All about guitars and vinyl – Joe Hoyle
A few months ago, I decided to add a delay unit to my pedal board. But with so many on the market to choose from, which one to go for? After weeks of research and demos, I bought a Supa-Puss Analog Delay, designed by Jeorge Tripps, founder of Way Huge Electronics.
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I don’t get out much. But when I do, I like to go large. On Monday 19 September 2016, I met legendary music producer Tony Visconti when I attended the grand opening of the Visconti Studio at Kingston University. Could life get any more exciting? Yep. In 1979 Visconti worked on David Bowie’s album Lodger. I just happened to have a vinyl first pressing of Lodger with me at the launch event, and Tony was kind enough to sign it.
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My son, Harry, guitarist for indie band Tsar Bomba, just bought himself a rather wonderful reverb pedal made by TC Electronic: Arena Reverb. It’s a customised version of the much-loved Hall of Fame reverb pedal, also by TC Electronic.
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Guitar picks have a significant impact on tone and playability, but their importance is often overlooked. They come in a bewildering array of shapes, sizes and materials. Over the years, I have experimented with countless varieties in an attempt to find one that really suits me, but I have never been completely satisfied with any pick I’ve tried. So when I was contacted by Corey W. Bell and asked if I’d to review his Dragon’s Heart Guitar Picks I visited the Dragon’s Heart website to find out more. I was interested, but not overwhelmed with excitement. The picks looked weird, seemed way too thick and were made from a core material I’d never heard of. How wrong can you be? The first time I used one was something of a revelation.
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In 2009, Suhr released the Shiba Drive. My son recently bought the “reloaded” version, which is an update to the original pedal, tweaked to create something more amp-like, with a tighter low-end, focused mids and 50% more gain than the original Shiba Drive. The Reloaded version is a great overdrive pedal for players of Blues, Jazz and Rock.
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Little Hurricane is a “dirty blues” duo from San Diego, California. Formed in 2010, the band consists of Anthony “Tone” Catalano, on lead vocals and guitar, and Celeste “C.C.” Spina, on drums and backing vocals. Their songwriting is faultless, their hooks are catchy and their sound is exquisite.
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Guitar tech Dan Johnson gives a fascinating insight into the guitars and rig used by Black Keys’ frontman Dan Auerbach – courtesy of Premier Guitar.
I recently discovered JHS Pedals while trawling the web in search of high quality delay effects units. The company, started by Josh Scott in early 2007, is based in Kansas City, Missouri. It makes extraordinarily beautiful, professional-grade, minimalist, boutique effects pedals.
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The more I learn about electronics in relation to guitar and amp setups, the more I find to worry about.
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Just bought myself a Koko Boost – by Suhr. Expensive, but wonderful.
In a band setting, there are so many times when I need to cut through the mix during a riff or solo. Sometimes I just want my guitar signal boosted; sometimes I want it boosted with a bit more grunt. I was getting tired of fiddling around with my guitar volume control in the middle of songs, so it was time to do some research and find myself a quality boost pedal. The decision to purchase the Koko Boost wasn’t difficult: its flexible, high quality, and has unique features. It’s not cheap; it retails for about £200. But if you want the best you gotta pay for it.
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Fat Sound 