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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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JHS (jhspedals.com) is an American brand that offers top level guitar effect pedals. Here in this gear review, the Panther Cub delay pedal. JHS Panther Cub Until the next gear review or interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.
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The Klon Centaur is probably one of the most cloned pedal with the Tube Screamer. Today we are testing the Centura pedal from Ceriatone (ceriatone.com) which is one of the most highly regarded clone of the Klon. It is built in Malaysia and looks absolutely gorgeous. Test configuration Amp : BD Custom Amplification Guitars :
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Recording an acoustic guitar: direct output versus through a Radial DI box
Friday, 20 December 2019
Following a discussion with the luthier Virgile Pilon from Blind Guitars (blindguitars.com) concerning the K&K Pure Mini sensor which equips the B-51 model which is in our showroom in Paris, I recorded the video below reserved for paying subscribers of the show. The idea is to compare the sound when you get when you directly
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1983 Vigier Arpège, a very uncommon French guitar built by Patrice Vigier
Friday, 04 October 2019
This 1983 Vigier Arpège guitar is a real monument of French guitar building because of the high level of the lutherie and because of its very modern shape that we have not seen again afterwards. 1983 Vigier Arpège Until the next gear review or interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.
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New test run for the Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box which is this time connected to a Marshall 6101 combo. For reference, for comparison a recording was also made with a Shure SM57 positioned in front of the speaker combo. OX Amp Top Box / Marshall 6101 Connection of the OX on the amp
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Gear Review – OX Amp Top Box Universal Audio / Kelt Sideman FX amp
Friday, 03 May 2019
Here's a new review for the Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box which is this time connected to a Sideman FX Kelt head and cab. For reference, for comparison a recording was also made with a Shure SM57 positioned in front of the 15 inch speaker cab. OX Amp Top Box / Sideman FX amp
The brand Drybell based in Croatia offers pedals of excellent quality as the Vibe Machine which is the choice of Mike Landau to have a sound of Univibe on his pedalboard. The Unit67 is a multifunction pedal with boost, 3-band equalizer and compressor. Video Review - Drybell Unit67 Until the next gear review or interview, keep
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Pedal Review – Vemuram Jan Ray overdrive – Super dynamic and creamy drive pedal
Friday, 26 April 2019
The model Jan Ray overdrive pedal from the Japanese manufacturer Vemuram is the star of this video gear review. I found that this pedal sounded remarkably well with a great response to the playing dynamics. Judge for yourself via the video below. Vemuram Jan Ray overdrive video Until the next interview, keep on playing the
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The French pedal manufacturer Anasounds (anasounds.com) now offers a pedal named High Voltage. The promise of the manufacturer from Nice for this pedal is simple: get the sound of Malcom Young from AC/DC, just that! Promise kept? Let's hear it... Summary of the full review Full video Pros and cons of the pedal Conclusion: promise kept?
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Here's a video review of the Friedman DS40 plugin available in the Universal Audio Apollo interface. Friedman is well know for the quality of their tube amp. That's why I was very curious to test drive the plugin based on their DS40 model. Here's a screenshot of the plugin : Setup used for the review
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Pedal Review – Tone Bender Mk II: legendary pedal, legendary tones!
Friday, 22 March 2019
Thanks to a subscriber on The Guitar Channel (thanks Steven), I was able to record this video review of this legendary Fuzz pedal, the Tone Bender Mk II. Tone Bender Mk II video review Until the next gear review or interview, keep on playing the guitar! Pierre Journel.
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We continue the exploration og the Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box which is this time connected to Marshall 6101 combo using a 2007 Gibson Ls Paul Faded modded by Larry Corsa. In case you are wondering, the OX is a piece of gear you connect between the output of a guitar amp and the
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Shootout – Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box versus Shure SM57 mic
Friday, 01 March 2019
Out of curiosity and having a certain taste of provocation, The Guitar Channel presents you an unusual shoutout between the Ox Amp Top Box from Universal Audio and a timeless Shure SM57 microphone. A kind of David against Goliath fight in the field of sound recording! The goal of the game is more to show
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Debrief after 2 months of use – Strandberg Boden Original 6
Thursday, 28 February 2019
After two months of use of Strandberg Boden Original 6, an ergonomic electric guitar, it is time to give a first feedback on this instrument which incorporates a lot of innovations. Summary of the full article The positive points The neutral points The negative points Conclusion Positive points
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In this new Gear Review, we present the high-end category at Vola Guitar, the Zenith model which is characterized by a beautiful top and a great hardware. It's another great example of the Made in Japan high quality of instrument building. Vola Guitar - Zenith model Until the next gear review or interview, keep on playing the
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Amp Review – Kelt Amplification Sideman – 100% tube powered!
Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Thierry Labrouze manufactures in France in Brittany 100% tube amps that are found more and more in the hands of musicians who love beautiful tones. Some time ago a subscriber of La Chaîne Guitare ordered a Sideman Kelt but could not take delivery when Thierry brought him at the Puteaux show. So until further notice,
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Pedal Review – Overdrive Nobels ODR-1 – Cool natural sounding drive tones
Monday, 14 January 2019
It was during a conversation with Pete Thorn in Germany during the 2018 Guitar Summit that I heard about the Nobels ODR-1 overdrive pedal. It seems that this pedal has been used for a long time by studio guitarists in Nashville, as it costs around €90 online, I thought it was mandatory to try it
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Pedal Review – The Grunger – Tube powered booster from Sabelya
Monday, 31 December 2018
The Grunger is a tupe powered boost pedal from French boutique manufacturer Sabelya. This is a pedal that will serve to amplify the signal of your guitar by coloring it. We are not in the category of transparent boosts. On the contrary! The Grunger is made to bring color to your sound. The very neat
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In a previous article La Chaîne Guitare presented you an interview in French with Bruno Durand of the brand BD Custom Amplification. Here in this article you will find a review of his BF/Brownie model amp head that offers two completely separate channels. The first clean channel offers a Blackface type Fender sound, the second
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Here's the full video review of the fascinating Strandberg Boden Original 6 guitar, a great ergonomic guitar designed in Sweden and built in Indonesia. If you want to get some perspective about the Strandberg brand, check out the interview done with its founder Ola Strandberg back in 2013 during the Musikmesse. Video - Strandberg Boden
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Here is the first article in a series dedicated to the Strandberg Boden Original 6. Intrigued for a while by the work of this brand which you can find an interview with the founder Ola Strandberg made in 2013 at Musikmesse, The Guitar Channel has acquired a model in order to do an independently review,
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Sabelya is a French brand of boutique pedal shop Made in France. From the name of its designer and manufacturer Elyas Sabelya who is building interesting products including this reverb, the Ô Finest Reverb which has more than one trick in its bag. Ô Finest Reverb - Sabelya Until the next gear review or interview, keep
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The Puteaux Guitar Festival 2018 included in its program demo concerts that allowed to discover the instruments exhibited by luthiers throughout the festival in the magnificent Jean-Baptiste Lully Music Academy. Here are the Christian Stoll guitars presented on video. Stoll Guitars - Demo concert Luthier: Christian Stoll - www.stollguitars.de Musician: Arnaud Leprêtre - www.arnaudlepretre.com Video and sound: Philippe
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The Puteaux Guitar Festival 2018 included in its program demo concerts that allowed to discover the instruments exhibited by luthiers throughout the festival in the magnificent Jean-Baptiste Lully Music Academy. Here are the Julien Gendre guitars presented on video. Gendre Guitars - Demo concert Luthier: Julien Gendre (www.juliengendre.com) Musician: Shaï Sebbag Video and sound: Philippe Camus
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Pedal Review – Overdrive and clean boost King of Tone from Analog.Man
Monday, 15 October 2018
Analog Man's overdrive and clean boost pedal King of Tone has an excellent reputation among pedal fanatics. You will be able to see and especially hear what this gives in this recorded video thanks to Steven, a member of The Guitar Channel who owns this pedal. King of Tone from Analog.Man Until the next gear
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