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gear giveaway

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Win a T-Rex ToneBug Pedal Board!

Delicious Readers, here’s the new Scooptacular Giveaway! The T-Rex Tonebug Board V (MSRP: $1,100) comes with 5 must-have Tonebug pedals – Reverb, Overdrive, Distortion, Phaser, Chorus/Flanger – and FuelTank Chameleon power supply. Bring dry, flat-sound guitar playing to life with the ToneBug Reverb; Add dynamic undulating shimmer to your sound with the ToneBug Phaser; Fuzz things up via the rich, tubey-sounding ToneBug Distortion; Give your sound a warmer edge with the ToneBug Overdrive; and Add rich dimension to your playing with the ToneBug Chorus + Flanger pedal. ToneBug pedals combine the same classic T-Rex tone found on the pedal boards of many of the world’s greatest guitarists with intuitive, uncomplicated controls, retro design, and rugged construction. Add some T-Rex Tonebug to your sonic palette. Enter Now! The Delicious-Audio Staff... Click on the title for more

Win a T-Rex ToneBug Pedal Board!

The Secrets of Recording Great Vocals

Recording vocals might not seem like the most challenging of tasks when producing a CD, but this delicate and crucial process often ends up being quite draining and taking longer than expected. Producer Larry Hammel, who has just finished shooting some instructive videos focused on this topic, has agreed to share some of his experience with us.... Click on the title for more

The Secrets of Recording Great Vocals

The Deli’s StompBox Exhibit in NYC!

This fall The Deli will present its first StompBox Exhibit in NYC. The event will be free for all, but due to the small size of the hosting venues, we recommend you RSVP HERE for a priority pass. Hosted at The Living Room’s Googies Lounge and Ludlow Guitar in the heart of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the exhibit is scheduled for October 21 and 22, i.e. the busiest days of the CMJ Music Marathon 2011, an event which brings to the Big Apple thousands of musicians. Many big and small guitar pedal manufacturers will be present, including MOOG, TC Electronic, Line6, Eventide, T-Rex, Pigtronix and Z-Vex among others. Musicians are invited to bring their own guitars and plug in directly into the pedal boards. They will be able to test the pedals and hear the results directly in the headphones, which will be plugged into an amp emulation unit.... Click on the title for more

The Deli’s StompBox Exhibit in NYC!

Alesis iO Dock: Connect Pro Audio Gear to your iPad

There are a lot of mind-bending music apps for Apple’s iPad, utilizing the large touch-screen interface and built in accelerometer to create unique virtual instruments, multitrack recorders, and drum machines (So far, this one is my favorite). However, despite the ever-increasing number of music production apps, there are much fewer ways to actually connect your own gear to the popular tablet, leaving a wide range of creative possibilities unexplored. Enter the iO Dock ($199 street) from Alesis, a universal iPad and iPad 2 docking station designed to integrate virtually any instrument or piece of pro audio gear with your iPad. Slip your iPad into the side of the dock, and you’ve got a portable and functional workstation, with all of the connections you need to plug in professional microphones, instruments, and monitors. With the entire App Store at your disposal (the iO Dock is CoreMIDI compliant), you can fully utilize multitrack recorders like GarageBand, play the iPad like an instrument, or use it to control instruments through MIDI. For inputs, the dock has two combination XLR-1/4” jacks, with individual gain knobs and switchable phantom power for the pair. The second input also has a high-impedance switch, allowing you to plug […]... Click on the title for more

Alesis iO Dock: Connect Pro Audio Gear to your iPad

Review: TC Electronic TonePrint Pedals

Today’s pedal market is flooded with limited-run pedals in handmade art-covered boxes. The majority are barely-modified clones of vintage circuitry pretty boxes prizing visual panache above sonic potential. While many mainstream effects-companies scramble to ’boutique-ify’ their lines, industry-stalwart TC Electronic has dived headfirst into deep-end of the pool, reinventing guitar accessories for a new century of live performance. The TC Electronic TonePrint pedal line provides revolutionary features and a huge spectrum of gorgeous tones whose beauty is more than skin-deep. – Read Benjamin Wigler full review here.... Click on the title for more

Review: TC Electronic TonePrint Pedals

Oldie but Goldie: Ibanez DE-7 delay

The Ibanez DE-7 Delay/Echo is part of Ibanez’s Tone-Lok series of effects. At the time of their release, these pedals were geared toward the upcoming Nu-Metal scene but they have found their way onto the pedal boards of many different musicians due to their sturdy construction and great sounds.... Click on the title for more

Oldie but Goldie: Ibanez DE-7 delay

Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic and Twin Tube Blues

Seymour Duncan’s Twin Tube series are tube powered preamp/overdrive pedals. They come in three flavors: “Blues”, “Classic”, and “Mayhem”! Each of the two-channel pedals are powered by a pair of mil-spec (Military Spec), subminiature (very small), USA-made Phillips-Sylvania® dual triode tubes. According to Duncan, “Too often, inexpensive tube gear runs in “starved plate mode,” where the tubes are not actually helping to create the distortion. The high-plate voltage and 100% vacuum tube signal path allows the tubes to operate at their fullest potential and provide maximum dynamic range. The means you get the most gain and all the smooth tone you expect from a high-quality tube preamp.” I will second that. These pedals have a warmth and clarity I’ve not heard from any other overdrive pedals. I A/B’d the Twin Tube Classic and Twin Tube Blues against several of my favorite overdrive pedals (one was green, one was blue) on several different amps, and the difference was stunning. Both Twin Tubes offer a massive amount of gain, even on the rhythm channel. With a gain and a volume for each channel, you can get anything from a nice clean boost to a super-saturated overdrive. You could even use them as […]... Click on the title for more

Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic and Twin Tube Blues

Chandler Limited to release four new products in 2011

Iowan gear manufacturer Chandler Limited, perhaps best known for it’s Germanium series mic pre’s, EQ’s, and compressors, will be releasing four new products this year – including the company’s first foray into guitar pedals. According to Wade Goeke of Chandler: “[Making guitar pedals] will be a new direction for Chandler Limited. I have been a guitar player for 30 years and it is really what got me into music and recording. I have long been interested in making guitar pedals and pursuing sounds that I have wanted for guitar but have been unable to obtain with other gear. I have been experimenting with distortion and boost sounds for the last year and a half and feel that I have two guitar pedals that will offer the Chandler sound and build to a new audience.” The Germanium Boost (pictured above) will be one of the inaugural pedals, offering guitar players some of the signature Chandler sound at their feet. Featuring a drive control, and three-way boost and feedback settings, the pedal provides lots of colored boost with enough variables to custom-fit your tone. The Germanium Boost is hand wired and constructed, and runs on two 9V batteries or dual 9VDC power […]... Click on the title for more

Chandler Limited to release four new products in 2011

Neve’s 1073 EQ Module for 500 Series

In a follow-up to the lunchbox version of its famous 1073 preamp, Ams-Neve has released the 1073LBEQ ($1,295): a 3-band mono equalizer based on the original Neve 1073 EQ circuit. It integrates seamlessly with the 1073LB preamp, resulting in a fully discrete, portable version of the 1073 mic pre/EQ used on countless recordings for its distinctively fat, punchy sound. Basic functions include an EQ in/out switch with LED indicator, and a signal presence LED that lights up green from -25dB and red from +24dB. Rotary knobs control 3 bands of EQ as well as an adjustable high-pass filter. When mounted in the same lunchbox with a 1073LB mic pre, a few simple modifications allows the EQ to be inserted between the inputs and outputs of the 1073 pre. Design limitations associated with 500 series modules prevented Neve from combining both mic pre and EQ of the original unit into one lunchbox pre/EQ without sacrificing audio quality: “Trying to fit both the preamp and EQ functions into those dimensions simply wasn’t an option – not if we wanted to retain key features like the hand-wound transformers which are proprietary to AMS Neve and are such an important part of ‘that Neve sound’,” […]... Click on the title for more

Neve’s 1073 EQ Module for 500 Series

Seymour Duncan’s Shape Shifter

Seymour Duncan’s Shape Shifter is a digitally controlled analog tremolo pedal capable of a number of classic sounds. From rounded Fender amp-style tremolo to the choppy oscillations of a Vox Repeat Percussion, Shape Shifter is an affordable option for those looking to model an array of vintage effects. The pedal’s greatest strength lies in its but simple but powerful controls. Where most tremolo pedals allow you to toggle between sine or square wave modulation, the Shape Shifter offers a continuous blend between the two via the “wave” knob. Along with a “depth” (mix) and “shape” control, you can mold any number of sounds from subtle to severe and even access pseudo reverse effects. With its dedicated tap tempo footswitch, the Shape Shifter’s modulation speed can be dialed in on the fly or adjusted manually with the “rate” knob. This feature in particular makes the pedal extremely versatile for live performances or in recording when rhythmic accuracy is required. The pedal is full of rich inspiring sounds. Compared to a Boss-TR2, the Shape Shifter’s tone was cleaner and more articulate. Alongside Line 6’s all digital MM4 Modeler, the Shape Shifter’s tremolo sounded crisper and with a more natural chime, (though there […]... Click on the title for more

Seymour Duncan’s Shape Shifter

Tremvelope: Envelope Modulated Tremolo by Pigtronix

Pigtronix has combined a vintage-sounding optical tremolo with some futuristic features in the Tremvelope, which is envelope modulated and allows the dynamics of your instrument to alter the rate and depth of the tremolo effect. Not only does the effect vary with the intensity of your playing, it also sports a number of extra features (stereo outputs, expression pedal inputs, and envelope control settings) that allow you complete control over the resulting sound. Your basic tremolo controls are all present on the unit, including Speed, Depth, and Waveform, and the latter is switchable from sine wave to sawtooth. A stereo output is available, so you can send to two amps for wide rotary effects. There is also connectivity for two expression pedals: one for controlling the rate of the LFO – overriding the pedal’s speed control, and one which controls volume in mono, or panning if two amps are connected to the Tremvelope’s outputs. The Engage foot switch bypasses the circuit, and the pedal runs on 18VDC, providing lots of headroom. The really unique parts of this pedal come from its envelope control settings, which adjust the tremolo in various ways depending on the dynamics of what you’re playing. Three-way Depth […]... Click on the title for more

Tremvelope: Envelope Modulated Tremolo by Pigtronix

The Redesigned Xciter Pedal from Aphex

Aphex has done a recent redesign of their guitar pedals, streamlining their Bass, Acoustic, and Guitar Xciter pedals into one unit – now simply called the Xciter (MSRP $249). Designed to add clarity and tightness to your guitar sound without altering the tone, the Xciter acts as more of an enhancement than an effect. The pedal uses technology from the Aural Exciter rack unit, which has been around for over 30 years, and can be found in countless recording studios today. The Aural Exciter is used to add punch, presence, and intelligibility to audio signals: it works by adding even order harmonics to a filtered split of the original signal, and mixing that back into the unprocessed signal. A Big Bottom circuit was later added to the unit, which increased the perceived loudness of bass frequencies without significantly boosting the overall level of the audio. The Xciter pedal combines over three decades of refinements to its namesake into one package that features a few easy-to-use controls. A harmonics control switches between suggested settings for bass, guitar, and acoustic guitar – tailoring the behavior of the pedal to the type of instrument you’re playing. The Lo Freq knob lets you select […]... Click on the title for more

The Redesigned Xciter Pedal from Aphex