February 20th, 2009 by Andres Gallo

$90

Design

Like other Electro Harmonix pedals the design is very simple and tank. In other words, their pedals seem to be made to withstand all the abuse given by even the most abusive feet, as they are obviously meant to be stepped on. The Metal Muff feature two stomp switches, and 6 knobs that make this one of the most versatile pedals for modern distortion tones. One of the stomp switches allows the pedal to be bypassed, while the other switch can add an extra boost to the sound of the pedal. This is extremely useful to make leads stand out from the harmonies. Two knobs control the volume and the gain, while the other four control the tone. One controls the amount of top boost when the top boost switch is activated, and the others are an extremely versatile equalizer that give the user the possibility of virtually any metal tone known to man from the darkest, to the scooped, to the brightest. Electro Harmonix are known for their vintage sound, and excellence in that department. This is their first attempt at a modern distortion and I have to say it is a huge success.

Sound

While it still does not sound like an amps natural distortion, it is definitely one of the nicest distortion pedals for those seeking a modern metal tone. While the pedal is versatile enough to pull off some good overdrive tones with the distortion knob way down, where this box shines, is in its ability to make brutal tones of all types. The Equalizer allows the player to make Dark tones, and even some bright tones, and the versatility of the equalizer can go so far, that users may even make tones that are too bright, or too dark, which is a good thing as it may be used to balance a bright or dark amp, and after all is not like you are forced to equalize the pedal to those extremes.

Reliability

I have never had a problem with Electro Harmonix products. My pedalboard is 90% Electro Harmonix, and all of the pedals are still working perfectly, and making me happy with their sound .

Customer Support

Electro Harmonix customer support is very good. They have always been quick to respond to my emails, and have provided me helpful answers to my questions.

February 6th, 2009 by Andres Gallo

$124

Design

ISP Technologies did a very great pedal when they came out with the ISP decimator. At least the other users seem very impressed. They are definitely much more impressed than I am, however. I am not saying, the pedal is a bad pedal, as it is indeed the best noise suppressor pedal I have tried. After all, there is a reason why the general consensus, is this is the best suppressor in pedal form out there. It can make the amp dead quite, and according to many without sacrificing the playing dynamics. I love the way the pedal controls the signal with its smart threshold knob. Its very simple and it works. And the physical design is also very attractive with it’s boss pedal like chrome casing. Overall a very simple effective design.

Sound

Here is where I am not impressed with the pedal. I expected this to be the first noise suppressor that does not ruin my playing dynamics. The difference in dynamics is very small but its there, and I am playing without a noise suppressor because of this issue. This is the closest to giving me a transparent sound I have come across, but with the slight side effect I still prefer having the background noise. It works beautifully if the songs have a similar amount of gain through out. For music that goes from low to high gain, the playing dynamics on the lower gain parts will suffer a huge loss of dynamics.
For those of you looking for a suppressor, think twice before you buy. ISP new g-string noise suppressor (yup, that’s what it is called), promised to fix this issue. For those of you looking to buy a new suppressor, I recommend researching the new model.

Reliability

It is built like a boss pedal. It’s build quility is very reliable.

Customer Support

Have not dealt with their customer support.

February 5th, 2009 by Andres Gallo

$700

Design

I love the guitar, however, as a musician; I was always jealous of the possibilities keyboardists have with today’s synths. With that said, I like to use various effects to give myself as many sound possibilities as I can have. One pedal which I don’t use often, but which would be the cure to the problem mentioned above is the Roland GR20. What this technological marvel does is in my opinion a beautiful thing. Through Roland’s special Gk3 pickup it picks up your signal, and sends it to the GR20 and processes it, giving your guitar new sounds. These new sounds are of course the sounds, of virtually any instrument I could think of. Piano, Organ, Nylon Guitar, Drums, Sitar, Vocal pads…are few of the instrument sounds available on this guitar pedal.

The overall design, I have to admit, is absolutely genius. This device does so much, yet is about as intuitive as I could see it get. You can edit, write, and move about with the patches with incredible ease. Unlike many synths it even includes some built in effects that you can add to the synth sound such as chorus, delay, and dynamics controls for the attack notes.
The foot switches and pedals are also customizable and can be used for pitch shifting, and volume swells as well as vibrato, and more impressively can be used to freeze what you are playing into a sustain, while you play on top of it. It works great for improvisations as you can leave a chord ringing as you play a lead on top of it.
The design is great, feature packed but very intuitive. Unlike keyboard synths of course, you can mix the synth sound, with the natural sound of your guitar, in one amp, or even split it with two amps.
My only complaint with the design is the GK3 Pickup. Before the GR20 can be used, the GK3 Pickup must be installed correctly. The installation has to be very precise and can be very annoying or expensive to install. The GK3 pickup is great and seamlessly fast once installed correctly, or painfully slow when installed incorrectly.

Sound

Sound-wise the GR20 does a great job. It sounds really good, as is to be expected from Roland when it comes to synthesizer sounds. A lot of the instruments sound very natural, and work well with the playing dynamics of player. Ironically, however, I really wanted to use it for acoustic simulation, but guitar sounds are the weakest sounds in this pedal. The effects like delay and chorus are very good and transparent as well; however, those effects only work on the synth sounds and not on the guitars natural sound.

Reliability

The pedal is very well built. However, durability aside, its performance may not be the same for all guitars.
Buyers beware, the pickup will not fit in many guitars. I also don’t think it will work well with tremolo bridge guitars, especially Floyd roses, as it requires a consistent distance between itself and the strings. A great product, but definitely not one for everyone.

Customer Support

Their customer support is great. I had problems installing the GK3 pickup, and they helped me, all the way through. I am pleased with their support, and once installed correctly the product is great.

January 13th, 2009 by Andres Gallo

$1650

Design

Ovation guitars are well known for their bowl shaped back, and their non-standard multiple sound-holes; both characteristics most of their acoustics all have in common. The 1778LX Elite is not too different from the others at first sight. It has a deep bowl back and the usual ovation sound-holes. The difference is mostly noticed at the first strum; however, I will discuss that in the sound section.
All in all the physical design is very similar from that seen in most ovations, but with a few, but substantial upgrades here and there. I am not saying that for the hefty price tag you get the same “physique” of the lower end models. You get a flawless paintjob, and a construction that screams attention to detail, but much more important you get one of the nicest necks I have ever seen and played in any acoustic. The neck itself looks absolutely stunning with a gorgeous ebony fretobard, and cool inlays. The soundholes also add to the look with their unique look, and artwork that surrounds them.
Outside of appearances the guitar features a built in tuner which I gotta say comes very handy, and the OP-Pro Pre Amp which was designed in collaboration with Al DiMeola and Melissa Etheridge. The preamp features various additional features that allow deep control of the tone of the guitar.
The overall design shows a lot of care was taken in the making of the instrument. The 1778 LX Elite has lots of features, and looks absolutely gorgeous. My only complaint as with most ovation guitars is the bowl shaped back, which can be slightly uncomfortable when playing standing up.

Sound

Crystal clear shimmering tones is what best describes the sound of this guitar. The tones are very sensitive to the pick attack and all sorts of playing dynamics, giving the player a huge dynamic range. I think it may have something to do with the deep bowl back and the soundholes. The sound seems to have a better acoustic projection, which renders so much detail in every single one of its notes; it’s a very special sound. All the notes react beautifully to picking dynamics, and with the OP-Pro Preamp it sounds absolutely beautiful when played amplified. Keep in mind that the sound is very different from other acoustics in this price range, or other acoustics in this range. It’s not as warm, but has a clarity that is impressive and unique. There is not a single complaint I can make of this guitar, other than the ergonomics of that bowl back.

Reliability

Out of all the instruments I have, this is without a doubt the one that feels most solid. The back of the guitar is after all made of the same material they make helicopters with. They have designed an instrument with the ability to defend the user from anything, especially from boredom. With sound like this, I think guitarist will have lots of fun. Durability is definitely not an issue.

Customer Support

They have very good customer support. I had some questions on the guitar’s preamp which they helped me with promptly.

January 7th, 2009 by Andres Gallo

$130

Design

Dunlop is one of those brands that people know for the great designs that have placed across time throughout the years. Amongst their most popular line of products is their crybaby line. When guitarists think of wah pedals, the name crybaby is the one I am sure crosses the mind of most, most of the time.
Visually the crybaby 535Q looks like a simple pedal, and seems no different than the other wahs. Up close, however, one finds a design that is both cleverer and more versatile, while simultaneously staying true to the classics. The pedal functions and for the most part looks like their classic wah relatives. It even includes the fasel inductor that gave the vintage wahs that tone of theirs. The advantage however is in the tone controls it includes that give it virtually the sound of a variety of wah pedals, all in one package. One knob allows you to control the frequency center, and another controls the range available for the pedal. To top it all, it even has a boost button on the side that provides a volume boost for those wailing wah solos rock music is famous for.
The design is great, maintaining a conservative classic look, adding modern versatility, and putting it all into a tough casing.

Sound

It is hard to write any negatives on the sound quality of this wah, as there are nothing but good tones all across the possibilities.You can have all sorts of wah sounds. The other great thing is these sounds have lots of body when they should, and the range can be incredible in both its modern and vintage tones. Although a modern wah, this thing can pull off those vintage tones without much trouble, and sounds splendid in all cases. Although one of the best wahs for the price out there, it isn’t perfect. It does not have true bypass, and as such it can eat your signal, although I never noticed any signal loss from it. With that in mind, this wah should be added to everyones wah list.

Reliability

From its feel and appearance this pedal is built to last a really long time. However, I feel I have to include in this review, that my own crybaby 535q stopped working out of nowhere. I think these pedals will last most people, and perhaps I just got one of the rare delicate productions. The pedal still turns on, but the potentiometer that controls the rocking pedal part of it is defective, which is a simple and cheap fix. Don’t be intimidated by this, however. This is still a great wah pedal in the “affordable market,” and is used by many greats like Joe Satriani.

Customer Support

Their customer support is great.  They offered to help me very quickly.

December 30th, 2008 by Andres Gallo

$350

Design

Boss is one of those brands that really care about the design behind their products. I am not the biggest fan of boss pedals, but one thing I like about their pedals and products, is that they are very cleverly designed to enhance their intuitiveness. In other words, these are products that tend to be as simple to use as possible in spite of their beautiful complexity. This product is a great example of what I mean. The BR600 is complete recording station in a small package. It has all you need to make a decent recording, with enough simplicity for anyone to use.
Built in, it has 2 microphones which are really good, and capture the sound in stereo, and inputs to capture line in level signal, as well as a guitar input, and a 1/8” microphone. Unfortunately, however, this Boss unit lacks a XLR input and phantom power to make it truly a do it all machine, yet considering most people will use the built in microphones, it probably is not too big a deal. In addition this great device also includes a metronome, a drum machine, and a bunch of effects. With this device and a guitar, you can be a one man band. For what it does, it does very well. Furthermore, this device allows you to cut, copy, paste, and much more which are techniques used by the pros. It does all these things with lots of precision.
Now don’t get me wrong; you will not get the same quality you will get with a professional setup. On the plus side, this device is brilliant for recording rehearsals, and rough demos. It captures the live sound very well, and clear, but still lacks the headroom of a professional setup. Take it for what it is, and that is a portable recording package. With a lot of recording knowledge and technique, you can get some really great sounding recordings out of this unit, and without it, you can still get some decent sounding recordings.

Sound

Like some of Boss multi-FX units, this boss unit has a COSM modeling system. This means that this unit will model lots of effects, amps and cabinets and that it does. I tried recording with just a guitar, and the BR600. I was able to make a song with clean effected tones, some distorted parts, a bass track, an acoustic part, and a drum beat. It can make your guitar sound like a bass, or acoustic, and as mentioned it simulates a huge variety of amps. As for the sound quality, it is pretty decent to make mockup recordings, and perhaps even for real recordings, although I find the tones to be a little too bright and cold for that, then again I am very picky.
As for the quality of the recording through the microphones, and the fidelity of the signal, I am impressed due to the size of the unit. With that said, don’t expect it to rival a pro setup. The sounds is very good, but lacks headroom and dynamics, which is why I say this product is amazing for recording mockups, or rehearsals rather than actual album recordings.
Compared to other portable devices this unit is amazing, but here “portable” is the key word.

Reliability

Boss products are built like tanks. This one is made out of plastic, however, let us just call it a “plastic tank”. It feels very sturdy, with every button and knob feeling rock solid, and smooth in motion. I carry this device a lot and it still works and looks like new. It is definitely very reliable, and has more features than I know how to use, which makes it a reliable tool for all sorts of people.

Customer Support

I have little experience dealing with their customer support.

December 26th, 2008 by Andres Gallo

$77

Design

This score scores high in its design with its simplicity, and range of tones. The pedal seems very reliable, and the knobs are very smooth. And while simplicity may sound like a bad thing to some, it does not stop the possibilities with this pedal, and the fact that there is no other pedal like it. This pedal is legendary. Now I am not saying the design is perfect. While it has a lot of control over the tone, all while being simple, the pedal has a huge design turn off. The physical design is huge, and clunky looking, which I honestly think was purposely done to look like the original. Luckily EHX, however, now offers a new Big Muff called “Big Muff with tone wicker,” which supposedly is the same thing in a smaller package with some new stuff for more control. Another aspect I disliked in the design of this amazing pedal is the power input which requires a non-standard plug for the AC adapter; fortunately all the pedalboards I have tried come with a cable to power the big muff, in case you are all wondering.

Sound

Thick, warm fuzz sound. There are many fuzz pedals, however, I think this is the best out of them all, with it’s low tightness thickness. Many of you may be wondering why I like its low-fi thickness. This is not a distortion pedal, but is something much more original, which is what made it so popular. It’s low-fi tightnness prevents the sharp distortion sound, but instead creates the famous smooth creamy buttery fuzz sound this pedal is so famous for. With only three knobs, you get some really cool tones, all which may be completely different. The sustain knob can give it some more sustain and gain, and when raised high, it can give some incredible sustain that sounds absolutely beautiful. The tone knob can make the sound very fuzzy and bright/gritty, and even liquid. The volume knob does its job nicely, and the pedal is very quiet. Another great thing about this pedal, as well all the new Electro Harmonix pedals is their true bypass. This means you won’t lose signal while the pedal is off, which PREVENTS something I find really annoying when there are too many pedals involved. That something is of course…signal loss, and such does not happen here.

Sound

Thick, warm fuzz sound. There are many fuzz pedals, however, I think this is the best out of them all, with it’s low tightness thickness. Many of you may be wondering why I like its low-fi thickness. This is not a distortion pedal, but is something much more original, which is what made it so popular. It’s low-fi tightnness prevents the sharp distortion sound, but instead creates the famous smooth creamy buttery fuzz sound this pedal is so famous for. With only three knobs, you get some really cool tones, all which may be completely different. The sustain knob can give it some more sustain and gain, and when raised high, it can give some incredible sustain that sounds absolutely beautiful. The tone knob can make the sound very fuzzy and bright/gritty, and even liquid. The volume knob does its job nicely, and the pedal is very quiet. Another great thing about this pedal, as well all the new Electro Harmonix pedals is their true bypass. This means you won’t lose signal while the pedal is off, which PREVENTS something I find really annoying when there are too many pedals involved. That something is of course…signal loss, and such does not happen here. Sound wise, I think this is a pedal that should be on everybody’s pedalboard; its that good.

Reliability

The construction is very solidly built. It was built in New York, where manufacturing standards are high. I just wish they could have made the pedal a lot smaller, as it would definitely fit in a smaller enclosure. I have been using this pedal for years and it still works and sound the same it did when I got it.

Customer Support

Some of the best customer support I have dealt with. They are very quick to reply. I never had an Electro Harmonix product break on me, therefore I don’t know how they deal with repairs and such.

December 23rd, 2008 by Andres Gallo

$129

Design

This device was designed with portability in mind and that shows. I personally find it too thick to be “pocket friendly,” but it is very small for all it does. The design is very space economical and smart through out. You know how on a keyboard holding the shift key changes the function of other keys. The same principle is used here, allowing lots of manipulation to the sound out of only four knobs, two buttons, and a 4 way pad button. The knobs control the gain, effect, delay, and volume for the preset, or they can be used to equalize the bass, midrange, top end, and reverb. In addition, it has what makes a pod what it is; this is some really good cabinet simulations, amp simulations, and a load of effects. Also available in the Pod is a tuner and a tap tempo button and LED for the delay. There is also the possibility to choose the output type, so that you can get the best sound using your headphones, cabinet, PA, or whatever it is that you’ll use as output.
Being a pocket-able device it can run on batteries, (I recommend rechargeable batteries as they only last a few hours) and will give all sorts of tones everywhere. The one thing I wish they had included is the possibility to install the Pod footswitch, but I guess they left it out as it is supposed to be pocket-able, and that would defeat the purpose.

Sound

This little thing can deliver some great sound when used with really good headphones. The “digitalness” is always there, but still, for the size and the price you get an endless amount of tones. Also make sure to use it with warm sounding headphones, cause the sound here is somewhat harsh with some settings. The high gain settings sound amazing for portable use, while the clean sounds are good but a little dry and cold sounding. I use the built in effects to liven up the clean sound.

Reliability

It is made of plastic, however everything feels very solid, and it has held up for over a year of abuse, and still feels solid. The construction I have no doubt is top notch.

Customer Support

Line6 has great customer support. They were very fast at replying to my questions.

December 23rd, 2008 by Andres Gallo

$599

Design

Design is something this amp head packs, especially for the price. It has three channels, an effects loop, and a whole lot of options. The amp looks and feels durable, and has a grill cover in the front, back, and top which should keep the tubes nicely ventilated, while at the same time making the amp look more attractive. The amp is very attractive, but I wish they had use real metal for the decorations.
Beyond the appearance of the amp, as mentioned the amp is feature packed. It has three channels, and comes with a footswitch allowing the player to switch between the three channels, as well as turning of the effects loop on ad off. In the front of the amp, it has some LED buttons that the user can also press to change the channel, and they stay lit to let the user know what channel is currently active. It also has a built in reverb, which functions with the same LED button principle.
Other things that have LED buttons in the amp is the effects loop, and the XL switches which boost the bottom end making the sound bigger. There are also knobs to control the parameters of all the functions turned on/off by these LED buttons. For example each channel has equalizing knobs and a volume knob, and all channels except for the clean channel have a gain knob. The reverb also has a knob to increase/decrease the reverb, and the effects loop has two knobs to control the signal in the send/receive output and inputs, giving the player immense versatility.
Not forgotten are the very important Master volume knob, Presence knob, Standby Switch, High and Low gain inputs, as well as the line out. The presence knob for example is a really awesome EQ type control.
The design is not perfect however. One thing I don’t like about the design, is that its construction uses plastic knobs, which makes me wonder how other things inside are constructed, and one thing which is really annoying is that the noise gate does so little controlling hum, it almost seems as if it was broken or something.

Sound

Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. There is always a really annoying background noise in the background, which is annoying as you use higher gain pickups, and higher gain tones. This is not a problem unless you have really high gain pickups, and have a tendency to put the gain all the way up. However, such problem is easily controlled with a good noise suppressor, and the amazing tone this amp delivers makes it worth it. Every tube amp, I have tried hums anyways.
On the clean channel the background noise is almost not there, and the clean channel is very warm and pristine. It’s surprisingly good at this price, especially considering this is a high gain amp. It is one of the sweetest clean channels I have heard. The clean sound has lots of vivacity, and very articulate definition. The clean sounds really amazing with single coils or coil split humbucker pickups. It has so much body, yet the notes all ring out so nice and clear.
The crunch channel allows for a huge range of tones, going from a light overdrive all the way to Van Halen type tones, and impressively the sound stays defined through out.
The lead channel has lots of bottom end, and lots of gain, which make the leads really stand out. I can see some people would like to use this channel for overwhelmingly heavy riffery, as it can have some levels of gain that are just insane. In other words the versatility with this amp is phenomenal. The lead channel however begins to lose clarity when pushed to the extremes, however, I don’t see why anyone would play with such a gain packed tone.
While each channel sounds splendid, is the ability to do really good clean, and high gain both in the same amp, that makes it special. At this price range amps usually perform outstandingly in one, or the other, and sometimes neither, but never on both clean and high gain applications. This is a do it all amp, and once again I have to remind you readers that the clean channel is phenomenal, and so is the crunch channel, both which are “toneful” and extremely versatile.  In spite of the few negative things I mentioned this is without a doubt one of the best, if not the best value in high gain amps.

Reliability

The construction of the amp, feels well constructed. The only thing that worries me is that the material of the knobs, the grill and decorations is plastic when it should have been metal. With that said, I am left wondering about what to expect of the materials in the inside, but I am confident it will last. It sounds so good, I am sure, or at least hopeful, it’s construction was all thought out, but I guess I’ll find out with more time.

Customer Support

I have no experience with their customer support.

December 23rd, 2008 by Andres Gallo

$39

Design

There is a reason why this is marketed as the best capo in the world. This capo is indeed the best capo in the world, and if it isn’t it’s has to be there with the best. I remember the day I bought it I was somewhat hesitant to buy it, for it has a price tag thats twice of other options. Fortunately the salesman convinced me to buy it.
There are all sorts of different capos. On some you clip the capo onto the guitar, and on others you tighten the capo with a screw/cam. This capo however is very different in design. I always found the other capos very annoying to use, and here is something that fixes every problem in all the other designs. The string clamp capos, and most other quick on/off capos would sometimes drive the strings out of tune when on, applying too much pressure against the fretboard. The cam lever capo, allows the player to set the necessary amount of pressure against then neck, which is great, however setting up and removing the capo is annoying as it takes longer.
You may all be wondering how the g7th is different. Well, it is really easy to setup on the neck of the guitar. You just place it on the neck and push the capo closed on the neck. And you can close it with as much or as little force as you want which means that it will always have the right amount of pressure on every guitar. To top it all up, the capo is also much smaller than the other designs. In other words, the design is “pure genius.”

Reliability

I have had mines for a while, and it looks very durable. The metallic material looks and feels very sturdy. The mechanical system used to hold the pressure for the capo moves so smooth, that the construction seems top notch.

Customer Support

I have no experience dealing with their customer support. This product is so well done and intuitive, I don’t see anyone needing any customer support anyways.