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