gear giveaway

Pedal Review: TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb

The TC Electronics Hall of Fame is a compact and convenient digital reverb pedal. With ten separate modes along with TC Electronics’ TonePrint options, the Hall of Fame is one of the most versatile reverb pedals in its price range. The pedal’s deceivingly simple design conceals just how adaptable it truly is. …Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb

DIY recording tips: Micing The Snare

No other drum sound conveys as much character to a rock song as the snare (although the kick is a close second). Recording a snare drum is not hard, but getting the right sound is a challenge that might take longer than expected. Here are some tips that can help…Click on the title for more

DIY recording tips: Micing The Snare

Guitar Pedal News: MI Effects Cross Over Drive

MI-Effects is about to release the Cross Over Drive, a FET overdrive designed to capture the response and touch-sensitivity of an amp's organic overdrive. It will be available in August as a limited run of 250 due to a limited supply of transistors needed to make the pedal. The preamp design…Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal News: MI Effects Cross Over Drive

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Fairfield Circuitry Four Eyes

In a world of Fuzz overload (where every company''s first pedal is a Fuzz) it's kind of hard to stick out and do something innovative without stepping on the feet of innovators' past. However, I will have to say that the Fairfield Circuitry's Four Eyes Crossover Fuzz, consisting of three…Click on the title for more

Guitar Pedal Reviews: Fairfield Circuitry Four Eyes

Recording Tips: Fixing Proximity Effects, Sibilance and Plosives when recording vocals

Slow, sparse songs allow the vocals to become the central focus of the recording, and that’s when the choice of microphone and mic preamp can make a big difference. Not many can afford a Neumann U47 (pictured) through a Neve channel, but even with a limited microphone/preamp arsenal, a lot…Click on the title for more

Recording Tips: Fixing Proximity Effects, Sibilance and Plosives when recording vocals

Pedal Review: Analog Man’s ARDX20

Analog Man’s ARDX20 ($265) is the epitome of boutique production on a global scale, handsoldered in China, before heading to Japan where pedal designer Ohbayashi San and his team calibrate, tune and engrave each one. Unusually, the ARDX20 is a two-channel delay. Each channel gets three knobs, delay time, feedback,…Click on the title for more

Pedal Review: Analog Man’s ARDX20

Disaster Area Midi pedal controllers DMC 4-B and DMC 7

Disaster Area's newly released DMC-7 and DMC 4-B (big brothers of the DMC -3 and DMC-6) are designed to give guitarists more control over the complex function of their Midi equipped pedals, placing at the tip of their foot functions often only accessible through heavy "finger action". What you can use this pedal for…Click on the title for more

Disaster Area Midi pedal controllers DMC 4-B and DMC 7

Secrets of Mixing: Resolving Midrange Conflicts

When people ask me what the secret of mixing is, I answer: “Use as few (well recorded) tracks playing at once as possible, and you are golden.” Yes, because mixing is a job that gets exponentially more difficult the more tracks you are dealing with. This is due to the…Click on the title for more

Secrets of Mixing: Resolving Midrange Conflicts

Death Dealer V from Arcane Analog

A simple upgrade can make all the difference. Small NJ custom pedal manufacturer Arcane Analog's Death Dealer V (a fuzz, center in the picture) has an added Master Volume knob and Voltage Inverter. Same tone, but more control. This means the DD-V will have the added flexibility to be dimmed for…Click on the title for more

Death Dealer V from Arcane Analog

Pedal Reviews: WMD Geiger Counter

When I first took a look at the WMD Geiger Counter pedal I thought for sure that the WMD stood for Weapons of Mass Destruction and thought , "OK, these guys are no joke". Come to find that WMD actually stands for William Mathewson Devices and that he is actually...…Click on the title for more

Pedal Reviews: WMD Geiger Counter

Ambassadors and the Recording Process

Ambassadors' Gear: ZVex Mastotron Fuzz " a cross between what Ray Manzarek used on The Doors' "Five To One" and what Colin Greenwood used on Radiohead's Exit Music " Ambassadors' music is full and energetic, but they aren’t scared to slow things down and get sensitive from time to time. The…Click on the title for more

Ambassadors and the Recording Process

Pedal Reviews: ZT Amplifiers Extortion

Berkeley, California's ZT Amplifiers claims that that the ZT Extortion pedal is a completely unique concept in effects pedal design, allowing guitarists to switch between pristine, vintage-style analog overdrive and DSP-enhanced tonal extremes unlike anything that have come before. And in fact the Extortion covers a wide range of tones from blues to…Click on the title for more

Pedal Reviews: ZT Amplifiers Extortion