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Blackstar Amped 2 Dept. 10, all-in-one pedalboard with built-in 100W amp review
Thursday, 26 January 2023
The British brand Blackstar (blackstaramps.com) hits hard with this second version of their Amped pedalboard! Indeed, this Amped 2 Dept. 10 offers everything you need to play in a band. All you have to do is plug it into a standard guitar cabinet, a mixing console, a computer (or all three) and you're ready to
Gildas from Dolmen Effects (dolmen-effects.fr) hits hard again with this distortion pedal that offers no less than 13 versions of the legendary Proco Rat with its Hermine. Spoiler, it sounds huge! Hermine Dolmen Effects pedal review Audio version available on The Guitar Channel Radio for premium subscribers Until the next gear review or interview, keep
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Volta 1987 v2, review of a double pedal to get the Marshall sound on your pedalboard
Monday, 26 December 2022
It was at the 42 Gear Street event that I had the pleasure to meet Salvatore di Pietro who is the craftsman behind the Volta Custom Electronics pedals (voltacustom.com) made in Italy. His Volta 1987 v2 model is what we call Marshall-in-a-Box, that is to say that it offers you the sound of the famous
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While waiting for a complete gear review of these excellent Italian pedals, here is a first discovery of these products from Costalab (costalab.com). You can discover the two speed echo, the EchoLab, the ultra deep chorus, the ChorusLab and finally a revised version of the Big Muff with the Custom Muff. Costalab pedal review Until
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MIDI tutorial: how to control the Kernom Ridge overdrive pedal via MIDI with Blue Cat Audio Remote Control
Tuesday, 08 November 2022
In the video below recorded in collaboration with Blue Cat Audio (bluecataudio.com), I show you how you can use their Remote Control software to change parameters on the MIDI capable overdrive pedal Kernom Ridge (kernom.com). For us mere guitar players, there is something magic in being able to remote control a pedal on our pedalboard.
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Showroom update: Légende guitar by Jeanmichel Capt from Switzerland
Thursday, 20 October 2022
Here is a short demo of a Légende model of a guitar built by the Swiss luthier Jeanmichel Capt (autraversdesmains.ch/guitares-legende). Met for the first time at the Montreux International Guitar Show, Jeanmichel was an exhibitor at the Puteaux guitar show organized by yours truly. After the show, I took this beautiful instrument with me as
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It is difficult to remain insensitive to the shape of the California made by Tony Girault (giraultguitars.com), luthier in Evreux, in the beautiful region of Normandy in France. This is the new version of this model with slightly redesigned curves. In case you are wondering the name of the luthier is pronounced G-raw. Loaded with
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Duesenberg Senior, a beautiful German guitar at our Paris showroom thanks to Fred’s Guitar Parts
Saturday, 01 October 2022
Here is a short demo of a Duesenberg (duesenberg.de) Senior model in collaboration with the French importer of the German brand Fred's Guitar Parts (fredguitar.com). Thus, as part of the showroom service, I am delighted to present this beautiful German guitar which has more than one trick up its sleeve despite its apparent simplicity. Duesenberg
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The Les Paul Special Gibson signature Rick Beato is a guitar that made a lot of news because it's the first time the American brand made a signature model for a youtuber rather than a star musician. Here is the test of the dual P90 guitar with its superb TV Blue Mist color. Test of
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Cherry’s Guitars, demo of a Les Paul type guitar built by the French luthier Thierry Ceresa
Saturday, 17 September 2022
The Les Paul number VIII guitar from French luthier Thierry Ceresa under his brand Cherry's (cherrysguitars.com) is an exceptional guitar! The demo below is a compilation of the playing sequences from the Direct Backstage live show on September 2, 2022 on La Chaîne Guitare. The guitar is plugged into the Universal Audio Dream 65 preamp
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Yamaha RevStar guitars, first impressions with Krenar Cilku #42GSFour
Friday, 02 September 2022
At the 42 Gear Street event organized by Henning Pauly at his home, it was possible to use one of 3 crazy video studios in turn to record videos. The first day was the brand day. So I found myself with the very nice Austrian youtuber Krenar Cilku (YouTube channel) that I had met the
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MIDI pedalboard configuration to drive your guitar software on a computer
Tuesday, 08 March 2022
In this CAM or CAG gear chronicle (as you prefer), we tackle with Guillaume Jeulin from Blue Cat Audio (bluecataudio.com) a subject that usually makes guitarists run away: MIDI! Don't worry, we're not going to talk about guitar synthesizers but about configuring and using a pedal board to drive via MIDI what's happening on your
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How to setup an audio interface to play guitar on your Mac computer – Blue Cat Audio chronicle
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
As part of a collaboration with Blue Cat Audio (bluecataudio.com), editor of CAM software for the studio and for the guitar, here is a new CAM (Computer Assisted Music) column. or CAG (Computer Assisted Guitar), as Guillaume Jeulin, the founder of Blue Cat Audio, likes to say. This time it is the connection and configuration
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Setup an audio interface to play guitar on your PC computer – Blue Cat Audio chronicle
Tuesday, 15 February 2022
As part of a collaboration with Blue Cat Audio (bluecataudio.com), a software editor for studio and guitar, we recorded a series of videos dedicated to Computer Assisted Music (CAM). Guillaume Jeulin, founder and developer of Blue Cat Audio, even talks about CAG (Computer Assisted Guitar). In this first part, we start with the basics: connecting
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"Classic S Suhr, the best American Super Strat today?" Come on! Let's assume the bold statement that the Classic S from Suhr Guitars (suhr.com) represents the best of the modern Super Strat in the production guitar segment. Big fan of John Suhr (whom I hope to interview one of these days!!) and his work in
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Showroom feature: Tausch Guitars model 665 Raw in Candy Apple Red
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
As part of the service proposed to boutique guitar builders to exhibit and try out instruments in our private showroom in Paris, France here is the model 665 Raw in a gorgeous Candy Apple Red relic finish from Tausch Guitars (tausch-guitars.de). This guitar built in Germany by the luthier Rainer Tausch is full of cool
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Invaders Bluegrass 550 tube amp, a 50W single-channel powerhouse
Tuesday, 26 January 2021
The Bluegrass 550 from Invaders Amplification (invadersamplification.com) is a 100% tube amp single-channel tube amp that has a pretty phenomenal sound. One thing is sure, you won't run out of headroom with this amp! Invaders Bluegrass 550 review Until the next gear review or interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.
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Octopus G2002 Spalt review, awesome sounding guitar and a piece of art
Friday, 08 January 2021
Make no mistake the Octopus G2002 from Spalt Instruments might look like a piece of art (guess what, it is one!) but it is first and foremost a badass guitar! It was a real pleasure to review this guitar which spent a couple of weeks at our showroom in Paris before heading to Japan. This
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Tone Bender, review of one of the ultimate and sought-after Fuzz pedals
Wednesday, 16 December 2020
Thanks to a faithful premium subscriber of The Guitar Channel (thanks Steven), I was able to test a vintage Sola Sound Tone Bender Professional Mk II. It is one of the most sought after Fuzz pedals by aficionados. Tone Bender Professional Mk II review Impressions Fuzz pedals are difficult beasts to tame. This Tone Bender
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Unicorn Classic Ruokangas, a super high-end Les Paul type luthier guitar
Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Ruokangas (ruokangas.com) is a difficult name to pronounce for us but it's a well known name on The Guitar Channel since there have already been several interviews with luthier Juha Ruokangas as well as several luthier chronicles. In the category of high-end luthier guitars, here is the Unicorn Classic, the reinterpretation of the Les Paul
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Spalt Instruments Gate Guitar #047 – 5min review, playing only, no talking
Sunday, 15 November 2020
The video below was recorded in one take during a live broadcast on my Twitch channel (twitch.tv/lachaineguitare) during a demo of the awesome Gate Guitar #047 from Austrian boutique guitar builder Michael Spalt (Spalt Instruments). Only the playing sequences were kept for the edit of this 5min video review. 5min demo of the Spalt Gate
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It was a blast to record a gear review of this 1965 Gibson SG Junior. Here is a great Rock'n'Roll machine of a Vintage guitar! This example is in player condition, meaning it is not fully original (the original tremolo is gone, the tuners were replaced, etc.) and it was heavily played. 1965 Gibson SG
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XTone Pro Xsonic review, 2 input USB audio interface and MIDI pedalboard
Friday, 31 July 2020
In this review I present you the XTone Pro from Xsonic. This is a super cool USB 2 input audio interface which doubles as a MIDI pedalboard! Great piece of gear which works great with your favorite amp emulation software on your computer or mobile device. Disclaimer: this gear was sent to me by the
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Fender Lead II and Lead III, two great guitars from Fender Mexico!
Friday, 19 June 2020
At the Winter NAMM 2020, the Mexican reissues of the Fender Lead models caught my eye. A few weeks later, here is now the complete test of the two Mexican Fender Lead series, the Lead II and the Lead III. To make it simple, the II is equipped with two single-coil pickups and the III
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In this video we put back to back two loadbox simulators, the Captor X Two Notes Audio Engineering and the OX Box Universal Audio. Both devices are connected to the same Marshall 6101 100W tube amp. May the best win! Shootout: Captor X Two Notes versus OX Box Universal Audio Advantages Ox Box The fineness
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Valvebucker, the tube powered guitar pickup invented by Juha Ruokangas
Friday, 22 May 2020
Juha Ruokangas is a Finnish luthier who leads a small team of highly skilled craftsmen. Ruokangas Guitars builds high-end electric guitars and basses. In 2014 at the Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin, Juha Ruokangas presented the Nemo guitar, a prototype electric guitar with a tube pickup, the Valvebucker. It wasn't until 2019 that the
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Amp attenuators and cabinet simulators, only the best gear at our showroom!
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
There is only the best gear regarding attenuators and speaker/mic simulators in The Guitar Channel showroom in Paris for recording gear reviews, for Guitar in Hand interviews and for live broadcasts every Friday night. Reminder on attenuators and simulators The gear presented in this article has two distinct functions: Attenuator: to reduce the electrical power
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Eccos Keeley, a delay with the power of digital and the warm sound of analog
Friday, 17 April 2020
The Eccos Keeley (robertkeeley.com) echo pedal promises nothing less than simulating the effect obtained with two tape recorders that are linked to generate a repetition of sound. Make no mistake, this pedal is fully digital but achieves the performance of sounding beautifully like in the good old days of analog recording. Eccos Keeley review Until
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JHS PG-14, Paul Gilbert signature distortion pedal – Jam à la Santana
Friday, 10 April 2020
The American pedal brand JHS (jhspedals.info) which bears the initials of its founder Joshua Heath Scott has just released a distortion in collaboration with the one and only Paul Gilbert. With a clever equalization with a semi-parametric midrange adjustment, a very large range of sounds can be reached. The dynamic response is also pretty awesome.
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Guitar Review – California model from luthier Tony Girault, a mean P90 rock machine!
Friday, 28 February 2020
Here is a video of a great electric guitar built by a French luthier Tony Girault (giraultguitars.com) who is based in Normandy in a town called Evreux. This California model is a great Rock machine with its twin P90 pickups built by Tony himself. Config review For this video the guitar was plugged straight into
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