This is a truly amazing cymbal. I've been playing this cymbal for about 4 years now and absolutely love it. This cymbal has a low and dark cushion while maintaining a bright and defined stick attack- not only perfect or ideal, but quintessential for small group jazz ensemble playing. This is a very 'ringy' cymbal and can be very hard to play, but when played effectively gives the aura of the great jazz drummers of an era gone by- mine sounds remarkably similar to the ride cymbal Tony Williams used on the 60's Miles Davis Quintet recordings (Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, etc.).

One of my favorite aspects of this cymbal is that it is unlike most any other ride cymbal I have ever played in that it is very thin (unlike say a K or A Zildjian). This gives it the ability to really be played into and gives it a very warm supportive cushion of sound.

Because of this cymbals propensity to 'wash out' and it is a very difficult cymbal to control- but in the hands of a true jazz musician it has an authentic sound few can match. One can actually play different levels of the cymbals cushion simultaneously- giving the illusion that you are playing more than one instrument.

I would in no way recommend this cymbal for rock, but could see it fitting nicely in some R&B settings.

When struck with the shank of the stick this cymbal gives a very different characteristic than when struck with the bead of the stick. Likewise since the cymbal is hand hammered there are many inconsistencies that lend to slightly different sounds in different places on the cymbal that one can exploit in many different musical situations.

The bell on this cymbal is not as clear as on most ride cymbals I was used to, but gives a smoky and more focused version of the fundamental sound of the cymbal.

These cymbals are expensive, but there is no substituting that classic jazz sound. This cymbal is a much better match (in my opinion) to that sound than even the new Zildjian K Constantinoples.

I have owned this set for about four years and I can say without a doubt that this is one of the best drum sets ever made. If you're looking for a fat, huge sound, the Yamaha Maple Customs are the way to go.

First big plus- the snare drum. When tuned just right this drum gets that disgusting snap reminiscent of Sting era Vinnie Colaiuta. This may be due to the 7ply x 7mm. Construction- versus most 6ply x 6mm. Shells.

The Bass drum sound is extremely fat. It features a 10 ply 10mm. Maple shells. This is really amazing when you compare it to the industry standard of 7ply 7mm. Shells. At 10x10mm. The maple custom comes up with 100mm of shell versus everyone else's 49mm (7x7mm.) shells- You're literally getting just over twice as much drum. All this makes for a seriously unbelievable sound but brings these drums only true drawback- they're freakin heavy! If you're looking for a set to throw around town this is not it- a 22 inch bass drum in a hard case will pretty much kill your back as I can attest to. (If you've got to case them up and throw them around- for the bass get a hard case with no foam padding and a soft case. Put the drum in the soft case to throw around town and then put the soft case in the hard case for tours and such).

One thing I'd like to say about these drums is that they sound very different from the 'Maple Custom Absolutes.' I have a friend with the same drums in the 'Absolute' series and they don't resonate as well. The biggest difference is the snare drum- I even borrowed his for a week to see if I could get the same sound as my snare drum and I just couldn't get it. His drum was a little darker and just didn't have the same synergistic pop through the whole drum that I get with the 'Male Custom' snare (14x5.5). Its not a HUGE difference, but in my opinion if you're going to invest in a set of drums at this high end, go all out and get the sound you're looking for, otherwise you'll be left with yet another drum that ALMOST gets the sound you're looking for but not quite.

Another great feature of these drums is that they're REALLY loud. I frequently play these drums behind a very loud, highly amplified, special event party band. I play without micing them and I never have any problem playing over the group.

These drums also retain they're tunings remarkably well (even after I play with the aforementioned group!). I very rarely have to re-tune because my drums pitches have dropped. The snare drum is especially good about this- I almost never have to touch it unless I just want a different sound.

I have a 16x16 floor tom I've converted to a bass drum on this kit to play in jazz situations instead of the 22x16 and it sounds okay. These drums are much better suited (in my opinion) towards getting good rock and roll/funk/r&b sounds and volume level than acoustic jazz situations (piano trio, etc.). Honestly they just ring too long and have too bright a sound. Not a bad jazz set- but they really aren't optimum in my opinion.

These drums are expensive, but in my eyes are the TOP of the line, rivaled only by the Yamaha Recording Custom drums, and are well worth every penny.

VHT 50/12.. 50 Class A/AB watt tube combo, Graphic e.q. (bypassable),3 band e.q., Series/parallel effects loop,4 button footswitch.. ready for the stage. 2 channels.. clean and lead. Lots of gain available here. EL34 tubes, 3 12ax7's.. Boost,Edge and Bright switches (for BOTH channels)... literally a TON of tone shaping options and interface. This is a very professional,versatile piece of gear. 2 Eminence P-50 speakers. Tube reverb.
As far as bells and whistles go... I really do not know of anything more someone could ask of an analog tube combo... There are all these modeling combos that do loads of things... but this is the real deal. These are the tones they try to emulate.

Simple. Hmmm.. yes, and no. This is a combo amp... but you really do have a lot of different knobs you will need to turn to get where you want. The controls are extremely interactive.. to the point where you need to be careful in your adjustments, as you might be closer than you think, and over-adjust.. so...be careful!
Manual. Huh. I think it was a sheet of paper. It mentioned a presence control.. which this amp actually does NOT have. Yeah, the manual does not really help.
I give this a "7".. It is pretty complicated for a tube amp. Like I said.. lots of bells and whistles.

Sadly, I don't own this amp anymore.. But it DID suit my style... thinking about getting another one. Yes, I am a doofus regarding equipment. Should have kept it, but got rid of it on a whim. Lots of gain. Nice, barking modded Hiwatt tone.. somewhere between that and a Marshall. Used to run my Keeley TS9 in front of it. Nice searing harmonic ripping, screaming gain. Wow.It does have a real flamethrowing type characteristic when you run a Tubescreamer in front of it. And scoop out the mids on the graphic e.q. NOT a mesa tone.. or what you hear from every band out there on Clear channel radio stations. It is definitely it's own animal. Telling this story is starting to hurt.

The clean tone reminds me of Vox AC30 clean fatness.. not really a "Twin" type tone.. but it may have been the speakers as well... The P50's seemed to really have a mid heavy character to them. Still a very good tone.. very alive and breathy. Class A mode.. does not get squishy. It just seemed to get grainy.. Maybe I should have cranked it louder..
Used this with Les Pauls, Strats.. different guitars. It definitely notes the differences between every guitar.

Using this pickup for 2 years now. I dislike this for cleans.. as it is quite sterile and lacking in personality. It is not bad, per se... it can certainly be clean, but has no quack or other desirable single coil characteristics in clean or distorted mode for that matter.. this pickup seemed to be designed for one thing... to have gain heaped upon it and not get muddy.. even with the signal loaded, trebles up basses up. this can handle extreme amounts of gain. Retains clarity.. and begins to sing as you increase your gain. Very odd philosophy behind this. You totally use your amps gain.. this is very low output. The opposite idea behind say, an EMG 81. The signal hitting the amp is weak.. but this lets you dime your rig without your sound turning to mush. You would need to lower your gain on your amp if using hot pickups as opposed to being able to crank it. I have used lots of pickups.. this has changed my overall approach to my sound. I like using other devices to achieve my gain now.. and use pickups like this and the EJ Custom. Add all the distortion I want and no slop. Just a detailed warm sound with lots of heat. I can get metal sounds... but with character. Becomes more fluid/flutey as you add more gain.
I think this is an insane value for the price. If you can't get a great heavy sound out of this.. get rid of your amp. Or maybe get a guitar that is not made of concrete. Get a wooden one.
I will always have a guitar with this pickup in it. I give it a "9" because I need it for my tone. It allows me to achieve heavy heavy sounds.. but not at the expense of detail.

This is a clean boost pedal.. 1/4" true bypass.. I'm assuming this is an analog effect.. (durrr) Definitely NOT rackable... bulletproof construction.

Uh..1 button. 1 Knob. Wow. No manual necessary. Anyone can do this. It is a clean boost.. especially on cleans.. really enhances distortion if used in front of a dirty amp.

Mmm..really clean. True bypass pedal.. really quiet. Great deal for 80 bucks. Does not add artifacts, fuzz or anything else truly.. it WILL enhance distortion because it is fattening up your signal. Adds LOADS of beef to my Strat with a Dimarzio HS-3 stacked humbucker in the bridge. Using this and a Keeley TS9 in front of a Voodoo Lab Preamp absolutely SCREAMS. People cannot believe the metal tone I get with a Strat with single coils. I can get that grind from Godsmack "Keep Away".. with an even heavier/fatter lead tone.. knock off the pedals, flip to the neck pickup and and I have nasty blues... hit my clean channel and I can comp Stevie Ray Vaughn. So.. using it as a pickup booster for humbucker tones can make your Strat even more versatile. To really get this as a clean volume boost on a dirty amp..You have to run it in the effects loop. My rig does not have one.. so.. I just use it for signal fattening. Either is good.. it is a very clean effect.
More on the issue of volume boost versus gain boost. In the front end of a dirty amp this will NOT give you enough db gain to use as a boost for solos. In front of a clean amp, then yeah.. it will noticeably bump it up. With distortion you MUST run it in the loop.. (between your preamp and poweramp stages) to get a usable real solo boost. If you are just looking to increase your distortion or fatten your signal, run it into the front end.
Use this with the Strat mostly, but also with Les Pauls, Tele's, other humbucker guitars if I want to go over the top. I use this with one particular Yamaha electric with JB's in the bridgee..and I get a really close approximation to Eric Johnson's old tone (shockingly enough. It gets that chunky Fuzz Face meets Plexi fatness).
Nothing I hate about it! (except that it adds some noise.. but way less than even my Keeley TS9...

-monophonic (one note at a time) analog synthesizer.
-six octave steps.
-Audio out right and left (mono), ext in, filter audio in, Midi (in,thru,out), two standard male DB-25 connector.
-Bank with 128 presets, entire banks or individual presets may be uploaded and downloaded via MIDI (through Mac/PC).

When you know how to use synthesis, you take the moog immediately in hand. Otherwise some hours are needed, but the textbook (in English) is very well made!

I compose electro-house music, I do not think that there's a better synth for this music type. Sounds make me cry. I have a virus which however is a good synth but there frankly, the moog surpasses it ! There's only filters effects, which are very goods (moog filters...)

4 12ax7 tubes..PCB.. 3 channels.. Clean, dirty... and more dirty. Shared eq, separate volume on rhythm/lead channels (good to set lead boost) These two channels are very,very close.. Powerful signal..can push poweramps pretty hard. Direct out/XLR direct out, 1/4 outs.. NO effects loop. (Yuck) Mid boost button for distortion channels, bright switches for all 3 channels.
No effects. This is strictly tone shaping and gain.

Very simple. Knob turners dream. Buttons reeeeally easy to push. A monkey could figure this out. Getting a good sound.. well, you have to know what you like. This amp has a fair amount of complex mids... I don't know if you can dial these out completely like you could with a Boogie Recto for example. The eq is very responsive..I find myself dialing back the trebles overall since I am always striving for the smoothest sounds possible.. (while having loads of gain) The manual is easy...I think it is like... 3 pages.

It does suit my style. The sound overall is smooth.. creamy.. and still heavy heavy. I can play metal.. dial back my volume to hard rock-ville.. add some slight overdrive on the front end and it screams. Using Les Pauls, Strats, Tele's, a few other types with this. Carvin T100 poweramp, Digitech GSP2101 for effects.
Overall, I would say the character of this amp is somewhere between a Soldano and Marshall tone.. A bit smoother than the typical Marshall tone.. ( I play next to my rhythm players Marshall TSL stack) but with just as much attack. (and more character)
I need to run the gamut of tones for my originals. From crystal clean to molten gain. I run this thru parametric e.q.'s.. loads of effects.. and it retains its character.
The gain channels are the standouts here. Searing, yet smooth, detailed, but with enough hair on it to let you know it's heavy. The clean channel... uh. Hmmm. Honestly, this is rather 2 dimensional. The least exciting part of the amp, but with a parametric you can get a good approximation of Twin tones. If you are using effects, it is certainly more than adequate. It is not a "bad" tone... just not as good as the distortion channel counterparts.

Celestion Vintage 30's... had them in a pair of closed back birch cabinets.. broke them in.. used for a few weeks.. so.. I did give them a thorough workout... This is a GREAT speaker for scooped out metal... where you are looking for sizzling highs and huge bottom.. not much character to get any sort of meaty leadwork (at least not in any 6L6 based rig) Never tried these with EL34's... which was probably a mistake on my part... It may have imparted a bit more "organic" flavor. Using it with a Carvin T100 (6L6), Voodoo Lab Preamp, GT8 preamp or Digitech GSP2101 preamp... had the same characteristics with each. I know these are the stock speakers in the Vai Legacy cabinets from Carvin.. and he DOES get a very balanced tone...(after he runs his signal through about 15k worth of processors... hmmm. This music is expensive biz!) So, I would suggest trying both types of tube power amp sources if you go with these speakers. They may be a bit "screechy" with the 6L6 setup. Perhaps it is because these are TOO tight..(which is great for modern metal rhythm work..not so great if you want a round, detailed tone for single lead notes)
Value..I think these speakers are a bit of a ripoff. $109.00 for a made in China speaker. I'm not impressed. Eminence seems to have much more balanced, well made speakers... at literally half the price and made in the USA. With 10 times the available choices that Celestion has! ( I don't want to sound like an ad for Eminence.. but I just don't understand Celestions prices. They are NOT great speakers.)
Would I make the same choice... um, no. Absolutely not. I might try them in an EL34 based setup...but for that matter, I would just use the speakers I like much more (Cannabis Rex, P-50's, or even Celestion Greenbacks) and yes, I DO play metal... if I wanted this scooped out sound...I would just try the Governor from Eminence.. which is supposed to be the equivalent. Or even the Texas Heat's. Again... I think this is an overhyped speaker that has become kind of the standard tone for Nu Metal... but does not seem to cut it with any of my gear.