Jeff Loomis, Engl Amps & Rock House

Jeff Loomis- EXTREME LEAD GUITAR (Trailer 2)

Epiphone Announces The AJ-220SCE Acoustic/Electric Guitar

The Epiphone AJ-220SCE Acoustic/Electric Guitar

Superb Value and Performance! The Epiphone AJ-220SCE may be the best value in the acoustic/electric guitar industry today. Since the introduction in 1998 of Epiphone's Advanced Jumbo acoustics, the AJ-220SCE carries on the tradition of unequaled quality and performance for far less than you would expect to pay.

 

That Legendary "Advanced Jumbo" Sound! In 1936, Gibson introduced the "Advance Jumbo" (AJ) acoustic guitar. With it's one-inch wider 16" lower bout, rounded or sloped shoulder dreadnought shape and a 25.5" scale length, the AJ was a powerful flat-top referred to in later Gibson literature as an "acoustic cannon." Today, this legendary design is carried over with Epiphone's new AJ-220SCE acoustic guitar.

Balanced Tone that Rings Like a Bell. With it's bell-like shape featuring a larger lower bout and smaller, round upper bout, the AJ has a very focused and balanced tone. The bass is deep, rich and loud while the highs have a crispness and brilliance that cuts through. Most noticeable however, is the clear mid-range that's never muddy like the typical square-shouldered dreadnought. The result is an AJ acoustic guitar that's often been described as the perfect instrument for the soloist or singer/songwriter with a sound that blends with vocals. And, it's generous and elegant Venetian cutaway enables you to access the upper frets with ease.

 

Premium Electronics! The AJ-220SCE is equipped with Shadow's new "Performer Tuner(tm)" preamp and NanoFlex(TM) pickup system, and comes alive when plugged in. Made by Shadow Germany, the new Performer preamp features all the controls you need to tailor the sounds of your acoustic to suit your playing style, volume level and venue size. Professional features on this state-of-the-art preamp include a built-in chromatic Tuner, Master Volume, Bass, Treble, low Battery indicator and a Phase switch to help eliminate unwanted feedback. It also features a Tuner/Mute button which comes in handy when plugging in or unplugging your guitar. The preamp uses two 2032 lithium watch batteries that are not only lightweight, but provide significantly longer life than old-fashioned, heavy 9V batteries. Under the AJ-220SCE's compensated saddle, is Shadow's proprietary NanoFlex, low-impedance pickup. Not a piezo, this unique flexible sensing material features integrated active electronics and picks up not only string vibration but also top and body vibrations as well for a truly acoustic tone without the harshness of piezos.

 

Quality Materials and Construction! While the AJ shape plays a big role in it's signature sound, the AJ-220SCE benefits from the use of premium materials and traditional construction methods. The top is made of solid Sitka Spruce that not only sounds great right out of the box, but actually improves as it ages. Complementing this are back and sides made of select Mahogany fitted to a solid Mahogany neck. For great stability, tone and sustain, the neck is glued into the body using TiteBond(TM) glue and a traditional dovetail neck joint. Easy and comfortable to play, the neck shape or profile is Epiphone's classic 1960's SlimTaper(TM) D-shape with a smooth, fast satin finish.

Upscale Features! Not typically found on instruments in this price range, Epiphone packs even more value into the AJ-220SCE. Included is a bound fingerboard for a clean look and smooth feel, premium sealed die-cast tuners with 14:1 gear ratio for tuning accuracy and stability, a solid "reverse-belly" Rosewood bridge with compensated saddle for traditional looks and accurate intonation and a tortoise-colored pickguard with traditional metal "E" to protect the top against pick marks.

 

Peace Of Mind, Too: The AJ-220SCE comes with the Epiphone Lifetime Limited Warranty featuring Gibson 24/7/365 Customer Service and guarantees the guitar against defects in materials or workmanship. Now that's performance and VALUE!

 

Specifications

Top Material:	Solid Sitka Spruce
Body Material:	Select Mahogany
Neck Material:	Solid Mahogany with satin finish
Neck Shape:	SlimTaper(TM) D-Shape
Neck Joint:	Dovetail; Glued-In
Scale Length:	25.5"
Fingerboard Material:	Rosewood with "Dot" inlays
Fingerboard Radius:	12"
Trussrod:	Adjustable via headstock
Frets:	20; medium/jumbo
Binding:	6-Layer body; Front, 1-Layer; Fingerboard
Nut Width:	1-11/16"
Hardware:	Nickel
Machine Heads:	Sealed, Die-cast; 14:1 ratio
Bridge Pickup:	NanoFlex(TM) low-impedance pickup
Controls:	Shadow Performer Tuner(TM) Preamp, Master Volume, Phase (feedback cancellation), Treble EQ, Bass EQ, Tuner/Mute Button, Built-in Chromatic Tuner
Power:	Two 2032 Lithium Batteries
Bridge:	Solid Rosewood; Reverse-belly
Saddle:	Compensated; PVC
Pickguard:	Simulated Tortoise with metal "E"
Output Jack:	Metal Endpin Jack with 1/4" output
Strap Buttons:	Yes
Warranty:	Epiphone Limited Lifetime

Check it at http://epiphone.com

Rob Balducci's Lick Of The Week - Morley Maverick Wah Demo

This week I am demoing the new Morley mini switchless Maverick Wah pedal.

This is wah is awesome, has a great tone to it and is small so it fits better on your pedal board. As with all Morley's it does not suck your tone when plugged in your single chain. Simply to use, just put your foot on the pedal and it goes on, take your foot off and the pedal goes off. It is very quiet and the tone is vintage/modern. I have aready added it to my board and I love it! Make sure to check it out.

Thanks and stayed tuned www.robbalducci.com for info on my debut DVD coming out later this month on The Rock House Method, Innovative Guitar; Rock Beyond The Boundaries.

Rock,
RB

Gibson Explorer Vampire Blood Moon Review Presented by Rock House

Tony Pasko of Rockhouse Gear 411 Reviews The Gibson Explorer "Vampire Blood Moon"

Alexi Laiho In Your Face Guitar Lessons

Speakers 40% of your tone? Really!!!

Before we jump into this new article, I just wanted to say "Thank You" for all the wonderful e-mails I received... I know it's been a while since my last article and I want to apologize for that... I had no idea that they made such an impact on so many musicians...

2010 was a very busy year and you might have seen me on the road doing clinics for the new amp company Blackstar which was a blast... As of January 2011 Korg has signed on as their U.S. distributor, and it seems that I will continue my clinic tour with them...

I just got back from Texas where we hit a bunch of great dealers and had a wonderful time hanging with some great people...

I am working on a new record that I hope will be out this year, and I plan to share my studio experiences with all of you...

Rock House has been working on a new website that will make the Gear411 more interactive and there will be a Gear411 series of DVDs coming out this year as well...

Thank You again for all your support...

So let's get started; there are tons of great speakers in the market today and they all fit a function, but how do you know which one is the right one for you?

Speakers are one of the most overlooked elements about your guitar tone. Most of us spend an agonizingly amount of time tweaking and fine tuning our gear, we fuss with our amps EQ, add multi effects, buy pedals, swap out pick-ups.

All these things that you can use to help shape your guitar tone, but all of this comes down to one thing. How is that signal being represented through the speaker? 

The thing you want to consider is: What you like or dislike about your guitar tone very well could be the speaker, it is after all 40% of your tone. Picture your amplifier as a sports car. Now picture your speakers as the tires. The wrong speaker in an amp is like having bicycle wheels on your sports car. That’s how important the speakers are.

For this first article let’s start with basic speaker questions and wattage vs. volume.

Basic speaker info:

The wattage of the speaker will help lead you in a direction of how fast and how much you need your speaker to distort. Dividing the signal between a few speakers can make your amp’s tone change, but how loud do you need to be to achieve this? That’s the thing you really need to consider when choosing a speaker. A different speaker will make your amp sound and react differently, and some speakers are louder than others at the same wattage. So ask yourself these questions:

1)      How fast do I need the speaker to break-up

2)      How bright or dark does the speaker need to be

3)      How much low end does it need to handle

4)      Where do I want the mid range to sit

5)      Do I need multiple speakers with a different EQ

6)      How far do I need the speakers to throw

I know this is easier said than done and it requires listening to many speakers, which I promote. Knowing what is out there will help you fine tune you likes and dislikes; and being educated on what a speaker does will help eliminate wasting a lot of your time and money.

Wattage vs. Volume:

This is a huge misconception with musicians. These two ratings are not the same, 50 watts isn’t half as loud as 100 watts. Wattage really comes into play when you start considering your function, how many watts is going to produce the level of volume I need for A. Band practice, or B. playing a club etc…

Chart I answers this question:

Power in watts	Volume in dB
1	87
2	90
4	93
8	96
16	99
32	102
64	105
128	108
256	111
512	114

  

As you can see they are not the same at all. Lower wattage amplifiers can produce quite a bit of volume. The biggest thing it points out is that 60 watts is only 3db less in actual volume than 120 watts.

Amplifiers by nature distort the louder they go, so this brings up the point of how clean do I need to be at a certain volume, and how loud is 108db?

Chart II shows you how decibel levels translate to our everyday life: 

Decibels	Danger Zone
150	Jet Take-off
140	Gun Shot
130	Rock Concert
120	Band Practice
110	Dance Club
100	Factory
90	Subway
80	Busy Street
70	Restaurant
60	Conversation

 

Remember if you have a 120 watt head and a 4x12 with four 30 watt speakers, you have to turn up pretty loud to use your speakers correctly, and if you are playing in the average size bar, then maybe you have too much power for your function. You’ll have to turn down your amp and sacrifice tone, and we all know how that blows……

This is a little food for thought and now that we opened this Pandora’s Box we will pick-up next time with how speakers distort, and what’s good distortion and what’s bad distortion. Knowing what to listen for can make all the difference in the world when picking out the right speaker.

Cheers,

Tony J. Pasko