so-called negative feedback in the combo’s power amp section.
A negative feedback loop will normally ”clean up” the power amp’s sonic footprint, giving you less power amp distortion and more clarity and articulation, while turning it off will give you a gnarlier and more distorted character. A wide generalisation would be that negative feedback takes the amp closer to Blackface territory, while no negative feedback gives it more of a Tweed- or Vox-style accent. Of course, your choice of power amp valves also has an important bearing on the overall character of the Black King.
The Black King offers some of the best clean sounds you are likely to experience, regardless of the type of guitar or pickup you throw at it. The genuine spring reverb is simply fantastic, and may even prove to be a dealbreaker in comparison to many other combos. The tremolo effect is luscious, with plenty of scope for adjustment of both speed and depth.
The overdriven/distorted tones you can glean from the Bluetone Black King Reverb are pleasantly gritty, but if you don’t like them, no problem – the Black King also loves pedal effects.
In my view, the Black King Reverb’s clean tones are this combo’s biggest forte. There’s plenty of headroom on offer, and the character is definitely in the Blackface-vein. There’s plenty of dynamic range on offer and the amp’s basic voice is big and open, seasoned with a crystal-clear top end. The three-band EQ offers more than enough scope for tone-shaping, and the Bright- and Fat-boosts work like a dream. What’s not to like?
For less than two grand you can get yourself a hand-made boutique valve combo that’s very versatile and great sounding. This is hands down one of the best amps you will find in its class, and it’s offered at a very fair price.
Here’s a demo song featuring the brand-new Bluetone Black King Reverb combo. The track is a short cover of the Who’s classic medley ”See Me, Feel Me/Listening To You”. All guitar tracks recorded with the Bluetone Black King Reverb, without any additional pedals. The amp was miked with a Shure SM7B running into a Cranborne Audio Camden EC2. **** ”See Me, Feel Me” – Guitars • rhythm guitar (stereo left): Fender Japan 50s Stratocaster Reissue • rhythm guitar (stereo right): Epiphone G-400 (SG Standard) • lead guitar: Fender Japan 50s Stratocaster Reissue ”Listening To You” – Guitars • rhythm guitar (stereo left): Fender Japan 50s Stratocaster Reissue • rhythm guitar (stereo right): Epiphone G-400 (SG Standard) • lead and harmony guitars: Gibson Melody Maker SG **** • bass guitar: Rickenbacker 4003 plugged straight into the Cranborne preamp
Alkuperäinen, laajempi suomenkielinen juttu on luettavissa TÄÄLTÄ.
Thanks to technological progress and cheap Asian labour, you can already get a very decent Les Paul Standard copy these days for somewhere between 500 and 700 euros.
Here are four of those guitars presented in alphabetical order. I tried to obtain one of the new Epiphone-models from their Finnish distributor for this round-up, but to no avail.
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GrassRoots G-LP-60S Honey Sunburst
• Current price in Finland: 559, – (incl. gig bag)
• Distributor: Musamaailma
GrassRoots is a brand in the ESP Guitars family, and concentrates on traditional electric guitars and basses. Even though the LP-60S is the least expensive guitar in this round-up, it comes in its own, high-quality gig bag. The finish on our review sample is called Honey Sunburst.
The G-LP-60S’ body is made from four side-by-side pieces of mahogany, with a top crafted from maple. The flame maple veneer on the curved top looks gorgeous.
The set mahogany neck is one piece of mahogany (!), except for the top half of the headstock. The bound fretboard has been made from beautiful pau ferro, while the LP-60S’ top nut is genuine bovine bone. The fretwork looks very decent.
The machine heads are nice copies of vintage Kluson tuners. The GrassRoots’ bridge is a modernised version of a Tune-o-matic, sporting six separate small metal clips to keep the bridge saddles in place.
The LP-60S’ pickups are GrassRoots’ own GH-1G humbuckers with metal covers. Looking beneath the electronics cavity covers, we found a closed three-way toggle switch, as well as four small pots and very clean soldering.
The first thing I noticed when I picked up the GrassRoots guitar is how light it is. I don’t know if GrassRoots uses any type of weight relief on the LP-60S, but the review sample’s weight clocks in at only 3.3 kgs.
The neck profile is a very ”fast” version of Gibson’s famous 60s neck, meaning a nicely rounded, but relatively slim C-shape. Musamaailma’s in-house guitar technician has expertly set up the review guitar, resulting in a buzz-free action of only 1.6 mm (bass-E) and 1.5 mm (treble-e).
I’d describe the GrassRoots humbuckers as vintage-powered, meaning they give a lot of scope for dynamics and a nice, rounded top end response. The neck ’bucker is flutey, while the bridge pickup offers ample kick and mid-range push. The GrassRoots G-LP-60S is a versatile LP Standard style guitar, which sounds great, offers a comfortably slender neck profile, and which doesn’t weigh a tonne.
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Green LP STD Lemon Drop
• Current price in Finland: 498, –
• Distributor: Nordsound
Green Guitars is a Swedish brand with Far Eastern production to keep the prices musician-friendly. Green’s LP STD model comes in a fetching Lemon Drop finish, as well as sporting a few features that differ from standard vintage-fare.
The Green’s body uses three pieces of very lively mahogany. The arched maple top has been spruced up with a tiger striped flame maple veneer. Green’s LP STD sports a deeper cutaway than its famous forebear, resulting in a more pointed horn.
The set-in neck is carved out of three side-by-side strips of mahogany, which – in all probability – should add a little stiffness to the neck. The neck wrist is protected from headstock breaks by a volute.
The Green features a set of modern tuning machines, as well as an up-to-date version of the Tune-o-matic bridge.
The bound rosewood fretboard comes with 22 well-installed medium-size frets. The nut is made from a cream coloured plastic.
Green’s LP STAD model sports a pair of open, zebra-coloured humbuckers. The electronics comprise a closed three-way toggle, as well as four small diameter pots. The soldering looks nice and clean.
Green’s neck profile is a smidgen bigger than that of the GrassRoots – I’d say the profile is somewhere halfway between a ’59 and a ’60 Gibson. The set-up on our test sample was very good, with the action clocking in at 1.7 mm (bass-E) and 1.5 mm (treble-e), without any fret buzz.
I’d describe the Green’s humbuckers as ”hot vintage”. This guitar has a big sound with a nice, fresh dose of treble. If you’re into Slash, this is the guitar I’d try out first.
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Tokai Guitars ALS-62 Honey Burst
• Current price in Finland: 659, –
• Distributor: Tokai Guitars Nordic/Musamaailma
Tokai Guitars must be the most famous ”copy brand” in the world, whose instruments caused Fender and Gibson to do something about their sagging quality control back in the 1980s.
In addition to their top-of-the-line Japanese LS-models, Tokai also offers more affordable Chinese versions under the ALS-banner. The flame maple veneer – finished in a fetching Honey Burst – looks stunning, deep and chatoyant.
The Tokai ALS-62’s body uses four pieces of mahogany and a veneered arched maple top. In this series Tokai uses hard rock maple for their guitar necks – in this case we’re talking about a three-piece affair of neck, headstock, and neck heel.
Tokai uses jatoba as the material for its bound fretboard. We find 22 expertly-finished, medium-sized frets, as well as a genuine bone nut. The bridge is a fine version of the vintage Tune-o-matic, with a single metal bracket keeping the saddles in place. The bridge and stopbar ferrules have been sunk into the top wood for a very clean look.
The Tokai ALS-62 sports a pair of covered LSC-F-humbuckers. The electronics comprise a closed three-way toggle switch, plus four small pots. The soldering is very clean.
Tokai’s neck profile is my personal favourite, I must confess. It’s a rounded, not-too-fat 1959-style neck profile, offering your fretting had a good amount of ”meat” without too much bulk. The action is buzz-free, while being comfortably low at 1.6 mm (bass-E) and 1.4 mm (treble-e).
The Tokai ALS-62 sounds like ”the real thing”, leaving nothing to be desired. The neck pickup is creamy and flutey, while the bridge unit adds the right amount of grit to proceedings. The Tommi’s output is vintage-to-medium. This is a gorgeous guitar with a versatile sound to boot.
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Vintage V100PGM Lemon Drop
• Current price in Finland: 576, –
• Distributor: Nordsound
Vintage Brand’s V100PGM Lemon Drop is an ”unofficial” signature guitar, offering you an affordable shot at the legendary LP played by three legends in a row – Peter Green, Gary Moore, and Kirk Hammett. The original guitar’s burst has long faded into an ”unburst” lemon drop shade, which is why the Vintage V100PGM Lemon Drop was first only available in that shade. Our test sample, on the other had, is Vintage’s view of what the guitar must have looked like brand new. So, here we have a beautiful cherry sunburst-coloured guitar, that is called ”Lemon Burst”, go figure.
Trev Wilkinson, who has designed this guitar for Vintage Brand, has added a few nifty updates to prevent the V100PGM from being a straight copy instrument:
The V100PGM’s mahogany body (three pieces) has a rounder bass-side shoulder and a much deeper cutaway that Gibson’s original. The top’s flame maple veneer sports extremely pretty and deep figuring.
The guitar’s neck – crafted from three side-by-side pieces of mahogany – is glued into the body by means of an asymmetrical neck joint, making excursions to the dusty end more comfortable.
The Vintage’s fingerboard is made from a trademarked material, called ”Lignum Rosa”, which translates from Latin as ”wood of the rose”. I can’t tell you what it actually is, but it looks and feels great, and it is home to 22 medium-sized, well-dressed frets. The top nut is Graph Tech’s NuBone material, which is a man-made alternative to ivory.
Surprisingly, the V100PGM comes with a set of Grover Deluxe vintage-type machine heads, instead of the Wilkinsons I’d have expected. The bridge on this Vintage is a Wilkinson-version of a modern Tune-o-matic.
The V100PGM comes with a pair of Wilkinson WVC-humbuckers. Like on the original, the neck unit has been installed ”upside down”, meaning with the adjustable pole screws facing the bridge, and with the wires hooked up in reverse, too. Gary Moore swapped the bridge pickup’s controls from the original bell-type to the early-Sixties ”reflectors”, because he wanted to be able to find the correct control without having to look at the guitar. This has been copied on the Vintage as well.
The V100PGM uses a closed three-way toggle switch and four small diameter pots. The soldering looks very decent.
The Vintage V100PGM comes with a slightly flatter version of a Gibson 60s C-neck, so we’re talking about a very ”fast” neck feel. The review guitars comfortable set-up gives you plenty of acoustic dynamic range at 1.9 mm (bass-E) and 1.7 mm (treble-e).
Thanks to their moderate output the Wilkinson-humbuckers offer plenty of dynamics and openness, with a nice, bell-like treble response. The neck pickup is warm, while the bridge unit sounds brighter.
On the Vintage V100PGM the three-way switch’s middle position opens the door to a wide spectrum of different tones, which differ from the usual LP middle-position sounds. With both volume controls turned up fully, you get a very wiry and bright sound, due to the out-of-phase pickups. Turning one of the volume controls down by a little, gradually adds bottom end and mid-range width. Depending on which volume knob is turned down, the resulting sounds will differ somewhat. Experimentation is allowed and will be rewarded with many different shadings. I think it’s fantastic that Vintage Brand offers somethign a bit out of the ordinary at this affordable price point.
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