About two years ago, we did a preliminary inspection of a rather neat and highly engineered take on the pedalboard. Fast forward to very recently and Monarch Monark Pedalboards has finally brought their product to the public. We got our hands on their flagship product, the Mainframe (specifically a 26×16 version with a wedge) to… Continue reading Reviewed: Monark Pedalboards Mainframe
Category: Reviews
Review: Modern Sound Amplifiers “Vibrolush”
60 years from now, I don’t think any guitarists out there will be swooning over a 2015 Blackstar or Peavey amplifier the way we currently do over Fenders from 60 years ago. But it will be interesting to see if those future folks are paying top dollar for 2015 recreations of amps from 1965. By all accounts,… Continue reading Review: Modern Sound Amplifiers “Vibrolush”
The Strymon Mobius Rabbit Hole
Technology is great, but we can easily become trapped in an endless maze of possibilities that it creates. This is bad when it gets in the way of just creating new stuff. That’s exactly my fear when it comes to putting the Strymon Mobius on a pedal board.
PedalGenie – Finally, a Modern Take on the Gear Shop
This is how you buy pedals: Way #1 – Go to the local guitar store, where they have 30-50 pedals from a handful of manufacturers, if you’re lucky. You try one out using not-your-guitar into not-your-amp. This combo sounds terrible, but the pedal improves it, so you get excited and buy. When you get home,… Continue reading PedalGenie – Finally, a Modern Take on the Gear Shop
Tested: Source Audio Orbital Modulator
You want a flanger for your pedal board, right? And a phaser too, right? Crap… Well, two new pedals isn’t so bad. You know, that Diamond phaser is really nice… but you probably want a Phase 90 for everyday use. That’s like $400 in phasers. Weren’t we talking about a flanger too? How often do… Continue reading Tested: Source Audio Orbital Modulator
Re-Review: Metallica
If I had to sum up this album in one word it would be “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”
Morrissey Autobiography
When the publication of Morrissey’s autobiography was announced, the collective heart of the news media skipped a beat. A tell-all book by one of rock’s most inscrutable, stubborn, and unlikely idols? Some definitive insight, finally, into one of the defining songwriting partnerships of the 80s, that turned out music by turns mordant, jubilant, tongue in… Continue reading Morrissey Autobiography
Watch This: Crybaby Documentary
I’ve never cared about the history of the Cry Baby, but Joey Tosi does. And he tells a pretty compelling story about probably the most recognizable effect in the guitar world.1 Over the course of an hour, “The Pedal That Rocks The World” tells stories straight from the horses’ mouths about how the wah came… Continue reading Watch This: Crybaby Documentary
A Band Called Death
I’m going to skip right to the end here; A Band Called Death is the best movie I’ve seen in 2013. It’s hard to give an overview of the movie without telling the whole story, but the 10000 foot view is. Three brothers (both literally and figuratively) from Detroit inspired by their music loving parents1… Continue reading A Band Called Death
Books: Official Truth 101 Proof
Rex Robert Brown really, really does not like Vincent Paul Abbot. I have now given you roughly 25% of this book. No, seriously, so much of it is spent calling Vinnie Paul names and calling Vinnie Paul out that there’s barely room for Rex to do the occasional halo polishing or tell any stories of… Continue reading Books: Official Truth 101 Proof