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  • AudioFanzine : Home Studio, Computer Based Music, Guitars, Basses, Live Sound & DJ

Parent Category : 'Products'   Musical instruments User-reviews
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Rogue Guitars LX200BF
By guitar gomer on 03/10/2008 at 07:41

Characteristics  
Made in China I expect. 24 frets. P/J pickups with 2 volume and 2 tone controls. Not sure as to type of bridge, but it's really strong. Maple neck with what Rogue says is a Rosewood Fret board. While it looks like ebonite, looking from the side it's wood. I think it might have an ebonite or some other surface on it. In any case it's tough and really nice.
Utilisation  
Very nice feel and easy access to high notes. The strap balance is just right and it's a bit lighter than others it's size. The sound is deep and resonant. Like an upright. Flat wound strings help a lot.
Sounds  
I would think that this bass would be fine for any style of music. I play blues, folk, jazz, alternative and improv, among others when the mood hits. I use a practice behringer 15 amp at home and what ever I can plug into otherwise. It works just fine what ever. Clean it reminds me of an upright and dirty what ever you want. The P/J Pups are awsome and plenty loud and full.
My fav sound is alternative. I love whales. lol.
Overall Opinion  
I've had it for about 6 months. I like the way it slides and the nice soft action. It's my first fretless but I've played many others. For what I paid, less than $100 it's a real deal. If it was stolen or broken I would buy another in a heart beat.
[ More info : Rogue Guitars ]
Cort Action-A
By augylas on 02/17/2008 at 14:11 Music is a hobby.

Characteristics  
-my cort action-a was made in Indonesia, i dont know is it good or bad place for guitars to be manufactured.
-24 frets, Power Sound P & Jazz pickups, bolt on construction.
-bridge EB7(4)
-it has 2volume, 2-band active EQ
-neck Maple, Modern "C" Shape
Utilisation  
Neck is nice to feel, easy to slide through all length. it's also easy to access last frets. it has great design, it is not very heavy and has beautiful shape, also extremely comfortable to play. i think that its not hard to get a nice sound from it.
Sounds  
-it suits any style of music, metal, rock, jazz, anything.
i use Crate gt65 guitar amp. its suposed to be an electric guitar amp, but it has no dificulties coping with low, bassy sounds if i dont play too loud.
when playing i really like clean bass sounds, no distortion... amp is used only to control volume. cort 2vol, 2-band active EQ contols is all i need to modify sounds...
Overall Opinion  
I own my cort action-a bass for about a month by now, first i had "jolana" one old bass made in Checoslovakia and i can say that Cort bass is much beter than jolana.
what i like about cort is that you get a nice, high quality instrument for a reasonable price. really worth the money you pay.
[ More info : Cort ]
Dunlop GCB-95N Cry Baby
By myriam63660 on 02/08/2008 at 22:42 Music is a hobby.

Characteristics  
Wha wha pédal, analog
Utilisation  
- can't be more easy to use
Sound Quality  
Good effect but the pédal seems poorly built: the bypass (not a true one) affect the sound quality (in the bad way), and when the effect is on, the signal drops and become thin
I'm modded mine and all those problems are over

Here's the link to compare moded and standard cry baby:
http://www.robtognoni.com/wahwah.htm
Overall Opinion  
I was expecting more from the "standard" cry baby. But in fact it's really fun to mod it (it sounds great now).
[ More info : Dunlop ]
Zoom TM-01 Tri Metal
By TheStratGuy on 02/08/2008 at 11:30

Characteristics  
The Zoom Tri Metal is (how surprisingly!) a heavy-rock-oriented analog distortion pedal. Regarding controls we have the usual Gain & Level knobs, plus the classic Treble-Middle-Bass trilogy with a (very efficient) Range control for the mid frequencies. The pedal's case seems sturdy (probably even more than a Boss, which says a lot), the (big) on/off switch looks a bit unusual but seems reliable too.
According to the manual this stompbox was designed to handle the low frequencies of 7-string guitars -- I don't own one to test though.
This model was manufactured in Japan.
Utilisation  
Obviously it takes more time to find your sound than it would on a mere Level-Tone-Drive (classic) distortion box... but if you have at least a bit of experience with that kind of settings it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

As usual with distortions the manual provides mostly very basic informations, plus a few examples of settings here and there. Nothing to complain about.
Sound Quality  
I use this pedal with a (mexican) Fender Fat Strat equipped with a Seymour Duncan SH4JB humbucker, into a SansAmp GT2 in clean (Tweed) setting which goes direct into the board, sometimes with a Small Clone between the Tri-Metal and GT2.

As the name "Tri-Metal" indicates, this box simulates three stages of distortion at once (I'm not too much into tube-amps technical informations but I assume the three stages correspond to two preamp tubes stages distorting plus the traditional crunch provided by power tubes). I can hardly compare it with "the real deal" (hey, I never played on a metal-plated or snake-skinned tube-powered beast!), anyway it provides a thick, mean, heavy and rather dynamic sound. Even with the drive level set low don't expect a clean sound out of it. It definitely sounds WAY hotter and versatile than EHX's Metal Muff, and provides a more "modern", tight sound compared with the Mesa (California) or Marshall (British) simulations on Tech 21's SansAmp GT2. As long as you want a modern distortion sound it will do the job, not only for metal but also punk, grunge, power pop and most certainly several other styles -- well, at least, that's as long as you concentrate on rhythm sounds...

Indeed, Zoom came up with what could have been a brilliant idea but in the end proves itself a major source of disappointment: they included a sort of internal noise reducer, which indeed succeeds in providing a surprisingly noise-free and hiss-free sound (I don't even need to use my ISP Decimator when the TM-01 is on), BUT in the same time it tends to reduce dramatically the sustain... had the circuit been equipped with an on/off switch so as to control this factor this might have been the PERFECT pedal for huge distortion sounds, but unfortunately it seems to me that this pedal will hardly be useful for soloing, even with a compressor or booster/overdrive in front of it.
Overall Opinion  
This stompbox was discontinued a few years ago, not sure exactly when though. I bought it used two months ago for 40€ (approximately 60$/30£), a very good price in my opinion.

At first I had a VERY bad image of Zoom for the disastrous quality of the digital guitar multi-effect units they once built (the 505&606 series), but I still gave this one a try and indeed, as far as analog distortions are concerned, Zoom rocks! Too bad they didn't provide a way to deactivate this sustain-killing "low noise" function, which would have been a tremendous add to this pedal's versatility, but as far as I'm concerned it's not that much of a problem since I mostly play power chord-based rhythms.
[ More info : Zoom ]
Dimarzio Dp 207 DropSonic
By myriam63660 on 02/05/2008 at 00:13 Music is a hobby.

Overall Opinion  
Mounted on a ebmm JP6
The d-sonic is one step higher than the tone zone: précision, modern sound. Great pickup for distorted rythms and solos.
You have two ways of installation: if you have heavy gauges strings or drop tunings you can install the pickup with the blade towards the bridge. If you play with standard tuning and strings, put the pickup the opposite way, (it increases the mids for a shredder oriented sound)
I have also played on dimarzio Steve's special, Evolution, Tone zone, Seymour duncan JB, EMG 81, EMG 85...
an excellent pickup for métal
[ More info : Dimarzio ]
Dimarzio Dp 155f Tone Zone Floyd
By myriam63660 on 02/05/2008 at 00:03 Music is a hobby.

Overall Opinion  
F-spaced version mounted on a ebmm JP6
The tone zone is a standard: précision, modern sound. Great pickup for palm mute... not so great for solos or clean
I have also played on dimarzio Steve's special, Evolution, d-sonic, Seymour duncan JB, EMG 81, EMG 85...
a good pickup for métal
[ More info : Dimarzio ]
DigiTech GSP2101
By myriam63660 on 02/04/2008 at 23:53 Music is a hobby.

Characteristics  
Analog preamp + digital multifx in a 2U rack
Got more effects than you'll ever need in this unit
Utilisation  
- you got to be patient when you setup the 2101, the effects chains can be very complicated: lots of paraméters, same effect can be used and re-used at any place in one chain. The manual is well designed and very helpfull
Sound Quality  
The effects are really good. 2 groups:

- analog (préamp): compressor (excellent), distorsions (transistor or tube, they both sound very good)
- digital (multifx): the wha is cheap but otherwise all the effects are great (you've got here all the effects you can think of, even the whammy). You can blend the ratio original signal/processed sound with the mixers in the chain. I only had problems with the réverbs: lot of people find it great, i don't (T.C. electronics reverbs sound 10 times better to me)

You can really achieve uncommun sounds ala allan holdsworth etc. Everything is possible!
Overall Opinion  
- If you are fond of never ending tweaking, unusual but beautiful sounds, for a low price, go for that unit you won't regret it
- I have used it since 2003 but mine is a 1995 version. At the time it was a very professionnal and expensive device. nowadays a lot of recent processors give you a better sound quality, but few will give you the flexibility the 2101 has
- You can find a used 2101 with a single S-disc for 500 dollars or less, at this price, it's a steal. If you can, take the 2101 with 2 S-discs or even better: the 2101 limited edition
- I love this unit, but i already have my ENGL head for the distorsions and i only use my digitech as a multifx when i need delays or chorus. I don't really need so much effects and i never use more than 2 effects at a time, so i will instead get a T.C. electronics M350, which is way easier to use and sounds better in my opinion
[ More info : DigiTech ]
Carl Martin Compressor Limiter
By myriam63660 on 02/04/2008 at 22:46 Music is a hobby.

Characteristics  
- compressor limiter
Utilisation  
- At first the setup can seem a little tricky and you'll need to read the manual (and even the online manual of the constructor website, where you can find some settings) to understand the use of the setting "response", but that's the only difficulty
Sound Quality  
Beautiful !
The Carl Martin compressor is well known for being one of the best "non-rack" compressor... Once you try it you understand why
Overall Opinion  
- been using it for 8 months
- like everything about it
- A little expensive, but it's worth the money
[ More info : Carl Martin ]