When you see as many pedalboards as I do, you’ve seen this tuner countless times. I was starting to wonder why I was the only person that didn’t have one! Plus, there must be something magical about it for every guitar/bass player I know to drop $100 on this pedal.

There isn’t anything magical – aside from the fact that it’s well built, tunes perfectly every single time, and you can count on this pedal to last. Both of my guitarists in my band use this pedal. They’ve had their for years and put them through everything. Tours, spilling beer on them, etc. Everything short of setting them on fire. And they still work perfectly. You can also use this pedal to power up to 8 others (cool feature if you need it).

Pluck a note, and it picks up the signal instantly and tells you flat/sharp. That speed is totally necessary when you have to tune on the fly (like between, or during songs!). Step on the pedal, your signal to the amp mutes, tune, step on it again. That’s it. It doesn’t get anymore simple. Plus, you don’t get the noise issues that my Planet Waves tuner gives me. I would recommend this tuner over a Planet Waves any day. Go get one!

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A friend of mine bought this pedal for me as a gift. Yeah, he’s a rad friend. $85 seems like a lot to pay for a tuner though. And at the time I was using a rack tuner. But lugging around rack gear along with the rest of my bass rig was getting old. So I made the switch and started using this pedal.

The first thing i noticed – this pedal is heavy! And in a good way. It feels like a solid brick of steel. Which is comforting when I think of all the abuse it takes in the back of my band’s trailer. There aren’t any flimsy buttons or knobs to break, and the actual foot pedal is solid as well. The LED is easy to read on a dark stage. But bring it out in the sunlight and you have a problem. A big one, I can’t even see what note it’s displaying.

Here’s the big bummer… when you step on the pedal to engage the tuner, it hums. My Ampeg rig has never hummed so loud in my years of using it. It’s so bad that a few sound guys have complained about the humming coming through the PA system. If you can deal with that, then this pedal is a decent deal. The solution to your humming problem is to use a separate power adapter (but I run it on a pedal board through the built-in power supply daisy chain). Your gear should be easy to use, not a hassle. So this tuner lost some stars for that reason. Overall, it gets the job done though. I mean, it’s not like I’ve bought a new tuner to replace this one.

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I know a lot of people that own this mic. Actually, I had one in my studio for a long time. It was probably 1 year before I ever hooked it up and tried it out (I have a lot of other mics that see more action). What did it sound like? Well…

I was completely shocked! Yes, and that doesn’t happen very often. Especially with such a cheap piece of gear. But the MXL 990 actually sounds great (caveat – for the price). Sure, you can get a $200+ mic and get better vocal reproduction. But if you have a small budget, get this mic first. It can get any job done and make it sound better than a cheaper or comparably priced mic. MXL really did a great service to the budget studio community with this microphone.

What didn’t I like about it? Well, after a side by side comparison with an Oktava mic, a Blue mic, and a Neumann U87, I realized what made this MXL sound so great. While the world class mics I compared it to are great for on-the-dot vocal reproduction, the MXL tends to artificially hype the high/high-mid frequencies in a vocal track. This makes a vocal recorded with the 990 condenser sit in an amateur mix much better. Yeah, it’s padding for inexperienced recordings. This is not a bad thing – it’s actually a great thing for most home studio owners.

So if you want a cheap mic and you need your vocal tracks to sound great out-of-the-box, get the MXL 990. It’s only a $60 investment, so if you hate it – you haven’t blown too much cash.

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There is a distinct line that separates recording engineers – those who own/use the Neumann U87 and those who do not. Period. Yeah, I know that’s a bit harsh, but it’s also more than a bit true. The U87 is not for everyone. And with a pricetag upwards of $3k it’s obvious why. But if you don’t have 3000 bucks to blow, you might not know what other differences exist.

The U87 is a try professional microphone. It’s not your uncle’s Shure large-diaphragm. This mic reproduces, not simulates. It doesn’t seek to do anything, it does everything. Need a vocal mic? You aren’t serious if you aren’t trying this on every singer. Guitars? Of course the U87 can handle it. Strings? Drums? Yes, it does it all.

There are a lot of readers that will call me elitist at this point. But that’s just because they’re too broke to own this mic. Make the money, save the money, steal the money if necessary. This mic is for real pros. Not the fake MXL crowd. So deal with it!

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The Neumann U87 In My Recording Studio

This is not the kind of thing I would usually spend $150 on, but a friend gave me a deal I couldn’t refuse. This little blue beast is a godsend in the phaser world. To be honest, I never liked the sound of a phaser pedal so I avoided them. When I heard this Maxon piece, my mind was changed permanently. It sounds incredible, lush, fluid, smooth – in short: perfect.

Beg, borrow, steal – just get one of these pedals right now. You’ll use it every chance you get. And as a studio owner, I know how often I pull this pedal out for sessions. It’s simple (one knob) and can fatten up any guitar mix. Playing something poppy? Put this over the chorus. You’re teenage fans will drool.

With a name like Maxon on your pedals, you command instant respect. They are legend, and so are their products. Try them all, buy them all, and earn mega coolpoints for sure. So that’s it, get this damned pedal right now!

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A few years back I had the pleasure of working with a guitarist who used this amp. Fender came through on the Hot Rod DeVille 410 – and if you haven’t played through 10″ speakers recently, you might want to try it. Oh the punch! What a pleasure. You really need to sit down and play through this amp for a while. The tones are varied and beautiful. The tubes warm up and crank out smooth sounds galore.

I know a lot of people don’t love Fender amps. It’s not for everyone. But for clean tone, I think a Fender is the only option. Vintage if possible, but this new beauty can get the job done anyday.

Plus the cabinet is well built. Weighing in at 50 pounds, you might need to lift a few weights. But you can tell it’s a sturdy piece. Oh yeah, you might want to give the Groove Tubes the old boot – unless you like that sort of thing! Try something else, and you’ll start to love this amp more. What more can I say? 60 watts, 4 ten inch Eminence speakers, classic black tolex/silver grill.

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Need to decouple your monitors from your room? Yeah, I didn’t know what that meant either when I first saw these pads from Auralex. Honestly, I thought it was a gimmick. Auralex didn’t have enough low-price products available to draw in cheap new customers. But when I had an extra $40 to blow, I picked these up at Guitar Center. Here’s what I discovered…

Decoupling your monitors really does make a difference! Wow, I must have been an idiot to ignore these little foam pieces for so long. Think about it, if your monitor is sitting on the desk – then your desk vibrates with the speaker. Vibration in the desk colors the sound. You want to hear your mix accurately, right? Well you’re monitors need to be on these MoPads then!

I don’t know of any alternatives on the market, so these are my #1 suggestion to get the job done. If you really think they suck, I’m sure you can get a refund. But I know you’ll realize it was $40 well invested. And your mix quality will thank you!

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If you need a drum machine, you probably have looked at the Alesis SR-16 before. I bought this piece 4 years ago, and later lost it to a friend (don’t loan this drum machine to anybody! haha). Although there are better options available, this one is right on the money – for the money. Only $159. Cheap.

The sounds? There isn’t a ton of variety, but it’s enough selection to get just about any demo job finished. The straight up rock sounds are pretty good, the hip hop stuff isn’t great (get an MPC), and everything else is pretty much up to par. Try a few different combinations. And don’t be afraid to program your own kit. Fool around with the reverb setting on each drum, and the volume/eq settings too. You can probably come up with something better suited for your project, if you’re willing to invest a little time fiddling.

Programming the SR-16 isn’t that easy. If you need something dead-simple to program, get Garage Band on your mac. You really need to read the manual before you’ll be able to program beats or songs into this unit. But there are a lot of options, giving you tons of flexibility if you have time to figure it out.

My overall thoughts: nice sounds, pretty easy to use, nice for songwriters that just need something to play along with. Although these days Garage Band can probably do it better and it’s free if you bought a mac (and you did buy a mac, right?).

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Orange has been putting out there own brand of amps since they broke away from Matamp some 20 years ago. The Rockerverb is the amp that i would have to recommend to any guitar player if any kind. I bought mine a few years back and i have to say there is no amp better on the market right now. Orange has been known to build amps that aren’t the most versatile amps in the world but this one can do almost anything you ask it to, From the classic Rock sound of the 60s to those who wish to go with a more metal high gain and lots of bass sound, even if you are playing blues or jazz you cant go wrong with this amp. Orange is one of the only companies will has a tube driven reverb and fx loop, so you will never lose any tone you might even add some.

Orange Rockerverb 100 In My Studio

This post was submitted by Kilian.

This has been my number 1 acoustic guitar for about 5 years. It’s been used in countless acoustic recordings, shows, private jam sessions, fireside performances, and parties. With all of that use, it’s still intact and still sounds amazing. This guitar is a favorite amongst my friends.

Takamine makes quality products that sound great live or in the studio. Throw an Earthworks mic on this baby and listen to her shine! If you know anything about acoustic guitars, you should try this one and see how it feels. Take care of it like a child, and it will be around forever to delight.

The neck feels like heaven, it stays in tune, and the little aesthetic touches are perfect. Nothing too showy, just subtle and beautiful. Seriously, try one out – you’ll take it home for sure.

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