I was recently browsing for an engraved fx pedal that I saw in my local music shop when I came across engraved plates for guitars and engraved fx pedals by a company called Moollon.
Look at these guitars:
I have been experimenting with my virtual guitar rig for the last few month and thought I would share my thoughts and findings.
First part of my setup is Softubes Acoustic feedback, this is as close to playing a loud over driven amp as you will get with a plugin, thanks to Jeff over at geareview for drawing my attention to this plug-in, fantastic squeals and feedback!
Over at acmebargig there is a new plugin in the Preampus Metal Line: C-15 Controlled Insanity!
"Crank it up and let it cut loose, you will be rewarded with a high gain that delivers crisp over tones and rich soundscape"
The Preampus heads have been excellent so sar especially the the recent Series 60 metal version, head over and give it a blast!
http://www.acmebargig.com/c15
Lately I seem to be churning the same old stuff over and over, the same sweep picking flashy licks the same palm muted gallops, the same extended power chords. I need something new or a new angle...
have a bit of an obsession with plectrums, it seems there's a plectrum for every occasion but one for all uses seems to elude me...
I use mainly Jim Dunlop plectrums, theres a wide range of different thicknesses and materials, I seem to have at least one of each! I prefer thicker plectrums made of Tortex or Delrin with a thickness around 1 mm, I have used them down to 0.60 mm and as thick as 3mm :o
For grungy rhythms and even fast alternate picking a Tortex 0.60 is a good choice, it feels a bit flimsy for fast lead work although Paul Gilbert seems to get by just fine! The thicker Tortex ones seem to feel like they catch or scratch the strings more and I don't like the tone as much
For general lead work and metal rhythm a Delrin 1.16mm is a good choice, the tone seems to sound better than the thicker tortex ones.
For sweep picking and fast palm muting you cant beat a Jazztone, they have a kind of ceramic feel to them and seem to improve the tone, they take a bit of getting used to as they are about 2mm thick and have a smooth chamfered edge, the only problem is that the grip isn't as good as Tortext and Delrin and I usually score them with a knife.
Recently I have started using 1.16mm Ultex they seem to have a good grip but I'm not sure if I like the edge they have they seem to suffer the same tone loss as the ticker Tortex ones...
Hmm if only they made jazz tones with more grip or Ultex with a more chamfered edge, maybe when the Ultex beds in a bit they will grow on me...
The first projects I want to tackle are an Electro Harmonix small clone type chorus, a couple of amp in a box type fx, and an A,B,Y switching pedal that hopefully eliminates group loops.
The ABY switching unit is mainly to get rid of ground loops when recording with my laptop and the other projects are for fun and experimentation...
