New amp gear - Zinky Superfly head

Let me start this one out with a small soapbox... I'll be the first to admit that I've owned a lot of gear over the years, perhaps (some would argue) even too much gear. Some of it has downright sucked; some of it has served its purpose for a couple of years. But rarely does a piece of gear come along that sounds so good that I become an immediate evangelist, zipping from forum to forum to tell the world of my killer find. This post is about one of those pieces of gear...

The latest (but probably not the last) amp acquisition coming out of the "Great Egnater Downsizing of 2008" is kind of an anomaly... sort of a high-tech boutique amp... the Zinky Superfly. It quite possibly could win the award for "campiest-sounding amp name ever". :) The Superfly is the creation of Bruce Zinky, who worked for the Fender Custom Shop for several years (has several amps to his credit, including the Prosonic) before starting his own company. Zinky has since produced several amps including the Blue Velvet, MOFO, Supro series, and Smokey amps (which are the size of a pack of cigarettes).

The Superfly is far & away the most high tech of all the Zinky creations... it's a MIDI programmable amp, similar to the H&K Switchblade or Mesa Triaxis. The Superfly has 6 uniquely voiced channels (clean, vintage, blues, rock, fusion, overdrive), can store/recall 32 user presets via MIDI, has programmable tube reverb, and pumps out 120 watts (!) using four Sovtek 5881's. While it's not quite as high-tech as the Switchblade (e.g., no digital effects), it does have one cool feature that the Switchblade lacks... global bass & treble controls (not clear if they're in the preamp or power amp section) that can be used to quickly adjust the amp's tone to a particular cabinet and/or room--an extremely helpful feature on any amp with presets.

So how does it sound? In a word, AWESOME. Honestly, I can't remember an amp I've owned recently that immediately clicked with me like this. I wired it up through my Randall 2x12" cab with Celestion Classic Lead 80's. The clean tones are just that... CLEAN and warm, nicely compressed, with fatter tones available on the clean channel and brighter tones available on the vintage channel... definitely some of the best clean tones I've ever played. The blues & rock channels step up the gain, once again providing warm, fat, slightly compressed tones--not the typically Marshall-esque crunch, but more reminiscent of a Mesa Mark rhythm channel. The fusion channel continues the trend (more gain, still warm + fat + compressed) making for singing lead tones. Finally, the overdrive channel adds a bit more grit to the mix, yet remains consistent with the Superfly's overall smooth character.

Dialing in great tones was a piece of cake; I was hard-pressed to dial in a bad tone... no matter what I did to the knobs the amp retained its fat, warm, smooth character. While some folks may find the amp to be too compressed, I love it... it practically plays itself, whether at high-gain settings on the fusion channel or at pristine settings on the clean channel. It reminds me of everything I liked about the Mesa Triaxis (warm, fat, compressed tones) but is simpler to dial in; cranking up the global bass control isn't much different from engaging the 2:90's DEEP mode, either. Compared to the recently-acquired H&K Switchblade, it's just different... the Superfly sings, while the Switchblade has more crunch to it. Perhaps the Superfly is more suited to my guitars & style of playing... the Switchblade is fun to play, but the Superfly is way too hard to stop playing.

Um, picture time... here's the Superfly with the aforementioned H&K Switchblade head and Randall R212CS cabinet:



All in all, this is one for my "Top 10 Pieces of Gear I've Ever Owned" list. Oh, wait, I don't have a list like that, but clearly I should. More to come as I get more time to explore the Superfly... perhaps this week I'll sneak it onto a couple of the Necessary Distraction tracks we recorded last Tuesday.

--B

New amp gear - Hughes & Kettner Switchblade head

The first new amp purchase coming out of the "Great Egnater Downsizing of 2008" is a fine piece of German engineering... the Hughes & Kettner Switchblade. I went through an H&K phase about 2 years ago where I had a Triamp II, Zentera, and Edition Tube combo, all of which were sold off as part of the "Gotta Pay for all this Egnater Stuff Somehow 2006" event--I'd never had a chance to try a Switchblade then (they were pretty new on the market at the time), but it's remained pretty high on my list of amps "worthy of exploring" based on the positive experience I had with the other H&K models.

The Switchblade's a MIDI programmable tube amp, similar in concept to the Mesa Triaxis, but with real knobs (instead of the 80's-style LED display) and a digital FX section. So each patch consists of an amp voicing (four to choose from: clean, crunch, lead, ultra), associated EQ & volume settings, and various digital effects including modulation (chorus, flanger, tremolo), delay, and reverb. The preamp feeds a 100 watt (4xEL34) power amp. Other cool features include a switchable series/parallel effects loop, built in "boost" feature for more gain on any channel, and an included 4-button MIDI footswitch for easy recall of patches. Pretty much everything but the cool blue neon lights from the Triamp II/Zentera models. :)

Overall, the tones are impressive... it's got the "German sound, " sort of a hot-rodded Marshall vibe with more low-mids. The cleans are ok--while there is some sparkle, there isn't a great deal of tubey warmth. (I've read that H&K's generally cater to folks who play single coils, and that seems to be the case here... there isn't much headroom on the clean channel when playing with humbuckers, so almost all cleans are on the "onset of distortion" without rolling back the guitar's volume pot.) The distortions, however, are great... warm & crunchy with great definition even at high gain levels (and believe me, this amp is capable of extremely high gain levels). Anything from classic Plexi-like crunch to heavy Soldano-ish chunk is available. Good tones are relatively easy to dial in, too... doesn't require spending a couple hours scrolling through parameters with the user manual.

But the preamp section is only half the story... the effects section is more than adequate: The reverb and delay effects are both good, with decent tweakability for delay parameters (time, level, and repeat controls). The modulation is a bit harder to dial in, as there is only one knob.. The first 1/3 of the knob is for chorus effects, the second 1/3 for flanger effects, and the last 1/3 for tremolo effects. Turning this knob seems to change some random combination of rate, depth, and mix simultaneously. As such, it can feel a bit limiting if you're going for a particular combination of rate, depth, and mix that wasn't programmed in by the engineers at H&K--I tend to run my modulations at a low mix rate (10-20%), so I've been struggling a bit to find my ideal tones using the Switchblade. However, knowing that nothing perfect exists and that there will always be some form of compromise, the charm of not needing a separate floor or rack-based FX processor still outweighs the inherent lack of flexibility in the Switchblade's modulation section.

The Switchblade comes with 128 patch storage locations in 32 banks of four... half are factory, half are user-programmable. Only a handful of the out-of-the-box patches really spoke to me... many had either too much gain (again, perhaps optimized for single coils) or too many effects for my tastes. At least the patches are easy to adjust (turning a few knobs vs. navigating through multiple levels of menus), so no complaints there. I dialed in 3 banks of patches... the first bank has a Fendery clean (as Fendery as possible given the limited headroom), a Plexi-ish crunch, a Soldano-ish heavy tone, and a mid-heavy (almost like an Egnater TOL100) lead tone; the second bank has a Vox-ish clean with more chime, a pushed JCM800-like crunch, a somewhat over-the-top heavy scooped-EQ tone, and a similar lead tone; finally, the third bank has several clean tone variations with light chorus, flanger, tremolo, and delay.

All in all, the Switchblade's a lot of amp for the money, perhaps one of the best values out there... all tube tone, amazing flexibility, and fine German engineering. Only downsides in my book are the lack of clean headroom and the limited control over modulation FX parameters. But neither of those are worth losing sleep over.

Before I forget about it, here's a picture of the Switchblade stacked up with other new acquisitions... a Zinky Superfly head and Randall R212CS cabinet:



In the next few days I should have some demo tracks of the Switchblade... it arrived Monday, just in time for Tuesday night's Necessary Distraction recording session. As a testament to how easy it was to get dialed in, I managed to create several great-sounding presets before we started the recording process. So the Necessary Distraction tracks will feature both the H&K Switchblade as well as the Egnater JTM45 head I built back in 2006. Of course, once the basic editing/mixing on the tracks is complete, I'll be posting MP3's here.

--B

New amp gear - Randall R212CS cabinet

Having had two V30-loaded 4x12s for the past few months has led me to a realization... For my purposes, two 4x12's is overkill: 1) I never need to push that much sound for rehearsals. 2) I'll never use more than one speaker cab at a time for recording. 3) We gig pretty infrequently, but even if we did gig more often, I'm too lazy to haul around more than one 4x12 cab anyway. :) So after finding a good deal on a Randall R212CS 2x12" cabinet, I decided it was time to unload my Rocktron 4x12.

The Randall 2x12 is appealing for a couple reasons... First, it has the same width/depth as the Randall 4x12, so it will safely stack to create a 6x12. Second, it will give me a 2x12 to use with the Egnater JTM45 and other heads for a more "portable" rig. From a features standpoint, the cab is pretty basic, but does have a couple of things worthy of note... It can operate as either a closed-back or 1/3 open-back cab by removing a panel. More interesting, IMO, it has the Randall Mic Eliminator, yet another one of Bruce Egnater's creations. The speaker jackplate has the standard 1/4" ins and mono/stereo switch, but also adds two XLR outs, a ground lift switch, and a voicing switch for dark/normal/bright. I haven't tried this yet, but the concept is that you could gig/record by plugging the cabinet directly into the PA system... no need to fuss with microphones, less stuff to trip over on stage. Sounds good in theory... we'll see how it sounds in practice. Overall, the Randall is quite well constructed out of 3/4" birch with heavy-duty handles and casters... definitely feels a bit more durable than the old Avatar 2x12's I had. Aesthetically, it looks pretty sharp too, with a "silver checkerboard" grillecloth that's unique compared to the industry-standard Fender silver grillecloth.

Since this was a used cab, the original speakers (Celestion V30's) had been swapped out for Eminence Texas Heat's, which I ended up swapping out for Celestion Classic Lead 80's--I dig the CL80's in 1x12 and 2x12 cabs because they sound massive without getting either muddy or icepick-y at high volumes. (I actually thought twice about doing the speaker swap... I'd never been overly impressed with any Eminence speakers in the past, but the Texas Heat's have got a warm, round tone and tight bass response, without excessive mids or highs. Only downside is that they were a bit too dark with the Egnater JTM45 head.)

Of course, no acquisition is complete without a pic... here's the cab stacked up with two other new acquisitions... a Zinky Superfly head and Hughes & Kettner Switchblade head:

Um, so know anybody that wants to buy a Rocktron 4x12 cab? Or maybe a couple Texas Heat speakers? ;)

--B

New studio gear - Line 6 Gearbox Gold Plug-in Bundle

I've always been intrigued by the idea of using Guitar Rig and AmpliTube hardware/software packages for PC-based amp modeling in the studio... while I never envisioned using it much for major recording projects, I could see how it would come in handy for putting down demos and scratch tracks. When the price recently dropped for the Line 6 Gearbox Gold Plug-in Bundle, I decided it was time to make my entrance into the world of software-based modeling.

The bundle consists of 3 components... a Toneport D.I. (essentially a guitar direct box with a USB interface), the Gearbox amp emulation software, and VST plug-in to use with recording software (e.g., Sonar). The Gold bundle has 72 guitar amp & 24 guitar cab models, 28 bass amp & 22 bass cab models, 80 different effects (including stompbox models), and 6 mic preamp models. Pretty comprehensive!

Installation was pretty easy... run the setup CD and plug in the USB cable. Then wait while Line 6 Monkey downloads software/driver updates for approx. 45 minutes over my pokey studio network connection. :) Plug in a guitar, load up the software, and let the gripes begin...

Gripe #1: The Toneport D.I. is designed to be its own audio interface... it has a 1/4" in and several 1/4" outs on it. Needless to say, I didn't buy it to use as an audio interface, since I've already got more Presonus & Focusrite preamp channels than I really need. The challenge... the Gearbox software appears to only be able to use the Toneport as its output. So unless I want to patch my studio monitors into the Toneport (not worth the hassle), I'm left with the following workaround... plug the Toneport's outputs into the Focusrite inputs, then enable monitoring through the Frontier Audio driver. This seems to work ok, but is annoying since I need to fire up the whole rack of preamps just to jam a little guitar. It also increases the potential for latency problems, mis-matched levels, and tone suck by doing more AD/DA conversion than is absolutely necessary. Grr...

Gripe #2: Once I figured out how to deal with gripe #1, I fired up Sonar to start experimenting with the plug-in. My first thought... why not use the Toneport input to record direct guitar tracks into Sonar, then use the plug-in to do virual re-amping, allowing me to tweak amp parameters on the fly during playback? Well, Sonar didn't like that idea... the direct tracks recorded with the Toneport are choppy and distorted--I'm sure it's an issue with sample rate/bit depth, but after checking both my Sonar audio settings and Toneport control panel, all the numbers appears to be in sync. I was able to record a couple direct tracks using the instrument-level input on the Focusrite and successfully re-amp those using the plug-in, but once again, I seem to be missing out on some of the benefits of getting the Toneport to begin with if I have to use the instrument-level input on the Focusrite.

Net of all this, the audio inputs & outputs on the Toneport are probably great if you don't have a decent audio interface; but if you do have a decent audio interface, be prepared to deal with additional setup & configuration time. (It's somewhat ironic that after adding the Toneport interface with one input to my system, I'm actually tying up three of my Focusrite inputs to fully interface with the Toneport!?!)

All griping aside, once you actually get audio flowing in & out of the plug-in, the software itself is pretty cool... bringing up any amp or effect model allows you to tweak parameters on a virtual control panel designed to look like the original (e.g., the JCM800 model has gold & black knobs on a gold faceplate, the Deluxe Reverb model has black knobs with white numbers on a black faceplate, etc.). Changing the order of effects and experimenting with mic placement is relatively straightforward. I can foresee using the effects pedals (e.g., chorus, delay, reverb, etc.) to add post-processing to tracks recorded with real mic'd guitar amps.

As far as the tone & feel goes, I'd say it's on par with anything else I've ever used by Line 6... gets maybe 80% of the tone of the original amp, but doesn't quite nail the dynamics of a real amp. Clean and high-gain tones are pretty good, but the in-betweens just don't have the feel. Again, for my purpose (recording demos/scratch tracks) it's probably no worse than the Behringer V-AMP Pro I just sold, but would it hold up in a mix next to a real mic'd guitar amp? Hard to say...

Having spent Tuesday night recording four tracks with Necessary Distraction, I will be doing some editing, overdubs, and mix-down over the next few days. I may sneak a couple of Gearbox tracks in the mix just to see how they fare with the real amps (Egnater JTM45 and H&K Switchblade heads).

--B

PS--What, no pictures? C'mon... it's a software plug-in. :)

Deciphering PRS MODCAT (hang tag/case sticker) codes

While I'm sure this is a topic that will bore 99.8% of the general populus, today I came across a good reference on Birds & Moons forum that helps in deciphering the MODCAT codes for PRS guitars. These are the little stickers that are on pretty much every hang tag and guitar case, and if read correctly, describe all the features that a particular PRS guitar has. Kinda useful when talking to someone who isn't sure if the guitar they're selling has an artist grade top vs. a ten-top, or a Brazilian rosewood fretboard vs. an Indian rosewood fretboard. Who knows, maybe it'll be of use to someone else on the Interweb...

--B

PS--The list below is consolidated from several MODCAT lists from past years, thus explaining why some codes may mean multiple things at different points in time.

---

PRS MODCAT Definition

MC M 2 F - H F I M S - MS - N M - M M
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

e.g., the sample code above reads as follows:
1-McCarty model
2-maple top
3-22 fret
4-flamed maple
5-non-10-top
6-mahogany neck
7-wide-fat neck profile
8-indian rosewood fretboard
9-moon inlays
10-stoptail bridge
11-McCarty Sunburst finish
12-nickel hardware
13-McCarty bridge pickup
14-no middle pickup
15-McCarty neck pickup
16-McCarty electronics


1=MODEL
AA=Archtop Artist
B4=Bass
CE=Classic Electric
CH=Chris Henderson
CL=Custom Leftie
CO=Custom Soapbar
CS=Custom Semi-hollow
CT=Custom Twelve-string (22/12)
CU=Custom
DG=David Grissom
DN=Dave Navarro
FT=Five Thirteen (513)
H2=Hollowbody 2
HO=Hollowbody (1/Spruce)
JH=Johnny Hiland
JT=Singlecut Jumbo Thinline
M2=McCarty 2
MC=McCarty
MI=Mira
ML=McCarty Leftie
MO=McCarty Soapbar
MS=McCarty Standard
NS=Standard Satin
S1=Singlecut Hollowbody 1
S3=Santana 3
SA=Santana 2
SC=Singlecut
SM=Santana MD
SS=Singlecut Hollowbody Standard
ST=Standard
SW=Swamp Ash Special
T4=SC245
T5=SC250
TR=Tremonti
TT=Tremonti Trem

2=TOP WOOD
A=Alder
H=Mahogany
K=Korina
M=Maple
S=Swamp Ash
U=Spruce

3=FRETS
1=21 frets
2=22 frets
4=24 frets

4=TOP SPEC
F=Figured
Q=Quilt
- not applicable

5=TOP SPEC
A=Artist
S=Select (SC-J)
T=Ten-top
- non-ten

6=NECK WOOD
B=Brazilian Rosewood
F=Figured Maple
H=Mahogany
K=Korina
M=Maple
R=Indian Rosewood

7=NECK CARVE
A=Santana
D=Custom Soapbar
F=Wide Fat
G=David Grissom
J=Johnny Hiland
S=Standard/Regular
T=Wide Thin
W=Twelve String

8=FINGERBOARD WOOD
B=Brazilian Rosewood
C=Macassar Ebony
E=Ebony
F=Figured Maple
I=Indian Rosewood
M=Maple

9=INLAY
B=Birds (pre-'08)
D=Dots
I=Birds ('08)
J=Johnny Hiland
L=moons ('08)
M=Moons (pre-'08)
P=Paua Birds
T=Tremonti

10=BRIDGE
A=Adjustable Stoptail
B=Bass
B=Bigsby (SC-J)
O=Tune-O-Matic (SC-J)
P=Piezo
S=Straight Stoptail
T=Tremolo

11=COLORS (see below)

12=HARDWARE
G=Gold
H=Hybrid (gold/nickel)
N=Nickel

13=TREBLE PU
3=Santana 3
4=245, Mira
5=250
7=PRS #7
A=Dragon
B=Bass
C=513
D=Dragon 2
E=12 String
F=hFs Zebra
G=draGon Zebra
H=HFS
J=Johnny Hiland
L=RP
M=McCarty
N=Santana
O=Grissom
R=Archtop
S=Soapbar
T=Tremonti
W=Swamp ash
Y=Santana MD

14=MIDDLE PU
C=513
E=12 String (Fralin)
H=Henderson
R=Vintage Rail
S=Soapbar
- not applicable

15=BASS PU
3=Santana 3
4=245, Mira
5=250
7=PRS #7
7=tremonti 7(?)
A=Dragon
B=Bass
C=513
D=Dragon 2
E=12 String
G=Dragon Zebra
H=Henderson
I=Tremonti
J=Johnny Hiland
L=RP
M=McCarty
N=Santana
O=Grissom
R=Archtop
S=Soapbar
T=Vintage Bass Zebra
V=Vintage Bass
Y=Santana MD

16=ELECTRONICS
3=3-way Toggle/tap
5=5-way Rotary
7=Singlecut/Tremonti/SC245/SC250
A=Bass
B=5-way Blade
F=513
H=Henderson
J=Johnny Hiland/Mira
M=McCarty 3-way
N=Santana
O=Grissom
P=McCarty 3-way P90
R=Archtop/Hollowbody/SC-J 3-way
S=Swamp Ash 3-way
T=Santana 3
Z=Piezo

11=COLORS
AM=Amber
AS=Violin Amber Sunburst (stained binding)
BC=Black Cherry
BL=Black
BM=Blue Matteo
BS=Black Sunburst
CB=Charcoal Burst (SC-J)
CH=Charcoal (std satin)
CR=Creme
CS=Cherry Sunburst
DS=Dark Cherry Sunburst
DW=Dark Cherry Wraparound Burst
EG=Emerald Green
GB=Grey Black
GM=Gold Metallic
GT=Gold Top
IS=Tri-color Sunburst
JW=Jet White (Navarro)
LI=Lilac (Mira)
LM=Platinum Metallic
MG=Metallic Green
MR=Metallic Red
MS=McCcarty Sunburst
MT=McCarty Tobacco Burst
MW=McCarty Tobacco Wraparound
NA=Natural
(?) old gold Metallic
OR=Orange
OW=Tobacco Wraparound Burst
PB=Powder Blue (Mira)
PM=Platinum Metallic
PU=Purple
RA=Raspberry (stained binding)
RB=Royal Blue (stained binding)
RU=Ruby
SG=Seafoam Green (Mira)
SR=Scarlet Red
SS=Sandstorm (Mira)
SY=Santana Yellow
TA=Transparent Raspberry
TA=Tangerine (SC-J)
TB=Teal Black
TC=Translucent Vintage Cherry
TE=Tiger Eye
TG=Translucent Emerald Green
TL=Translucent Blue
TO=Tortoise Shell
TP=Translucent Purple
TR=Translucent Orange
TS=Tobacco Sunburst
TT=Translucent Turquoise
TU=Turquoise
TW=Translucent Walnut
VA=Violin Amber (stained binding)
VC=Vintage Cherry
VM=Vintage Mahogany
VN=Vintage Natural
VO=Vintage Orange
VS=Vintage Sunburst
VY=Vintage Yellow
WB=Whale Blue
WM=Wild Mint (Mira)

Spring cleaning sale

Updated... As always, I've been doing a better job of accumulating than unloading over the past couple months, so I need to clear a few items out that I'm tired of tripping over. All the gear below will be listed on e-bay by the end of the day (before the listing fee sale expires), so if there's anything that catches your eye, you know where to find it...

• 6-space ATA rack SOLD
• Behringer V-AMP Pro rackmount modeler SOLD
• Bitmo Triple Bypass kit for Blackheart Little Giant amp SOLD
• Boss AC-3 acoustic simulator pedal SOLD
• Celestion G12T-75 guitar speaker (16 ohm) SOLD
• Crate CPB150 PowerBlock head SOLD
• Damage Control Glass Nexus pedal SOLD
• (2) Eminence Texas Heat guitar speakers
• ISP Technologies Decimator noise reduction pedal SOLD

--B

Setting up for mid-week recording session!

Tomorrow night we've got the first of several home recording sessions for my band, Necessary Distraction. The last major recording project we did was just over a year ago... we recorded three original tracks as a four-piece. We've since added a full-time bassist and cranked out six more originals, so our goal is to get as many of those tunes down on tape (so to speak) before our drummer goes on "paternity leave".

Tonight I spent my time getting the gear and software set up, which is pretty similar to the Ground Floor project I did a few months back (drummer, bassist, 2 guitarists, and vocals). For mics I use a Shure PG52 for kick, Shure PG56's for toms, and an Audix i5 for snare. Two minor differences on the drums this time around... I'm using an AT2020 (instead of MD421) for the hi-hat, and I'm using the cardioid (instead of omni) capsules on the C4 overheads. Once again, drum mics are fed into a Presonus Digimax FS preamp/converter; each channel's insert is fed through an ART MDM-8L compressor/limiter for overshoot protection.

As for "strings," I'm using a Kel Audio HM2d on one guitar cab and a Blue "The Ball" on the second guitar cab--both are 4x12's loaded with V30's. Bass is running direct from my Yamaha BBT500 amp. Finally, for scratch vocals it's a Shure SM58; final vocal tracks will use a Studio Projects T3 tube condenser. Guitars, bass, & vocals feed into a Presonus Digimax LT preamp/converter with the ART MDM-8L in each channel's insert.

Now all the mics are set up & plugged in and the Sonar template is ready as well (again, started with a direct copy from the Ground Floor project file). So tomorrow night when folks show up, we'll be ready to get down to business. As always, looking forward to it...

--B