What we have here are high-end reissues of two classic Maxon pedals – the VOP9 Vintage Overdrive Pro and CP101 Optical Compressor.

The VOP-9 is basically an OD-820 in a nine-series chassis with the same JEC NJM4558D op-amp and negative feedback loop clipping diode.  I am not a fan of tubescreamer pedals (stock, modded or clones) and the VOP-9 is nothing like a tubescreamer, which is what got me excited when I heard Dave Weiner review it here.  In fact, I was sold on the pedal based on a few of Dave’s Riff Of The Week videos.  Since no retailer in England stocks the VOP9, I could not try it before I plonked the money down for one, so a big thanks to Dave for doing a brilliant job of demoing the VOP9.  I’m completely blown away at the warmth, headroom and clarity of the VOP9.  I’ve owned an Xotic BB and Fulltone OCD before and while they were high quality boutique pedals with amp-like characteristics, they didn’t really bowl me over or inspire.

The CP101 is an optical compressor unlike any compressor I’ve owned or tried, with it’s optical circuit for low-noise operation.  When turned on, you notice this really smooth and transparent compression.  Without the hiss of normal compressors it’s hard to tell, just by listening, whether it’s turned on or not but it does an excellent job of keeping those levels in check.  It was either the CP101 or the Barber TonePress but as I was looking for a compressor with a subtle effect on tone, the CP101 made sense.

Detailed reviews with audio samples to follow, meanwhile you can check out Dave Weiner’s review of these pedals here.

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Pics from previous owner:

Pics after restoration & setup:

Specs:
1-piece original Wizard neck (quartersawn maple), square heel joint
17mm 1st fret – 19mm 12th fret
430mm radius rosewood fretboard
43mm nut width
Jumbo frets
Light-weight basswood body
Edge tremolo with die-cast saddles

It’s unbelievable how well this 22+ year old guitar was maintained before I bought it off a Jemsite member in September 2008.  The price wasn’t very wallet-friendly but when you come across an original RG550RF in mint condition, you don’t negotiate :)  It was worth every penny however, considering the amazing condition of the body, neck, hardware, fretboard and frets.  Fret wear was minimal and there were no neck pocket cracks which is common with old RG’s.  The only part of the guitar that showed signs of wear was the neck plate and there were a few minor paint cracks on the body.  The color/finish has aged well and gives it a unique look, unlike the deep red RG20th reissues.

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After owning a bunch of delay pedals – Boss DD-5, DD-20 Giga Delay, DigiDelay, MXR Carbon Copy and Vox Time Machine – and trying many others, I may have found the perfect delay solution for my needs.  From the list above my favorite was the Time Machine because it was so easy to use and the vintage mode sounded warm, but the lack of trails was a real bummer.  I liked the DD-20 for it’s functionality – easy of use, presets, tap tempo out – but I found only 2 modes usable, dual-delay did not sound good and the warped/twist modes were pretty useless.  The modes that I liked in the DD-20 were achievable with my DD-5 at the time so I sold the DD-20 when pedalboard space became an issue.  The other delay pedals I kept for short periods of time because they either had issues or did not work well for me.

Enough of the past: Enter the Eventide TimeFactor.  I’ve only had it a few days so this is not a review, just a list of reasons why I like and bought this unit:

- Two independent 3-second delays in one stompbox
- Studio quality effects (Digital, Vintage, Tape, Modulated, Band & MultiTap delays sound authentic)
- Flexibility: Mono/stereo operation, instrument or line-level inputs/outputs, expression pedal out, aux out for single or 3-button footswitches and full MIDI support
- True or buffered bypass selectable based on your setup
- 100 presets (2 per bank) onboard: I don’t need more than 10 but it’s nice to have
- Global Tap Tempo (optional) so it’s easy to call up presets and retain the same tempo, or dial in a new tempo
- Delay trails when changing presets or going into bypass
- I don’t use much modulation, reverb or filters in my music but if I need some, the TimeFactor can pull it off
- Regular software updates from Eventide with bug fixes and improvements
- Eventide support forum/staff are very helpful

This pretty much sums up why I chose the TimeFactor over the Empress Superdelay which costs the same, £299.  A more detailed review with samples coming up in a few weeks or months :)

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I’ve been a good boy this year so Santa got me this rare Ibanez J Custom, a couple weeks early too ;)

RG8470F pics:

RG8470F specs:
Mahogany body with AAA flamed maple top and natural binding
5 piece maple/walnut neck with matching headstock and flamed maple binding
430mm radius rosewood fretboard with abalone and mirror J Custom vine inlay
Jumbo frets finished to the highest standard
Cosmo black hardware and Edge Pro bridge with locking studs
Recessed volume & tone controls
Direct mount pickups: Dimarzio Air Norton neck, DiMarzio Blue Velvet mid, DiMarzio D-Sonic bridge
FE – Fire Agate finish

It’s hardly been a week since I scored this beauty and I can’t wait to swap out the D-Sonic for a Tone Zone, string some 10’s on and wail away!  This is the first guitar I’ve owned that is “perfect” straight out of the case, thanks to the flawless fretwork, awesome setup and brilliant craftmanship.  I’ve played many high end guitars before and never felt the urge to buy one because there was nothing special that made them play better than my modded Jackson/Ibanez super strats.  This JCRG is easily on par with my ‘87 RG550 in terms of playability, even though the necks and neck joints are different.

The previous owner kept this guitar in excellent condition (thanks Andras), there were only 2 small nicks in the body that is visible at a specific angle.

A detailed review will follow in a month or less so Merry Christmas and I hope 2010 holds another J Custom for me…

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I spent the last few weeks reassessing what’s on my pedal board and made some decisions that led me to replace stompboxes I’ve had for the most part of this year. The first was my tuner – I was quite alright using a Planet Waves CT-04 for over a year but it’s tuning accuracy isn’t great and there were times when it would be about 2 cents off forcing me to fine-tune by ear. I chose the CT-04 over a Boss TU-2 because Planet Waves claimed it was true bypass, which I found to be inaccurate on opening the pedal. To kill my curiosity however, I got a TU-2 last month to compare with the CT-04 since they share the same accuracy. In a few minutes it was clear that the TU-2 was more accurate, although I preferred the LED meter on the CT-04, and the buffered bypass of the TU-2 sounded better at higher volume.

Now I’m planning to start repairing and setting up guitars part-time and know that I will need a very accurate tuner for intonating guitars, so I ended up selling the CT-04 and TU-2 and turned my attention to the Peterson StroboStomp 2 which is regarded as one of the best tuners – fast, accurate and easy to use. I could not justify the £150 price tag, however, so I looked for alternatives and remember reading good reviews about the Korg Pitchblack series and DT-10 last year, which are reasonably priced. Their accuracy is pretty good (+/-1 cent) but the Pitchblack+ was more tempting for it’s accuracy that was on par with the StroboStomp and it’s price that was a small step up from the Pitchblack and DT-10.

Korg Pitchblack+ Tuner
If you’ve always want a high precision tuner like the Peterson Strobostomp without spending that kind of money, I would recommend getting your hands on a Pitchblack+ for £95. The price is lower in the U.S. (as is the case always) but it would cost the same after shipping and duty had I imported one.

Right out of the box I was impressed by how Korg thoughtfully included a 4-way daisy chain to power other pedals with the Pitchblack+. A 9V DC output is common on pedal tuners but none of the manufacturers bundle a daisy chain so buyers can use this feature right out of the box.

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Now that I’m back online after a while, I owe visitors and readers an update on what’s up with the site.  The hosting migration took place like clockwork but I did not get time to post confirmation or do much after that.  2008 was an interesting and trying year, that kept me from revamping/updating my websites, recording music and working full time.  I’d moved to a new continent, traveled a lot and just when I started working again, my health took a u-turn for the worse.

The last quarter, in particular, was a real struggle trying to balance work with my illness and getting medical help, and things were looking gloomier each passing day. 

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I’ve been hosting my websites at Godaddy for over 4 years and things were going well until I ran into performance and configuration issues this year.  I was reasonable and tried working with them from March, but finally gave up last month when they jerked me around for requesting a downgrade until they resolve all issues.  Looking back on all the responses I received I have to assume their support staff are snorting coke on the job, and god bless them!

Anyway, I spent the last month evaluating other hosting companies, and found one that deserves my business after all the help they’ve extended while I tested their server and network performance.

In short, the site will be inaccessible for 8-12 hours between today and Tuesday.  Once it’s back up, everything should work but if you run into a bug or bad link, please send me a quick email.

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I’ve been busy the last two months looking for work and working on my tone for a demo I’m recording, hence the silence.  However, I’m back for a while and will continue developing the site and making it as informative as it used to be.  Over the next few months there will be lessons, exercises, reviews and guides to help improve your technique and get you comfortable with the guitar, whether it is setting up or customizing it.

I have also learned that many visitors are following links to the old guitar tech section, which doesn’t exist anymore – don’t sweat, updated information will be published as soon as the next guitar arrives for a setup.

Meanwhile, feel free to drop me a line if you have questions or suggestions.

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With the number of visitors here I decided to list the stuff I’m clearing out, all in excellent condition:

1. Boss MT-2 Metal Zone (with Monte Allums Sustainia & Tri-Gain mods) – Sold

2. Boss DS-1 Distortion (with Rectifier mod from Monte Allums) – Sold

3. Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer (with Monte Allums Opto Plus mod) – Sold

4. Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor – Sold

5. DiMarzio Breed bridge Humbucker – Sold

6. DiMarzio Blue Velvet single-coil pickup – Sold

7. DiMarzio/ibz HSH pickup set from RG2550E – Sold

8. Smoked mirror pickguard from RG2550E – Sold

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Last week I decided to play around with the JS30 by throwing in the stock DiMarzio humbuckers from my RG2550E. I wasn’t very excited about how these pickups sounded in the RG so I didn’t expect much. It would obviously sound different in the JS30’s alder body (as opposed to the RG’s basswood) but what I did not expect is how these pickups really brought the guitar to life. I mean it didn’t just sound a little better, it sounded like a different guitar altogether!!

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