Tag: jimi hendrix

Best Overdrive Pedal

With so many overdrive pedals on the market, it is difficult to pinpoint which ones are the best as it’s highly a matter of personal taste. However, there are a few overdrives out there that are loved and highly respected by many (us included) that really are set apart from the rest. So lets take a look at some of the best overdrive pedals out there.

Klon Centaur

The Klon has been around since the mid-’90s and earned its reputation by being used by many famous acts including Jeff Beck, Metallica, and Pearl Jam to name a few. Many find the Klon to be one of the most transparent overdrives out there, so it tends to stack well with other pedals. Many also describe the it to be like its own little amp in a way, so it is great when faced against any amp. With the ability to get a beautiful clean boost, to a nice beefy sweet-sounding overdrive, there are many possibilities even with only its 3 controls (output, treble, drive). Some will use it as a treble booster and others to fatten up their tone. All and all, the Klon is the overdrive people that many put on the top of their list and if could only own one pedal, that would be it.

Ibanez TS-808 Tubescreamer

Next in line for best OD pedal is the TS-808, famously used by the late master blues guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Much like the name, the TS-808 makes your amp scream so-to-speak, that is it helps a tube amp get pushed. The result is a smooth overdrive, with the perfect amount of bite. I really like that it sounds organic and keeps your guitar tone well in tact, while adding all the right colors. If you are looking for an overdrive that can deliver a sizzling blues tone, than the TS-808 is it! View it on Amazon.

Marshall Bluesbreaker 1

While being a low gain pedal, the Marshall Bluesbreaker 1 (not to be confused with the 2nd reissue) has been used extensively by John Mayer. Word on the street is that he was even snatching many of them up on Ebay. Some describe the BB-1 as a one trick pony, but it does that trick very well. It delivers the definitive vintage Marshall tone reminiscent of players like Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. The Bluesbreaker of course really suits the blues, creating a smooth, fat, warm, on-the-edge-of-breakup tone that really has those nice subtle dynamics in the pick attack. Just a stellar pedal.

Well there you have it. These are what we feel are the best overdrive pedals out there. What do you think is the best overdrive? Feel free to post in the comments section.

How Ravi Shankar influenced some of the Best Guitarists

Ravi Shankar, who died on Tuesday will always be remembered for his virtuous sitar playing. As well, his influence to the pop world in the ’60s was quite notable on the playing and tone of some of the best guitarists including George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, and Robbie Krieger.

In 1967, Ravi Shankar was invited to the Monterey Pop Festival to play an afternoon raga. In the audience, Jimi Hendrix watched with concentration. Ravi’s exotic indian scales were coupled with his ability to create peace and oneness in the listener. In much of Hendrix’s later work, you can hear this influence of indian scales. There are even jams that Hendrix later recorded that featured sitars and tanpuras (an indian drone instrument).

If you look at Robbie Krieger of The Doors, there is lots of indian influence. This is most notable in the song The End. His solos have a very indian feel, along with the song having a 4-note mantra which repeats throughout in the composition, much like that of indian classical music. He even makes his guitar create sitar-like sounds in the way he bends notes.

With Jerry Garcia, he was a very experimental player who often mixed up blues, country, bluegrass, spanish guitar, and indian classical into a melodic transcending experience. According to Rolling Stone, he was also influenced by Ravi Shankar.

And of course I don’t even have to say how much Ravi influenced George Harrison. He even became his Guru in teaching him the sitar. George incorporated sitar playing on many well-known Beatles tracks such as Norwegian Wood, Love you to, and Within You Without You. The influence continues on other songs of his like The Inner Light and Krishna Gopala. George and Ravi collaborated on many projects over the years as well.

While Ravi Shankar may not have been the only indian influence to music in the west, he was certainly the one who brought it there. Not just Monterey, he also performed at Woodstock in  1969, and the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. His own music was so breath-taking and spiritual that it is oddly familiar to even those furthest away from indian classical music. May his music, love, and spirit always live on. Without a doubt, he was one of the most influential musicians of all time.

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix 70th Anniversary Tribute Series Pedals

Dunlop recently released their new Jimi Hendrix 70th Anniversary Tribute Series. The line includes 4 pedals based on what Hendrix was using in the late ’60s. All of the pedals (except the wah) are enclosed in a small footprint, making them pedalboard-friendly. In addition, these pedals are true-bypass. So lets take a look at these 4 pedals in detail.

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Limited Edition Fuzz Face 70th Anniversary

According to Dunlop, this pedal is supposed to be a faithful recreation of a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz from 1969-1970. If this is true, then it would be an amazing fuzz, thats for sure. The fuzz is built using BC108 Silicon Transistors. It would be interesting to see how close this pedal is to Dunlop’s JH-F1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz that has been on the market for some time. That pedal too uses the BC108 Silicon Transistors. Since the price point of these pedals are relatively similar, perhaps what’s on the inside is around the same as well. All in all, this 70th Anniversary Fuzz is a good price point for a pedal that will get you in Hendrix fuzz territory.

 

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Limited Edition Octavio 70th Anniversary Tribute Series

Again, Dunlop claims the Octavio to be an exact reproduction of Jimi’s octave-up pedal. As well, Dunlop also has the JH-OC1 Jimi Hendrix Octavio Pedal that been around as well, and features the cheese-wedge enclosure. The 70th anniversary features controls for Level, Fuzz, and DPDT on/off switch. Couple this pedal with a solid fuzz to drive it a bit, and some good octave up tones are to be had.

 

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Limited Edition Univibe 70th Anniversary Tribute Series

Probably the pedal most will be excited about is the legendary Univibe. This pedal gives that famous heartbeat to the guitar, with options for either chorus and vibrato settings. Controls for Speed, Depth and Level are included to shape those leslie-eque tones to your liking. Jimi famously used the Univibe pedal on Machine Gun, Isabella, and Hey Baby to name a few. This is the pedal to really add that psychedelic vibe to your rig.

 

Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Limited Edition Crybaby Pedal 70th Anniversary Tribute Series

Last but not least, a recreation of Jimi’s most popular pedal, the legendary wah. At the time, Jimi was using wahs made by Vox. Dunlop’s recreation is definitely more on the crybaby side of things. Enclosed in a sleek black aluminium body, the wah will help make your guitar sound more vocal. Jimi was the king at making his guitar talk, and the wah was a big factor in making this possible.

Well there you have it, the Jimi Hendrix 70th Anniversary Tribute Series. These pedals are indeed limited editions, so I would recommend to act fast if you are interested.

’60s Guitar Tone

Today’s article will teach you how to achieve vintage guitar tone of the 1960s. In this era, some of the best guitar players ever came into the spotlight such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, and many more. Not only are they incredibly talented players, they also had guitar tone that many today still desire. So lets look at elements of why their tone is the way it is, so you will know how you can get closer to that ’60s style tone yourself.

Guitars
If you are using Schecters or Ibanez guitars (with the exception of copies), most likely you won’t get that vintage tone. The guitars used in the ’60s include Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, and Gretsch. Of course there are many others, but these were very notable at the time, especially the Stratocaster and Les Paul. Also in this era, the electronics were different then they are today. So if you want to make your modern day guitar more vintage-sounding, try installing low-output pickups.

Amps
During the ’60s, digital didn’t exist. The amps used during this period were tube amps. In Britain, Marshall and Vox amps were very popular, specifically the Marshall Bluesbreaker and Plexi amps, and the Vox AC amps. You can find Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton using the Marshall Plexi amplifiers, while the Beatles were partial to the Vox amp (in the early ’60s). In the west, Fender Amps definitely were the most popular. These days, vintage amps can run you thousands of dollars. Check out old Traynor amps which replicated sounds of both Fender and Marshall at the time, but at a fraction of the cost. If you have a newer amp, you can change out the stock tubes with NOS tubes (new old stock) to get that vintage tone. While NOS tubes are expensive, you can with one pre-amp tube in V1 of your amp will have the most dramatic effect on tone. Mullard and RCA are among the best in the NOS tube world.

Pedals
Again, no digital pedals in this era. You want to look for analog pedals. Around the late ’60s, Fuzz pedals made their way onto the scene. If you want a 1967 style fuzz, which can be defined as warm, fat and creamy, look for a fuzz with Germanium transistors. If you want that more aggressive, in-your-face fuzz tone, go with the silicon transistors. Other pedals that became popular in the ’60s are Wahs, Octave, and of course the legendary Univibe.

So there you have it. Mix tube amps, with legendary guitars (with low output pickups), and pedals from this era, and you’ll get much closer to that ’60s guitar tone.

Best Marshall Amp

Finding the best Marshall amp is easy. All you have to do is look at some of rock’s greatest guitarists and see which Marshall they use. But nevertheless, we are making it easy for you by letting you know which Marshall amps we think are the best. We’re gonna break it down into categories..

Best Marshall Head
The award for best Marshall head goes to the Marshall Plexi Superlead. Used by the greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eddie Van Halen, this amp is sure to be number 1, quite possibly of any amp ever! The most ideal would be a late 60s’ model. Amp makers such as Metropolis and Germino do a good job at recreating these amps during that era.

Best Marshall Combo
The award for best Marshall combo amp goes to the Marshall Bluesbreaker. This amp is a beast, and was used by Eric Clapton in the early years. Lots of Marshall tone, with transportation being much easier than a half stack.

Best Marshall Cab
The best Marshall cabinet is hard to say, since it depends on the speakers loaded. As for the cab itself, we like the old basketweave and pinstripe cabs. Not easy to find today.. luckily Metro Amps offers both. As for speakers, we like the old pre-rola Celestion Greenbacks. Smooth creamy goodness!

Best Home Marshall Amp
For the lower wattage, home-friendly Marshall amp, the award of course goes to the Marshall Class 5. A great little amp with lots of tone. Half way up the dial gives nice cleans, and cranked gives that signature Marshall rock tone.

Well there you have it, the best Marshall Amps by category.

Fender Japan 1968 Reissue Stratocaster Review

Todays review is on one of my favorite guitars I own, a Fender MIJ 1968 Reissue Strat. If you are familiar with this guitar, you know thats its not easy to attain as they aren’t made anymore. I had actually gotten lucky. One day I was gas-ing for this strat in particular and decided to check Ebay to see if any were listed. I had done this in the past, but only found one or two that were very overpriced due of the rarity of the instrument. But on this particular day, there happened to be one for about $500 or $600.

There was one catch however: it was a lefty strat. Being a big fan of Jimi Hendrix, I took the opportunity to flip the guitar upside down and play it that way. It was a ’68 strat after all. After another couple hundred to cover shipping, taxes, and a new nut for the reversing, this strat was ready to play!

The neck on the 1968 reissue strat is probably the best features on the guitar all together! Reason being is that its maple capped. What this means is that instead of the neck being all one-piece maple, the maple fretboard is separate and glued on, much like a rosewood fretboard strat. This was only done around this time period in the late 60s’. The result is one of the smoothest necks I’ve ever played on. Two things to note, the neck is extremely thin, which is ideal for fretting with your thumb a la Hendrix. The other notable is that the neck features vintage frets. The fret wire is thinner and smaller than the fret wire used today. I prefer this and find that it contributes to the vintage tone.

The tone of the 68′ strat is very very good. Some notes on the electronics: Many Japanese guitars are quite amazing, but are not usually known for their electronics. What I did is change out the pots and cap for a vintage electronics kit from RS Guitarworks. This really improved the overall tone and usability of this strat. The pickups are very very good though, and I am very happy with the tone they produce. Though I would consider some boutique pickup options is you are really trying to nail the 1968 tone exactly. But don’t worry, the stock pickups do enough justice.

Overall, I gotta say, this is a very very fine instrument, better than the majority of American Made Fender guitars made today (with the exception of the Custom Shop of course). I spent around $750ish in total for a guitar that is worth double that. Right now, it is my main stage guitar. The cleans are sparkling, and when it gets dirty, there is a very nice growl. If you are looking for the Hendrix guitar without shelling out the big bucks, this is it!

Fender 1968 Reissue Strat Sound Clips:

Blues Through a Fender Blues Deluxe

Coily Cables and Guitar Tone

Today’s post is a short one. I wanna quickly talk about using coily cords. Many will say that it is really just cosmetic for that vintage look, but truth be told, there is an effect on tone. With coiled cables, the capacitance is raised, thus rolling off some of the high end. This is great especially if you like to crank your amps without the treble being too ear piercing.

A good way to find a good coily cable is to check your local music store and actually hold it. I say this because if the cable is heavy, then it is the right kind. There are plenty of cheap knockoffs on the market, including fender-made ones that are light and have a great deal of noise. Some good boutique coily cables are Bullet Cables and Lava Cables.

Interesting fact, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan both used coiled cables. No wonder these two guitarist have some of the most sought after tone!

Xotic EP Booster Review

Today’s review is on a pedal that I’ve now owned for about a year, the Xotic EP Booster. Extremely simple to use, this pedal only has one dial. So what does this pedal do exactly? Well its a pre-amp, but not just any pre-amp. This particular pre-amp is modeled after the one that would be found in an old Echoplex. Truth be told, many great guitarist like Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen would use an Echoplex, minus the echo. Why? Well it coloured the tone a bit, gave it a boost, and all around just produced an extra shimmer or sparkle if you will. Just take a close look at the features of this pedal…

There are many ways to use the Xotic EP Booster. One way is kick it on for solos to give your lead a little extra boost and thickness to stand out in the mix. Another way is to leave it on all the time, making your tone fatter. Other people like to stack the EP Booster with overdrive and fuzz pedals to make the sound a bit more powerful. Personally, I like to use it as a clean boost. Really there are a variety of ways to use the EP Boost, you just gotta experiment.

If you are a strat player who plays through Fender amps, you know that sometimes you would love a Marshall because of the great midrange it provides. But you are not willing to give up those glorious Fender cleans. Thats where the EP Booster comes in. Give its that Marshall style fattening, while maintaining the great cleans of the amp.

If you open up the EP Booster, you’ll notice that there are two internal dip switches to customize the tone a bit. The first switch (1) is a bass boost, and the second (2) is a bright switch. I found having the bright switch on really made a Les Paul come to life. Many like the bass boost for a Strat. Also I forgot to mention, that the main dial on the EP Booster controls the intensity of the effect. Cranking that dial means more output.

Overall, I must say that I really like this pedal. I especially like its small size, making it really easy to travel with. Sometimes when I’m going to small jams, I pack this pedal right in my guitar case, so my tone stands out a bit at the jam, without the need to carry a huge pedal board. Also, I should mention that this pedal has a pretty great price at $115US (see it on Amazon). If you haven’t already had a chance, try an Xotic EP Booster.. you might find it’ll add that extra punch that your tone was looking for.

Fender Standard Stratocaster Review

As one of the most famous electric guitars of all time, the Fender Stratocaster does it all. With 3 single coil pickups, strats can give you some smooth blues to a country twang. You can find this guitar in literally any genre. Lets take a closer look..

Used by some of the greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Eric Clapton, many are fully aware of the Strat’s ability to be a rocking blues machine. And the best part of this guitar is that it allows your characteristics to come through in your playing, whereas a guitar with humbucking pickups (such as a Gibson Les Paul) tend to sound similar from player to player.

The Stratocaster is equipped with one volume and two tone controls. One set controls the neck pickup, and the other set controls the middle pickup. Along with these controls comes a 5-way pickup selector. You can either play each pickup separately or team up the middle pickup with either the bridge or neck pickup. You’ll see a lot of mods online to be able to use the bridge and neck pickup together.

The majority of strats are made of alder in the body, and the neck is usually maple with either a rosewood or maple fret board. There has always been a big debate as to which fretboard wood is better. Simply put, some people prefer rosewood and others prefer maple. Maple is said to have a bit of a brighter sound. You’ll notice that in the last two years of Jimi Hendrix’s life, he primarily used 2 strats, both with maple boards.

If you want to make the best of your strat tone, then you should run it through a tube amp. Strats tend to pair up well with Marshall amps, particularly the Marshall Plexi, equipped with at least a 4×12 cab. You’ll see Hendrix rocking a row of 100w Plexis in live situations. But, we can’t forget how well strats pair with Fender Amps. Many consider blackfaced fender amps from the 60s to be some of the greatest amps of all time. I personally like a Fender Deluxe Reverb, or a Vibrolux Reverb. Once you have found your desired amp, the secret to getting amazing tone, is to crank the amp up. That means a whole lot of volume. The reason being is that it gets the tubes nice and hot and adds a lot of natural harmonics to your tone. If you are playing in an apartment or somewhere that can bother your neighbours, you may want to consider a Fender Champ coming in at 5 watts. These amps still give unbelievable tones when cranked.

All I can say is that the Fender Stratocaster is probably my favorite electric guitars, and as a blues player, it gives me that elusive tone I’ve been looking for. If you haven’t already, run to your local music store to play one. You won’t regret it! View the Fender American Standard Stratocaster on Amazon.