1973 Marshall halfstack

 

Normally, I would not post here about my own gear and deals but I figure this is special so I’ll make an exception this time.

For several years, I have been wanting a nice old Marshall cab.  I know from playing some that they sound killer but they are hard to get.  Couple years back, I found a nice ‘78 cab in decent shape but somebody snagged it right in front of my nose.  FFWD to last week when I saw an online add for a 1973 Marshall cab.  Tjere were pics of the speakers which clearly showed 4 nice G12M Greenbacks and the date code told me they were 1973.  They have the bass cones but that’s no issue, they sound killer for guitar.  So I contacted the seller to meet up.

I then discovered that this guy was also selling a 1973 50w JMP in what seemed to be great shape.  I knew that this combination would not last long on the market so I contacted him again to meet up PRONTO!  Went to his place to check everything out and the set was in excellent condition.  Tested it for about 30mins and just HAD to get it.  Although I was only interested in the cab, being born in 1973, I figured I HAD to keep this set together.

The cab is in great condition and sounds amazing.  Huge, fat and smooth, there’s no harshness at all.  It sounds big.  I think it is easily the best cab I have ever played. The head has some minor issues.  The power transformer has been replaced many years ago with a bigger one.  I’m not to worried about this, it slightly lowers the value of the amp but I’m not in it for the money.  Other than that just some little things that need to be fixed like the input that has fallen into the chassis.  I opened the amp to discover it is PTP so I lucked out.  It was build in January 1973 and Marshall started using PCB later that year.

I will take the amp to my tech in a couple of weeks for a full checkup.  I’ll probably need to pick up a hotplate or so to run this puppy as it will be FRIGGING LOUD!!

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Amazing!

 

This is simply an amazing piece of art:

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Dave Weiner shows you his riffs

 

Let`s go on in our little “online guitar lessons” thingy! Steve Vai side-shredder Dave Weiner has a very nice YouTube channel where he shows you interesting riffs and tips every week. Dave might not be the most innovative and stylish player in the world but he`s a VERY good instructor and watching those little episodes is very entertaining and you even might learn something from it. Check it out!

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Last.fm to show ALL videos form Universal

 

As reported by German online Mac magazine macnews.de Universal has agreed to publish all their music videos through Last.fm. In case you don`t know: Last.fm is the largest music community in the world. You should really check it out to find out how it works. The basic idea is to analyse the listening habits of it`s users and then recommending music that one might want to hear. Amazing system, really.

Since so called music stations like MTV don`t show music anymore I`m constantly looking for alternatives to watch music videos. Youtube is basicly good but most content is of bad quality. Seems like Last.fm is going to be a place where I`ll grab my favourite tracks in the future.

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Abunai2 Overdrive video demo

 

Here is a great video demo of the Abunai2 overdrive. Very nice playing, great tones and usefull infos:

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More cool Danelectro pedals

 

After my previous review of the 3 new Danelectro pedals, I was contacted by the company and they offered me some more pedals to try out. Bring it on, I say!!

So last week I received some more, got the Fuzz and Vibe and saddly, the Metal again. I was very curious to hear the more vintage inspired pedals so I started checking them out right away.

The Vibe has this beautiful green-blueish color, looks like the original CoolCat chorus. It has Speed, Intensity and Mix (!) controls, a nice blue led and true bypass like the rest of the range. Speed and Intensity are typical for a vibe, the Mix control threw me off though. I have never seen one on another vibe and I’m still not sure that a simple volume control wouldn’t have been more usefull. Anyway, the mix control does work and allows you to get a real low profile vibe tone going. I found that maxing it out does not gave me the best tones but the range between 50% and 75% was most usefull. The Mix control can help keeping clarity when the Sensitivity is set high. I explored several settings and found myself going for a bunch of Hendrix and Robin Trower licks. Inspirational stuff to say the least. I compared it to a high priced boutique vibe and the CoolCat Vibe sounds a bit brighter, the throb seems to go further in to the high frequencies, it also retained more clarity when I piled on the gain. So, it is a great pedal for sure. No need for any substance abuse to get you into that 60s/70s vibe (no pun intended).

Next up was the beautifully orange colored Fuzz pedal. You get the typical Volume and Tone controls as well as a Fuzz control. The latter determines the amount of gain/fuzz you are getting. Like with the other OD/Dist boxes from this range, the Fuzz has a serious kick because of the high output it can deliver. The 1st quarter of the range on the Fuzz control, gives you a sort of lofi od tone, works well to boost another pedal or overdriven amp. Not really why you’d use this pedal as there are others in the range that do this even better. Turn up the Fuzz to about 50% and you get thick gobs of smooth and syrupy fuzz tones. The Tone control works excellent to shape the fuzz tone to suit your amp and guitar. Dial it a touch back and it works stellar with single coils and bridge pickups. Turn the tone up and the neck pickup will love it. With Fuzz and Volume at 50% and the tone dialed back just a bit, the range in tones is amazing, it cleans up really well with the volume control of the guitar. Again, job VERY well done!!

Running both the fuzz and vibe into a slightly overdriven amp was a great trip through memory lane. Very inspiring to say the least and they kept me busy for well over an hour without changing 1 control on either of the pedals.

Hey Danelectro, we need to talk as I could use the Distortion or Overdrive as well :-)) I’m building a small pedalboard (probably big one when I’m done) and it will have the Transparent Overdrive, Vibe and Fuzz for sure. Now they need to add a cool delay with tap feature and a wah and I could have a board full of tres Cool Cats!!

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Get Guitar Lessons from Satriani

 

We`ve already talked about online guitar lessons here. I just found this post over at GuitarToyBox and thought it`s worth mentioning:

Get Guitar Lessons from Satriani: “

You read that right. The man himself, Joe Satriani in conjunction with WorkshopLive is offering two lessons a month via the WorkshopLive website. The site says the access includes:

* TWO ‘Super’ Lessons each month!

* Exclusive video and interviews filmed in HD!

* Our latest high-tech lesson tool featuring printable tab, speed control, and best of all -

an animated fret board!

* Forum access, special deals, and much more!

Yuo can sign up for the lessons right here.

“

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It`s sooo quite here…

 

… the reason: Too much football around.

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Is Blabbermouth the new Headbangers`s Ball?

 

I remember the old days back in the early nineties. I had a massive amount of hair on my head, nearly touching the ground, which didn`t make my parents too happy. But the girls back then liked it and I felt somehow cooler that way. Don`t forget that this was the time before Nirvana made all cool stuff seem un-cool.

Monday was the hardest day at school. Not because I hated going there (which I really did) but because I was tired as hell. The reason? Well, every Sunday night my favourite show was running at 23:50. It was Headbanger`s Ball and Vanessa Warwick was the hottest VJ in the world.

(Vanessa Warick, MTV VJ and Metal-hottie)

I was a Metal head and I guess I would still consider myself as one of the people who are into that kind of “Mucke” (that`s the German slang-term for music). I didn`t listen to Metal just for the sake of it. In fact I was very picky about the bands I liked. I remember the first time I listened to Ozzy`s masterpiece “No more tears” or my very first experience with a then total unknown band called “Dream Theater”. That was in 1991. God, I really get old.

Take the time, Dream Theaters first video on MTV Europe

Well, lets come to the point. What I really want to tell you about was what I liked about Headbanger`s Ball most. It was not about seeing videos from my favourite bands. It was the complete difference. What I most enjoyed was seeing so many videos and interviews of bands that I didn`t know and would`t even think about checking out. If you were Metal and you had a proper video you were on that show. And that was really cool. No, it was really the best thing that could happen to a narrow minded teenager as I was. By waiting for my favourite bands I was somehow forced to watch all that other music. And soon I discovered that there was so much more out there than just those 10 bands that I liked.

In 1996 Headbanger`s Ball was cancelled by MTV. By that time I had already moved out of my parents house and started my studying at university. I had better things to do then watching TV.

Today I discovered something very interesting. I found out that over the years I have go a new medium that delivers me fresh music and new bands. Like Headbanger`s Ball most of them I would never buy. But it is really cool to listen to them and to discover new territory. I`m talking about the infamous Blabbermouth. Yes, it`s the Metal gossip blog somehow sponsored by the metal label Roadrunner. Many people like it, a lot more (especially bands) hate it. They are fast, they are mean and they let their users speak out loudly.

Nothing of this is of any interest to me. What I really care about are the videos that are posted at the end of almost every blog entry. What I find the coolest is that every day I can surf through 20-30 new post. That means A LOT of new bands to discover.

Blabbermouth, the most useless blog in the world (with the best videos to discover)

Forget about all the shitty rumours that are being distributed on Blabbermouth. Cherish the sheer ability to have a new and completely independent Headbanger`s Ball.  Wait, independent? Yes. The reason is so simple: Showing videos is not their basic idea. It just something they think is cool to deliver. There is no interest in selecting bands because their label is paying a few bucks for it. This part is really completely independent.

I like Blabbermouth. And if you are into Metal you should too. Forget about the gossip and NEVER read the user comments. Just watch those great videos!

PS: No, I`m not paid to write this. I just had a bottle of excelent Italian wine and I felt like sharing it

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As good as it gets

 

If there is one man on this planet who has earned this honour, it`s Dave  Grohl.

Here you go:

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