Yearly Archives: 2014
Review: Blackstar HT Metal 5 + HT Metal 60
Blackstar Amplification’s very popular HT Venue-series has recently been joined by the company’s brand-new HT Metal-range, which offers you valve amplifiers tailored specifically to the needs of Metal-guitarists.
Kitarablogi has received the compact five Watt HT Metal 5-combo – meant for use at home, for warm-up and in the studio – and the chunky three-channel, 60 Watt HT Metal 60 -combo for this review.
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The Blackstar HT Metal 5 (street price around 450 €) is based on the company’s extremely successful HT-5R-valve combo, with the new amp sharing the older model’s main architecture and push-pull power amp.
The HT Metal 5 uses two different valves to amplify your guitar signal – one is an ECC83 (aka 12AX7), the other a model 12BH7.
Instead of a woven speaker cloth – like on the HT-5R – the HT Metal 5-combo sports a very sturdy metal grille.
The cabinet is…
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Review: Boss OD-1X + DS-1X
Boss unveiled two Special Edition pedals at NAMM 2014. These new stompboxes are updates on two classic Boss-models, and are called the OD-1X Overdrive and the DS-1X Distortion. These deluxe versions promise more gain, a tighter attack, and an even more versatile EQ-section.
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What is the difference between a fuzz, an overdrive and a distortion?
The fuzz pedal is the granddaddy of everything “brang”, and it works in a rather neanderthal way, by means of brutal transistor overload. The resulting tone of transistors clipping sounds quite edgy and fuzzy (hence the name), and tends to work much better on solos and riffs, than it does on chords. A good early example would be the memorable riff on the Rolling Stones’ hit “Satisfaction“.
The terms “overdrive” and “distortion” describe effects that try to mimick the way tube amp distortion sounds. In the beginning both terms were used as…
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Review: Italia Maranello Classic + Rimini 6
Now Italia Guitars are finally available in Finland!
Italia is a new brand on the Finnish market, even though these guitars have been available in many EU-countries for 15 years already. Italia Guitars is the joint effort of South Korean guitar factory Mirr Music and British guitar guru Trev Wilkinson. Wilkinson’s list of achievements is long and illustrious, including inventions such as the Wilkinson-vibrato and his roller nut, as well as instrument designs for Vintage (by JHS) and his own Fret-King brand.
The basic concept behind Italia Guitars is to come up with instruments that are imbued with the quirky charm of European electric guitars from the Fifties and Sixties, but which feature up-to-date playability and reliable electronics.
Italia’s distributor in Finland is R-JAM Group.
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The Italia Maranello Classic (price in Finland around 640 €) is this brand’s best-known model, which has even found its way into the hands (and heart)…
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Review: Vox Mark III + Mark V
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Vox’ legendary Sixties guitars, the Mark III and the Mark V – aka the Vox Teardrop (Mark III) and the Vox Phantom (Mark V) – have made a comeback! These Brit Boom-guitars have claimed their place in history as the chosen axes of the Rolling Stones’ original lead guitarist Brian Jones (Mark III) and Tony Hicks (Mark V) of the Hollies.
But the best news is that these new versions come at quite affordable prices!
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The Vox Mark III (current price in Finland approx. 355 €) sports a symmetrical body, which calls to mind old lutes or the Greek bouzouki.
This reissue comes with a short 22-inch scale (610 mm), making it an ideal beginner’s instrument.
The Teardrop is build from a basswood body and a bolt on maple neck. The fretboard is crafted from rosewood.
The new, smaller version of the legendary Vox-headstock cuts down on neck weight…
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Review: Duesenberg D-Bass
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German maker Duesenberg is known for its high-quality guitars and basses, that combine seamlessly Art Deco-chic and ingenious improvements in many details, such as the hardware and electronics departments.
The Duesenberg D-Bass is a good example of this, promising both P- and J-style tones from a passive, one-pickup instrument.
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The Duesenberg D-Bass (current price in Finland: 1.729,90 €) proves that you can build a bass from classic tonewoods without having to resort to copying others.
This is a four-string, passive bass, built using a bolt-on maple neck with a rosewood fretboard mated to a bound alder body. The top of the body sports elegant carving.
The generous rib cage bevel adds a great deal of comfort to the D-Bass.
The body comes in a fetching gloss finish, while the neck has received a thin, vintage-tinted satin finish.
I feel that Duesenberg’s three step headstock looks…
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Review: Tanglewood TU-1CE, TU-3, TU-3E & TU-5
The humble ukulele’s popularity has been on the rise over the last few years, not least because these instruments are easy to carry around and plenty of fun to play.
This fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by British brand Tanglewood, who have recently broadened their range of ukes.
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The quartet of ukes we’ve received for testing – the TU-1CE, the TU-3, the TU-3E and the TU-5 – are all part of Tanglewood’s mahogany-bodied Union-series.
All Union-series ukuleles have mahogany necks with glued-on neck heels and headstocks.
The fingerboards have been crafted from rosewood.
Tanglewood’s geared, open tuners work very well.
Ukuleles come with one of several different bridge designs, depending on the manufacturer.
Tanglewood has chosen the most practical ukulele bridge, which anchors the knotted string ends in little slots cut into the top of the bridge.
All Union-series ukuleles have a sound box made from laminated…
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Review: Zoom H6
Zoom have released their new handy recorder flagship:
The Zoom H6 is a six-track mobile recorder with exchangeable microphone modules.
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Zoom’s H6 (rrp in Finland: 398 €) comes in its own carrying case.
The package includes the H6 itself, two mic modules – the XYH-6 offering XY-stereo and the MSH-6 with an MS-stereo capsule – a foam windscreen, a USB-cable, four AA-size batteries and a 2 GB SD-card.
Also included is Steinberg’s Cubase LE audio-sequencer software.
At the moment the H6 is the only field recorder offering you different exchangeable mic and preamp modules.
In addition to the supplied XY- and MS-modules you can also buy Zoom’s shotgun module (SGH-6) or a module with an additional pair of XLR-/TRS-inputs (EXH-6).
For this review we were also supplied with Zoom’s accessory pack for the H6 (APH-6), which contains a furry windshield for outdoor recording, as well a USB-power…
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Review: Tokai ATE-33N Thinline
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Tokai Guitars are known for their well-made copies of classic guitar and bass models.
The brand-new Tokai ATE-33N Thinline is part of Tokai’s more affordable Chinese-made range, and represents their version of a Thinline Tele-type guitar.
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The Tokai ATE-33N Thinline (current price in Finland 437 €) is a real looker and will delight fans of the natural look, despite its moderate price tag.
Roger Rossmeisl – known for his classic Rickenbacker designs – hit upon the concept of the Thinline Telecaster in the late 1960s when working for Fender. The original version was made with a body which featured three large pockets routed out from the back. A separate, glued-on solid piece of wood served as the body’s back.
Tokai approaches the construction of the ATE-33N Thinline the other way around: the pockets are routed into the front of the alder body, which then receives a…
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Review: Bluetone Amps Princeton Reverb
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Finnish boutique amp company Bluetone is yet to become a household word. Nevertheless, Bluetone’s dynamic duo of Harry Kneckt and Matti Vauhkonen have already garnered lots of praise with their all-valve designs, and the word keeps on spreading steadily.
Custom Sounds in Helsinki have recently started to stock Bluetone-amplifiers, and they were kind enough to supply Kitarablogi with a Bluetone Princeton Reverb combo for testing.
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The Bluetone Princeton Reverb (current price in Finland approx. 1,600 €) is Bluetone’s handwired – and slightly updated – version of a 1960s Fender Princeton Reverb (in its AA1164 guise). Bluetone’s improvements over the original issue include a post phase-inverter master volume (PPIMV), a larger speaker, as well as an external bias point. The Bluetone Princeton Reverb is rated at 15 Watts.
Bluetone’s Princeton is factory-equipped with a 12-inch WGS Black Hawk Alnico speaker, but you can order yours with a different…
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Gear Review Finland 