Month: March 2015

Pigtronix Gatekeeper
Guitar

52 pedals, week 12—Pigtronix Gatekeeper

I’ve been writing a lot lately about fuzz, distortion and overdrive pedals. That’s a lot of noise. As much as I love noise, you sometimes need the quiet. Especially when coupled with the noise. That’s a major component of good heavy metal music in my opinion. Brutal metal … Deafening silence … Brutal metal.

Often to get that absolute silence you need a good noise gate pedal. That’s actually a pedal I’m yet to purchase. I should resolve that. Maybe I’ll resolve that with the Pigtronix Gatekeeper. It sounds awesome.

And by sounds awesome, I mean it makes no sounds. Awesome. … 52 pedals, week 12—Pigtronix Gatekeeper

BIG EAR nyc CHAKA
Guitar

52 pedals, week 11—BIG EAR n.y.c. CHAKA

This week I thought I’d revisit my 2015 Winter NAMM experiences. Mostly because I don’t see myself actually revisiting the NAMM event anytime soon. Granted nobody else has heard this story before, so the revisiting is only for me. For all other readers, this is a fresh and exciting new story. I’ve probably oversold that.

Hopefully the BIG EAR n.y.c. CHAKA octave fuzz isn’t oversold though. People need to be able to buy this pedal. It’s awesome. … 52 pedals, week 11—BIG EAR n.y.c. CHAKA

Guitar

The Dialtone Pickups that I WILL install!

I have an embarrassing confession to make. I’ve owned a set of Dialtone Pickups since the end of the 2015 Winter NAMM and I have still not installed them. I’m lame. I embarrass myself. It’s not because I’m not keen and it’s not because I don’t want to install the pickups. No, it’s because of this stupid thing I’d only ever really read about up until February—the real world. I have to now say, I don’t like it.

I mention this because the real world is stopping me from doing the things I am truly interested in. For example, it was through my favourite online realms that I first discovered the beauty that is NAMM. I’d never heard of it until several years ago when Twitter went crazy one January. My Twitter feed was full of guitar porn. I was in virtual heaven. Many years later, I discovered Dialtone Pickups—once again thanks to Twitter on account of its awesomeness—and my fascination with pickup innovation began.

I became super-keen on the Dialtone Pickups. Super keen is like keen, but it wears a cape and is unrecognisable without glasses. I became so super-keen that I pre-paid for a set of pickups, got invited to join the Dialtone Pickups team at the 2015 Winter NAMM in Anaheim, assisted with some of their graphic design work and blogged about them like a madman. Fast forward to the week I returned to Australia after NAMM and this real world nonsense took a hold of my life like a NAMM attendee receiving free promotional gear. Trust me, that’s a grip you won’t break.

Like I said … I’m lame. But sometime soon—I hope—that all changes. Why? Because I just posted this article letting people know I have some awesome pickups to install. I better pull that finger out that I hear so much about. … The Dialtone Pickups that I WILL install!

ThroBak Stone Bender
Guitar

52 pedals, week 10—ThroBak Stone Bender

I’ve been trying really hard to get these articles out on a Wednesday, but I keep failing. This week I wanted to apply an element of emergency to the article’s importance when it was placed in my real world priority list. Unfortunately Wednesday passed and the article didn’t happen. I’ve failed once again. Why is this weekly article process so difficult? I’ve had kidney stones that have passed with greater ease than these blog posts.

Actually, that’s an exaggeration. I’ll tell you one thing though, I wouldn’t pass an offer to play through the ThroBak Stone Bender. That would be cooler than writing about it. Still, I’ll do that now. … 52 pedals, week 10—ThroBak Stone Bender

JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Booster
Guitar

52 pedals, week 9—JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Boost

Have you ever had one of those weeks when nothing seems to go right? I know I have. And as I select the pedals I’m drawn to, I’d like to think the pedals I’m interested in share some of my own traits. Why would they also not feel the need to get a bit of help from time to time? Everyone needs a boost right? Yes. Yes they do. That’s why I’ve selected the JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Boost this week. It’s the little helper pedal we all need.

Thank you considerate pedal. … 52 pedals, week 9—JHS Pedals Mini Bomb Boost