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Tech 21 NYC is the company behind many groundbreaking products, such as the SansAmp range of amp modelling stomp boxes, the Bass Driver DI or the all-analogue modelling guitar amps of the Trademark series.

What all these products have in common is that they’re no-nonsense tools to make the life of the gigging and recording guitarist (and bassist) easier.

Tech 21’s newest product is designed to do away with the need to hire a guitar amp for fly-in gigs. It’s an ultra-compact and sleek, pedalboard-style device called the Fly Rig 5.

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As you can see from the picture at the start of this review, the Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 (current price in Finland: 299 €) is extremely compact. It will fit in the pouch of a gig bag, as well as in the accessories compartment of many guitar cases. Just pack your guitar, the…

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Albion Amplification is a new name on the Finnish market, even though the brand has been in existence since 2010.

Albion’s main man is genuine amp guru and bonafide living legend Steve Grindrod. Mr Grindrod left an indelible mark in the field of amplifier design as Marshall’s chief designer for over 20 years. In the beginning of the Noughties, after leaving Marshall, he also worked for Vox for a few years.

Albion was founded in 2009 as a joint venture between Grindrod and Chinese audio specialists IAG Group. Albion’s guitar and bass amplifiers are produced in their own plant in China under the direct supervision of Steve Grindrod, who has moved there from the UK.

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The Albion TCT35C (recommended retail price in Finland: 865 €) is part of the company’s TCT-series, which is aimed directly at the guitarist who needs a versatile amp.

The TCT-series offers…

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German maker Warwick is offering a wide range of different bass amplifiers alongside their famous basses.

One of their newest products is the Warwick LWA 1000 – an ultra-compact, yet very powerful amp head.

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The Warwick LWA 1000 (current price in Finland: 789 €) is small and lightweight enough (2.75 kg) to fit into many gig bags. Optionally, you can also get a rack installation kit or a padded shoulder bag for this head.

As hinted at by its name, the LWA 1000 offers you up to 1,000 Watts of power (into a 4 Ohm cabinet, 500 W into 8 Ohms). Warwick have managed to squeeze this all into a compact package by using a Class D power amplifier.

Warwick’s two-channel preamp has been transplanted from their Hellborg-series, and promises to offer audiophile sound quality from its low-noise Class A circuits.

The two channels of the LWA 1000 are identical, and they…

The good people of EBS Sweden are now bringing a healthy dose of fuzz to the bassist’s toolbox.

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The EBS FuzzMo (current price in Finland: 169,90 €) is a fuzz-type high gain distortion developed especially for bass.

This stompbox is made in China to the EBS’ exacting standards. It’s a sturdy pedal with very positive feeling controls.

The FuzzMo can be powered in three ways:

If you use an EBS amp from the Drome-, Gorm-, HD- or TD-series, you can use a TRS-cable (aka a stereo cable) to feed phantom power from the amp to the effect pedal.

The FuzzMo pedal also runs off a standard 9 V battery, but you will need a screwdriver to take off the base plate first.

The third alternative is to employ a Boss-type power supply (9 V DC, centre negative) to fire up the stompbox.

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Even though the EBS FuzzMo looks somewhat similar…

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Marshall’s DSL5C combo is the newest – and smallest – member of the DSL-series.

The DSL-range has its roots in the year 1997, when Marshall introduced their – now legendary – JCM2000 Dual Super Lead -head. The JCM2000 was the first Marshall amp that combined a vintage-voiced Plexi-channel and a modern Ultra Gain -channel in one chassis.

The production run of the original DSL-series was discontinued in 2007, with the JVM-range superseding it. The new DSL-series offers the company’s most-affordable all-valve amps to date, which are produced at Marshall’s own facility in Vietnam.

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As you can easily guess by its name, the Marshall DSL5C (current street price in Finland around 520 €) is a five-Watt, two-channel combo.

In terms of its looks and the quality of its finish, this is a genuine Marshall. Quality control at the Vietnamese factory seems to as stringent as in Britain, and the combo looks great and feels well-made and sturdy.

The DSL5C comes with…

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James Hetfield is a musician, who surely needs no introduction. He is Metallica’s frontman, singer, songwriter and guitarist, and has played a very important part in the development of the Metal genre.

Metallica’s guitarists – Hetfield and his colleague Kirk Hammet – have long been collaborating with ESP Guitars. The LTD James Hetfield Snakebyte is the most recent fruit of this partnership.

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In the early years of Metallica, James Hetfield used to play a Gibsonin Explorer, and looking at his new signature model, it’s easy to conclude that this guitar legend still holds a place in his heart for angular guitars.

LTD’s James Hetfield Snakebyte (current price in Finland: 1.098 €) is an ultra-modern Metal-machine, with a clear stylistic nod to the Explorer.

Both the guitar’s body and set neck have been crafted from mahogany, while dark-black ebony has been chosen for this model’s fingerboard.

The Snakebyte’s body…

The Italia Fiorano Standard (price in Finland approx.  640 €) is a beautiful thinline, double-cutaway semi.

The Fiorano’s body is made by routing large pockets into the front of a solid mahogany body. In contrast to Italia’s Rimini 6 or Mondial Deluxe models the Fiorano doesn’t have a full centre block, though, but features an opening in the block between the guitar’s pickups. The body is then finished by glueing on a bound spruce top.

Hard rock maple is used for the Fiorano Standard’s neck.

The modern tuning machines are embossed with the I-for-Italia logo, and work very nicely.

The bound fretboard sports Italia’s stylish inlays, consisting of pearloid blocks and abalone dots.

The Fiorano Standard’s neck is glued in at the 19th fret.

Great to see Italia using a modern version of the venerable Tune-o-Matic-bridge. The updated design does away with the annoying and ever-rattling piece of…

Amfisound Guitars is a small company from the northern Finnish town of Oulu. Run by two master luthiers, Amfisound offers a surprisingly wide variety of different guitar and bass models, as well doing a lot of customising and repair jobs. Kitarablogi visited Amfisound’s workshop late last year – read all about it HERE.

Amfisound have introduced a new bass model recently, called the Raudus Bass, which is the subject of this review.

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The Amfisound Raudus Bass (prices for EU-customers starting from 2,520 €) clearly takes its inspiration from Fender’s classic Jazz Bass, but this new Finnish (passive) bass offers a number of modern updates and improvements. The easiest things to notice on first sight are probably the added 21st fret and the much deeper cutaway.

The Raudus sports a body made from Finnish alder and a bolt-on maple neck.

The neck comes finished in a very thin satin…