Thursday:
Spent most of the day in drum land looking for snare drums and cool drum related stuff.
Thursdays Highlights:
Kelly Shu: they make a microphone mounting system for bass drums. it really enhances the mic'd sound in the kick drum as the entire thing becomes one unit. They make them for standard and flat mics like the beta 91'. Scored the studio an endorsement with these guys, I should have mine in a week or so and I will post some comparisons for everyone. They are priced between $50 and $75 depending on the type you buy.
Strictly 7 Booth:
We Meet Jim, Paul and Curran, we discuss some of the guitars and check out their 9 string prototype. It plays amazingly well. Ola is not in town yet but his guitar is, Paul and Jim are gracious enough to let me play it for a bit and it really is an amazing instrument. Jim over at S7 is making some amazing instruments. Had a discussion with Paul about some of the new stuff they are working on (which I cant really reveal) but traditionalists like myself will be very happy in a few months. New incredible stuff is about to emerge from Strictly 7. Forgot to mention Allan, guy is awesome as well!
EBS Bass Systems:
Redimar 250 Bass Head. Its only weighs 7 pounds but it sounds HUGE! This thing really pumps and has a great throaty tone for metal when dialed in just right. Tossed an EBS Microdrive II for some grit on it and I was in Gothenberg heaven. Just an amazing amp and the price was amazing $500 USD. I am ordering 2 for the studio next week! Scored artist pricing on these so its pretty awesome, I may buy a 3rd for my bass player. EBS is also replacing one of my Single 10 and Single 15 cabs with a newer version at no cost. THESE GUYS ARE AWESOME!!
Friday:
Arrive early, 9am
Jet City Amplification:
Checked out the full line of products they offer and I am really really impressed. There is a new version of the 20 watt head with Digital pots that allows you to store 16 presets. They also enhanced the gain structure to give it a bit more grit and get into the land of metal on its own. The 100 Watt heads are essentially SLO100's and they sound almost identical. I am very impressed with their new line of stuff, it all sounds great. I got to demo 2 amps for them which was cool. Met the president of the company who was really awesome. We discussed amps and gear for a while.
While at the Jet City booth I ran into the guys from a custom amp shop up in Oregon called BFG Amplification.Met the owner Brian Goergen and hes been modding Jet City 100's and 20's in order to improve the gain and get them more into "modern metal" land. So if you are interested in his mods check out http://www.BFGAmplification.com (website is currently under contruction) here is their YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/briango2000?feature=watch
Met up with Matt and headed over to Egnater to check out the Vengeance and Armageddon amps. My personal preference was for the Vengeance as the 3rd channel of the Armageddon was too over the top and virtually pointless. The Venegeance really breathes fire and the switching system allows you all sorts of option. Egnater has designed the ULTIMATE gigging amp in a cheap and affordable package. I think they said it lists for $1300. The Armageddon has a 3rd channel and build in ISP Decimator that works extremely well, but I don't think its worth another $800
Go back to Strictly 7, met up with Ola and checked out his guitars, got a photo with him and Matt (cause Matt is a closet fan boy..lol) and talked a bit about gear and specs. Ola was awesome, very humble and gracious, he just couldn't stop staring at my dick for some reason .... O_O
Saturday:
Met up with the guys from Guitar Interactive magazine to get my assignments for the day. Interview with Opeth at 3:00pm and Alex Skolnick at 4:00, cool get to meet some awesome guitar players today!
Meet up with Matt and his singer Heather (who has an amazing ass by the way...lol) and they decide to go their separate ways for the morning. I head back to Jet City for the debut of their new point to point made in England head. This thing sounds BEAST! really British Marshall flavor but with more balls, think JCM800 on Uber Roids! Meet with the president he asks me if I would demo the amp for a few people again (see a trend here?) I play it for about an hour, and then we part ways. It really is an amazing piece of hardware, and the price reflects it $2499, this is no Chinese made amp its all hand point to point wired in England.
I head over to Seymour Duncan to have a meeting with SD and his custom shop manager Maricela (MJ). We discuss some pickup designs and come up with something we really think will work for what I am looking for. I want something similar to a JB but Alnico V Mags and a bit hotter output then the Custom 5 with a tighter bottom end. I have a conference call with Maricela scheduled for Today we will see what comes of it ...
3:00pm Head to Marriott for a sit down with Mikael Akerfeldt and Frederick Akkesson from Opeth. We discuss a ton of stuff about the new CD, our influences, and lots of gear talk. Look for that interview in an upcoming issue of Guitar Interactive magazine (www.iguitarmag.com)
4:00pm Alex's manager calls and says hes stuck at Yamaha booth and cant make the interview. Oh well shit happens we move on.
Meet up with Matt and Heather at TC Electronic and meet their friend Jelena, shes a great guitar player for sure, into the whole black metal thing. Totally cool as shit, and we all head over to the Behringer Booth to check out the mythical Tri Rec. First impressions, it sounds like a Dual Recto meets a 5150. Matt was really impressed by the tonal variety. To be honest the tonal variety in the entire Bugera amp line is pretty impressive. For what they are and for the Price they are a worthy addition to most amp collections / studios. They have a variety of pleasing tones. Jelena was a big Ibanez fan so we head over to the Ibanez booth to check some stuff out before closing.
While at the booth we run into 2 bass players who are just jamming, so I pick up an 80s RG and plugin and we start the funk. Then it gets all modal jazzy and turns into complete musical debauchery ... Impromptu Namm Jam begin..... From what Matt says we played almost 30 minutes, sure as hell didnt feel that long but the 50 or so people crowded around watching was pretty awesome. Even though I cant stand the Ibanez stuff anymore, once again I have a great experience at their booth...lol
There are some photos and vids of most of this on my FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/fatzakk
Additions:
The Chris Broderick Jackson is an amazingly well playing guitar just not worth the price tag IMHO
The New Ace Fehley Les Paul is meh at best
Esoteric Guitars play VERY well, and I love the options
Jaden Rose Guitars - Amazing 7 string instruments not quite as polished as the Strictly 7, the have a more vintage look and feel, but still get an honorable mention.
Rhodes Amplifiers - Amazing amount of options on this MIDI switchable beast of an amp. Got to chat with the designer. Pretty impressive amps.
Supernatural Cymbals - Aura series, I think these would make AMAZING studio cymbals, check em out.
Spent most of the day in drum land looking for snare drums and cool drum related stuff.
Thursdays Highlights:
Kelly Shu: they make a microphone mounting system for bass drums. it really enhances the mic'd sound in the kick drum as the entire thing becomes one unit. They make them for standard and flat mics like the beta 91'. Scored the studio an endorsement with these guys, I should have mine in a week or so and I will post some comparisons for everyone. They are priced between $50 and $75 depending on the type you buy.
Strictly 7 Booth:
We Meet Jim, Paul and Curran, we discuss some of the guitars and check out their 9 string prototype. It plays amazingly well. Ola is not in town yet but his guitar is, Paul and Jim are gracious enough to let me play it for a bit and it really is an amazing instrument. Jim over at S7 is making some amazing instruments. Had a discussion with Paul about some of the new stuff they are working on (which I cant really reveal) but traditionalists like myself will be very happy in a few months. New incredible stuff is about to emerge from Strictly 7. Forgot to mention Allan, guy is awesome as well!
EBS Bass Systems:
Redimar 250 Bass Head. Its only weighs 7 pounds but it sounds HUGE! This thing really pumps and has a great throaty tone for metal when dialed in just right. Tossed an EBS Microdrive II for some grit on it and I was in Gothenberg heaven. Just an amazing amp and the price was amazing $500 USD. I am ordering 2 for the studio next week! Scored artist pricing on these so its pretty awesome, I may buy a 3rd for my bass player. EBS is also replacing one of my Single 10 and Single 15 cabs with a newer version at no cost. THESE GUYS ARE AWESOME!!
Friday:
Arrive early, 9am
Jet City Amplification:
Checked out the full line of products they offer and I am really really impressed. There is a new version of the 20 watt head with Digital pots that allows you to store 16 presets. They also enhanced the gain structure to give it a bit more grit and get into the land of metal on its own. The 100 Watt heads are essentially SLO100's and they sound almost identical. I am very impressed with their new line of stuff, it all sounds great. I got to demo 2 amps for them which was cool. Met the president of the company who was really awesome. We discussed amps and gear for a while.
While at the Jet City booth I ran into the guys from a custom amp shop up in Oregon called BFG Amplification.Met the owner Brian Goergen and hes been modding Jet City 100's and 20's in order to improve the gain and get them more into "modern metal" land. So if you are interested in his mods check out http://www.BFGAmplification.com (website is currently under contruction) here is their YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/briango2000?feature=watch
Met up with Matt and headed over to Egnater to check out the Vengeance and Armageddon amps. My personal preference was for the Vengeance as the 3rd channel of the Armageddon was too over the top and virtually pointless. The Venegeance really breathes fire and the switching system allows you all sorts of option. Egnater has designed the ULTIMATE gigging amp in a cheap and affordable package. I think they said it lists for $1300. The Armageddon has a 3rd channel and build in ISP Decimator that works extremely well, but I don't think its worth another $800
Go back to Strictly 7, met up with Ola and checked out his guitars, got a photo with him and Matt (cause Matt is a closet fan boy..lol) and talked a bit about gear and specs. Ola was awesome, very humble and gracious, he just couldn't stop staring at my dick for some reason .... O_O
Saturday:
Met up with the guys from Guitar Interactive magazine to get my assignments for the day. Interview with Opeth at 3:00pm and Alex Skolnick at 4:00, cool get to meet some awesome guitar players today!
Meet up with Matt and his singer Heather (who has an amazing ass by the way...lol) and they decide to go their separate ways for the morning. I head back to Jet City for the debut of their new point to point made in England head. This thing sounds BEAST! really British Marshall flavor but with more balls, think JCM800 on Uber Roids! Meet with the president he asks me if I would demo the amp for a few people again (see a trend here?) I play it for about an hour, and then we part ways. It really is an amazing piece of hardware, and the price reflects it $2499, this is no Chinese made amp its all hand point to point wired in England.
I head over to Seymour Duncan to have a meeting with SD and his custom shop manager Maricela (MJ). We discuss some pickup designs and come up with something we really think will work for what I am looking for. I want something similar to a JB but Alnico V Mags and a bit hotter output then the Custom 5 with a tighter bottom end. I have a conference call with Maricela scheduled for Today we will see what comes of it ...
3:00pm Head to Marriott for a sit down with Mikael Akerfeldt and Frederick Akkesson from Opeth. We discuss a ton of stuff about the new CD, our influences, and lots of gear talk. Look for that interview in an upcoming issue of Guitar Interactive magazine (www.iguitarmag.com)
4:00pm Alex's manager calls and says hes stuck at Yamaha booth and cant make the interview. Oh well shit happens we move on.
Meet up with Matt and Heather at TC Electronic and meet their friend Jelena, shes a great guitar player for sure, into the whole black metal thing. Totally cool as shit, and we all head over to the Behringer Booth to check out the mythical Tri Rec. First impressions, it sounds like a Dual Recto meets a 5150. Matt was really impressed by the tonal variety. To be honest the tonal variety in the entire Bugera amp line is pretty impressive. For what they are and for the Price they are a worthy addition to most amp collections / studios. They have a variety of pleasing tones. Jelena was a big Ibanez fan so we head over to the Ibanez booth to check some stuff out before closing.
While at the booth we run into 2 bass players who are just jamming, so I pick up an 80s RG and plugin and we start the funk. Then it gets all modal jazzy and turns into complete musical debauchery ... Impromptu Namm Jam begin..... From what Matt says we played almost 30 minutes, sure as hell didnt feel that long but the 50 or so people crowded around watching was pretty awesome. Even though I cant stand the Ibanez stuff anymore, once again I have a great experience at their booth...lol
There are some photos and vids of most of this on my FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/fatzakk
Additions:
The Chris Broderick Jackson is an amazingly well playing guitar just not worth the price tag IMHO
The New Ace Fehley Les Paul is meh at best
Esoteric Guitars play VERY well, and I love the options
Jaden Rose Guitars - Amazing 7 string instruments not quite as polished as the Strictly 7, the have a more vintage look and feel, but still get an honorable mention.
Rhodes Amplifiers - Amazing amount of options on this MIDI switchable beast of an amp. Got to chat with the designer. Pretty impressive amps.
Supernatural Cymbals - Aura series, I think these would make AMAZING studio cymbals, check em out.
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