Mark Drum Yes! Electronic Drumkit Review

When Italian company Mark aka ‘Mark Bass & DV Mark’ release a new product you stop and pay attention.

YES! Mark Drum has released the Yes! A ground up design of what they believe a digital drum kit should feel and sound like and as critical as I am of electronic drum kits I was a tad impressed.

First thing that took my eye was the bussed drum stand design using RJ11 connectors, I couldn’t help myself but plug in a phone, nothing happened…  but that’s beside the point. I love how clean it looks and the flexibility it allows you in regards to pad placement. The patented “smart pad” design means the signals are processed inside the pad which allows you to plug the pad into any of the RJ11 connections on the frame and the sound module will know what it is.

As is always a preference of mine, the kit adopts the use of your own hi hat stand and bass drum pedal.  You can expand your Yes! with additional pads which can be assigned within the module. The module gives you 8 standard inputs and 4 additional inputs, Midi in/Midi out, aux in, headphone and usb connectivity. 

Once I’d tended to the setting up of the kit, which was fairly painless I immediately started playing the bass drum pad. Although my first impressions of the rubber style pad with a reversed beater where negative it completely surprised me and turned out to be the best electronic bass drum pad I have ever played. The mesh pads weren’t anything revolutionary but if anything actually made you work a little harder than other makes, which I enjoyed.

The sounds were impressive and quite possibly the best I’ve heard! Forever I have wanted to hear more natural representations of drum sounds and a more familiar balance of those sounds from an electronic kit. I had someone comment on how they thought the crash cymbal was really loud, to which I replied “but that’s what happens on an acoustic kit doesn’t it?” Mark Drum have gone for a much more “acoustic hearted” approach accounting for right hand and left hand hits with an impressive 512 levels of velocity.

Now for the really good news! The sounds do not stop at the 24 pre-set kits Mark Drum give you, towards the end of this year (don’t quote me on this) Mark Drum will be releasing artist series kits for upload to your modules giving you access to more sounds in future.

So have Italian company Mark delivered once again? YES!

For those who need the flexibility to make standard std phone calls via there digital drum kit stand.

Not for those who want to play the Purdy shuffle

8.5/10

Review by Danny Yoghurt

All the way from Akron, Ohio we are now stocking Earthquaker Devices Effects Pedals.

 

 Click here for more info
http://earthquakerdevices.com/

Gretsch G6122-1962 Country Gentleman Review

George Harrison!

That is the only time I will mention George Harrison for the remainder of this review.
The Gretsch G6122-1962 is an accurate reissue of an early sixties Country Gentleman model delivering all the charm, knobs, switches, painted f-holes, zero fret, standby switch, back pad, bigsby tremolo and mutes of the original.

The guitar presents beautifully straight out of the supplied Gretsch case, the finish is first class and the setup from the Gretsch factory borderline perfect. All the knobs and switches could be viewed as needless overkill however if you invest the time into understanding their purpose, can be very useful tone shaping tools.

For those of you in the dark as to the Gretsch controls layouts I will know do my best to explain…
The two switches at the top left are your 3 way pickup selector and 3 way tone switch (no tone knob on Gretsch) Middle position being no tone circuit with the upper and lower positions giving you various tone roll-off. The switch on the bottom right is a standby switch which basically switches the entire electronics circuit in and out (kill switch type scenario).

The two knobs next to the standby switch are your separate pickup volume controls for neck and bridge, giving you a blend facility when selected on middle position on the pickup selector.
The lonesome knob dwelling below the pick guard on the lower left wing of the guitar is your master volume. This gives you direct volume control over any pickup selection and individual volume knob settings.

Confused? Back shortly I need to go fix myself a yerba mate to see if it made any sense?
So what does it sound like you ask? A Gretsch I say? And what does a Gretsch sound like? The newer model Japanese made Filtertron pickups are loud and clear delivering high fidelity chime with a semi-hollow character.With the higher output of these pickups compared to vintage Filtertron offerings you can drive your amp more aggressively which results in a very rewarding sound useable across quite a variety of styles. Combine this with the painted f-holes, which assist in avoiding any potential feedback problems often associated with hollow body guitars, and you have a unique sounding guitar that can hold its own not just in its stereotyped “rockabilly” genre.

Most people I speak to before they pick up a Gretsch guitar often have the idea that it will be a hard instrument to play but then are pleasantly surprised when they feel the slim neck profile, comfortable scale and string tension and light weight body. The back pad is also a nice touch, if not comforting certainly a visual delight not to mention giving allowing much easier access to electronics which for the most part with hollow designs is a nightmare.

In comparison to other brand hollow body equivalents this guitar represents extremely good value for money. If you consider what features you are getting along with the fact that hollow body guitars for the most part are more dollars than solid designs this guitar deserves serious consideration.

For those who need more guitars
Not for those who like orange Gretsch  guitars

9/10
 

Review by Danny Yoghurt.

Way Huge Electronics Ringworm Review

Where do you start with an effect like the Ring Modulator? It’s essentially the musical equivalent of Charlie from that ‘wildcard’ episode of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’; always unpredictable and always ready to destroy everybody else’s fun. Well that’s at least how it portrays itself on the surface.

For those of you unfamiliar with the effect, what it basically does is multiply your original signal with that of a modulated signal and reproduces them at harmonic intervals both regular and irregular. This in turn creates tones that range from bell like gongs, robot vomits, Bermuda triangle ride sounds, sci-fi nightmare squeals, alien computer jargon and most famously used by Dr Who’s nemesis The Daleks who would scream ‘Exterminate!’ .

As per usual with Way Huge Electronics, they give you control over many parameters. With the Ringworm we can select five different LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) waveforms:

- Envelope Follower (responds to volume/attack of playing)

- Random (unpredictably jumps between seven different frequencies).

- Square Wave (jumps between two frequencies)

- Step Sine Wave (Sequences up down through seven pitches)

- Sine Wave (Moves smoothly through two pitches)

We also have width and rate controllers that adjust the range and speed of the LFO accordingly. We have a frequency knob that adjusts the pitch of the internal oscillator and finally your best friend – the blend knob.

This is where this pedal and effect in general goes from the aforementioned alien/robot/Dr Who/See anything sci-fi related sounds to a very interesting tone sculpting tool. This is where the wild card goes from the guy who’s ruining everybody else’s fun by pissing in the pool to the guy that inspired the skinny dipping in the spa.

By fine tuning the blend control we can adjust these otherworldly and alien sounds to create underpinning tones that off set that generic guitar sound you might be working with. A perfect tool for sculpting those unique guitar sounds that can be heard on so many records – think Radiohead’s ‘Bodysnatchers’ or The National’s ‘Lemonworld’ as recent examples.

Patience is really the most important part of using an effect like this and Way Huge make a quite unpredictable effect about as intuitive and sculptable as it can be. So if you’re looking for pedal you can turn on a jam away then steer well clear.

If you like your guitar sounds thick and rich and accompanied with John Bonham drums then the Ringworm will probably make it hard for you to sleep at night. But if the idea of offsetting your standard guitar sound excites you and you fancy yourself a bit of a sonic architect then the Way Huge Electronics Ringworm might be the little shade of ‘field-gray’ you didn’t know you were after.

For anyone who wants to make peace with the aliens that bring our impending doom on December 21, 2012

Not for anyone who listens to John Mayer

Review by Gary Milk

8/10

Earthquaker Devices Hummingbird Review

I must confess I am a big fan of pedals that don’t typically do what you would expect them to and offer a unique point of difference and spin on what is otherwise a standard effect. The effect in question is Tremolo and this I can say is not your typical Tremolo.

Jamie’s designs at Earthquaker Devices follow this thought process of treating the effect in a non-generic way to create unique and interesting versions of effects that to me inspire a different approach to your playing and writing.

This “repeat percussions” device has been labelled as a more choppy and hard tremolo, similar in many ways to the old Vox Repeat Percussion. This was certainly noticeable when comparing it to my old Dunlop Tremolo; the Dunlop delivered slower and faster trem rates but didn’t have the definite character and more pronounced attack that the Hummingbird did.

The Dunlop had me playing your typical tremolo material which it works great for whereas the Hummingbird was making me want to write a new album or at least a small list of B sides.

The controls at a glance:

Depth- controls amount of modulation just a touch to full chop

Rate- speed of the LFO

Level- input/output level – Yes it has a level control!

Mode- fast/slow switch for LFO rate

I tend to steer clear of really fast modulation rates on most effects but the ‘fast mode’ on the Hummingbird was very interesting. I found myself far too often using this to shape really great guitar sounds similar to that of which you would achieve with a ring modulator pedal. With the level control at 11 o’clock the output delivered matched my Les Paul, which leaves plenty of headroom left to boost your signal if desired.

One of my favourite things about this pedal was that as you increased the depth control it moves the repeats into a very noticeable vintage synth style oscillation which gives this pedal its unique character unlike many other Tremolos on the market.

If you’re after a tremolo pedal which has more character than you can poke a stick at and confuse people as to what instrument you are playing this might just be the device for you.

For anyone who doesn't like tremolo

Not for anyone who has their name on the back of their underwear

Review by Danny Yoghurt

9.5/10

Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalt Strings Review

ERNIE BALL SLINKY COBALT STRINGS 

First of all let’s knock the chemistry lesson on the head… Cobalt (Co), atomic number 27, is a chemical element found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal. So it’s not very often we see a new technology come along for guitar strings but Ernie Ball have done just that releasing their new Cobalt series strings.

So why have our helical spring loving friends at Ernie Ball felt it necessary to start using this new formulation to make guitar strings? The idea is to create a stronger magnetic pull between the strings and the guitar pickups, which yields two important benefits over standard nickel & steel strings:
1. Higher output
2. Increased frequency response

So what did I discover? I cannot but mention upon opening the hermetically sealed packet the heavy scent of cobalt metal that wafted from within compared to your more standard nickel & steel offerings. I was not thrown, but it did give me the idea of perhaps some scented string options in future? The strings themselves felt different to the touch not unlike when you spray finger ease on your strings, this did leave me curious as to possible playability differences.

The strings delivered on all fronts, Cobalt is highly magnetic compared to steel & nickel which certainly translated in a livelier, punchier, brighter output on both clean and dirty tones. It seemed more noticeable on single coil pickups namely the wound strings giving increased low end response, as you pushed gain levels in the upwards direction they seem to retain more individual string clarity when playing chords and give you an apparent difference in output through the pickups.

On hum buckers the difference was less noticeable however delivered a sense of increased touch sensitivity, bass response and output. The strings stabilised really well and tended to hold very good tune, with a satisfyingly nice silky feel and playability.

In summary if your single coil pickup guitars are lacking excitement or you’re a rock & metal player looking for an easy enhancement to push your preamp harder the new Ernie ball cobalt’s might well be the string you’ve been looking for.

8.5/10

Review by Danny Yoghurt

Click here for more info 

Maton ER90C Review

MATON ER90C ACOUSTIC/ELECTRIC GUITAR

We’re proud folk us Australians.The kind of proud folk that claim constellations as our own and get them permanently stained to our bodies to make sure everybody else knows exactly how proud we are. The kind of proud folk who at sporting events crown the successful competitors ‘Honorary Australians’ because if we’re not going to win, it may as well be the honorary Aussies.

And the kind of proud folk that will buy Australian made over US made, regardless of the price.  Depending on the person, some of these characteristics will be viewed in a positive and some in a negative light but one thing rings through regardless – we like to think we’re the best and the luckiest folk in the world.

Any Australian who reads this can relate to having at least once walked into a pub around the country to hear some guy in the corner, acoustic guitar in hand singing something along the lines of ‘My Happiness’ or ‘Eagle Rock’. On almost all of these occasions you may or may not have noticed that this person was holding an Australian made Maton guitar.

By a long stretch Maton Guitars are the most widely gigged instruments in Australia and this isn’t purely due to patriotic Australians refusing to explore different options. They are fantastic working guitars.

Maton guitars characteristically have a focused mid-range that really cuts through in a band environment. That accompanied with their AP-5 pickup and really solid build quality make for the perfect working instrument. What Maton’s do lack however is depth. The guy singing ‘Working Class Man’ in the corner of Bridie O’Reilly’s immediately exchanges his Maton for his Martin or Gibson the minute he goes into the studio, as these classic acoustic guitars offer a richer and grander tonality along with huge character that goes a long way in the studio.  This is where Maton’s new model comes in.

It’s a rarity in Maton world that a new model comes along, so we were a touch excited when we got the news. Their new ER90C offers an acoustic guitar with a solid AA spruce top, AP5 pickup and solid Indian Rosewood back and sides; the characteristics of Indian Rosewood being the key ingredient here.

This timber is generally regarded as the most popular ‘up-range’ tone wood with characteristics that are dark but very rich. The low end is very pronounced and full but also with very clear tops, overall an extended EQ spectrum to that of other timbers.

Maton already offer a few different models with solid Indian Rosewood but at higher price points. The idea with the ER90C is that it fits the budget of the working musician but also has the rich tonal qualities that make it the perfect crossover guitar to take from the gig to the studio.

So does it hold up?

Whilst there is a deeper bellow to the guitar and it does host a richer tonal flavor than its closest sibling the ECW80C, it still doesn’t have the character of the aforementioned Martin’s and Gibson’s that are so often favored in the studio environment.

But it also doesn’t sell for nearly as much, nor do those guitars have a pickup and therefore aren’t useable in most live scenarios. So next time you’re finishing off ‘Most People I Know’ and are flustered by knowing you have to run home to get your other guitar before going to your studio session in Fairfield, maybe consider investing your Friday night residency cheque on an ER90C.

7.5/10

Review by Gary Milk

Click here for more info

Steinberg CMC Transport Controllers Review

STEINBERG CMC TRANSPORT CONTROLLERS

Being a long term Cubase user I was a touch excited when my Steinberg brethren informed me of the new CMC Transport series controllers for Cubase software.

There are 6 different controller configurations to choose from, all taking care of a range of functions for mixing and production.  These are a welcome addition to the seemingly expanding Steinberg hardware range of products.

What do they do? They are a series of controllers that allow you to edit and manipulate different functions within your recording software in real-time. However I do say ‘recording software’ rather loosely. Although these controllers can essentially be assigned to any software you like their layout is very Cubase specific and therefore much more functional with this than anything else.  The functions allow you to control different features such as play, stop, record, loop, jog etc (depending on which unit) with the idea of streamlining the entire process.

The main unit in testing is the transport control version.  Installation proved simple and upon opening up a previous Cubase session my controller was ready to go. The illuminating lights were very pleasing to the eye and the soft yet convincing button touch was of a solid standard.

Can I run multiple CMC controllers you ask? Of course you can but I would seriously recommend a USB hub, there is in fact no way of linking units internally and the only possible way of connection is via a single USB socket per controller.

Unfortunately I fail to see how you could realistically only get away with picking one particular unit to cover a majority of Cubase workflow which to some may seem a negative, however Steinberg are offering extension frames for grouping multiple units together which will keep your environment tidy and your mum happy.
In summary, will you have to wrestle me away from my mouse? Well maybe not just yet…

6.5/10

Review by Danny Yoghurt

Click here for more info

Earthquaker Devices

Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster Review

SQUIER J MASCIS JAZZMASTER
 

“Hi how are you going I’m thinking of learning how to play electric guitar”
“Well great you’ve definitely come to the right place, did you have a certain budget in mind?”
“I do, as little as possible”
“Ok no worries, first we’ll start with what kind of sound you’d like in a guitar. Do you prefer the classic rock sounds of guitarists like Angus Young and Jimmy Page or maybe the bluesy tones of Eric Clapton and John Mayer?”
“Not really any of those guys to be honest”.
“Metal? Punk?”
“Nope. I’m actually really into the warped tremolo arm sounds of Kevin Shields and feedback laden experiments of Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo”
“I’m sorry sir, when these guitars were bought by your heroes they were relatively cheap. The cheapest one I have now is $1000”
“That’s bulls*#t!”
“Correct”

For years the budget conscious guitarist has been denied access to some of rocks most iconic guitars – Fenders offset waist Jaguars and Jazzmasters. “But what about the Squier Vintage Modified series and Fender Blacktop series?” I hear you say. Yes, whilst these do host the name of these guitars, they are far from the actual guitars we know and love. They have different bridge setups, pickup configurations and are often without their most well known feature – the tremolo arm. We often hear stories of the iconic Jag and Jazzmaster players of old picking up these guitars for mere pocket change at thrift stores. These days though guitarists need to shell out $2500 (street price) for the USA Vintage Reissue guitars and even over $1000 +  for the Mexican Classic Players and Japanese issue instruments. You’d think then that a budget friendly Chinese made Squier Jazzmaster wouldn’t stand up against its more glamorous siblings. Well then think again…

After already having his own ‘Fender’ branded Jazzmaster, its quite clear in the build quality of this guitar that for Dinosaur Jr frontman and alt-rock guitar hero J Mascis, if he was going to have a Squier branded instrument, it needed to be pretty special. It’s stated on Fender’s overview of the guitar that Mascis has specified the “pickups, hardware and finish”. On this note the vintage white finish with anodized gold pickguard have a much more traditional look to that of Mascis’ previous Purple Sparkle Jazzmaster and the specs of this guitar alike are sure to please those traditionalists out there.

The guitar is equipped with vintage style tuners with split tops for string insertion that hold there tune quite well even when using the tremolo arm. The floating tremolo on this guitar is without the trem-lock switch, which does mean the guitar will go out of tune if a string is broken. In the same vein as the Blacktop and Classic Player Jazzmaster’s the tailpiece is shifted forward closer to the bridge. Whilst this does remove some of the overtones that helped characterize that vintage Jazzmaster sound, it does increase sustain and decrease the likelihood of strings jumping out of their saddles due to the heightened string angle. This accompanied with the Adjusto-Matic bridge enhance the usability of this guitar which is a huge plus on an entry level instrument. The satin finished C neck plays beautifully and the 9.5” radius and jumbo frets once again do make this guitar a bit more user friendly. Traditionally basswood is a relatively dark sounding timber, however even acoustically this guitar sounds quite resonant. The pickups are bright and lively, not too dissimilar to the ‘hotter’ pickups found in the Classic Player Jazzmasters. They do lack a little in the low end in comparison to the aforementioned model and are definitely not as warm and vintage sounding as the US model. The difference between the neck pickup and rhythm circuit also isn’t as varied as some of the other guitars. That aside, they are still quite characterful and definitely are more tonally rich and usable in higher applications than the price point suggests.
This is without question the best Squier guitar I’ve played. The Classic Vibe series Strat’s and Tele’s are fantastic but I still question whether they would hold their own in a ‘pro’ environment, this will be no problem here. It feels nicer to play than the Japanese issue Jazzmaster’s and the difference tonally between these and the Mexican Classic Player’s is minimal at best. Whilst the USA 1962 reissues still reign comfortably supreme over the J Mascis Jazzmaster, you also expect they would at more than four times the price. It’s been a long time coming for a guitar like this and now those who want to experience the unique world of Fender offset guitars on a budget price can. I’m sure Fender are going to be selling these by the truckload and one can only hope there’ll be an equivalent Jaguar model in the pipeline soon as well. With the 50^th anniversary of the Jaguar this year and Johnny Marr and Kurt Cobain signature models being recently released maybe it’ll be sooner than we think. Maybe they’ll honour an Australian. Roland S. Howard anyone?

For those who are struggling to find any string behind the bridge on a Telecaster.
Not for those who think Yngwie Malmsteen’s ‘Rising Force’ album is a landmark point in the history of guitar playing.

4 Cardigans out of 5

Review by Gary Milk

http://worldofmusic.com.au/Products.asp?ProdID=3146&CatID=6&SubCatID=182