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.

All Maxon pedals feature heavy duty die-cast chassis, high-quality components and mechanical, true-bypass switching.  Based on the quality and tone of these two pedals I own, I’m looking forward to testing other Maxon pedals

A little history on Maxon for those interested/not aware:

Maxon is the name used by the Nisshin Onpa company of Japan for its line of effects pedals designed for guitar and bass.

During the 1970s Ibanez became one of the company’s main OEM customers. Nisshin Onpa designed and manufactured the now legendary TS-808 and TS-9 Tube Screamers for Ibanez, and many other models, including the FL-9 Flanger, CS-9 Chorus, and AD-9 Analog Delay. Nisshin Onpa also marketed its pedals under its own Maxon name during this time. When Nisshin Onpa and Ibanez parted ways in 2002, Nisshin Onpa began to more aggressively market its own line of Maxon pedals. Repositioning itself as a manufacturer of high-end mass-produced effects, Maxon expanded its line of analog pedals, using rare NOS components and classic circuit designs that are to this day highly respected and sought after.

Maxon continues to expand its product line. Although they produced digital delays and reverbs during the 1980s and ’90s, they now concentrate mostly on “hard-to-find elsewhere” vintage type effects such as analog delays, analog choruses and flangers, and classic overdrive and distortion units. Most of the old Ibanez Nine Series is available in Maxon form these days, but the Maxon pedals now include true-bypass switching and circuitry equal to or in many cases superior to the Ibanez originals. The company prides itself on a reputation of quality over quantity.

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.

I’ve owned several Ibanez Prestige guitars before this ’87 RG550, and have since bought a J Custom, but the RG550 is still my main 6-string.  It’s unbelievable how the original wizard neck makes the Ibanez Prestige and Jackson Pro necks seem heavier than they really are.  And while you may think the slim wizard neck is prone to damage/warping in 22 years, it is super straight and will probably survive another 10 years.  The frets on the other hand have a few years life left in them before I’d have to consider a refret since this guitar wasn’t used much.

What I wasn’t sure about before buying this RG550 was the neck joint… I loved the AANJ of newer Ibanez RG’s and feared I may not like the original neck joint but I feel at home with both.  Neck joint may boil down to preferences because I know Paul Gilbert prefers the original neck joint for some reason.

The Edge bridge:  Hmm… I spoiled myself with low profile trems (specifically JT580LP & Edge Pro) but the original Edge on an RG simply feels ‘solid’.  That’s the only way I can describe it and it’s not due to the locking studs because I upgrade all RG’s with the locking stud mod.

Pickups: It was fitted with a set of colored DiMarzio Evolutions when I got it, but I swapped them out for a Tone Zone bridge and Air Norton neck, removing the mid single coil altogether.  Upgraded the OTAX VLX53 switch as well so I could get some cool coil-tapped and parallel positions with the dual humbuckers.  I’ve grown to love the parallel neck position (so transparent) for cleans and mildly overdriven tones.  While the Tone Zone has been my usual pickup of choice I did experiment with a D-Sonic since then and it definitely sounded great in the RG550.  Anyway my J Custom has a Tone Zone in the bridge so anytime I need to be in the Zone I pick her up.  It’s a good idea to have different pickups on your guitars too, especially for recording – having rhythm and solos recorded with different guitars and pickups make it so much easier to mix and each guitar will have a distinct character on your records.

Finally, the question that you may have if you’re reading this: is this old RG better than anything Ibanez makes today?  In short, YES!!  The long answer is it really depends on your taste and how you like your guitar set up.  The RG2550E I had was heavily customized and set up which made it play like a dream, action was set silly low at 1.7mm across the fretboard, and it was a brilliant guitar for the money but I sold it a month after getting this ’87 RG550.  The RG2550E was on par with other high end guitars I played but the RG550 has something magical about it which can’t be described.

Is the RG20th reissues as good or better than the original?  Their specs suggest there are improvements over the original RG550′s but I can’t vouch for that as I haven’t personally played a 20th.  As you already know, until you play a guitar you cannot tell whether there’s a connection or bond :)

Keep shredding, and if you see an 87/88 RG550 on Craigslist, eBay, Gumtree or your favorite forums, buy it immediately if you need a player and love Ibanez guitars – I think they’re the best guitars Ibanez built!!  Keep in mind this is coming from a J Custom owner.

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 :)

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…

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.

What I love about the Pitchblack+:

» really intuitive and easy to use
» tuning accuracy of at least +/-0.1 cents, as good as the Strobostomp
» brilliant dual LED meters making it so easy to tune
» true bypass that doesn’t color your tone
» dual inputs to connect 2 guitars simultaneously, each with their own tuning profile
» muted tuning

Check out Korg’s product page for detailed specs and information on the Pitchblack+.

You will notice the Pitchblack+ is larger than other tuners but that is a small price to pay for a professional tuner that has some very cool features. If and when I do find time, I shall follow up this brief review with a video of the Pitchblack+ in action because seeing is believing.

Finally, while conducting research for a new tuner, I did come across the Turbo Tuner from Sonic Research which is the most accurate tuner to date – someday I might buy that, but the Pitchblack+ is perfect for my needs at this time.

The modifications:
1. Pickups: Installed a Breed bridge but it wasn’t as hot as I expected it to be, so I switched back to the Tone Zone. My ears are quite happy with the Evo neck + Tone Zone combo so I doubt I’ll be making further changes.

2. Custom H-H Pickguard: Shielding a pickguard isn’t fun but I’m glad it’s a one-time affair. The smoked gray mirror looks really good against the galaxy black finish, better than the stock bronze pickguard.

3. OTAX VLX91 super-switch: Wiring the OTAX wasn’t as easy as I’d expected and took over an hour – one reason I don’t want to change my pickups again lol. The new coil-tapped switching positions are really sweet though especially for clean guitar.

4. The Edge Pro locking stud mod is awesome and a must-have, providing 100% tuning stability no matter how much I use the whammy bar. Makes you wonder why the hell Ibanez stopped using locking studs in their Edge trem systems.

RG2550E before the upgrade:

Nut shim – pickguard w/shielding, locking studs, OTAX switch – studs installed:

RG2550E customization complete:

The Evo2 wasn’t bad but whenever I’d switch to/from the Evo neck, it would sound like I was playing a completely different guitar. Put the Evo2 up for sale since I won’t be needing it anymore.

DiMarzio’s Blue Velvet didn’t impress me all that much, maybe because I was hoping for something besides strat tones which I get from the stock IBZ single coil. Nothing more to say here other than I should not have bought this pickup :P

I’ve decided to move forward with my original plan of losing the mid single coil and retaining dual humbuckers, a pickup configuration I’m very comfortable with. I am planning to take it one step further, however, and install a super-switch so I can experiment with some exotic coil-tapping.

What I liked (besides the great build quality):
- Perfect fretwork: Supposedly same frets as the RG1570 but for some reason this guitar had better fretwork
- Acoustically sounded better than the RG1570 which has the same basswood body
- Pickguard mounted pickups: I was concerned how this would affect tone, but it has worked out better than the rear-routed pickups of the RG1570. In fact, the DiMarzio Evo pair will not fit an RG1570 without modding the body because of the increased pickup height
- Stock DiMarzio/ibz pickups sounded good, not as hot as I’d like them, but they’re way better than the V7-S1-V8 pickups on the RG1570
- Cosmetic: Ghost sharkin inlays, Cosmo hardware, Bound rosewood fingerboard

Things I did not like:
- Really dry fingerboard, which will be fixed with some lemon oil soon
- Pickguard quality: maybe it’s an intended design but to me the machined lines don’t seem to fit in with the overall look of the guitar. A plain smoked mirror guard would have looked better
- One of the stud posts for the Edge Pro trem loose in it’s socket, causing tuning instability when the trem is used. Ordered a Locking Stud mod that was used in earlier Edge trem systems.

The Edge Pro trem angle was also completely off, which is understandable because guitars go through a series of temperature changes during shipping. What was disappointing is that the fret buzz still existed despite adjusting the truss rod and trem angle. I’d have to set the action really high to eliminate the buzz completely, something I’m not ready to compromise on. After exchanging emails with a well-known Ibanez luthier I figured the only way to get rid of the buzz would be to get a complete fret leveling and re-dress, which was going to cost me an additional £60-80, maybe more. I wouldn’t mind trying it myself if I had the tools but I wasn’t going to take chances with a brand new/expensive guitar :P

After paying what I did for the guitar it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to spend more money to make it playable, so I had the store send me another RG1570 in Suede Black, but the suede finish was a real turn-off and the guitar found it’s way back to the store.

Other than the fret buzz, I wasn’t too happy about the extremely dry rosewood fingerboard… Ibanez/stores could do something about ensuring customers fall in love with the instrument as soon as they open that case. Funny thing is most guitars in-store have the same problem. They’re not setup well, in tune and don’t look/feel their price. Final gripe: the V7 neck and V8 bridge pickups sounded really cheap when plugged into the clean channel of my Fender. WTF Ibanez?!

To be continued…

At first I was really tempted to buy a used JS1000 or EBMM JP6, not because they’re my favorite guitarists’ signature models but because both guitars are well crafted, play like a dream and are bloody brilliant in general. However, I didn’t think it was a good idea because I knew I’d be experimenting a lot to get the sound I want out of it. It seems pointless buying a signature guitar and changing the pickups to make it sound right for your music, and neither would you want to make cosmetic changes where it would stop looking like a signature model – it beats the whole purpose of buying one. Anyways, that’s why I spent the time I did on finding a guitar that is neutral (i.e. not built specifically for jazz, blues, rock or metal), and can be set up to suit my playing style.

Jackson DK2M Snow White:
I was impressed from the time I opened that case – the white body, black hardware & binding, and the maple neck, fingerboard & headstock were too good to be true. The pickups are not exactly stock Jacksons or Duncan Designed but they’re Seymour Duncan’s Jazz SH2N neck & JB TB4 bridge, so the guitar was ready for serious shredding right out of the box. The factory setup was decent but after re-stringing her, reducing some neck bow and lowering the JT580 tremolo I was going out of tune whenever the trem was used. It wasn’t a good sign because I loved everything about the DK2M, especially the 80′s look and sound :)

I was tempted to remove the trem and set it up again to make sure the strings running down wasn’t a result of a shipping accident, but I decided to have the store take a look since this was a new guitar anyways. They had it picked up and later call to let me know the trem may have been damaged during shipping, and that a new DK2M would reach me in a week. More than a week had passed and I was contacted by a Fender rep (Fender owns Jackson/Charvel) to let me know they couldn’t find a single DK2M White guitar with any dealers in the UK. They gave me a choice between Black and Transparent Red but after seeing the DK2M in White I couldn’t settle for another color. At that moment, I dropped the idea of a DK2M (temporarily, at least). It was a tough call because I knew I’d have trouble finding another guitar as good as this under £400.

To be continued….