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• 100 W/8 Ohm passive, reactive load box
• Four-stage speaker attenuation
• Line level out with analogue speaker emulation
• Headphone output
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Audio clips recorded with a Bluetone Shadows Jr. combo (1 x 10″ WGS Green Beret speaker), and the Bluetone Load Box set to 1 x 12″ speaker emulation.
Bluetone’s brand-new Load Box is a 8 ohm/100 watts multi-purpose reactive and passive attenuator for live use and recording.
It comes with the following features:
The Load Box is completely passive, which means it doesn’t require a power supply to function.
Find out more on Bluetone’s website.
Following in the wake of their very popular Shadows Reverb combo, Finnish boutique makers Bluetone Amps have recently introduced a smaller sibling, called the Shadows Jr.
The Bluetone Shadows Jr. (combo starting at around 1,300 €) is a hand-built, all-valve guitar combo, whose sound is based on the classic Vox AC15. Instead of being a straight, slavish copy, though, the Shadows Jr. incorporates many of the up-to-date features that have made Bluetone such a well-regarded boutique maker.
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The Shadows Jr. has the clean and business-like looks that active players truly appreciate. You don’t want to be slowed down on stage by a control panel that’s hard to decipher. The Bluetone is clarity itself.
This is a single-channel all-valve combo running in Class AB mode giving you maximum output power at just over 10 watts.
The Shadows Jr. is designed around a trio of 12AX7 preamp tubes and a pair of EL84s powering the speaker. The combo’s power valves are cathode-biased, which means that swapping tubes won’t necessitate a trip to your friendly amp technician.
Bluetone is one of the very few amp makers who use torroidal power transformers. These doughnut-shaped devices (the black thing in the upper left corner) are lighter and more dependable than traditional transformer designs, and they offer more exact tolerances. As a valve amp is highly dependable on a stable and electronically quiet power supply for superior tone, Bluetone decided on using torroidal transformers early on, and they’ve never looked back.
The Warehouse Guitar Speakers Green Beret is an excellent choice for a strongly Brit-flavoured combo. Bluetone break in all of the speakers they use with low-frequency sine waves.
Despite being a compact single-channel combo amp (weighing only around 10 kg), the Bluetone Shadows Jr. offers an amazing amount of different clean and gain tones, thanks in no small part to the amp’s PPIMV master volume and the three-step OPC-switch.
PPIMV stands for ”post-power inverter master volume”, which is the preferred way of master volume design at Bluetone Amps, because it eats up the least amount of an amplifier’s tone, when in use. And if you turn the master volume knob all the way up, a PPIMV design makes the master volume ”disappear” electronically, making it completely transparent.
OPC, on the other hand, stands for ”output power control”. On the Shadows Jr. you have a choice of three settings, giving you 0.2, two or the full 10 watts of power, respectively. The magic of the OPC circuit is that it will turn volume levels down very noticeably without changing the tonal character of your settings, while also leaving almost all of the dynamics intact. Many lesser output power designs will turn a clean setting into an overdriven sound when you select a lower output level. The Shadows Jr. will sound almost the same on ten, two or 0.2 watts – the small tonal differences are the result of the speaker being driven differently. With the OPC at the lowest setting you will get approximately 95 percent of the full ”Shadows Jr. experience” at bedroom/apartment block volume levels. That’s fantastic!
The back panel gives you a choice of using the internal speaker or an external 4- or 8-ohm cabinet.
Bluetone have also included their tasty buffered, switchable effects loop with a dedicated volume control. When the loop is not in use, the circuit can also serve as a handy lead boost.
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Are you looking for a cool little tone machine with a strong Vox-y flavour, and no-compromise build quality? You should do yourself a favour and try the Bluetone Shadows Jr.
The Shadows Jr. ticks all the right boxes:
You get that classic clean tone with that sweet mid-range ”attitude”. A clean tone that is lively, but never glassy or brittle.
With the front-end volume near the other extreme you’ll get overdrive and distortion that is more gritty and dynamic – think later era Beatles, windmilling Townshend, or multilayered May – than creamy and compressed.
But don’t forget to check out the wide scope of break-up Blues and Rock ’n’ Roll sounds to be had between 11 and 2 o’clock on the volume (gain) control (depending on the guitar used). You’re in for hours of wailing soloing and chunky rhythms without ever needing an overdrive stompbox.
Here’s a Gibson Les Paul Junior on its own:
Demo track number one features two rhythm guitar tracks – a Fender Stratocaster (stereo left) and a Gibson Les Paul Junior (right) – as well as a Hamer USA Studio Custom on lead duty:
The second demo track features a Gibson Les Paul Junior (rhythm left), an Epiphone Casino (rhythm right), and a Fender Telecaster (lead guitar):
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The Bluetone Shadows Jr. is a fantastic little tone machine for the Vox-inclined player, who likes warm clean tones, dynamic break-up sounds, and gritty late-Sixties/early-Seventies dirt.
The build quality is miles ahead of any mass-produced guitar amplifier – this is a handcrafted boutique-grade valve amp. Modern additions like the PPIMV master volume, the OPC circuit, and the switchable effects loop, also raise this amp above any vintage-style copies.
For many the crucial question with low-wattage amps is volume. How loud is the Bluetone Shadows Jr?
Let’s just say that if you’ve only ever tried 10-watt tranny combos before you’re in for quite a surprise! These are ten (-plus) watts of British-style valve amp majesty, with every last ounce of loudness wrung out of the power amp and speaker.
With the OPC and the master on full, this little chap will easily get you into trouble with your neighbours in your block of flats on clean tones alone. If you don’t need 100 percent clean tones, the Shadows Jr. will easily get you through many rehearsals and gigs in small venues. And there’s always the option to stick a mic in front of the speaker.
So, don’t expect a Heavy Metal-type volume onslaught, but be prepared for some serious business.
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Bluetone Amps Shadows Jr.
Prices starting from 1,300 €
Contact: Bluetone Amps
Pros:
+ Handmade in Finland
+ Master volume
+ OPC
+ Effects loop
+ Sound
+ Value-for-money
• Handmade in Finland
• All-valve Class AB single-channel combo
• 10 W, 2 W or 0.2 W of output power (OPC)
• Diode recitified
• Two-band EQ
• PPIMV Master Volume
• Built-in buffered FX loop/booster
• 3 x ECC83 (12AX7) & 2 x EL84
• One 10-inch WGS Green Beret speaker (25 Watts/8 Ohms)
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Demo Track
All guitars recorded with the Bluetone Shadows Jr. (no pedal effects used). Delay and reverb added during mixdown.
• Rhythm guitars: Fender Stratocaster (left channel) & Gibson Les Paul Junior (right channel)
• Lead guitar: Hamer USA Studio Custom
Recorded with a Shure SM57.
Tokai Guitars’ workshop in Japan will do the occasional special run of Limited Edition models that come with some features that differ from the regular models on offer. To our delight, we at Kitarablogi managed to get hold of two such special Love Rock guitars for this review.
The Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates (price in Finland: 1,550 €; hard case incl.) is a factory-modded instrument for Billy Gibbons fans …
… while Tokai’s LS-200F-5A (2,995 €; hard case and pickguard incl.) represents the maker’s take on the ”ultimate Love Rock guitar”. This Premium Series instrument shows off an AAAAA figured maple top, and a set of Seymour Duncan Custom Shop pickups.
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Even though this isn’t an official signature model by any stretch of the imagination, Tokai’s LS-100F Pearly Gates is clearly modelled after Billy F. Gibbons’ main squeeze.
The solid figured maple top looks fantastic in its gloss brown Ice Tea Burst. The guitar comes with a set of Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers.
The Tokai LS-200F-5A has been built in an extremely limited edition (less than 20 guitars worldwide), with a whopping three instruments finding their way to Finland.
The LS-200F-5A isn’t ”just” a top-of-the-line instrument, it’s a thrilling experience. The flame on this guitar’s top is so deep you can lose yourself in it, and the instrument’s semimatte finish only accentuates its sensual qualities.
Both models are equipped with top quality Gotoh machine heads.
The fretwork is second to none. Both instruments sport a fret size that’s slightly larger-than-vintage.
The bridges and tailpieces are also supplied by Gotoh.
Seymour Duncan’s Pearly Gates set is a recreation of the slightly unusual PAFs found in Billy Gibbons’ legendary guitar.
For some reason Pearly Gates – a 1959 Les Paul Standard – comes with a set of humbuckers that offers a strong mid-range peak, while the bridge humbucker is clearly much louder than the neck unit.
Tokai has ordered a batch of custom-made Seymour Duncan Antiquity-humbuckers for the LS-200F-5A.
The Antiquity is Duncan’s most faithful recreation of Gibson’s original PAF. The custom-version used here differs from the regular issue in two points – these humbuckers have not been aged, but look brand new, and both pickups come with four conductors to facilitate pickup splitting.
The Japanese electronics inside the LS-100F Pearly Gates are of a very high standard.
For the LS-200F-5A Tokai uses Orange Drop capacitors, US-made volume pots, and two ESP push/push tone pots for coil-splitting.
Both models are sold with a top-drawer hard case.
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Our review sample of the Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates is a fine-playing instrument, with a nice, moderate weight, and a great neck profile, that’s rounded, but not too big (somewhere between a ’59 and a ’60 profile).
The Pearly Gates humbuckers deliver a good deal more output than a traditional PAF (or its copy), coupled with a very strong mid-range. Yet, despite this signature sound, the Pearly Gates set never feels one-dimensional, clunky, or hard-to-control. There’s ample top end and a great dynamic range.
This is what the LS-100F Pearly Gates sounds like played through a handwired Tweed Champ-clone set clean:
Overdriven and distorted tones clearly show off the signature pickup set’s Texan accent:
It’s fairly easy to coax artificial harmonics from this Tokai, if you’re into Billy Gibbons’ playing style:
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Tokai’s LS-200F-5A is too good an instrument to be locked away in a display case!
The LS-200F-5A is a surprisingly lightweight solid-body guitar. It plays at least as good as the LS-100F, but thanks to its semimatte finish one seems to make a more intimate connection with this fantastic guitar.
Seymour Duncan’s Antiquity-humbuckers really let the woody aspects of your guitar’s inherent tone shine through. These humbuckers have a clear, precise and dry (in a good sense) sound:
The coil-split option opens up a whole bag of additional tonal choices, whenever you look for more single-coil-type tones from this Love Rock:
Overdriven and distorted tones, too, will benefit from the possibility to drop the output level with the simple pressing of a button (or two):
The demo track features two rhythm guitar tracks, which were both recorded with split humbuckers. The first half of the lead part starts off with the split neck pickup, switching to the full unit for the second half of the song:
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Both the LS-100F Pearly Gates as well as the LS-200F-5A are prime examples of the kind of top grade workmanship that has made Japanese Tokais legendary.
The LS-100F Pearly Gates is a great choice for Blues- and Rock-inclined players, who thrive on chunky mid-range power and bags of sustain.
For an investment grade instrument Tokai’s LS-200F-5A is still rather affordable. This guitar will give you Japanese Custom Shop quality at a very fair price, but the edition is, indeed, very limited…
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Two Tokai Love Rock models
LS-100F Pearly Gates – 1,550 € (case included)
LS-200F-5A – 2,995 € (case included)
Pros (both guitars):
+ workmanship
+ playability
+ sound
+ (LS-100F Pearly Gates only) Billy Gibbons signature humbuckers
+ (LS-200F-5A only) collectible
+ (LS-200F-5A only) coil-split
Tokai Guitarsin paja Japanissa valmistaa aika ajoin pieniä eriä erikoismalleja, joilla on tavalliseen mallistoon nähden poikkeavia ominaisuuksia. Kitarablogin iloksi saimme tällä kertaa testiin jopa kaksi tällaista Love Rock -kitaraa.
Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates (1.550 €; laukku kuuluu hintaan) on ns. valmiiksi modattu soitin Billy Gibbons -faneille.
Tokai LS-200F-5A (2.995 €; laukku kuuluu hintaan) taas on firman näkemys ultimaattisesta Love Rock -mallista. Se on Premium-sarjan soitin AAAAA-luokan loimuvaahterakannella ja Seymour Duncan Custom Shop -mikrofoneilla.
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Vaikka se ei olekaan virallinen nimikkomalli, on Tokain LS-100F Pearly Gates silti kovin Billy Gibbons -henkinen soitin.
Upeassa, kiiltäväksi lakattussa kitarassa on ruskehtava Ice Tea Burst -liukuväritys, sekä Seymour Duncanin valmistama Pearly Gates -mikrofonisetti.
Tokai LS-200F-5A –mallia on valmistettu erittäin rajoitettu erä (noin 20 kappaletta yhteensä), joista peräti kolme kitaraa löysivät tiensä Suomeen.
LS-200F-5A ei ole ”vain” laatukitara, se on elämys. Sen loimuvaahterakannen kuviointi on niin syvän kolmiulotteista, että melkein alkaa huimata, ja sen puolihimmeä viimeistely tukee sopivasti tätä kokonaisuutta.
Molemmissa kitaroissa on käytetty Gotoh:n laadukkaita Kluson-kopioita.
Soittimien nauhat on työstetty erinomaisella tarkkuudella. Molemmissa kitaroissa on käytetty samaa, hieman vintagea isompaa nauhakokoa.
Myös tallan ja kieltenpitimen suhteen Tokai luottaa Gotoh:n vankkaan laatuun.
Seymour Duncanin Pearly Gates -setti mukailee Billy Gibbonsin vintage-kitaran erikoisia humbuckereita.
Jostakin syystä mestarin omasta 1959 Les Paul -kitarasta löytyy epätavallinen setti PAF-mikrofoneja, joissa on vahva keskialueen korostus, sekä selvästi kaulamikrofonia voimakkaampi tallamikki.
LS-200F-5A:ta varten Tokai on tilannut Seymour Duncan Custom Shopilta erikoiserän firman Antiquity-settiä.
Antiquity on Duncanin tarkin jäljitelmä legendaarisista PAF-mikrofoneista. Tässä erikoiserässä on kaksi eroa tavallisiin Antiquity-mikrofoneihin nähden – niiden ulkonäköä ei ole vanhennettu lainkaan, ja kummankin mikrofonin voi halutessaan puolittaa.
LS-100F Pearly Gates -mallin elektroniikka edustaa selvästi japanilaista pro-tasoa.
LS-200F-5A:ssa on sen sijaan käytetty Orange Drop -kondensaattoreita, amerikkalaisia volume-potikoita, sekä ESP:n valmistamia push/push-potikoita tonea ja mikkien puolitusta varten.
Molemmat soittimet myydään oman laadukkaan kovan laukun kera.
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Testattu Tokai LS-100F Pearly Gates on erittäin mukavan tuntuinen soitin. Painoa löytyy vain maltillisesti ja mallin pyöreä, muttei liian paksu kaulaprofiili tuntuu erittäin mukavalta.
Pearly Gates –mikrofoneissa on huomattavan paljon enemmän tehoa kuin tavallisissa PAF (-kopioissa), ja myös keskialueesta löytyy rutkasti vääntöä. Silti Pearly Gates -setti ei kuulosta millään lailla yksitoikkoiselta, kömpelöltä tai kovaotteiselta, vaan soinnista löytyy silti dynamiikkaa ja selkeyttä.
Tällaiselta LS-100F Pearly Gates kuulostaa puhtaan Tweed Champ -kloonin kautta soitettuna:
Särösoundeista löytyy sopivasti rosoista Teksas-asennetta:
Billy Gibbons -tyylinen huiluäänikikkailukin on helppoa, kun käytössä on oikeanlainen kitara soittotyyliä tukevilla mikrofoneilla:
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Tokai LS-200F-5A ei ole pelkästään kuvankaunis esine, vaan myös erittäin monipuolinen ja laadukas soitin.
LS-200F-5A on todella kevyt kitara. Sen soitettavuus on yhtä vaivatonta kuin LS-100F-mallissa, mutta soittotuntuma on puolihimmeän viimeistelyn ansiosta jotenkin intiimimpi, suorempi.
Seymour Duncanin Antiquity-mikrofonit antavat todellakin puiden soida, ja näiden humbuckereiden tarkkavainen, dynaaminen ja avoin ääni on positiivisella tavalla kuiva:
Mikrofonien puolitus lisää rutkasti tämän kitaran monipuolisuuta, kun 5A:sta lähtee melko autenttisia yksikelamikkien soundejakin:
Myös särösoundeissa mikrofonien puolitus suo soittajalle mahdollisuuden nostaa välillä kaasujalkaa polkimelta:
Demobiisissä molemmilla komppiraidoilla käytetään mikkien puolitusta. Soolokitara aloittaa ensin puolitetulla kaulahumbuckerilla, minkä jälkeen molemmat kaulamikin keloista aktivoidaan:
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Sekä LS-100F Pearly Gates että LS-200F-5A ovat loistavia esimerkkejä laadusta, jota japanilaiset Tokai-kitarat tarjoavat, ja joka on tehnyt niistä legendaarisia.
LS-100F Pearly Gates on todella hyvä valinta Blues- ja Rock-kitaristeille, jotka kaipaavat soundiinsa aimon annoksen keskialueen voimaa.
LS-200F-5A on keräilyluokan kitaraksi vielä melko edullinen. Se tarjoaa aitoa japanilaista Custom Shop -laatua reiluun hintaan. Tässäkin tapauksessa nopeat syövät hitaat…
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Tokai Love Rock -kitarat
LS-100F Pearly Gates – 1.550 € (kova laukku kuuluu hintaan)
LS-200F-5A – 2.995 € (kova laukku kuuluu hintaan)
Plussat (molemmat mallit):
+ työnjälki
+ soitettavuus
+ soundi
+ (vain LS-100F Pearly Gates) Billy Gibbons -nimikkomikrofonit
+ (vain LS-200F-5A) keräilyluokan soitin
+ (vain LS-200F-5A) mikkien puolitus
TOKAI LS-200F-5A
• Very limited edition
• Handcrafted in Japan
• AAAAA flame maple top
• Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker set
• Push/push switches in tone controls for coil-splitting
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Demo Track
• Rhythm guitar – both pickups in split mode
• Lead guitar – starts with split neck pickup; second pass with full neck pickup
• Amp used – Juketone True Blood (handwired 5F1 Champ-clone)
• Recorded with a Shure SM57
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Contact: Tokai Guitars Nordic
Gretsch Guitars’ brand new Streamliner series offers access to the legendary brand name at a very affordable price point.
At the moment, the new range includes three different guitar models:
The G2622 Streamliner Center Block (also available left handed) is a centre block-equipped version of a Sixties double cutaway Country Gentleman, while the G2655 Streamliner Center Block offers you similar looks in a more compact package. The G2420 Streamliner Hollow Body, for its part, is a full-blown, big-bodied archtop guitar in a similar vein to Gretsch’s legendary 6120.
All three guitars are also available as T-versions with a Bigsby Lightning Series vibrato. The Streamliner Series is handmade in Indonesia.
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The Gretsch Streamliner G2420T Hollow Body (street price in Finland approx. 560 €) is a very foxy looking guitar, despite its quite affordable pedigree.
The G2420T can be had in see-though red or gold metallic, while the standard model (equipped with a lyre-style tailpiece) comes in brown sunburst only.
The G2420T’s full-depth body is made from steam-pressed laminated maple. The top is stiffened by Gretsch’s traditional parallel bracing.
The nato (an Asian wood species somewhat similar to mahogany) neck is glued into the body.
There’s plenty of binding on the Streamliner Hollow Body – in addition to the multiple binding on the body the guitar also sports a bound fretboard and even a bound headstock.
This Gretsch comes equipped with a very decent set of sealed tuning machines.
The vintage-sized frets have been neatly seated. The G2420T features large rectangular position markers made from pearloid.
Bigsby’s mid-priced Lightning Series vibratos are produced in the Far East to exacting standards. The Bigsby B60 has been specifically designed for use with large-bodied archtops, such as the Gretsch G2420T.
This Streamliner’s Adjusto-matic bridge may seem to be held in place simply by string pressure, but there’s more to the bridge than meets the eye. The rosewood base is ”secured”, which means reverse pinned. The bridge posts continue all the way through the rosewood base and into two holes in the guitar’s top, which keeps the whole bridge in the correct place.
The biggest difference between the Streamliner G2420T and similar models in Gretsch’s Electromatic- and Pro-ranges can be found in the new guitar’s pickups:
Depending on the ”era”, or an artists wishes, a Pro Series Model G6120 will either come with a pair of DeArmond single coils, Gretsch’s own Filter’Tron humbuckers or similar TV Jones pickups. Recent Electromatic G5420’s are now equipped with Gretsch’s new Black Top Filter’Trons, which are licensed Far Eastern copies of the original pickups.
All new Streamliners sport a pair of Broad’Tron pickups. Broad’Trons are full-sized humbuckers designed to offer a tone somewhere in-between the twang and bite of Filter’Trons and the lush warmth of PAF-style ’buckers.
The controls on the G2420T are pure Gretsch:
Below the f-hole you will find separate volume knobs for each pickup, as well as a joint master tone control. An additional master volume control is placed next to the cutaway.
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Let me start this section by stressing how well-made this budget-Gretsch really is! The review sample wasn’t a ”review instrument”, breathed on by distributors Fender Scandinavia, instead I took the guitar straight off the wall at a local music shop (DLX Music).
The Gretsch G2420T Streamliner Hollow Body is a very cleanly put together archtop electric, and I genuinely couldn’t find anything to criticise (especially when considering the instruments pocket-friendly price). The very nice fretwork on the Streamliner is a definite plus when it comes to this guitar’s comfortable playability.
Officially Gretsch call this neck profile a ”Thin U”, but I would describe it as a very comfy D shape with a slightly flattened back.
The Bigsby B60 is buttery and doesn’t throw the Hollow Body out of tune too much, if used sensibly (a word of advice: if you’re very sensitive when it comes tuning stability, a Bigsby probably isn’t right for you). Because a Bigsby B6/B60 makes do without the additional roller of other Bigsby models, this vibrato is more sensitive and immediate in use (which is a good thing in my view). You get the all the Bigsby shine and shimmer with less ”work”.
Played acoustically, the Streamliner Hollow Body sounds just like the laminated-body archtop it is – open and dry with a strong focus on mid-range frequencies.
I feel that Gretsch’s plan of taking its new Streamliners closer towards the mainstream really seems to hit the mark. The Broad’Trons may not give you the traditional clucky, chicken picking, bright and sparkly sound of a set of Filter’Trons, but there’s still enough presence and treble left in the new pickups’ tone for a gretsch-y sound.
Thanks to the new pickups’ broader tone the Gretsch G2420T also works well for Jazz, apart from the usual Country and Rock (-abilly) genres. This clip starts with the neck pickup:
The Streamliner Hollow Body also sounds great with a light amount of crunch. There’s a nice balance between the low end and the treble in the G2420T’s sound, coupled with the dry delivery so typical of big box archtops.
You should be aware, though, that high gain settings and/or very high volume levels will result in howling feedback sooner or later. This isn’t really a fault, but rather a normal feature of this type of instrument, and the Streamliner Hollow Body isn’t any more ”problematic” than other guitars of this type.
This sound clip, too, has been recorded with Blackstar HT-1R valve combo:
Here’s the demo track off the Youtube video, whose guitar tracks were recorded using Apple Garageband’s own amp plug-ins. The lead guitar uses the bridge pickup, while the rhythm parts have been recorded using both pickups (left channel) and the neck pickup (right channel), respectively:
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In my opinion the Gretsch Streamliner G2420T Hollow Body is one of the best full-size archtops in this price range – possibly even the best! This is a surprisingly well-made instrument that punches far above its ”weight”.
If you’re looking for the ”genuine Gretsch Sound”, warts-and-all, I would point you to the (much pricier) Electromatic Series and its Filter’Tron pickups.
One of the Streamliner Series’ main objectives, though, is to broaden and widen the appeal of these guitars, and take the Gretsch name closer to the mainstream. I feel Gretsch have succeeded very well in this endeavour!
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Gretsch Streamliner G2420T Hollow Body
street price 560 €
Contact: Gretsch Guitars
A very warm ”thank you” to the guys at DLX Music Helsinki for supplying the review guitar!
Pros:
+ value for money
+ workmanship
+ fretwork
+ secured bridge
+ Bigsby works great
+ sound
Kitarablogi.com – Finland's premier Guitar and Bass blog 