By Fletch Whipp

I remember reading Rolling Stone while growing up, they were edgy & were on the cutting edge of popular culture. If Rolling Stone approved or disapproved of a particular subject, it carried weight. Unfortunately now, in my opinion, rolling Stone are carrying a different weight, the weight of an organization too comfortable and overweight to be on the cutting edge of anything…

Still reigning supreme, Jimi tops the 100 greatest list from Rolling Stone

Case in question, their recent ’100 greatest guitarists of all time’. While the typical faces you expect were on there, Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Beck, Richards, Van Halen, Hetfield, Cobain….. sure, these are major heavyweights and no list could possibly be considered serious or definitive without them.

I get that.

But, then I started scratching my head as I noticed the inclusion of Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Willie Nelson….. ranking above some major leaugue players….umm, Houston, we have a problem.

But as I scanned through the list, a tinge of concern spread to panic, and finally total disbelief as, once the smoke settled, several serious caliber players were ommitted from the list.

Where was Eric Johnson? Yngwie Malmsteen? John Petrucci? Steve Morse? Those four missing is one tragedy, but to do a hot 100 without Joe Satriani or Steve Vai is just downright disrespectful, what kind of list was this again? Oh that’s right GREATEST guitarsists of all time. Actually the greatest guitar tour package of all time, G3 overseen by Satriani, and always has Vai on the bill has toured with 3 of the first 4 shunned guitarsists…. (Steve Morse would probably do the tour if given the opportunity)

Yes, a greatest guitarists list without these three, and it's not a joke....

Ummmmm…

Why didn’t someone check their breath of the author before submission, as I would offer there could very well have been evidence of alcohol, which is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn, before publishing such a ‘list’.

I think the list does little other than to prove Rolling Stone has officially jumped the shark. Fonzie you are no longer alone my friend.

By Fletch Whipp

I manage a large complex of music studios called RockStarzUSA here in Colorado. From working with hundreds of guitarists monthly, I regularly get exposure to many many pickups. Additionally I have been retrofitting pickups to my guitars for 20 years now. The  Dimarzio Liquifire pickup offers the contemporary musician a pickup that shines through while being placed in a position more regarded for undefined bass, and overly muddy tones.

My first retrofit was the Dimarzio Tone Zone, and my previous installation was a set of 60′s pickups retrofitted into my Custom Shop Suhr guitar. From working in my recording studio I listen critically to tone day in day out. My ears have been honed to differentiate frequency specific material. Being a professional guitarist, and one who has serviced thousands of guitars doing all manner of luthier work also assist in being able to correctly quantify the merits, or lack thereof with certain aspects of guitar.

I’ve generally held that guitar pickups are less significant to the entire guitar tone signal (including amps effects etc) than probably 90% of players, make out they are. This is evidenced purely by the sheer amount of players on YouTube who sometimes play through rigs worth thousands of dollars but clearly, have very little understanding or grounding into real guitar tone.

My Ernie Ball Guitar featuring the Dimarzio CrunchLab & Liquifire Pickups.

The Liquifire truly is an exception. It is the best neck pickup I’ve ever installed. The bass is solid, and very defined, but not lacking clarity, or spilling over into other frequencies. The pickup behaves in a slightly compressed manner, yet rich in harmonic detail. Both clean and overdriven tones are full, and completely usable. Sometimes a pickup excels in clean, yet becomes unfocused with OD/Dirt tones. Neck pickups have always traditionally presented an aspect of appeal, yet compromise in another area, this is NOT the case with the Liquifire. From basic open triads to complex 13b9b5 chord voicings, to fast legato passages over melodic minor scales, the pickup detail is very articulate. It changes character very nicely when rolling off as little as 1dB from the volume control, or adjusting the tone control down to 8.5 for example.

Reading one of the previous reviews here, while I don’t wish to be inflammatory, seems to highlight one of three things. 1) The pickup was installed without correct regard given to height to string ratio & wiring, 2) The guitar possessed really dreadful overbearing tonal qualities that severely impeded the overall interaction with the pickup, or 3) Another factor was interfering with the ability to judge the pickup on it’s voice alone. Whatever the hindrance that was clouding the reviewers circumstance, their findings were glaringly different from my results. I don’t say that egotistically at all, but rather from the perspective that tone doesn’t lie.

Perhaps the harmonic detail, and even bass range is the most appealing aspect of the Liquifire. To achieve the clarity I have with the Liquifire, I would easily pay $150 without hesitating, it has made that much difference. The fact it can be bought for around 50% of that lands it in the bargain territory for myself. I’ve used Dmarzio’s Duncans, Suhr, Carvin & other brands both active, passive and active electroni equipped guitars for more than two decades. The Liquifire reigns supreme. By way of further justification, I installed this pickup in an Ernie Ball JP100. The ‘cheap’ Petrucci signature model. The tone in this guitar outshines my American made JP6 (1st year model with earlier custom Dimarzio’s pre CrunchLab & Liquifire combination)

I am in the process of upgrading the Liquifire in my JP6 as a result. It really is that great. Congrats Dimarzio, you knocked it out the ballpark this time! 10/10. I am drawing a truly significant respect to John Petrucci who truly has a unique and wonderful insight into both guitar design, and tone. While I respect John’s achievements with Dream Theater, the fact that I am gravitating to his signature items is purely because the products really are unique, and special in an overdrowded environment. Having the right name, brand or logo lost it’s value or sizzle factor many years ago, as my ears took over determining relevance into my musical sound design.

By Fletch Whipp

I enjoy a wide range of music, spanning from the 60′s all the way through to current cutting edge music. From long hours and years spent in the studio it is interesting to analyse music past similar to how a Historian investigates time past.

Some musical trends cause me to smile, others to shudder or wince and remark ‘what were they thinking?’ I believe the current ‘Loudness Wars’ trend could have the potential to cause engineers 20 years from now think, with all the technological advantages they had at the start of the new millenium, how did they become dumber?

for the uninitiated the loudness wars refers to the current trend of mastering music at the maximum volume in an effort for the music to become more powerful. Trying to detail this to those unfamiliar with sound design might be like trying to detail what air is like. It negatively affects the song much more than a simple volume boost, which in itself isn’t such a bad thing. As the videos below will explain however, the end result is that the program material suffers significantly.

Metal giants Metallica’s last release Death Magentic pushed the Loudness War into the mainstream when fans-not audiophiles, complained bitterly about the unappealing sound of the CD. Metallica had released the master tracks to the Guitar Hero franchise prior to the album being finalized. This video demonstrates easily how the final product sounds gross compared to the Guitar Hero version.

Ted Jensen, Senior mastering engineer at Sterling Sound who oversaw ‘Death Magnetic’ responded to severe crticism leveled at him about the audio quality. ’I’m certainly sympathetic to your reaction, I get to slam my head against that brick wall every day. In this case the mixes were already brick walled before they arrived at my place. Suffice it to say I would never be pushed to overdrive things as far as they are here. Believe me I’m not proud to be associated with this one, and we can only hope that some good will come from this in some form of backlash against volume above all else’.

The increasing trend away from high fidelity dynamic range material towards a wash of sheer volume is effectively detailed in the following graph of remasters of Michael Jackson’s ‘Black & White’ track. This is exactly the same song, simply remastered by engineers over the years for different re-releases featuring the song. As you’ll see, the song gets louder with each subsequent release, yet the audio graph begins to more closely resemble the ‘bricj wall’ appearance that is the bain of main quality sound engineers.

The end result is that for the last 15 years music quality has degraded to the point where an entire generation is accepting bad recordings without realizing that a much better audio production standard exists, Simply put, music is becoming less musical, and an increasing number of music fans are unaware.

To discover more about the Loudness Wars, visit the following website.

www.DynamicRangeDay.com

By Fletch Whipp

Matt Johnson, the genius behind Tortuga sure knows how to make eye-catching pedals, luckily, and not surprisingly, he also knows how to make GREAT sounding pedals. Matt knows tone, as sharing a similar background to myself, he too worked in a high-end guitar shop for a decade. The Mai Tai phaser pedal falls under Matt’s ‘liquid refreshment’ area of pedals that also host such pedals as the Martini (incredibly tasty Dual Analog Chorus/Vibrato) Single Malt (Dual vintage delay) & the Neptune (Dual Vibe) which also happens to be another Tortuga pedal I’ve had the pleasure of demoing, being a giant Vibe fan. One day we may have some Tortuga pedals on our clients boards for you to enjoy yourself!)

Here is Matt’s take on his creation. The Mai Tai™ is a beautiful take on a classic “script” era phaser. It has a warm and sloshy midrange sweep that encompasses everything we want in a great phaser and even travels a bit into “vibe” territory. As with any Tortuga effect, the Mai Tai™ does not take anything away from your tone; it only enhances it, makes it bigger and simply more lush. It also has a dual set of depth (Mix) and rate (Rum) controls that can be set separately and switched between so it’s like having two Mai Tais in one. I mean, we all know once you start, you can’t have just one Mai Tai™.

The RockStarzUSA take on the Mai Tai: In an increasingly overcrowded world of pedals, which includes phaser effects, Matt’s offering does stand out-enough to warrant my purchasing it and adding to one of my own personal boards. Firstly, it offers two footswitchable modes of phase, which instantly appeals to my desire of both a fast and slow phase without need to adjust the dials. The range of speed is actually completely useable, neither too slow to the point of dragging it’s heels during phase, nor so fast that it becomes a gimmick.

Some pedals really molest the tone signal, however the Mai Tai does not do this, the integrity of the original signal remains clear, yet the effect at once blends together with the original signal and yet still offers that nice chewy goodness classic phasers offer. It is as ‘warm’ sounding as another Phaser I own, the MXR Phase 100, yet is literally double the pedal of the MXR example. The Mai Tai offers super bright LED lights which actually does contrast some of my other pedals that have regular, dull red LED’s installed.

Finally, the Mai Tai just says FUN! The cool graphics over the white base literally inspire me to create. The board which houses the Mai Tai has 16 pedals, and is almost always the first pedal people comment on. Now some tone purists may scoff and say it has nothing to do with looks, but how many times have you picked up a new guitar, effect unit or amp, which though may be like 1,000 others out there, just seems to allow something new and original surface while playing…..

For more information, contact Matt at matt@tortugaeffects.com or visit www.tortugaeffects.com

By Fletch Whipp

Just a few days ago, I had an earworm….big time! No no, I’m not talking about some malicious bug gnawing away on my earlobe…. We ALL have them after all. Nope, not talking about a personal hygiene issue, and earworm is the term given to that situation where a part of a song plays, and replays in your head, regardless of whether you just heard it that day, or some time prior.

Yes, I see you nodding your head now.

My particular EarWorm was ‘Super Trouper’ by 70′s disco sensations, ABBA….. That’s right ABBA, Even hard rockers like me have a ‘lighter’ side

When I workout at my gym, I like to switch off and listen to Andrew W.K ‘Party Party party’ or Joe Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ or other workout worthy tune. Sometimes those songs remain long after the workout has ended. Even late into the same evening.

Got a tune that won't stop playing in your head?

Writer Carl Nierenberg shares the following information. A new British study in the journal Psychology of Music has tried to understand their origins. They looked at how earworms, which psychologists call ‘involuntary musical imagery’, get started in the first place. Researchers collected data from 604 people who completed an online survey. After analyzing the responses, they identified four main triggers for earworms. The most common one was music exposure, either recently hearing a tune or repeatedly hearing it. A second reason was memory triggers, meaning that seeing a particular person or word, hearing a specific beat, or being in a certain situation reminds you of a song.

The third reason for earworms your emotional frame of mind, or “affective states.”  Feeling stressed, surprised or happy when you hear a song may make it stick in your head. And a fourth cause was “low attention states.”  A wandering mind, whether from daydreaming or dreams at night, can set off this involuntary musical imagery.

“I was initially surprised by the sheer number of idiosyncrasies within the earworm surveys — the number of different tunes people heard and the number of unique circumstances where earworms popped up,” says study author, Victoria Williamson, a music psychologist at Goldsmiths, University of London. But it makes sense, she says, since “these spontaneous mental tunes appear to be a typical everyday consequence of the way that our brains process music.“ And these “sticky songs” can be a tune you hear often or a brand new one. “Earworms are likely to be as individual as we are in both our musical tastes and music listening habits,” explains Williamson.

Don't worry, earworms are easily treated... if you need help! (pic courtesy of ReSurge International)

Asked what to do when you get one, Williamson says she’ll be trying to find out how people control them in her next research project.” But in the meantime, she offers up this advice: “I find that occupying my mind with a task helps — reading a book, doing a puzzle or talking to a friend.”

For years I’ve studied various formulas in music whether that is hard rock, pop, jazz, blues, reggae or other genre, each has specific qualities, that sometimes overlap as to how they work so well. I’d like to think that RockStarzUSA.com offers world-class earworm training We know what makes songs catchy….. While we can’t guarantee you success with your songs, we can steer you on the right track in how to best achieve earworms.

Ask your teacher about the elements of songwriting today. You’ll discover a mathematical world hidden within music just waiting to be unlocked that generates ‘appealing’ or ‘catchy’ songs! -Fletch Whipp

By Fletch Whipp

Memes is such a viral phrase….. What?

Andy Warhol was the poster boy for the whole ‘Pop Culture’ trend from decades past, however nowadays ‘meme’s’ or ‘viral’ have replaced the lexicon where Pop Culture once reigned as the phrase to describe what is hot & popular.

Lolcats, Tebowing, Planking, Owling, and now the usage of the phrase ‘…but then I took an arrow to the knee’ appears to be the latest viral theme or Internet meme doing the rounds. The phrase refers to a sentence a guard speaks during a sequence in the super masively popular Skyrim computer game released just mere weeks ago to a devoted crowd that essentially was met with the reception akin to the Beatles exploding in the early 60′s.

Thinking about this phrase caused me to wonder, who, or what was the last artist to really captivate the masses and regenerate music as an expressive art form.

In the early 80′s we had New Wave, & urban street music dubbed ‘Rap’.

In the mid 80′s we had spandex wearing hair bands and electronic pop..

In the early 90′s Seattles best ‘Grunge’ swept the world with it’s anti rockstar image

In the mid 90′s HipHop, Electronica & variations burst from clubs to radio.

In the early 2000′s we had music on demand as the mp3 format evolved

In the mid 2000′s Pop Punk bands ruled the urban festivals

In the early ’10′s……… Skrillex & Dubstep. Dubsteps first bonafide Superstar?

Skrillex, AKA Sonny Moore is almost single handedly sweeping through the entire Western music culture with his brand of DubStep. His YouTube song Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites is almost hitting 50,000,000 views, and there is no video. It is a single still image. Skrillex holds the record for the most viewed still image video on youTube.

Dubstep is an offshoot of Electronica, and composed on software like Fruity Loops and Ableton, DubStep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as ’tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals’.

What I have found unusual, and very appealing personally with Skrillex is that his insanely catchy music appeals to both young and old, electronic and traditional format bands alike. metalheads stand side by side club goers as Skrillex blasts them with pulsing sub octave bass lines that insist in attempting to do body organ damage. Just within the last several months Skrillex’s latest pairing up with the Metal band Korn released their combined collaboration further cementing his mark across a variety of genre’s.

My prophecy? Skrillex’s influence will soon evolve to the music of choice behind the latest car or electronic device being hawked on TV. Club appearances will soon give way to Arena’s and various splinter elements of Dubstep will emerge…. unless Skrillex takes an arrow to the knee

By Fletch Whipp

Hi there! While the musical instrument landscape is dominated by American offerings, I’ll always happily celebrate top shelf products coming out of my former homeland of Australia. It’s true that Maton guitars & Rode microphones are held in high regard around the world in their respective categories, and MI Effects based in Sydney (my old stompin’ grounds prior to moving to Colorado, U.S.A) can arguably hold the title for best pedal representation from Australia.

MI Effects was founded in 2002 by Michael Ibrahim, who had already spent 15 years involved in music and electronics. While still hardly an overnight success, Michael’s MI Effects holds an enviable position for being one of the most celebrated ‘new’ pedal manufacturers with musicians worldwide, much to the envy of other builders.

In a world perhaps overloaded with various overdrive and high gain pedals, MI Effects still seem to have carved out a unique niche in the market. I came across their pedals several years ago, and though I’ve tested, reviewed and played with hundreds of gain based pedals in that time, MI pedals are featured twice on my live/studio pedal board with their CrunchBox and Blues Pro Overdrive,

RockStarzUSA board featuring both MI Effect pedals

Blues Pro Overdrive

The Blues Pro Overdrive is an incredible medium to higher gain overdrive offering that sounds fantastic in literally any setting. Equally suited for Nashville grind to soaring jazz fusion, it does offer a distinct breakup and punch, yet the word that keeps returning to mind when I use it is ‘smooth’ followed closely by ‘rich’ and ‘full bodied’. Once in a while a guitar player has the luck to find a pedal that just completely compliments everything that runs through it, and the Blues Pro Overdrive does exactly that.

The icing on the cake is the fact that via a toggle switch the guitarist can instantly step into fuzz territory. I’ll admit I’m more of an overdrive player than a fuzz player, yet this pedal is inspiring with its flavorsome fuzz that while offering that familiar tone, does so in a way not to rip into the cortex of your brain like some fuzz pedals do. Priced very reasonably at $129 USD, the Blues Pro Overdrive easily holds it’s own against other boutique brands at more than twice the price.

While many manufacturers hype their gain pedals to equal the ‘Marshall in a box‘ sound, MI Effects could stamp this pedal with such a statement, without the resulting ‘hype’. My main gigging/recording amplifier is a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue and extension cabinet retrofitted with Celestion Gold and 70th anniversary G12H30

speakers. This offers the typically Fender G6L6 bubbly clean sound, yet when it comes time to get into high gain territory, I need to look elsewhere. The Crunchbox literally transforms my amplifier into a very realistic Marshall EL34 driven crunch, except 100 lbs lighter in weight, and requiring a much smaller footprint.

One of my favorite high gain sounds is the guitar sound on Alice in Chains ‘Dirt‘ CD. The CrunchBox is able to deliver that same thick layered yet articulate crunch that Jerry Cantrell offers fans on that disc, yet the gain can be tailored back to classic early dimed out Plexi tones. (Dave Friedman Marsha amps anyone?) Perhaps the most

MI Audio CrunchBox

appealing aspect of the Crunchbox is that it enables the user to embrace maximum distortion, yet avoids that typically fizzing out that the average distortion pedal seem to gravitate towards when reaching total saturation. Again priced at $129 USD, the Crunchbox is a bargain in my opinion for how amazing this pedal sounds!

Cap’n Crunch, or Lucky Charms?

Both of these pedals can stand proud as being top shelf offerings in their respective genre’s. With a very robust build, they run on the standard 9v power supply via battery or adaptor. The construction is excellent, and footprint is small (around 1/3 less dimensions than a BOSS pedal) which is valuable considering the renaissance pedals are enjoying today.

MI Effects offer the guitarist the opportunity to build an A-List sounding rig, for much less than you would expect to pay. MI Effects offer many other pedals such as the Polyanna, and GI Fuzz and more in their expanding range of tone. Many students at our Studio complex enjoy MI Effects pedals, to which I can proudly say Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!

By Fletch Whipp

When I was 15 my desired amp was pretty much anything that had the word stack attached to it. After years of touring, hundreds of live performances & the advent of reaching my 30′s (sans road crew & guitar techs), my desires changed to Quarter stacks – a 2×12 and head. It was easily manageable, yet still rocked the house. My amp brand of choice was ‘Divided by 13′, the southern Californian creation of Fred Taccone, whose hand-built amps rank amongst the best in the world. I owned two of his models the FTR-37-a bubbly Fender style amp, and the RSA-23, Marshall Major flavor covering a more robust stiff tone that took pedals incredibly well.

As we began expansion here at RockStarzUSA I reached a time of needing to free up cash-flow to invest in outboard equipment in the studio. Sadly, I made my prized amps available for sale, and unsurprisingly they sold, very quickly. Around 1 year ago I was able to reinvest into a good solid combo with the studio humming along, & 4 new studios at our complex being utilized daily. I wanted a good solid inexpensive workhorse tube amp that had a great clean tone, and that would take my extensive pedal collection. (CLICK HERE to take a look here to see the multiple pedlaboard builds in operation in our various studios CLICK HERE) A friend had recommended his Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue amp. After auditioning it I found one used at Guitar Center for $460.

There were no hidden surprises… it had that familiar Fender tone for me, chimey, bubbly cleans, and  typical yawn worthy overdrive channel. It existed, but I could never bond with it. Though I did not set out to ‘mod’ my amp, I was unable to cease drawing comparisons between the Fender and my prized Divided by 13′s, and I began researching retrofitting a different speaker.

SPEAKER

I had loved the grind, and early breakup of the various Celestion Blues housed in my Divided by 13′s over the years, but at 15w, retrofitting it into a 40w amp while doable, was ill-advised by my local, and very trusted long time tech, Ross who heads up the renown ‘RossTronics’ service facility. (Click here to visit RossTronics) Further investigation led me to the Celestion Gold, a 50w version closely mimicking the characteristics of the Blue-so the marketing informed me. Brad Paisley used it, and Brad knows tone, so that, along with various reviews and sound clips, was good enough for me. Celestion developed the Gold to offer musicians that appealing AlNico quality. With distortion and breakup subtly later than the Blues. Again, needing to be budget conscious, I found a Celestion Gold already broken is for $200.

Upon a relatively quick install taking less than 45 minutes, the BDR was fired up to listen to the result of the speaker retrofit. Thankfully I have long gone past the days of ‘hearing with my eyes’ Either the sound and tone is there, and the investment was beneficial, or it isn’t. Thankfully the sound was instantly more appealing than the stock Fender options. That classic chime was now resident, minus the sharp bite typically associated with Fenders, and yet the bass response had tailored itself in the frequencies where it counts. The tone was full-bodied, yet articulate. The sound was present and urgent on mild clipping to heavily saturated overdrive, and yet allowed for the classic ‘bubbly’ style you would listen for on an old Fender Blackface 65.

6V6′s CALLING

After enjoying several months with my ‘new’ Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue, and heading nicely on the highway of tonal bliss, I considered rebiasing the amp to take 6V6 tubes. The stock 6L6′s were fine, but I’ve long been a fan of 6V6 tubes, with their low-frequency extension without getting boomy and a high end. 6V6′s are similar in tone to 6l6′s but they have a bit more mid sparkle and breakup much sooner. It is the little brother to the 6L6 and is all about classic American tube tone from yesteryear – Extremely sweet and bubbly with a beautifully deep bass and spacious shimmering highs, this tube defines vintage “Deluxe” styled tone and is a great substitute in the Mark I, Mark IV & Lone Star when used with their “Tweed” Switch feature. For the right treatment, I consulted Eurotubes. I have used Bob’s Eurotube designs for several years on various amps for myself and others, and he offered a premium 6V6 & 12AX7 package for around $100. (Click here to visit Eurotubes) I took the amp to RossTronics who performed the rebias.

ENTER FROMEL ELECTRONICS

Like other Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue owners, I became aware of Seattle amp tech John Fromel’s various mods available for  Fender amps. (Click here to visit Fromel Electronics) The reviews were sparse, but became convinced enough to purchase  his ‘Supreme’ mod kit. The kit combined both his complete & recap kits. John’s kits suggested after installation, you would note improvements to the tone stack, twin mod, brightness, power resisters, plate load resisters, reverb mod, switchcraft jacks, lead dress and cap upgrades. John states - Unleash the tone of your Blues Deluxe. The Blues Deluxe in its short life has received a lot of acclaim, it sounds good and is pretty reliable, other than a couple common problems. After these mods your amp will sound fantastic and be more reliable. The classic Fender tone is released through these changes. The flabby bottom darkness is gone, what you get is full warm classic tone with nice top end sparkle. The combined kits were $89.95 shipped. Ross carried out all the mod work & rebiasing of the amp during the same visit for $200.

THE VERDICT

Upon taking the amp home, and connecting it to the pedalboard I was stunned. The amp had drastically changed, for the better, no, make that the best. The amp instantly sparkled-without the icepick cleans. The bass was more strong, yet defined. The mids were present yet not browning out the sound. While dialing in the amp, literally anyway I EQ’d it, it sounded great, a hallmark of any good amp-in my opinion. The volume was no longer hair-trigger sensitive-as John stated. Also, the reverb was good. It no longer washed out-again as John stated it would improve. Overall the amp felt tighter, more bold, smooth yet rich in harmonic detail. My father who had been taping some video in the studio for a promo shoot days earlier, listening to the new tones came in, and said how amazing the amp sounded. For a non musician to hear the difference, and offer their approval, unsolicited was a confirming commentary on the whole process.

Adding the components & labor together Celestion Gold $200, Premium tube upgrade $100, Fromel Electronics Supreme Mod kit $89.95 & RossTronics $200 labor amounted to a $589.95 investment into an amp that cost $460. For around $1050 total investment I am now enjoying an amp that truly is world-class, able to stand alongside without looking embarrassed, or anemic alongside the various Dr Z, Divided by 13, TopHat & other well-regarded (rightfully so) boutique designs out there, cost approx $3,000-$4,000.

I do not wish to take anything away from these esteemed boutique designs, they are stellar, and deserve their place at the forefront of tonal appeal for guitarists. The builders and shops have toiled long over all manner of design features to bring such tone, to guitarists. I enjoy supporting true artisans, the little builders. This paper however is designed to encourage those who know good amp tone when they hear it, yet do not have the resources to pour $3,000+ into a high end amp. My business life has generally been guided by ROI (return on investment) While investing $3,000 into  a top shelf amp is worth doing, Investing just over $1,000 and achieving world class amp tone to me represents fantastic ROI.