Gretsch Tennessee Rose
Lovely guitar, nice resonant tone.
Electro Harmonix 360 Nano Looper Pedal
I’ve spent years chopping up and looping wav files on pro tools/logic, so I though I’d have a play with this pedal. It essentially gives one that chopping facility on the bounce – record a part, loop it, overdub, repeat… The recorded quality of the loops is excellent, and the doesn’t appear to be any…
Korg Pandora Stomp
I’ve had a few of the various Pandora models over the years and always found them to be great value. They always seemed to have some immediately workable tones, portability was great and the instant rhythm track was a handy addition for quick practice. Now I’m not sure if what’s happened with this new Pandora…
Zoom Powerdrive PD-01
This 90’s Japanese pedal is somewhat rare and highly thought of. A simple transparent overdrive, it excels at making your existing tone better. The controls are familiar; high, low, drive and level. What’s immediately different to a standard overdrive is the gain dial only breaks the signal up at the very top end of the…
1991 Squier by Fender Telecaster | Made in Japan
Excellent example of the revered 80s/90s Japanese Squier range. The finishing quality is head and shoulders above anything within the price range (think £200 to £500 second hand). This particular model had a comfortable one piece maple neck, with the silver Squier logo and “made in Japan” on the headstock. The lacquer had worn away…
2012 Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue
An incredibly impressive instrument for the money, the NCR offers loads more tonal options (than usual for a Gibson design) and is quite a head turner too. Occupying an odd middle ground inbetween a Les Paul and an SG in more ways than one; the slimmer than LP body is comfortable for extended periods of…
Ibanez S570 Project
I loved the look of these Ibanez S-Series guitars in my teens, but only acquired my first one some 20 years later. You know what you’re getting with these guitars; flat wide and thin necks, perfect for shredding. The slimline body is well weighted, in that it sits nice and light, but unlike a Gibson…
1997 Jackson Performer Made In Japan
Nice late 90’s Japanese made Performer series Jackson, with a light flame top. After a set up and service it played pretty well, as is usual of these guitars. Their slim necks and flat profile fingerboards make shredding a breeze and this particular one did everything expected of it. Everything on it was as factory, although it…
Wampler Plexi Drive Mk I
Critically acclaimed pedal that left me completely cold. Unimpressive, thin sounding overdrive that’s pretty much un-usable..unless you want a shit, thin sounding overdrive. Zero from me I’m afraid, moved it on quickly.
2004 Gibson Les Paul Standard
Breathtaking flame maple top on this one. The colours and depth in the grain/finish are really exceptional. The maple truly dances in the light, drastically changing the guitar’s appearance depending on the viewing angle. It came by these ends with a problem high e string, namely a metallic buzz up and down the board….
1985 Fender Stratocaster Made In Japan
Well cared for example of an 80’s Japanese Stratocaster in candy red. Barely played, with no fret wear and not a bump or scratch in sight. The highly lacquered maple neck is chunky, certainly vintage flavoured. It’s completely as factory apart from the replacement pearloid scratchplate. It looks, plays and sounds like a well…
Schecter Dream Machine Super Strat
A mate asked me to set this up with a lower action, and it was a real pleasure to have it in the house for a week. Very well made instrument, certainly a player’s Strat. The one piece birds eye maple neck had a un-Fender like flat fingerboard radius, brass nut and chunky frets. …
Belcat Overdrive OVD302
Picked this Ibanez TS9 clone up cheap in a pawn shop, not expecting much from it when also receiving change from a tenner. The sound surprised the hell out of me; it’s incredibly good. It’s full of dynamics, responding very pleasingly to pick attack and cleaning up well when backing the guitar volume off. The…
Squier Jagmaster Project
I’ve never been a fan of the Jag/Jazz family of guitars, simply not a guitar I would choose to play. However, I picked up this body, neck and scratchplate for a good price so it made sense to have some fun refurbishing it. A previous owner of the guitar had attempted some form of artwork,…
Behringer VT911 Tube Overdrive
Saw this on eBay brand new in the box for £15 so it had to be worth a punt. Straight out of the box impressions: Huge range of gain More fuzz than overdrive Nicely built for the money After half an hour of fiddling I couldn’t seem to find a setting that didn’t…
Laney AOR50 Series II head & cab
All valve head (4 pre 12ax7 and 2 power) and matching 2×12″ cabinet. Was working…came out of storage after ten years…wasn’t working. Sounded shit in the first place so not much lost.
1980s Aria Japan AW100 Acoustic
Made between 1987 & 1991 the AW100 featured mahogany back and sides, and a spruce. The tone is metallic and thin, very lacking in bottom end and any kind of warmth. For a beginner; the action is low without fret buzz and ideal for getting started without breaking the bank.
Hohner Jack Custom Headless Bass
Natural finish Hohner Jack Custom bass with the Steinberger headless system. Also features thru-neck and active eq circuitry.
1998 Fender DG22S Acoustic
Nice budget guitar with a solid spruce top, rosewood bridge and flame maple back. The tone was surpassingly rich with a lot of depth to it. Made in Korea, 1998.
1946 RSA U46 Valve Amp (Selmer)
Original 1946 2 input valve amp.
DopeFX Everything Zen & Black Lotus Overdrive Pedals
Two really nice pedals, both in the field of rich fluid overdrive tones. Handmade in the UK, lovely artwork and they sound great for the money.
1958 Hofner Congress Archtop
Excellent example of this budget but timeless 50’s design. The lack of a truss rod means it’s generally down to luck if you find one that plays well. This one was a strange combination of being aesthetically excellent but incredibly high action. It suggests a well cared for life, but in plenty of warm environments!…
Fender Strat Sound Test
STRATOCASTER SOUND TEST Squier Affinity 1970s-style relic Vs Fender 1985 Japanese Modern The Fender is panned hard to the left speaker, and the Squier to the right. Each guitar comps rhythm while the other solos. Both guitars were recorded direct into Logic X via a Focusrite Sapphire Pro 26 mic pre. They have identical amp/reverb/eq/compression…
1996 Yamaha Pacifica 112
Yamaha changed the budget guitar game in the 1990’s with the Pacifica, bringing a solid alder bodied guitar that played and sounded great at an extremely competitive price. I picked this model up in a poor state, showing years of use without any kind of servicing. I undertook an extensive deep clean, re-soldered some connections,…