New Reviews (Dallas Guitar Show - amps and pedals)

[Eclectifish]

Went to the Dallas Guitar Show this weekend and tried out as much gear as I could. I have to say that my mind has been changed on several items. Unfortunately, I now need much more money to get what I want than I thought I did last week. Such is the life (and GAS) of a guitarist <sigh>.

Anyway, here's what I played on and what I (and my wife, who has better ears than me) thought.

Amps:

Dr. Z Maz -- This was previously my favorite amp in the world, but my wife thought it sounded thin. Of course, I was playing it with a Tele and that didn't help. But I played a Tele on almost every other amp I tried (save one) and the difference was noticeable. Still a good amp, but no longer my fav.

Fuchs - My wife loved this amp. I didn't. I could only describe it as too crunchy. The distortion just didn't seem natural to me.

Marshall Hand wired 20 watt stack - Uninspiring. If you take it to wall shaking volumes it started to get OK, but even then I played better amps on this day.

Clark - Also somewhat uninspiring. Go figure.

Bogner - Very nice. Lots of tonal range. I've played one before and liked it. My wife confirmed my thoughts about it. Whereas I like the Dr. Z a little better, though, she preferred this one for the added warmth. After going back and forth, I agreed with her. This was one of three amps I played this day that I would happily own.

Vox AC 30 (Purple) - This was about tied with the Bogner in my rankings, perhaps slightly ahead. I played this amp in an area where I could hear it better than I could the Bogner so maybe that made a difference. This amp had a beautiful singing quality to it with loads of sustain and overtones. This is also an amp that I used to try out several pedals and it plays very well with others. I'd own this amp in a heartbeat if I had the cash. The odd thing about this is that I've tried an AC 30 before and didn't much care for it. Perhaps this one was set up differently, but I think it was the fact that I had a chance to crank this one a little bit whereas I didn't in the past. I played a Les Paul (only) on this amp. One of the things I haven't liked about the Vox in the past is that the tone, while very nice, tends to overwhelm the tonal differences between guitars. This amp was definitely not the case. So, AC-30 lovers, you've got a convert today.

Burris Shadow (http://www.burrissamps.com/shadow.htm). I got to meet and speak at length with Bob Burris. I played through this amp on his guitars (a Tele and an SG). The Burris is a fairly new point to point handwired boutique amp (a little over a year old) so you may not have heard of it. This amp was better than anything else I played this day (and I played a lot of amps not mentioned here). The tone was absolutely sweet and fat with tons of sustain and overtones. Although it uses 6L6 tubes it suffers none of the typical low end flabbiness associated with Fender Tweeds amps when used with humbuckers. I absolutely loved this amp. Bob explained to me that he worked quite a bit on the final gain stage to make it very humbucker friendly, and, believe me, it is. Warm with plenty of thump, but no flab. All of the character of the guitar comes through. This is now my favorite amp and the one I'm saving toward (unfortunately, it costs about three times as much as my previous favorite amp, the Dr. Z - oh well, it will just be that much longer).


Pedals

I really wanted to try out some pedals this day. I was hoping to play some of the lesser known pedals like a Skreddy Screwdriver, a Barber, or an MI-Audio, but didn't find any in places I could plug them in. Here's what I did play and what I thought.

Vox Brit Boost - Uh-uh. I won't be buying this. Very harsh sounding. I was really surprised at that, but it just did nothing at all for me.

Fulltone Distortion Pro - Not bad but not as transparent as I like. I won't be getting one.

Keeley Time Machine Boost - Decent, if you really want a clean boost with some coloration, but not really my cup of tea. I prefer my boost without the EQ, I guess.

Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive - I was very unimpressed. The overdrive was very harsh (fuzzy - not transparent at all) and you couldn't easily dial in a good tone.

Keeley Modded TubeScreamer - I actually tried this as an afterthought. I've played a tubescreamer before and hated it. I've heard one played by a good player and it just sounded like junk fuzz to me - not very transparent. But the Keeley mod is way worth the extra dollars. I was absolutely stunned by this pedal and would happily own one. Of all the pedals I tried this day, this was one of two I'd own if possible. (BTW, I got to try this out on several different amps - more below).

Burris Boostiest II (http://www.burrissamps.com/boostiest.htm) - I know, I know, it seems like I'm spamming for Burriss here. I just can't convey how impressed I was by these guys and their stuff. I really didn't get to put this pedal through its paces like I did the Keeley TS, but I didn't want to. I plugged in and the first tone that I dialed up was an Eric Johnson type violin tone that I could have played for days. Although Bob describes this pedal as TS-ish, I'm not so sure. I think every pedal maker these days is doing their 'take' on the Ibanez but, truth be told, they're all different. The Keeley mod had so much more character than a straight TS. The Burris? To me, it really didn't seem like a TS at all. I don't think it's an either/or decision. I'd want both the Keely TS AND the Boostiest II. There's that much difference between them. Anyway the Burris pedal had a very creamy overdrive sound which still let plenty of the instrument's tone come through. This is different than the Keely TS which actually had a lot of the clean characteristics to it. The Burris, as I played it (and there are other settings I didn't try, to be sure) really was more of a full-on overdrive. Of course you can get a full on overdrive out of the Keeley TS, too, but to my ears it's not as pleasing a sound as the lower gain settings. The Burris, on the other hand, excels at high gain without, in any way, overwhelming the natural sound of the instrument. This pedal also has tons of headroom, allowing you to create some wonderful nuances and dynamics with the pick.

To summarize, I have to say I learned a lot about gear at this show. The only downside is that I now believe even more in "you get what you pay for". None of the stuff I liked is inexpensive (the lowest priced item being the Keeley TS at over $200 -- the Burris pedal was around $360 or so and none of the amps I liked came in under $2500 - OUCH!). I know we talk a lot about finding good, inexpensive, gear on here, but more than ever, now, I just can't recommend spending $1000 on an amp that gets you halfway there but leaves you wanting for more. On the other hand, it is pretty clear that you can spend 2-300 on a really good pedal and put it together with a midrange amp and do pretty well.

Another thing I noticed was how much a good pedal and a good amp work together (I 'sort-of' already knew this but it was forever confirmed by being able to try so much gear on the same day). The Keeley TS-9 definitely made the Marshall Stack and the Clark sound better. But the singing overtones of the Vox AC-30 really came through with the Keeley TS (but not with the cheaper pedals - this is very important) as did the way the Burris pedal interacted with the Burris amp. With that in mind, I wouldn't have any problem playing on a modded Peavey Classic (the Jack Daniels 2-12 version is my preference) using a modded TS-9. That would be a pretty decent rig for a poor man, while saving up for the really good stuff, of course.