santellavision

My wife got me this really cool wallet with slots for 2 picks!

I had the original Simplifier DLX when it came out, not the newer 'X' version. Not exactly sure what they mean by '0-Watt' amp sim and there are no tubes in this, like the Tone King and Synergy stuff that started the '0-Watt' amp thing. Hmmm. Sorry, I can't remember the original tones that well on it. DSM Humbolt does make nice stuff. I did try their latest Dumble box and it was pretty nice, I liked the clean a bit better than the OD side.

I am a big fan of home recording. Here's some thoughts on my obsession. (Yes, I am obsessed, and probably need to seek help) I dig hard rocking tube amps. Nothing like a pants flappin' 4x12 loud Bogner or Marshall or Boogie. Really the only place you can do that these days is at home - haha. Smaller clubs hate you. That's probably why smaller, lunchbox 18watt amps are so popular. If you don't own something like a Friedman Runt - 18 watt type amp, yeah, they get plenty loud, more than enough to play with a drummer. (I'm talking classic rock, not metal of course). I still have a few tube amps because, there just something to that feeling we all love. Now, one of my things is home recording. I have bought and sold a lot of desktop/rack gear to try to capture great recording guitar tones. It's been quite a ride. My quest is to get both the best amp tone AND feel without an amp. I've been searching for best of the best amp sims you can get. I've owned a lot of the usual suspects, like AxeFx, Kemper and Synergy. I've owned a ton of older preamp/amp sim devices from way back. Digitech, Art Powerplant, Rocktron, Sansamp etc. And, a bunch of the latest, like Walrus, Quilter, DSM Simplifier and Dumble pedals. Universal Audio Lion/Ruby, ToneX (Another fav, some awesome Joe Satch captures), Strymon Iridium etc. I also did get a Neural Quad Cortex that is pretty amazing. Might be my favorite new guitar pedal. If I were gigging again, I think I would use the Quad Cortex, it’s that good. The captures they have are... outstanding. I've also tried some new Software sims like the ToneX desktop and Neural Archetype: John Mayer. Also, I have tried some nice Attenuator/direct boxes like the Universal Audio OX, TwoNotes Torpedo, Boss Waza Tube Expander, Palmer, RedSeven EVO and just got the new BadCat PurePath. OK, the Purepath is pretty freakin' good and really does an amazing job of capturing an amp, attenuating it (on or off, no middle) and outputting one of the best cab sims ever. Total Voodoo here, It was stunning. No frills, but the exact same tone coming out of the amp. I just got it and it's sweet. It was named the best product at this year's NAMM for good reason. All these boxes have their uses and can fit certain music better than others. I can understand why a lot of big name bands use AxeFx's on stage these days, that says a lot about the quality of their tone. I also understand reliability and setup ease does come into play. Quick Side Note. I was totally blown-away after watching the George Thorogood 'Rig Rundown' on Premier. No live amps, just a pedalboard into two, cheapo, Electro Harmonix '22 Caliper (22 watt) stompbox-size power amp pedals into two 2x12s. I've seen him a few times and damn, he sounded great. Whatever works, works! Back to my little rant. We all have a tone in our heads that we've heard over the years on great recordings or live. Or, have owned old vintage amps and remember how cool they were. I had a Marshall Plexi and a real '57 Gibson Goldtop in High school (All that stuff was just, old 'used' gear back in the 70s). Now, when recording, I get pretty critical as I listen on high-quality monitors (Dynaudio BM15/Sub18) in my home studio. An important thing besides tone, is feel. Does it feel like a cranked amp when playing? Most of the amp sims seem to lack a bit in this area. I big part of that is how the guitar resonates with a loud amp. It's almost like a drug when that the guitar is on the edge of feeding back, it almost plays itself. I am a big Synergy fan. All-analog, no modeling. I have a bunch of tube amp modules that sound great. Their system does have a Sag control that gets a bit of that feel back. I recorded my last album almost entirely with the Synergy modules. My latest new toy is the Tone King Royalist pedal. Tone King has just been killing it with cool amps and now pedals. They have the Imperial pedal which is a Fender Blackface/Marshall combo 3 tube pedal with a 0-watt power amp simulator inside. And now the Royalist which is a two-channel, all British pedal with different flavors of Marshall and the 0-watt and a bunch of cab IRs. OK, I love it. I mean really love it. It has tone that is strikingly real, more so than most of the other gear. And, it feels great. I close my eyes and I am playing a Marshall. So good (It only does classic Marshall to slightly hot-rodded tone, not metal level gain stuff) It also takes pedals well if you want to boost it even more. Check out the review below and hear how good it is. I hope you can check it out, you'll love it too.

Gravity was a sketchy shop in Denver.

Have you tried to contact Reverb and ask them them to change the location?

Just saw this nice USA Artist at Chicago Music Exchange. Nice price too. Great workhorse axes! https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/hamer-usa-artist-natural-2507819

We've all heard about guys playing some other players rigs and they never sound like them. The only time this might hold up is if the gear is special for some reason. Like, Chris Squire's broken Rickenbacker bass. It had a unique tone due to one of the pickups being defective. Or, maybe a custom-made guitar like Jerry Garcia with all that wacky electronics etc. One other thing though, If you've played through a Modeler, sometimes, the tone is crazy close. Like a Brian May Vox patch or a Boston Rockman tone. I just say that as I picked up a used ToneX pedal and damn, if some of the amp captures don't sound amazing. As soon as I played the Hiwatt patches, I was right there Live at Leeds. Very cool.

That's 1,135 x Tree-Fiddy.

I have found that Pirate Ship is always cheaper than Reverb shipping prices.

I did a review of Pirate ship. It's the only site I now use for shipping. From small pedals to amps, they are always the cheapest.

My other NAMM Limited Jr was #003 and did not say Made in the USA.

I can't remember if they said Made in USA. I'll see if I can dig up an old pic of the headstocks.

Notice the screw holes on the guard are different than a normal Hamer Jr.

My matched pair had Wrap tails.

Also sent some $Moolah for keeping the best site going!