Gear Reviews

Review: Gruene 00038 Koa All Solid Wood Acoustic Guitar

Review: Gruene 00038 Koa All Solid Wood Acoustic Guitar

Posted October 21, 2023 at 7:35 am | No comments

The tone woods, the Gruene Triple-O slope shoulder shape, the bracing and maybe particularly the bracing holes all produce a magical sound that is not only loud and robust, but there’s some kind of vibrato effect coming out of this acoustic. Plug in the optional Baggs VTC Element pup and the sound is simply inspirational. Musician friends have heard this and asked if I was using an effects pedal. Nope.

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Review: Donner DST-152 Electric Guitar

Review: Donner DST-152 Electric Guitar

Posted October 28, 2022 at 8:50 am | No comments

The Donner DST-152 test model has a black high gloss finish, a neck made of AAA Canadian maple with a satin finish and C-shaped profile, a 25.5” scale, and a classic Fender neck joint with plate (bolt-on construction). The maple fretboard has a 12“ radius, 22 medium jumbo frets, and black position marks. The headstock shows 18:1 ratio vintage-style split-head tuning machines (meaning that the string can be inserted into the well inside of the tuning peg, keeping the jagged edge of a clipped string safely away from the player’s hands) and 2 string trees. 

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Review: Donner DST-400 Electric Guitar

Review: Donner DST-400 Electric Guitar

Posted June 27, 2022 at 11:18 am | No comments

Donner is a Chinese manufacturer of musical instruments for beginners, gear, and accessories for musicians. Born in 2012, it has expanded globally by opening warehouses in Europe and the USA. This electric guitar, presented at Believe In Music 2022 (virtual NAMM)

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Review: RAT Tail Distortion Cable – A Product for a Different Mentality

Review: RAT Tail Distortion Cable – A Product for a Different Mentality

Posted October 1, 2020 at 12:58 pm | No comments

Bass players might like this for a fuzz bass option. It does have the overall distortion character and flavour of the RAT pedal, but the lack of adjustability feels somewhat limiting.

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Custom Guitar Straps from StrapGraphics – Your Guitar and your Shoulder will thank you!

Custom Guitar Straps from StrapGraphics – Your Guitar and your Shoulder will thank you!

Posted December 12, 2014 at 5:23 am | One comment

StrapGraphics has been in the business of designing custom leather straps since 2011. The brain child of two college friends who combined their experience in textile manufacturing and design to come up with this unique approach for treating leather, then printing on it.

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Review – Rocktron Reaction Distortion I

Review – Rocktron Reaction Distortion I

Posted July 8, 2014 at 5:25 pm | No comments

The Rocktron Reaction Distortion I offers a flexible cast of opinions towards establishing your own wall of sound. The pedal includes an assortment of knobs which provide the musician with more freedom while setting up their own sound, without becoming too overwhelming.

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Release your inner Rock Star with StrapGraphics

Release your inner Rock Star with StrapGraphics

Posted October 28, 2013 at 6:21 am | No comments

You invest so much time, effort, and money when purchasing a guitar, why would you not give that same amount of attention and detail to the strap it hangs from?

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Home Recording Made Easy with the Guitar2USB Lead

Home Recording Made Easy with the Guitar2USB Lead

Posted September 19, 2013 at 11:47 am | No comments

When home recording is mentioned in conversations between musicians, microphones, mixers, Macs, tons of cables and complicated software often come to mind. All of these items are expensive and time consuming to set up for the guitarist who just wants to plug in and play without any hassle, so I was excited to be able to try a product that would make this long process simpler.

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Checking Out the Henriksen JazzAmp 110

Checking Out the Henriksen JazzAmp 110

Posted February 27, 2013 at 7:04 am | No comments

Jazz Guitarists are generally concerned with finding the ultimate instrument for plying their craft. The next critical issue is the accurate reproduction of the tone created by their builder.

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Dunlop and Bob Bradshaw Release a Multifaceted Wah Worth Exploring

Dunlop and Bob Bradshaw Release a Multifaceted Wah Worth Exploring

Posted February 23, 2013 at 6:53 am | One comment

The MC404, through its numerous options, offers significantly greater versatility than other wah pedals in any price range, and evinces a smooth, harmonically rich tone suitable for a wide range of musical applications.

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