First Look : Sire Larry Carlton H7 - the Sire "335"
There is a sound that comes from a semi-hollow electric guitar that is unique and special. There's no solid body or chambered solid body that delivers this tone. Where a solid body transient on picking is snappy and right up front, the transient on a semi-hollow rolls up on you, like a smooth rolling wave and embraces you in ways that you will never get with a solid body.
The challenge for some time is that the real poster children for these instruments has been the Gibson ES-335 and family members such as the ES-345 and ES-355. They are all double cutaway designs, elegant and graceful.
Some folks think that a semi-hollow suffers for rock and roll. I would direct your attention to a Mr. E. Clapton who created some of classic rock's most wonderful guitar tones on a 335.
When Sire decided to build their own deviant of the classic ES-335, they went to the man best known for the 335, Larry Carlton, aka "Mr. 335"
I was in The Arts Music Store in Newmarket Ontario today as they were unpacking the long awaited shipment of the Sire H7 guitars, what you and I would call the Sire 335.
I personally unpacked the one featured in this article and used it right out of the box. It wasn't checked or tweaked in any way. I took it out of the protective shipping bag and tuned it. I did not even dust it off. These things are like hen's teeth and I wanted to get this first look done before it was sold out of my hands. The Arts Music Store has stock, and that in and of itself is a rarity. They also just got stock on the Sire "Strat" and I think that I saw boxes for the Sire "LP".
Back to the H7. I played it first acoustically and being a 335 owner, as well as multiple 355s, I noted immediately that the acoustic voice was very pleasant. It was not overly bright, nor overly boomy, very much like my '63 Reissue Gibson. The guitar is finished in poly, as expected these days and while the back of the neck is finished, it did not get sticky in any way. Fit and finish was excellent, and you can really see this by checking the binding at the f-holes which is wear things typically fall down for 335 clones.
Sire is already renowned for their superlative rolled fingerboard edges and this is the only guitar in this value range that I have picked up that required no work on sharp fret edges. Sire has done a great job on this instrument. Like a real 335, it is made from laminated wood and the finish on the maple top is beautifully done. There is nice transparency in the amber and the transition to black in the two tone sunburst is very nicely down. I did not peel the protective plastics off, so if the photos look a bit off, that might be the reason. I normally use the maker's images, or shoot my own with studio gear, but I had to work quick so all images here were shot with my iPhone.
In my opinion, the headstock treatment is very classy, with minimal flash, a delivery model that I personally prefer. No enormous logos, no candy colour, no metal flake. Simple and clean, keeping with the classic, dare I say "iconic" body. Normally I hear makers use the words iconic and authentic and I throw up because of their self serving attitudes, but in this situation it applies.
I then plugged the H7 into a Fender FSR Princeton amplifier in Seafoam Green. For a little tube amp, it is surprisingly loud. With the tone controls all at 5, and reverb at 4, I tried out the H7. The neck pickup is rich and toneful, but a bit brighter than I expected. I had to roll the tone control off a bit to get what I was looking for. I chose the Princeton, because I see no point in auditioning pickups through pedals or dirty channels, and the Princeton tube amp is a known quantity to me. The bridge pickup is also nice and bright but in line with expectations. One thing I noticed is that the tone controls are done properly. Unlike so many guitars where the volume falls off a cliff when you roll the tone completely off, the Sire H7 just rolls the treble off without impacting volume. Switching between pickups is positive and silent in the signal chain. I was less thrilled with the volume pots, because I like to do manual volume swells from zero, and the pots go from nothing to HELLO rolling from 0 to 1. Reminds me of a Deluxe Reverb amplifier. Not a show stopper by any means, and since most folks use a volume pedal or swell pedal for that sort of thing, likely not a serious consideration.
The Sire came strung with Ernie Ball strings, which is nice as most often the first thing that I have to do with a new guitar is replace whatever shipped with it, with good strings. The thicker strings needed a bit more stretching to hold tune but once done, they were fine. I use the ever trustworthy Snark to tune and also used it to check intonation and found that the guitar was well set up. Action was good, no fret buzzing and no fretting out with aggressive bends.
Moving from blues and classic rock to a jazz theme, I found I had to roll the tone off more than I do on my Gibsons. That's just acclimatization. I still hear to near 17KHz and would rather have too bright than too dull. The sound from the pickups is very nice, about on par with a factory Gibson, or one of the PRS SE Hollowbody guitars.
The Sire H7 was tagged at $1099.99 CAD. For that investment, it's awesome and I personally preferred it over similarly priced Epiphones. The body is larger than a PRS SE but it is also less expensive. The one downside is that like all Sire products, there is no case or gig bag so when you buy yours, or someone buys it for you, be sure to get a gig bag or case for it.
If you like the idea, head over to The Arts Music Store right away, these guitars will not stay in stock for long and it takes a long time for stock to arrive.
A Live Introduction to Boucher Guitars
Last night, February 4th, 2020, I attended a "clinic" at The Arts Music Store in Newmarket Ontario where the store hosted Boucher Guitars and their ambassador JP Cormier.
Before I get into what I saw and heard, a word or several on JP Cormier. I first saw JP a couple of decades ago in Nova Scotia. In his show he played guitar, fiddle and mandolin and absolutely blew me away with his talent, stage presence and humour. Tenure has made him a bit more direct, but he is absolutely amazing and if you would like to learn more about his music go to https://www.jp-cormier.com You can also find his music online on Apple Music if you are a subscriber. Chet Atkins, yes THAT Chet Atkins called JP one of the most important guitarists of his generation. No argument from me.
Back to the guitars. The website for Boucher Guitars is https://boucherguitars.com (surprise!). It's possible that you may not have familiarity with the brand so let me help you out. Boucher was founded by luthier and player Robin Boucher. The factory that produces hand-made guitars is located in Berthier-sur-Mer in the Canadian province of Quebec. While many folks hear Appalachian and immediately think of the Appalachian range in the United States, the range starts in Canada and the town is right there. One of the greatest tone woods coming out of Appalachia is the Red Spruce aka Picea Rubens. While most of us have heard of Sitka Spruce, and Engelmann Spruce, Red Spruce is much rarer and has a very different tone, at once more dynamic and more even across frequencies. You will find red spruce used in the tops of custom shop builds from other makers at substantial cost, or as the default top in ALL Boucher guitars. Does it sound different? Oh yes.
In the clinic session, JP played an assortment of Boucher guitars. They do three lines; Studio Goose, Bluegrass Goose and Heritage Goose. I have heard some dimwits take the company to task for using the word Goose in the names. There is good reason for doing so, explained on the company website. At least they never use the words "authentic" or "iconic" in their messaging.
The Studio Goose and Bluegrass Goose lineup have similar body style options and even similar wood choices for sides and back, but differ in their bracing patterns. The reality in my opinion, is that either line is perfect for any use, but the joy is in the playing and finding the one that is the most "you". The Heritage Goose line is built to feature only the small body acoustics, the 000 12 Fret and the Parlour 12 Fret. More on these later.
JP Cormier with a Bluegrass Goose Dreadnought before clinic start. The Arts Music Store Assistant Manager Ryan Ainsworth introduced the clinic and welcomed the guests.
Dreadnought style guitars are very popular and you can find this body shape in both the Studio Goose and Bluegrass Goose lines. Studio Goose Dreadnoughts offer the buyer the choice of African Bubinga, American Walnut, Brazilian Mahogany or East Indian Rosewood. Bluegrass Goose Dreadnoughts offer the buyer the choice of Brazilian Mahogany, East Indian Rosewood, Madagascar Rosewood or Brazilian Rosewood. That last one is NOT a typo.
JP Cormier with a Studio Goose OM body. I think that this one had Rosewood back and sides but hard to tell from the crappy iPhone image.
Jazz and finger style players often prefer the OM (Orchestra Model) size bodies. The Studio Goose OM line offers the buyer the choice of African Bubinga, American Walnut, Brazilian Mahogany or Canadian Curly Maple. Bluegrass Goose OM guitars offer the buyer the choice of Brazilian Mahogany, East Indian Rosewood, Madagascar Rosewood or Brazilian Rosewood.
Those desiring a classic Jumbo body will find these in the Studio Goose family. The Studio Goose Jumbo line offers the buyer the choice of African Bubinga, American Walnut, Brazilian Mahogany or Canadian Curly Maple.
Players desiring a 12 string can find OM size bodies in Brazilian Mahogany, Dreadnought bodies in East Indian Rosewood and Jumbo bodies in African Bubinga and Canadian Curly Maple.
JP Cormier with a Heritage Goose 12 Fret with Bubinga back and sides
The Heritage Goose line is smaller, limited to the 000-12 Fret and the Parlour 12-Fret. I am a fan myself of the small bodied guitars but have been challenged in the past that their voicings were unassuming. I was completely blown away by the power of the voice of the Heritage Goose guitars. The 000 family is available in African Bubinga, Brazilian Mahogany, East Indian Rosewood and Canadian Curly Maple. The Parlour guitars are available in African Bubinga, Brazilian Mahogany, East Indian Rosewood and Canadian Curly Maple. All the guitars in the Heritage Goose collection are built with classic design slotted peg heads.
Boucher Guitars also offer a variety of customization options and player packs. These include different finish options, electronics options and are well detailed on the website. You can also order your Boucher with a Venetian cutaway. These are handmade instruments, so you can get what you want, so long as you are not expecting assembly line delivery.
JP made the point that he doesn't bring his own Boucher guitars for clinics because the Boucher recipes are so consistent. He says he can pick up any Boucher instrument of the same body and tone wood build and it will sound the same as another one. He played every instrument using only a microphone in front of the sound hole, even if the guitar had a pickup installed. Many of us have already noted that a mic'd acoustic sounds better in general than one with an active pickup. JP does recommend the optional K&K pickups over any of the powered alternatives.
No Jumbos or 12 strings were available at the clinic for attendees to try out but that did not seem to matter to the 100+ musicians who came out. There was enormous enthusiasm to try the guitars out and the single example of the brand new JP Cormier Signature Heritage Goose 12 Fret with Cutaway was sold during the intermission. Rumour has it that is is the first one that was made available for public purchase. (JP has number 0 and Robin Boucher has number 1). The buyer will know if his is indeed number 2 when he picks it up in a week or so. Cannot imagine who that buyer might be. :D
JP Cormier showing his signature series Heritage Goose 12 Fret with cutaway. This guitar was bought during the intermission.
I had been looking to try out the Heritage Goose 12 Fret or a Parlour regardless. I like the small bodies but wanted to check on the tone as experience with other very small bodies had been interesting but not fulfilling. I have never heard anything that sounds like the Heritage Goose guitars and I was front row and heard the native guitar and not the PA tone.
I confess that I also really liked the Dreadnought and OM models. I already have a number of dreadnoughts from Martin and Gibson and like them very much, but I have only one Martin 000 and a single Taylor OM style. I may find myself on a waiting list for a Bluegrass Goose OM in Brazilian Rosewood sides and back. Of course I would have to pay for the aforementioned Signature first. This guitar thing gets expensive.
Jacob Lauzon and JP Cormier
JP also brought out a newer Boucher ambassador, Jacob Lauzon who he met at a clinic last year. The two players are amazing together. Jacob also did a song with his friend Alanna, both playing their personal OM series instruments.
The conclusion to this article is pretty simple. If you love playing guitar and you are considering a professional grade acoustic such as a fine instrument from Martin Guitars or Taylor Guitars, or perhaps one of the Gibson acoustics from the Bozeman Montant factory, you are cheating yourself if you do not play a Boucher before making your purchase decision. There are a few good dealers of Boucher and obviously I heartily recommend The Arts Music Store in Newmarket Ontario. I have owned Martins and Taylors for a long time and love them very much, but I am comfortable saying as a generalization, I get more for my money with a hand made Boucher than either of these other very excellent lines.
The only way to know is to play one yourself. The sound is killer and remember that if you want a pickup, go for the K&K option. Tell them that I sent you, with the guidance of JP Cormier.
Quick Look : Fender Tone Master Amplifiers
When it comes to that classic California clean sound, with near endless headroom, many players look to the classic Fender blackface Twin Reverb or blackface Deluxe Reverb. I will not get into the differences between a blackface and a silver face because it's Christmas time and I don't want to be starting any fights.
I love my Fender Twin Reverb. It sounds great. It sounds great right where it is, because moving it is an effort. The thing is heavy. The combination of the case, the Jensen speakers, and those power transformers all add weight. While players have been kicking these things around for decades, I do worry about damage to the spring tank or the tubes.
But what if, you could get an amp that a) costs less b) looks near identical to the original and that c) sounds damn close to the original? Would that be worth your time to look? For a reasonable player, the answer is yes.
Now, I've already heard the whinging about how the Tone Masters don't sound like a "real" amp because they don't have tubes and "tube warmth". The Tone Master is not identical to a Fender blackface tube amplifier, but it is very very close and unless you are A/Bing two amps side by side in a proper studio setting, I would challenge anyone to pass a blindfold test and identify which is which while specifically stating why that is so.
Thus, consideration of a Tone Master requires a certain openness of mind as well as the acceptance that it will cost less, be lighter and not have tubes or a spring tank. Perhaps it is the tone that might matter more to you.
Love those tilt back legs
Unlike other digital modelling amps, the Tone Master amps do only one model. The amp that they are trying to sound like. Thus a Tone Master Deluxe Reverb is designed to sound as close as possible to a Fender Deluxe Reverb. It does so through some excellent engineering using solid state technology, some quite incredible digital modelling and innovative approaches.
Instead of being 22 watt tube amp, it is a 100 watt D class power amp with a digital preamp. That doesn't mean it is louder. It is the reality that tube amps of a given power rating can be a LOT louder than a solid state amp with the same power rating. Power is not volume.
If you've ever played a Fender tube amp, and have cranked it to get that wonderful tone, you've also noticed that they are really, really loud. Nice for you, not so much for family, neighbours and potentially the local constabulary. The Tone Masters have selectable output controls that, in my opinion, do a very fine job of giving you the tone of a cranked amp at much lower volumes. Take into account the science of Fletcher-Munson and you will understand why lower volumes do sound different from higher volumes, and also understand that Fender has tried to address this as they reduce output. Perfect? No, but still really really good.
If I turn my Twin Reverb all the way up, the volume is untenable. If I turn up the Tone Master Twin Reverb all the way up, it's too loud, but then I can turn down the output via the rotary switch on the back while retaining the tone and reducing the volume. Bedroom players, and players who must live with other people and neighbours rejoice!
I think that Fender have done a good job on the digital reverb implementation as well. It's not a spring tank, but play this amp in your local club and you could very well forget it's not real springs. That's the point. Get the sound you want, without crippling back pain, increased reliability and more flexibility.
Back of the Tone Master Twin Reverb
Do you record? Awesome, because both Tone Masters have DI out for recording to your computer. There is therefore of course, Impulse Response speaker emulation built in with a choice of cab sims. The amp is also firmware upgradeable by USB connection.
The speaker or speakers in the Twin are still Jensens. Instead of the old style, these are the new N-12K Neodymium design. This makes them lighter without compromising response and they couple very nicely to the Class D power amp.
The front panels are identical to reissue Deluxe Reverbs and Twin Reverbs. In fact, if you do not notice the small Tone Master plate on the grill cloth, you might not even realize that the new amps are Tone Masters. Fender is not hiding anything, but they have done a lovely job on the vintage look.
Yes Tone Masters are not sixties blackface Fenders. They are new. If you want a sixties feel blackface, you can still buy the reissues from Fender. You will pay more. You will have more to carry in terms of weight, and for that cost and extra weight, you may find the new indistinguishable from the reissue.
I've had opportunity to play through both Tone Masters. I am very impressed. Why not go to your proper guitar store and give them a try for yourself instead of just believing what someone else says? How bad could that be?
Cheers and play on.
Review : YOMI from Frost Giant Electronics
Treble Boosters. You hear about these critters. You hear that if you like Brian May or Tony Iommi or Rory Gallagher or Ritchie Blackmore or Eric Clapton, you MUST have one.
Sure you can go online and search for an original Dallas Rangemaster for hundreds of dollars. Or you can get a new build of one from The British Pedal Company and my buddy Charles at electricmojoguitars.com. Or you could do what I did and take the advice of my friend Chris Spano at The Arts Music Store and hunt yourself down a YOMI from Frost Giant Electronics.
Chris told me about the YOMI when he asked that I do a review of The Mountain. I had been asking about fuzz and while there are folks who say that The Mountain, which is based on the ProCo RAT is not a fuzz, Dan Steinhardt over at That Pedal Show says that it is a fuzz. Be that as it may, Chris mentioned that Frost Giant did their own treble booster and that he grabbed the only one that came through the door and it never saw space on the retail counter. I checked and not only were there none in stock, the unit did not appear on the website. I went over to Frost Giant and their site said out of stock. Ru ro Shaggy. Over to Reverb and I found that the nice people at Axe and You Shall Receive (cool name huh?) in Brantford Ontario had two in stock.
Mine arrived quickly and while the version on the Frost Giant web site is black on light blue, I was fortunate to get one of the limited edition red on gold models as seen in the top image.
Documentation is like most Frost Giant Electronics products, meaning that it is non-existent. The YOMI has a knob marked Boost, an on/off stomp switch and a three way toggle that offers three different EQ options.
I was already set up for independent pedal tests with my silver Marshall 2550 into a silver 4x12. I had configured the clean channel to be super clean, even with hot pickups, and the ultra gain channel to sound like an overdriven Marshall, with Marshall style harmonic distortion but not fuzzy. I had the simple Marshall channel switcher on the floor and the YOMI on a stool in front of me to simplify tweaking. I ran direct from the guitar into the brand new Peterson StroboStomp tuner (review is coming on it), then to the YOMI and to the Marshall. The TC Electronics G Major that lives in the effects loop was completely bypassed. I checked the tone with an without the tuner and could hear no difference. All cables were Ernie Balls. About as generic as possible.
The first guitar that I used was my old Explorer. It's not a Korina body (sob) but it is solid mahogany and has nice heft. Like my Flying V, I find the factory pickups are a bit hotter than those in my Les Pauls and thought, hey why not. The Explorer sounds lovely clean, much as you would expect. Kicking in the YOMI in the clean channel and adjusting the boost brings a really nice bright distortion. Clicking through the three EQ settings you work with a three different levels of bass cut. I liked the top setting best which had the least cut. Definitely very playable and nice rich distortion. Wrong pickups for the Queen sound. Kick in the Marshall ultra gain channel without the YOMI and ah yes, there is Mr. Marshall. But add the YOMI and WOW! There's the sustain for days that was missing and while it sounds initially like you have lost some low end, I realized that I was getting a much more open top end than without the YOMI and pleasant feedback was readily available.
I love the sound. I will try a noise gate between the YOMI and the amp when I get around to it to isolate some of the other guitar noises when I am in glorius feedback territory, but I am not suggesting that this is necessary. You do want to play loud, which sounds wonderful but probably not your best choice at 2 in the morning. I was lighting things up between 4pm and 6pm so if I was annoying the neighbours, they had the good grace not to say anything.
I next moved on to my SG. It's a cherry model in the '63 style, albeit this '63 model as advertised from Gibson came from the time when Gibson couldn't remember that real '63s had the small headstock. So it has the large headstock. It's also got relatively low output humbuckers and while I have had it a long time, it's not a guitar that I go to very often. I had tried it with the Frost Giant SOMA (different review) and hated the sound. With the YOMI set to the top EQ and boost around 1 o'clock in the ultra gain channel it was quite nice. Not as quick to go to feedback as the Explorer but I expected that. Still going to change those pickups and I suspect that at the time, Gibson was using gum wrappers for caps and toilet roll for pots. There's no such thing as a vintage Gibson from the 70's or 80's that did not come out of the Custom Shop. But I digress...
Third guitar for the test was my red Suhr Strat, or as it is correctly known, the Suhr Standard Plus. This is a SSH configuration using Suhr's proven SSCII hum cancellation circuit. Mine is a rich red, a colour no longer listed. Which is good for me because it's freaking lovely. I love Suhr guitars, they are just so perfect right out of the box. I have this one and a custom shop Modern that my friend Andrew Lai down at Cosmo Music got built for me about ten years ago. Anyhow, the Suhr sounds great on its own, and although it is a humbucker in the bridge position, does not get all thickened up. I found it a bit too bright with the YOMI into the clean channel, but into the ultra gain channel on the Marshall with the Boost backed off and the EQ switch in the middle position it was really singing with any of the pickup configurations. I have found some pedals only work well with humbuckers while others only work well with single coils. Good to know that the YOMI handles single coils very well.
Obviously there is a lot more to do with the pedal. I want to put it into the pedal rig for my AC30 and try pushing P90s or P100s through it or one of the PRS guitars with the coils tapped. I've got a couple of very old CE bolt neck models that have the old five way rotary switch that sound awesome.
I had seen Mick and Dan on That Pedal Show covering treble boosters and while they did not cover the YOMI, I thought it was interesting that Mick concluded that if you run into a Marshall stack, a treble booster should be on your board. Brian May uses the Red Special into AC30s, and Tony Iommi played SGs into Laneys. BTW did you know that Mr. Laney was in a band before building amps? It was called the Band of Joy and included two other fellows who became rather famous, a Mr. Robert Plant and a Mr. John Bonham.
Thanks for reading and until next time, play on!
Review : Blackstar HT-5RH
A key part of my guitar affliction is the related amplifier affliction. While my family might propose that I have too many, I can always see place for at least one more. I also tend to prefer the sound of valve (tube) driven amps and while I have bought and sold many, they always have one characteristic. They’re really loud.
So I wanted an amp that I could use for practice at night, at home, that would still deliver a good tone, would handle pedals well, had an FX loop, great reverb and didn’t need to be glass rattlingly loud to get there. I went by my local shop, The Arts Music Store, and the very talented and genuinely nice Chris Spano invested the time to help me find something. I had heard about the Blackstar HT-5R Mk II on the Anderton’s Music channel as well as some other decent low wattage amps. Chris took me through a number of offerings, but I did not enjoy any of the solid state units. I was ok with all valve, or valve preamp with solid state power amp based on the contestants. In the end, It was down to the Fender Pro Junior IV or the Blackstar HT5R. I liked the little Fender but found the Blackstar to be more flexible in terms of options and controls.
Chris helped me decide between the combo version or the separate head and cabinet. I chose the separate head (HT5RH Mk II) and cabinet route. The cabinet is the HT-1120C Mk II which houses a 12 inch Celestion Seventy 80.
What I love about the HT5RH is the flexibility. This allows for two output levels, either full power or 10% power. It’s the same circuit design as in the HT20R family and in my opinion perfect for home use because it is immediately switchable between 5 watts or 0.5 watts and while we know that we hear differently at different volumes, dropping the output does not result in the massive tone suck found so often in circuits of this type.
Here’s the key features list;
5 watts / 0.5 watts
Unique push/pull power amp design
ECC83 preamp valve, 12BH7 power amp valve
2 channels
Footswitchable voices for clean and overdrive
USB Audio out
Studio quality digital reverb
4-16 ohm speaker jack
XLR DI output
Stereo line / headphone output
There are two channels, Clean and Overdrive and each channel has two selectable voicings. The first is the “American” voicing which I find very Fender like and the second is a “British” voicing which sounds to me more Vox / Hiwatt like than say Marshall. Again, it’s an opinion and yours may differ. Both my Marshalls are big 100w heads and they are, in my mind, unique sounding. The amp came with a foot switch for channel and voice switching. In practice scenarios, I tend to find myself using the American voicing more often, possibly because I am looking for that Fender sound for clean and jazz tones. When in Overdrive mode, I use the different voicings depending on the pickups in the guitar that I am playing. I will say that the little Blackstar is very good with all the different pickups that I have run through it, but is particularly nice with the Eric Johnson pickups in two of my Strats and really likes the Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups in my early 70s Les Paul. It even handles the pickups in the White Falcon very nicely, and in my experience getting a great tone from those can be a bit of work.
It incorporates a redesigned Reverb. I have no experience with the old reverb so all I can say is that this one sounds pretty nice. I have a Keeley Caverns in the effects loop and use that more often than the built in reverb because the Caverns has an elegant and well controlled Shimmer facility that I really enjoy, particularly at low volumes.
The Clean channel has a simple layout, basically a volume knob, a tone knob and the voice button. The OD channel adds a gain knob as well as separate bass, middle and treble controls in addition to the ISF function mentioned below. The front panel also includes a master Reverb control, a channel switch button and the output power select button
The voicing is more finely controlled by the ISF function that Blackstar refers to as the Infinite Shape Feature. It’s a variable pot that goes from the American to the British voicing and whatever you like in between. This is particularly useful if you use the USB out to your DAW and want to include those voicings.
The rear panel has the USB out, a level selectable (+4/-10db) effects loop, an MP3 player line in, a pair of emulated outputs, more on these next, three speaker outputs fusing and the mains connector.
The amp also features an XLR out to DI, and the ISF function works there on the OD channel. In addition there is a stereo ¼” jack for output. There is also a push button to select between either 1x12 or 4x12 speaker emulation for the outputs. The stereo line out can also be used as a headphone output. This massive flexibility was a key differentiator for my use cases.
Since this is my defacto practice amp, I wanted an FX loop as a place where I could trial pedals and I am a bit overzealous in determining what goes where. The WL-50 Receivergoes into a Dunlop volume pedal which then goes to a Diamond Comp Jr. The tuner out on the volume pedal goes to a Polytune 3 Mini. From the Diamond, the signal moves to an Xotic RC Booster V2 and then to a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe and then to the amp’s input. These are all excellent pedals and I find no line or tone loss up front. The FX loop pops out to a Keeley 30MS doubler, then a Diamond Halo Chorus, and then to a Keeley Caverns before returning to the amp. All the pedals are on a Pedaltrain Metro 20 board sitting on top of the amp head. The board is not overly clean so it’s easy to wire up a new pedal anywhere I want it in the chain to try things out. Before a pedal gets to another board it has to pass the test on the Blackstar board first, that’s how much I like and trust this amplifier.
It’s not kidding that this head and cabinet practice rig cost a lot more than a similarly powered modelling solid state amp would have. It’s my money and my use cases and a number of other things that I tried simply did not sound acceptable to me where the Blackstar HT5RH Mk II has never let me done.
Highly recommended
Restringing a Rickenbacker 12 string / How to become an alcoholic
I was at my local guitar store, The Arts Music Store in Newmarket Ontario chatting with my dear friend, store manager, Archy Hachey this past Saturday. We’re of a similar generation and he asked what excitement I had planned for my evening. I told him I was going to be restringing a 12 string because the strings that I had ordered special for it had arrived in the mail. Archy, being the knowledgeable gent that he is noted that doing so is what he calls a four fingers job, making the gesture for four fingers of fine single malt Scotch.
The guitar in question is my Rickenbacker 381/12v69 12 string. Ric 12 strings are strung with the pairs reversed compared to other twelve strings which helps give them their rather distinctive sound. The 381V69 is nominally thicker and heavier than the more widely known 360/12 and has a double bound body and lacks the rounded edges. The maple top and back are highly figured, mine showing a lovely birdseye figure. The necks are a traditional Rickenbacker dual truss rod style and the headstock is the classic Rickenbacker 12 setup with 6 tuners out the sides and 6 tuners out the back. That means six use traditional posts and the other six use the roller type one finds in a slotted headstock. Ric slotted headstocks are only open on the front however, and I will come back to that.
You can see the headstock clearly in this image from the Toronto shop The 12th Fret at www.12fret.com
I’ve owned the guitar for probably twenty years and never played it much. It needs a bright and clear amplifier and the narrow fretboard combined with my sausage fingers never seemed to go anywhere. In fairness, I also didn’t make a big effort at the time because I was in one of collecting binges. So it hung there on the wall. The strings were fresh when I bought it, and were age dead rather than corrosion dead. I decided I was willing to put the time in on it and discovered that Rickenbacker recommended a wound third string instead of plain. A quick perusal of my string inventory as well as some online work and I found that I would need to order some.
I discovered a shop on the net called Pick of the Ricks. They do all things Rickenbacker so I ordered two sets of Rickenbacker branded strings and one set of custom made Curt Mangan strings made for the 12 string electric Rickenbacker. They arrived in a reasonable time and at a fair price. I only later learned that I could get the Rickenbacker branded strings locally in Canada from Long & McQuade Musical Instruments. Such is life. I probably could have saved a couple of bucks, but I now know of a really cool Ric related shop.
Prep
I will start off by telling you that you will need some tools that you would expect and some that you would not. If you don’t know where to go for such tools, your better guitar shop may sell some or you can go online to Stewart-MacDonald, which is what I did a long time ago and all those tools still work today.
Guitar polish
Nut and saddle lube
#0 Phillips screwdriver
3/32 flat blade screwdriver
Fingerboard guards
0000 Steel wool
String Winder
Side Cutters
Electrical contact cleaner
Straight edge or relief gauge
Truss rod wrench
10mm wrench
Super fine flat file
Fine polishing tape
Long nose hemostats
Dental mirror
Gaffer tape
Ok, let’s get started. Unwind the old strings. When they are loose enough, they will be easily dislodged from the R tailpiece. Often they will just fall out. Make note of this, it will bite you later. Use your side cutters to cut the strings near the nut so you don’t take your eye out trying to remove them, especially the ones on the tuners in the headstock slots. Needle nose pliers will be a help, but I strongly recommend a set of long nose locking hemostats for this purpose. You can find such things on Amazon. Orient the holes in the tuners as you normally would for the top facing posts, and follow the guidance in the video linked below for Bill Baker’s Three Finger Method for the tuners in the headstock slots.
Use your Phillips screwdriver to remove the bridge cover and the truss rod cover and don’t lose the screws.
Now’s a good time to clean everything. Use your small flat bladed screwdriver to loosen the grub screws holding the knobs on the pots, remove the knobs and stow them in proper order. I use a small amount of electrical contact cleaner sprayed into each of the pots and into the pickup switch. I then work the pots and the switch a fair bit. It’s pretty amazing how much smoother that they will get. I put some cloths around the pots and the switch to avoid getting the contact cleaner anywhere else.
Next take your relief gauge or straight edge and check the neck. Unlike other guitars you cannot remove the truss rod cover when the strings are on because they ride on it. Even if you could, you wouldn’t get a truss rod wrench onto either of the truss rod nuts with the strings on anyway. Perform your truss rod adjustments as necessary. If this sounds like a black art to you, there are good tutorials over at stewmac.com Seriously, this is a skill all guitarists need to be comfortable with.
Ok. Now screw that truss rod cover back on. Take some guitar polish and spray it on to a clean microfibre cloth. I use Jim Dunlop Formula 65 because I find it cleans up quick, has no abrasion and doesn’t build up. Clean the body and the fretboard. This is a lacquered fretboard so not a place for fretboard oils and such. Just use the polish and scrub that board with that non-abrasive cloth. Now fit your fingerboard guards to isolate each fret and polish them with the 0000 steel wool. If you do not have fingerboard guards, gaffer tape works. You can of course buy fret board polishers and even wheels for your Dremel but if your guitar is in even vaguely good shape, steel wool does a good job. Once all the frets are done, come back with more polish and a clean section of cloth and clean up the detritus. You may be surprised how much there is. At this point, I go a step further every few years. I put a bit of Autosol on a soft felt wheel and with fingerboard guards in place, gently run the wheel in a small Dremel over the frets. This not only polishes them a bit more, but it also works to protect the frets a bit. Be gentle and use the Autosol sparingly. If your top facing tuners have hold down nuts, tighten them up with your wrench. You do not need to tighten them excessively, just so they are not loose. My guitar in this case has no such nuts so I do not have to do this.
Take an old dry toothbrush to the nut and to the bridge. The bridge is not anchored in place so be sure it does not slide all over the guitar top. With a magnifier inspect the nut for excessive wear. If the guitar was playing well already, the cleaning of the slots is all you will likely need to do. My experience is that the saddles on Ric bridges are very rough. I like to take a very fine file and just clean up any burrs or such near the string notches. It’s a small thing but makes a difference.
This is also a good time to take that fine abrasive tape and do a couple of passes on the tuning rods in the slots on the headstock. I have encountered one that had a burr on the edge of the hole that was hard on the string. Takes about 5 seconds per post.
Wipe down everything that you filed. Now prep it for strings by applying a lube of our choice. Whether you use a commercial product such as Nut Sauce or powdered graphite is up to you, but be sure to apply some lube to the now clean nut slots and to the string notches in the bridge.
Reinstall the potentiometer knobs and tighten them so they are sitting a bit proud of the deck so they do not bind. Place your guitar on a stable flat surface with a neck rest. I built my own, but you can also buy commercial ones. I have an old heavy ironing board that I cover with a piece of carpet underlayment for my work surface. It helps prevent the guitar and neck rest from sliding around, and the height of the ironing board means that I am not bent into a position that is going to give me neck or back strain.
And Now Alcoholism
I am convinced that the original engineers were drunk when they designed the stringing method for R tailpiece 12 strings. Or that they had a massive amount of malicious intent. My guitar has the R tailpiece. It looks fab. Architecturally it is an instrument of torture which is why the answer to how to restring an R tailpiece question has the typical answer of replace it with a trapeze model. I want to keep the R. The problem is that the R is only accessible from the bottom and the string slots and ball notches are irregular on their best days. By irregular, I mean that the slots are of varying widths not aligned to string demands and that the ball notches are more like “it might notch, but probably won’t, and the string will fall out at any time until fully tensioned”. I tried following the methods on YouTube videos. Frankly this resulted in profuse sweating, the use of creative metaphors at some volume in a variety of human and Klingon dialects (it’s important to know how to swear in multiple cultures), and a broken high A string after having to redo it several times. So my Ric has a high A from an Elixir 12 string set.
I have come up with a process to restring Ric 12 strings and will now be happy to do it for a fee for any local owners who have decided that heroin abuse is not a path that they wish to take. Here’s the deal. Note that the amount of Writer's Tears Irish Whiskey required to develop this method is not shared.
I presume that you have all the old strings off. If you skipped the section called Prep, go back and read it, because there are tools that you are going to need noted there.
An R tailpiece is actually two pieces. There is the part that is anchored to the guitar and the R itself which comes off when there is no tension on it. Most of us restring one at a time. Doing so is an exercise in frustration with an R tailpiece. Take it off and place it on a stable surface with lots of space upside down. Open each pair of strings, and place them in the proper slot and the ball in the proper notch. Rotate the string so the barrel of the ball end is parallel to the face of the notch. If you do not do this, strings are highly likely to pop out. Put some tension on the string to try to seat the ball in the notch. Do not be surprised when this only works marginally.
Take your time and load all the strings in the tailpiece and let them rest on your work surface. Remember I mentioned that you will need space, because you do not want to bend or kink the strings. Use a magnifier and a light to confirm that all the balls are properly in their notches. Then check twice more, because if the strings pop out when the tailpiece is mounted, you will wish that you had six inch long ⅛ inch wide sticky tipped alien fingers and the ability to rest an eyeball on the top of the guitar so you can see upside down. A dental mirror is a reasonable substitute. If you don’t have a mirror, you probably did not read the prep section. Avoid having to use this by employing the musician and photographer’s best friend, a roll of gaffer tape. Gaffer tape is NOT duct tape. Buy some from your music or camera store or get it on Amazon. Gaffer tape sticks well but also comes off well and leaves no residue behind.
Once your strings are in the tailpiece, take a piece of gaffer tape and wrap it starting on the bottom around the back of the R opening and then across the top of the R in a U shape to hold the strings in the slots and the balls in the notches. Take the time to ensure that it holds things in place, or trust me, you will regret not doing so later.
Now flip the tailpiece over and mount it on the guitar. It will not lock in place until there is string tension, so use some more gaffer tape to hold it to the mount.
Now step away and take a short break.
Come back and check twice to ensure that the right strings are in the right slots and that everything looks right. Remember that Ric 12s have the pairs oriented in reverse to all other 12 strings. Now head over to Bill Baker’s video on his three finger method for handling the strings that go on the tuners inside the slots. I found this too late and it will make your life easier and avoid the strings going slack when you are winding them on and thus reduce the likelihood of a string break.
My method involves winding on all the strings that go into the slotted headstock tuners first. I found that doing them in order was a pain. Bill also recommends working from the outside in and I support this method, so go E A D, then E B G. Wind them on so they are snug, but not up to tune. Then go on to the strings that wind onto the upward facing posts. Give yourself enough slack on these guys to get at least three winds on the post. I tend to put an L in the string about 1.25” past the post and use that as a guide. Bill likes to lock his strings, I don’t do this, you should do whatever you are comfortable with but be sure to get those three winds on the post or you may not like the sound.
Once you are assured that the strings are sitting in the proper saddle position in the bridge and are tense enough not to move, replace the bridge cover.
Now tune up, and you will probably find it easiest to alternate sides, doing the low Es first then the high Es, then the As etc. Now go through whatever your normal stretching interval is and retune. Play fairly aggressively and retune. I found that with the Rickenbacker branded strings, my normal stretching method required four retunes before the strings held. This is more than I am used to but again, not a big deal.
You are now ready to play. Find some Byrds or Tom Petty or whatever and have at it. Don’t forget that bright clean channel and buckets of reverb!
Quick Look : Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster
Fender announced the Acoustasonic late in 2018 I think but I only saw one in real life for the first time about a month ago. The concept is very interesting. It’s an acoustic body with a soundhole, although very shallow, that also has a Telecaster style pickup near a definitely acoustic bridge setup. There’s a volume control, a mod control and a 5 position switch. At first glance it appears a bit confused about what it is, but what it is pretty darn agile.
The guitar, according to the folks at Anderton’s Music in the UK was designed by the same fellow who designed the T5 series while at Taylor. Where the T5 was an electric working at being an acoustic, the Acoustasonic is an acoustic working at being an electric. In my view anyway. The header image which is courtesy of Fender’s website, shows four of the variants and goes out of its way to make the point the the Acoustasonic is built in Fender’s California factory. That should mean superior quality, although I have never found an issue with any Fender product out of either the Mexico or outsourced Japan build locations. Being built in America does guarantee one thing, and that is a rather high price tag, relatively speaking.
The body shape is very Telecaster like, made from mahogany, but with a hollow interior that is visible via the sound hole. The sound hole is not merely a hole in the top but is interestingly sculpted into a funnel. The neck is a bolt on, and plays like a Telecaster and has the classic Tele headstock. The top of the guitar is Lutz spruce. There are three pickups. The first is a Fender Noiseless at the bridge, the second is a body sensing pickup to gather percussive rhythms as well as provide some ambience, and perhaps most innovative is the Fishman system. When I first played it, I noticed immediately that it was strung with acoustic strings, being Fender Dura-Tone 860CL strings 11-52s. They were a bit sticky, but that happens in guitar stores. A bit of Dunlop string cleaner and a wipe down would make a difference. The fingerboard is highly figured ebony, and I’m going to guess it;’s Macassar ebony because of the range of colouration in it. As I always do with any guitar, I played it completely acoustically for the first while. For me, a guitar has to have a really nice acoustic tone before considering pickups. Over forty years I have not been disappointed by using this method. What surprised me was the powerful acoustic voice that the guitar delivered. The thin body does not allow for the build of booming bass, but also does not create any tinniness in the high end. On its own, it’s really impressive and it is also incredibly lightweight. You could use this easily unamplified as a campfire guitar. Fender calls the design SIRS which stands for Stringed Instrument Resonant System. Whatever they call it, it works quite nicely.
The body is not precisely that of a Telecaster but is close. It differs in the chamfered upper rear bout which improves comfort and playability. The neck mount is relieved for easier access to the upper frets. The bridge is ebony with a Tusq saddle as are the bridge pins. The nut is Graph-Tech Tusq. The truss rod is a two way unit. The body finish is urethane.
The neck shape is a deep C neck profile, very much like you would find on a common Telecaster neck and has a 12 inch radius. My Teles all have V necks so this is a bit different for me. The satin finish is nice, but I would want to polish it up, and maybe even add some hard wax as I found the sample a bit sticky. I was not fond of the stock strings, but as we all know, string choice is a very personal thing. If it were mine I would likely swap these out for some type of coated acoustic string.
Don’t be expecting the sound of a “true” acoustic guitar. Sound needs space and the thin body does a great job but can only do so much. I played this side by side in an acoustic room at The Arts Music Store in Newmarket Ontario with a Boucher OM series acoustic. Both had mahogany bodies ands spruce tops. The Boucher was magical but only in direct comparison did the Acoustasonic come across as wanting. I should note that while I think the Acoustasonic is overpriced at about $2600 CAD, it was still over $1000 less than the Boucher. All things are relative.
I then plugged the Acoustasonic into one of Fender’s own Acoustasonic amplifiers. Here’s where some work needs to be done. The Acoustasonic needs a well-trained sales professional to take prospective buyers through its capabilities. It’s ability to have many voices when amplified reminds me very much of the Fishman Aura that I have in my acoustics rig. There is a lot in the guitar that is not immediately evident. I had to go online to really understand the capabilities and the video by Fender’s John Dreyer is a good start, but I also recommend the episode of Anderton’s TV featuring Lee and Danish Pete.
Fender calls the five position blade switch the voice selector. Each switch position can have two distinct voices controlled by the Mod knob, where one would normally find a tone control. The combination of the voice selector and mod knob is what makes me think of the Fishman Aura unit. The Mod knob offers an A and B voice and as you sweep from one end to the other, you mix the two voices. This is not click stop movements, it’s very smooth so you have great fine control for the room and the amp.
Position 5A emulates a dreadnought body with rosewood back and sides and sitka spruce top. Rolling into position 5B changes the body emulation to an Auditorium sized body and Alpine spruce top. While the Acoustasonic is really good purely acoustically, this is when you start to get the sense of what this guitar brings to the table.
Position 4A takes us to a small body emulation having maple back and side with an Engelmann spruce top. In my opinion, it is very accurate. Moving to position 4B we move to a dreadnought body with mahogany back and sides and a sitka spruce top, again very accurate in my opinion.
Position 3A is a dreadnought shape but this time with a Brazilian rosewood sides and back and sitka spruce top. Guitar nerds will say that Braz rosewood does sound different from Indian rosewood and I would agree. My D-28 is an old model made with brazilian rosewood and this emulation comes pretty close to it. Position 3B invokes the body sensor pickup so while the guitar emulation does not change, it now picks up your percussive touches on the body and definitely enhances harmonic overtones in a very pleasing way. In my opinion, if I were going for the sound of the braz rosewood, I would probably live in selection 3B just for those overtones.
Position 2A is a mic’d up mahogany dreadnought with sitka spruce top. Rolling to 2B invokes the bridge pickup for an electric tonality. Choice of amp will vary here.
Position 1A is a classic Tele sound and for this you will likely prefer an electric guitar amp. Position 1B is the fat Tele sound. The Dreyer video uses a lot of Fender branded effects here and I think we lose the real sense of the capability with the effects overplayed. I found this position, into an electric amp, (the excellent Fender Pro Junior) to sound very processed and I did not care for it myself.
It’s all these variants that I think requires a decent sales presentation in your music store. You won’t get this information easily at an online store, and unless you know the instrument already, an online buy could be a challenge for you.
There is only one output jack on the guitar, so if you will want to be able to do amp switching, I will recommend a decent ABY switching pedal to be part of your kit. Fender makes one, as one would expect. I use a Radial Bigshot ABY unit and find it to be consistently excellent. Fender’s Dreyer points out that if you do not have an acoustic amp, you can run the guitar directly into your PA rather than getting an acoustic amp and miking it up. I did not try this, but if I get an Acoustasonic for an offsite test, I will definitely do that with my Passport 500.
So was there anything that I did not like? I still think it is overpriced. It needs to drop below $2000 CAD to really get a fire under it. I would like to see a bit more attention to the finish on the back of the neck. I would also like to see a gloss option on the body as well as an option to get the guitar without the printed paper top layer. It feels cheap and looks cheap in real life. Colour is a personal decision but that snot green makes my teeth hurt. The sunburst is decent on screen but the sample that I saw live looked like one of those Gibson sunbursts from the early seventies where the sprayers worked blindfolded, it’s really heavy handed. In terms of getting information about the guitar, Fender’s website is terrible. Other than some pictures and a link to a single video, there’s nothing of consequence there. Perhaps they believe that there is margin in mystery, but it bugs me regardless.
I don’t think this is an every person’s guitar. My opinion, despite its work to be so many things is that the buyer is going to be a narrow vertical market. The price will encourage this. I am also disappointed that despite pricing it the same as their top line factory guitars, this guitar only comes with a gig bag* and not a proper hardshell case. Like the finish, it feels to me like they ran out of money about 85% of the way through the project and started skimping. I liked the guitar, although not enough to consider adding one to my collection. I wish Fender good fortune with it, because it is a step away from just doing the same things that they have always done. I also want to thank The Arts Music Store team for their patience while I did my research and test playing.
*please see my long review published in September 2019 for clarification of this