Straight from the Crossroads- Crate VFX5212 Combo Amplifier

I try to attend lots of concerts. Live music is good for the soul, and my soul needs it badly. But, to be honest, I really have a hard time with the larger festivals. Too many people, and you can’t get close enough to the bands. It’s usually just not my scene. Plus, the ticket prices for the Chicago market have really become a racket. That being said, I am reminded of a song lyric- “Regrets, I’ve had a few…”

One such regret is that I did not go to Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival when it came here to Chicago. It actually took place a few miles from where I was living at the time. It was an amazing line-up, and I shamefully missed it. It is now one of my favorite concert DVDs to watch, and I do so quite regularly.

Of the tons of highlights I could mention here, is one I bet many people missed- the backline. There were a few guys, most notably two of my idols, Billy Gibbons and Joe Walsh, that were using the same amplifier in the backline. Even through the DVD, I could hear amazing tone. (Having a good home theater system helps here.) What is that thing?

After a little research, I found out was… a what? Seriously? Yup. A Crate. No foolin’. It was the V50-badged 2x12 EL34 all-tube combo amplifier they had out. I was intrigued. However, It was a little pricey at the time, and I’d always been a little nervous about Crate amps.

Fast-forward a few years. I’m doing my usual scanning through CraigsList, and lo-and-behold, there sits one, in practically unused condition, for something like 300 bucks. A little negotiating prior to the deal brought it down to $275, and it was decided. Total impulse. I was going to find out now if this was everything I thought it was.

Turns out, this was even better than I thought it was going to be... Eventually. Read on.

First impressions of the amp were the cosmetics, since I hadn’t heard it (much) yet. Just enough to prove that it was fully functional. This is a beautiful amp that has a very 50’s flair to it. They did a fantastic job with the look. Second impression came as I loaded it into my car- man, this thing weighs a ton! That’s usually a good sign. Usually.

Getting it home, I fired it up with a lot of anticipation. It was hard to be patient as the tubes warmed up. I grabbed one of my Ibanez guitars off the wall, and set the controls on the amp right about where I would have my Marshall, as a starting point. Now, I flipped the standby switch. Moment of truth. It roared to life, and I struck a chord. This thing sounds…. terrible! Whoa! It’s all highs. So (ugh!) shrill.

I stopped, shook my head for moment, and started looking over things. Let’s re-adjust, shall we? Being an EL34 amp, I went into this assuming a British voice, which this does (sort-of) have, but the first thing I had to do was grab that presence knob and bring it almost all the way down, quite contrary to where I would have my Carvin Legacy or my Marshall. I brought the treble way down, as well. Alrighty. Let’s try this again. Ahhhhhh, better. But still… not quite right.

Down went the gain knob. Here’s where the action is. I wasn’t looking for this to be a metal amp, and you shouldn’t be either, but the more I brought the gain down, the more this opened up for me. This amplifier is at home playing raunchy blues, and once dialed into that, sits beautifully there. Up went the volume!

At this point, I switched guitars, too. With this new bluesy setting, and my Gibson Flying V, I was in absolute heaven. I even brought the gain back up some. “I said Lawd take me downtown…” Oh yes. This amp is fat, full, and very round!

There’s a clean channel, too. Also very British-voiced. Nice and smooth. This is where I found the built-in effects to be the most usable, also. I used the combination of the chorus, reverb, and delay, and got a nice palate there. A great bonus was, that since this didn’t come with a foot switch, my old Peavey switch from long ago works smashingly with it! Sweet!

Since then, I’ve actually come to prefer the combo of my American Strat with the Jeff Beck pickups with this amp. The two work very nicely together, and give incredible definition across the strings. But, for old-times-sake, as I was writing this, I did grab the Flying V, and crank the volume up. It felt every bit as good as you think you did.

I don’t know how hard these are to find out there right now, but with Crate no longer producing amps, there might be a chance that prices have dropped and you can get an even better steal on this incredible amp than I did. Happy hunting!

Guitargain Hunter On the Road - Rondinelli Music, Dubuque, IA

March 27^th, 2013

Each year during spring break, my wife and I vacation in Galena, IL. A bustling tourist town in the summer, it is largely asleep during the early spring, which is absolutely perfect. We have a life that sometimes resembles shoving a broom handle into a wasp’s nest, and this is our opportunity to shut down and tune out for a few days.

We call our trips “beercations” since we love to hit breweries and taste whatever craft beers happen to be around. Galena actually has a great brewery of their own, which I highly recommend. They have a beer float that’ll blow your frickin’ mind. Beer + ice cream= does it get any better? It’s a kick ass place for a pub crawl too, as the street is lined with bars, spaced out in nice intervals between the crap stores that my wife drags me into. Seriously, there’s enough costume jewelry there to make everyone in the Midwest look like a low-budget Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Once every trip, we venture across the river into Dubuque, Iowa to hit either of their two casinos or one of their museums. On our second day into this trip, I was semi-catatonic on the couch, thumbing through the July, 2012 edition of Guitar Player magazine, just because it was still in my car, and I forgot to bring any newer mags. In there was a column on the coolest independent music stores in the country, which sparked my interest, since I hate the big chains with a fiery passion. Lo and behold, one of these mom-and-pops was right there in Dubuque. Now, a road trip was definitely in order! One thing Galena is lacking in is a guitar store, and my wife and I start getting the shakes after a while, even though we bring a couple of guitars and practice amps with us. So off we went to get our gitfiddle fix.

Rondinelli Music is an unassuming small store in a pretty basic little strip mall. It totally belies the walls of coolness inside. It’s still run by George Rondinelli, who was busy behind the counter, setting up a deal for a Fender Mustang amp controller. He took a moment out of the transaction just to greet us, and invite us to play anything we liked in the store, including the top-shelf items, not something a lot of stores will do. His tiny dog, Susie, who I believe is in charge of security, had to greet us too, wagging her tail as hard as I’ve ever seen a dog wag. I think she knew we were legit.

My eyes scanned the wall, but froze at the Fender Eric Clapton signature Stratocaster in white. As I reached up to lift it off the hanger, I could already feel the weight and balance of this superior Strat. This guitar is absolutely a case of you-get-what-you-pay-for. The alder body feels like a big solid chunk of wood should. Fender calls it a V neck, but the V is so soft that you barely notice it. I built up a Strat a few years ago that had a true V neck, and it was totally different. I plugged into a PRS SE50 combo amp, and immediately began some good ol’ Am pentatonic riffing. The action on this was done in Rondinelli’s shop, and may have been the lowest action I’ve ever played. Not a single fret buzzed, and the strings perfectly followed the maple fretboard’s radius. Whoever set this guitar up clearly knew what he was doing. This guitar was in there on consignment, but they are a Fender dealer, and I’m sure would be more than happy to put a brand new one in your hands, playing just as nicely.

So here my wife and I were, taking turns playing this Strat. As she was playing, it gave me time to futz with the settings on the amp. And yes, futz is a technical term. It requires squinting your eyes and sticking your tongue out a little bit as you set to tinkering. This is serious stuff.

The PRS amp responds well to picking, and to the feel of different guitars (which I got to later). The sound is, admittedly, not for everyone. There is plenty of gain on tap, but it’s a bluesy, gritty, almost fuzzy, gain. For those of you expecting a Marshall crunch, this isn’t it. I found it most pleasing in the early stages of breakup, where those pick dynamics really kicked in.

I was pretty anxious to try a couple of other guitars, but my time was a little limited. I picked up a PRS SE Tremonti model off the wall, and am I ever glad I did. Since this is an SE model, I went in with low expectations. Wrong. This axe shocked me. First of all, the body is thick, at least as thick as a true Les Paul. The neck is set, and the joint is tight. I put it on, and it instantly felt comfortable, even more so than the Strat. The humbuckers are made for serious damage. It brought out a whole different character to the PRS amp, making the amp/guitar pairing sound huge, just a little darker and fatter.

For fun, I decided to try the Tremonti with a couple more amps. They had this cool Fender Hot Rod on the floor that was just begging to be cranked up. I love a good Fender clean. Their overdrives are not my personal cup of tea, but in the right hands, they’re awesome. They’re more for guys playing cool double-stop licks than for me.

The last amp I played was an older Ampeg ReverbeRocket reissue. It was everything I could do not to buy this amp right on the spot. My very first amplifier was a ’66 Ampeg Jet, which this amp was patterned after. Ampegs tend to have a sound all their own. They’re quiet, even when cranked up, but hit a chord hard, and even the low wattage ones will pin your ears back. They have a wonderfully glassy sound.. and… God, I wanted this amp bad! It was priced right too.

Which brings me to my final point. I found every price in their store and on their website to be competitive with the big box stores. Why are you ordering from a huge conglomerate when, for the same price, you can buy from a store like Rondinelli? And they’re not the only ones out there. Before you buy that new guitar, amp, pedal, or even picks or strings, do a little research. You’ll make this country a little better by supporting mom-and-pop shops like Rondinelli. Check them out at http://www.rondinellimusicaudio.com/

This “on the road” thing might just have to be a regular item for me. Have anywhere I should visit? Contact me at thecrimsonrabbit@msn.com.

~Muppet

Gretsch G5120 Review: Big, Orange, and Beautiful

Who doesn’t drool over a Gretsch? Who hasn’t looked at a big, hollowbody White Falcon or Country Gentlemen and dreamed? Who wouldn’t want that “Great Gretsch Sound?” Whether it’s Eddie Cochran, Brian Setzer, Billy Duffy, or the hordes of others, the question remains- who wouldn’t want to look as frickin’ cool as those guys?

Maybe you’re in that camp, and maybe you’re not. I always was, but they were way out of my reach, with prices starting at about $2500, going up to $3500 for the revered White Falcon. Then, suddenly, that changed. Fender took control of the company and somewhere the brilliant idea was hatched- the G5120. This awesome guitar entered the market at a ridiculous $599. (They’ve since come to their senses a bit, and jacked the price up.) I instantly had to have one, no matter what it took! I didn’t have the scratch to be able to plunk down on one, and realizing that my pooch was far too dumb to be farmed out as a seeing-eye dog for extra money, I had to take a different approach. Looking around at my already sizeable guitar collection, I scanned for one I could sell in order to fund my pending purchase. The hardest things in life are seeing your child go off to college, crashing your first nice car, realizing that your wife really does poop, and selling a guitar. It’s like losing a little part of yourself, and putting it in the hands of some stranger, who you’re convinced cannot be nearly as cool as you are. I was about to part with one of my babies, but I had to just suck it up and get one for sale on E-Bay as soon as humanly possible.

I chose this Ibanez that I had built up from parts. It had a body that had been crudely swirled. It was someone’s first venture into the mystical world of swirled paint, and really wasn’t that great. As such, I think I got it for about 40 bucks. Still, I loved it for its imperfections and naked honesty. Plus, since you’re reading a blog called “Guitargain Hunter,” you already know I’m a cheap-ass. I put, like, 12 coats of clear on it to protect the interesting finish, which I called “Blueberry Puke.” When I was done, it looked awesome (and really shiny!). I added a maple RG270 maple neck and Dimarzio pickups. I spent about 2 years with this guitar, and had taken it on stage with me a few times. But still, it wasn’t my main guitar… and I wanted that Gretsch badly!

So, I sold it for 600 bucks and off to Guitar Center I went. I couldn’t hand the dude my money fast enough.

I haven’t bought a lot of guitars new. Most of mine are these amazing E-Bay victories, bought cheaply at two in the morning or assembled in my shop from parts. I wasn’t used to seeing a guy come out of the back with a brand new box in his hand. I certainly wasn’t used to that new guitar smell as I pulled it out of that box at home. But there it was, in all its big orange glory.

Now, the first thing I do with any guitar is to put my own strings on it. I use Fender 250XLs, 9-46, or sometimes DR Extra Lifes, which I use on guitars I hate changing strings on. I would later come to find that the Gretsch falls into the latter category. As I cut the old strings off, I got the surprise of my life. This was my first hollowbody, and wasn’t expecting the floating bridge to fall right off. Surprise! I had wrongly assumed that these bridges were pinned in place. Nope. So now I was going to have to try to line this bridge back up as I put new strings on. Easy, right? Just put new strings on it. Also a surprise. In addition to this being my first floating bridge, this was my first Bigsby tremolo, and I wasn’t quite prepared for how tricky these are to restring. The ball ends (good thing I wasn’t using bullets) have to hook onto these tiny little pins and wrap around the wrist pin (for lack of a better term). Easier said than done. I did get the hang of it, but only after running down the list of words you can’t say on TV.  Finally, the strings were on, and I had the bridge lined up and intonated properly. Ahhhhhhhh. Now to play it.

I’m a firm believer that all guitars need some break-in time, and while this guitar was no exception, it did play awfully nicely out of the gate. I’ve had it for a few years now, and believe me, once these are broken in, there’s nothing quite like them! The action is great, and string tension is low, making bends as smooth as warm butter. The Bigsby has a great feel to it, too. Now, since mine is the earliest run of these guitars, my trem says “Bigsby Licensed,” where the new ones just say “Bigsby.” That might partially account for the rise in prices.

Recently, I was in Los Angeles. I hooked up with a buddy of mine out there for a tour of some cool music stores. Our first stop was the famous Truetone Music, the ultimate playground for us gearheads. There, just sitting out on the floor, was a used 6120, priced at $2200. I had to pick it up and play it. I prepared myself, that this expensive, well broken-in Gretsch might ruin my feelings for my lowly, Korean-made 5120. Shock. This guitar played no better than mine. In fact, I actually preferred the feel of mine. So there it was, the epiphany, the realization that my 5120 was indeed a true Gretsch.

Yeah, but Muppet, how does it sound??? Exactly like you would hope it would. As you would imagine, these are not high gain-friendly. At high volumes, with the overdrive cranked, these things howl and whine like Paris Hilton with no credit card. However, at an appropriate gain level, and through my Line 6 Duoverb, Carvin Legacy 3, Fender Bassman 50 head, and every other amp I’ve ever plugged it into, the sound is gorgeous. Even with the stock pickups, the sound is open and woody. It rings with a little twang to each note. Articulation is great, with each note in the chord poking through. As such, it can be somewhat unforgiving. Clunker notes in the chord stand out like a creepy old dude at a nightclub. Fortunately, these guitars are so easy to play that your chances of this abomination are minimized.

What also does it for me are the nice touches on this guitar. Chrome knobs with the G and arrow, chrome pickup selector, knurled screw-in strap buttons, and the coolest tuners on the planet. The controls are versatile, with a volume for each pickup, and master tone knob, and the quintessential master volume out front. You can balance the pickups any way you want while still having a single master volume to pull down.

Lightweight this guitar is not. It's a whole lot of lumber to strap on, and you know it when it gets on your shoulder. But because of that, it feels and sounds well made. I'm just in love with this guitar.

This guitar has given way to lots of siblings in the Gretsch/Fender lineup, including single and double cutaways. There’s a new one I’m drooling over that is basically a poor man’s White Falcon, coming in at only $1100. Since I have no other guitars that I’m willing to part with at that price point, my only hope it that the execs over at Gretsch adore my biting wit and timeless humor, and insist on granting me an endorsement deal. Hey, it can happen.

Michael "Muppet" Laurance

Want to contact me? thecrimsonrabbit@msn.com

Intro to The Guitargain Hunter! Welcome all!

Welcome all guitar players! Unlike many blogs, magazine articles, and reviews, this is meant for those of you on a budget. This is not meant for the guys out there playing $3,000 guitars, rolling around $4,000 half-stacks, and craving that $350 boutique pedal, though we still love you guys too. It's just that we want your sound for minimal cash. I'm here to prove that it can be done, and in some cases, we can blow your doors off!

I will take you through every piece of gear I own, one piece at a time, and tell you what you really need to know about it, like what it will really do for your tone. I give you the good and the bad. I review gear I love, and some things that I hit myself in the head for buying. When I have my guitar on, I refuse to take requests, even shooting flaming arrows at the guy who yells "Freebird!' a la Ted Nugent. However, in this case, I'm happy to take your requests. What I'm really saying is- give me an excuse to buy more gear and review it here. Feel free to e-mail me some of your opinions, but if you're planning on commenting here, please keep the douche-baggery to a minimum. Let's all get along here!

I cover everything from guitars to effects to amps and even some great CD's for your listening pleasure. Want to turn me on to some great music by your favorite guitar player, or talk me into some cool low-dollar pedal? Hit me up!

Finally, I tell you where to get this gear, and more importantly, what you should be paying for it. The thrill is in the hunt, and I love to hunt! Looking forward to getting this going and hearing from you all!

Michael "Muppet" Laurance, your partner in tone.
thecrimsonrabbit@msn.com