≡ Menu

Demo Videos at Sweetwater.com

Sweetwater is probably the nation’s largest independent music instrument retailer and they will blow your mind with how dialed in and smooth they are with sales and customer service. Case in point, I flew out to Indiana from Sunny SoCal to shoot some product videos for Taylor guitars.

I flew in to rain, snow, and freezing temps, and had to fit 6’3″ of grown man into a Fiat 500 rental car (It looked as if the Batmobile and A-Team van had a baby) but it was STILL worth it.

Here’s the result of one of the 15 videos:

{ 1 comment }

I have been hearing about treble boost pedals for years. I can’t say that I’ve ever really embraced the purpose of them, though. In my experience, we guitar players are always trying to dial in more warmth and a pedal that adds more treble seems counter-productive to that goal.

Twice now I have purchased an HBE Germania, which is a germanium diode-based treble boost pedal. If I recall, they had a little mini-switch that allowed the user to choose between treble only or more of a full-range boost. Again, not one to embrace the idea of adding treble, I sold them fairly quickly.

At the end of 2011, however, my view on treble boost pedals changed when my friend loaned me his Naga Viper pedal, which is a treble boost pedal made by the Portland-based pedal company, Catalinbread. A few things have changed since I owned the Germania pedals, but the Naga Viper is more useable in its design as well.

For starters, I have a much better understanding of the difference between “showroom guitar tones” and “performance guitar tones” as time goes on. I spent some time trying to define the difference in this past article here at TheToneChef.com. What once might’ve bothered my ears sitting in front of my amps now tickles my ears in the context of a live or recorded mix. A treble booster excites all of the right frequencies of the electric guitar in a band mix. Secondly, I’m becoming more comfortable dialing in tones based on what I think sounds good- and much less comfortable dialing in tones based on what the collective brain of the internet guitar forum says I should purchase. Lastly, the Naga Viper boost is a pretty dang cool version of the treble boost model.

From the Catalinbread site:

The Naga Viper is a booster in the grand old tradition of the Dallas Rangemaster “Treble-Booster”. The Rangemaster has been used by many influential British guitarists including Tony Iommi, Brian May, Marc Bolan, and KK Downing and Glen Tipton of Judas Priest. These guitarists, while completely unique in their styles, share the Rangemaster secret of boosting their cranked tube amps into a juicy, harmonic-laden rock tone that always cuts through the mix.

The Naga Viper is our version of this famous circuit and it enhances the classic circuit with the addition of two extra controls – Range and Heat. The original Rangemaster had just one control – Boost. The Range knob is a continuous control allows you to go from classic treble-boost to a full-range boost and anywhere in-between. The original could only function as a “treble-booster”. The Heat knob gives you control over the gain level, unlike the original which was fixed at maximum gain.

Why a “treble-booster”? Well, it is not like merely turning up the treble control on an EQ pedal. Besides enhancing treble response, it adds its own subtle harmonic distortion and gives you a lot of “push” to really saturate the front-end of your tube amp. But remember, the Naga Viper has a Range control that allows you to dial in exactly what frequencies get boosted.

The traditional way to use a treble-booster is to plug it straight into an already cranked and overdriven tube amp like the Marshalls, Laneys, and Voxes the British guitarists used. Since the amps were already cranked up, a full-range boost would result in a muddy sound with no definition. That is why we want to boost “treble”!

But in this modern era of electric guitar, many guitarists use overdrive pedals that emulate the sounds of cranked big amps into their smaller combos. The Naga Viper is carefully voiced to allow you to boost your “amp-in-the-box” pedals too to get those famous juicy, saturated sounds at “reasonable” volume levels! In particular, the Naga Viper was made to go with our Dirty Little Secret MkII and CB30 overdrives.

As they point out, it’s way more than just rolling up the treble knob on your amplifier. It’s like adding a whole new ingredient to your tone.

NOW, The title of this article is “Why You Need a Naga Viper”, so I suppose I should go ahead and make a case for that. Well here it is: The Naga Viper adds a second channel to every overdrive, distortion and/or fuzz pedal you already own. Many of the best and most iconic dirtboxes in history are one-button effects. No sound when off (hopefully), and one sound when on. The Naga Viper is a way to add a second button to the dirt you already rely on to get your sound. Do you love the Hermida ZenDrive? Stick a Naga Viper in front and see how tasty you can get it when the band is raging. Do you love the Marshall whoomp of the Wampler Pinnacle (or the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret, which I’m anxious to try) but would love to be able to get a hot-rodded, modded Marshall sound out of the same box? Naga‘ that bad boy! Fuzzes that have a tendency to get muddy or indistinct come to life when you stick a Naga Viper in front.

Here at TheToneChef.com, I’m no cork-sniffer and I’m all about getting great tones without 1) being a slave to the latest boutique gear fads or 2) having to spend a ton of money to sound good. Even if you buy brand new and pay full price, you’re gonna spend about $170. But that $170 essentially doubles the amount of dirtboxes on your pedalboard- and that says nothing about how great it sounds going into your already-driven amplifier.

As an example, here’s a video I shot of the Naga Viper going into a couple of amps at the same time. You’ll hear a variety of dirt alone, and then with the addition of the Naga Viper going into it. It’s all one continuous take, so there are plenty of blue notes and clams, but I think it effectively shows what the Naga Viper can do for your rig.

The other pedals in order are:
• Xotic AC Boost, which I liken to “your amp, louder”. I don’t hear any particular character in that pedal, it just excites your signal with some gain. I run it with the bass and treble knobs really high, the gain knob at noon for some grit, and the volume a little above unity so that it’s slightly louder than the clean amp alone. You don’t wanna be playing your polite, clean tone at one volume and then when the band kicks in for something more aggressive, you’re stuck at that same volume. However, add the Naga Viper and it makes a great alternative to the Ibanez TubeScreamer sound that has graced our ears for decades.

• Wampler Pinnacle, which I picked up in Cleveland, OH last year. It’s got a great chug-chug Marshall wallop and it cleans up beautifully. It’s surprising how close you can get to the original recording of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” once you kick in the Naga Viper pedal. Of course, you actually hafta be able to play it, which apparently I struggle with a bit on the video. haha

• Catalinbread Forumla No. 5, which is their version of an old Tweed Fender. Leans a little towards a ratty fuzz and has a really loose low end. I love how aggressive this sounds in the context of a band and when I want to jump out or play on the neck pickup with more clarity, I add the Naga Viper to tie up the loose bottom end. It’s heaven with a tele, in my opinion.

• JHS Bunrunner Fuzz, which is a very musical sounding dual fuzz. I have wanted to love fuzz for years and have yet to find one that is quite as user-friendly as the BunRunner. There are times in a performance where you want to make a bold statement and fuzz certainly does that. There are other times in a performance where you want to suck the breath from people’s lungs by making it feel like they’re rounding a corner on two wheels. Add the Naga Viper to your fuzz and it’s done.

• Line 6 M9. You can see in the video that I add a handful of effects for more of an ambient, shoegazer kind of tone. It’s American Special tele > (Naga Viper/ off at first) > Catalinbread Formula No. 5 > reverse delay set to a half-note repeat > Vibrato set to a slow rate and high depth > Digital Delay with Modulation set to a dotted-8th with high mix > Visual Sound Dual Tap Delay which magically warms everything up and glues it all together. Later I add the Naga Viper to boost the sweet frequencies. On the middle position on a tele, it’s world-class sweetness.

So, there you have it. All the time, guitar players email, tweet, text, and message me asking what they should buy next. I now have a new answer. If you’re looking for a way to expand the range of everything you already own, try the Naga Viper. It’s like doubling your rig for $170.

{ 11 comments }

My Music in a Cool Pioneer Campaign

SO. This is cool. Pioneer Electronics is ramping up a new advertising campaign using a very talented modern poet named Steve Connell (his bio is at the link provided below).

The first video out of this first run of 4 has been posted. It has no music bed beneath it, but the second one will, and that features a tune I composed and recorded.

Many thanks to the director, Zack Mathers, Bryan Kehoe at Dunlop Engineering for the ’78 Custom Badass Distortion pedal (which is all the grind you hear on this tune), Don Morris at Electroplex amps (this is the red channel on my beloved Rocket 22), and to the gang at Taylor Guitars for the T3B and Rich Renken at Line 6 for the Tyler Variax JTV69. All this gear was used to track the tune and no animals were harmed in the process.

The home page for that campaign is here…
(pioneerelectronics.com/poet)

{ 6 comments }

Answers to Reader Mail

Cory, Love the work you do on the demo’s Great playing, Great info. My question is…
When using the M13 are you using the compression built in? and if not, what is your choice of compression? My board is pretty small I am using a boutique OD and and M9 and Tuner. I like the compression in the M9, but with limited effects on the M9 I am eliminating one effect from ever being used.
– JT

Hi JT,
Thanks very much for the kind words. I’m vain and fragile and much appreciate them! haha
On the M13, yeah, I use the Boost Comp often. I have tried using the Red Comp (DynaComp) and the Blue Comp (BOSS Cs-2 & CS-3) but it’s way too squishy for my tastes. The Boost Comp allows me to dial in a little bit of compression and a little bit of grit with the drive setting and it acts like a squishy drive pedal. Ease up on your picking or roll the volume back and it cleans up nicely. I think your little board is perfect. It’s what I used for a year on the road- just a Nobels ODR1+, the M9, and that’s it. I used the tuner on the M9 as both tuner and guitar-switch mute.

Here’s something I’m coming to grips with, though… I LIVED on a compressor for years. It was my go-to effect. I would’ve chosen it before a drive pedal, reverb, delay, ANYTHING. Comps are great for giving us a loud amp feel even when the amp is at low volumes, but I found that when a song grew and shrank dynamically, I was still chained to a fixed perceived output because the comp was acting as a kind of volume leash. I’m trying to stay away from them as an “always on” effect now, and really only try to use them in softer passages when I really want the guitar to pop and snap. Does that make sense?
-corey

___________________________________________

Hey Corey!
Just would like to thank you once again for sharing your gifts and wisdom with us this past Thursday. It’s the second time I’ve had the pleasure of getting to sit in on one of your seminars, and I can say that I’ve really learned a lot.

Remember the guy that can’t get enough of Coldplay? That’s me. I followed up with you about trying to find a replacement for my Fender DeVille 212. I plan on selling it for $500, and I’m looking for an amp around the same price range (I don’t mind used amps) that can get me that Coldplay guitar tone with my Fender Tele Deluxe. You mentioned an Egnater amp that I had never heard of before, but I can’t remember the model number.

Thanks for your input,
JB

Hi JB,
You’re very welcome! And thanks to y’all for being so welcoming.

I think for $500, you have some good options at your fingertips. I’m a huge fan of the Egnater Tweaker 15 head and 1×12 cab that came out 18 months ago. It’s on the smaller side but sounds rich. That’s easily my first recommendation and it allows you to have a little bit of money left over for strings and things. They came out with a Tweaker 40 a year later, which is a 2-channel version of the same amp and it’s got reverb and a few more switches, but I really still prefer the simplicity of the 15. And it’s plenty loud for just about every gig you’ll do, since we mic guitar cabs these days anyway.

If you want to get something that is a little more on the hipster side of things, try hunting down a Silvertone 1482. They normally go for around $400 and they’re a mid 60’s 1×12 combo. They don’t get very loud but they’re great for tracking since they have a nice midrange bloom. And with a strat (or something with low-output pickups/single coils), they have a smooth and grainy quality to the tones. They’re also really pedal friendly.

This is a bit of a stretch, but you might also try something else if you have the opportunity to enjoy it. For the last 9 months, I’ve been playing two of the same smaller, low-wattage amplifiers in stereo. For that same $500, you could almost buy two Fender Pro Jr’s for 200-300 bucks each and run them in stereo. They’re 15watts each with a single 10″ speaker and I’ve heard another guy do that and it was pretty amazing. They’re also small and easy to load in and out and the size allows you to crank them a little and cut nicely through the mix.

The last one I’d recommend is a little bit of an esoteric amplifier but they show up on ebay from time to time. The Velocette is a 1×10 combo that was made by the british company, Trace Elliot. It’s a small, lunchbox-sized amp, but really sounds beautiful at band volumes. I’ve probably had 4 of those in the last 10 years and I always impulsively sell them and then start looking for another. Trace Elliot was later purchase by Gibson, so the Velocette eventually turned into a Gibson amp, but the originals are nice little gems of amplification. The only caveat is that the first couple years of production saw transformer failures in the Velocettes. However, by now, most of those problematic amps have been either warranty repaired or fixed by end users.

Good luck!
-c

___________________________________________

Dear Corey,
Why are you so awesome? Well, not so much why, but how did you get this way?
A huge fan,
CW

Wow, thanks, CW. I appreciate your support. All I can say is that it’s really a mixture of things… For starters, I floss daily, wash my hair with vinegar and baking soda, and I moisturize my face twice a day with a mixture of Vegetable Oil and Tea Tree Oil. Focus on the T-zone, leave on for 3 minutes, then wash off with a steaming washcloth. Other than that, I’m just like you. (*With the exception of my bionic legs- installed by scientists on the day of my 18th birthday. But other than that, really…)

Your favorite and mine,
-Corey

{ 4 comments }

Happy New Year! A blistering overview of Q3/Q4 of 2011

Thanks to Henry K., I’m back at the computer writing up new posts for TheToneChef.com. It has been a spectacular holiday season and an incredibly busy year. I’ll let you know what’s been going on…

NEW GEAR:
hmmm… lots of new gear this year, some purchased, some on loan, some as industry accommodations. I got a new Taylor Guitars Custom Grand Concert a couple of months ago. It’s the most inspiring acoustic I’ve ever had in my hands and has me mentally writing a new article, “Why Every Guitarist Needs a Small-Bodied Acoustic”. It’s short-scale, shallow bodied, and small-framed so it cuts through a mix beautifully and sounds nice and polite when played solo. • I just got a couple of new fuzzes from JHS Pedals– namely because the new Switchfoot record, Dark Horses, is a clinic in tasty fuzz tones- and I gotta say, the BunRunner dual pedal is probably the most musical fuzz I’ve ever played. I haven’t played a ton, but until now I haven’t really found a kosher way to use a fuzz pedal in a singer/songwriter, pop music environment but the BunRunner does it perfectly. It also allows for the more crazy and spitty tones, too, just in case you need to blow off some steam. • I’ve had a James Tyler Burning Water at my house since this past Summer and it reminds me what a great builder Jim is. • I got a pair of Line 6 DT25 combos over the summer as part of the beta test team and those are beautiful and smart little monsters. 25watts of power that can be used as a standalone amp, as the delivery method for the POD HD series (excellent tone tools) or as powered cabinets for rackmounted preamp gear like a Fractal FX, Eleven Rack, or ADA MP1 Programmable Tube Preamp. • I received a Visual Sound Dual Tap Delay and seriously can’t believe how amazing it sounds. This is the year for delay apparently, with Strymon’s Timeline and the JHS Panther Delay being released, as well as the ongoing popularity of TC Electronic’s and Eventide’s stompbox digital delays. But for my money, you can’t beat the Dual Tap Delay. A detailed review with video is in the works, but I’m telling you, it’s the dipping sauce to my nuggets these days. SO good. • The latest and greatest piece of gear is a Tom Anderson Classic from 1993. It’s unfinished and naturally relic’d since it has been Tom’s “shop guitar” and “test guitar” for almost 20 years. Beautiful single coils with overall playability that feels like you’ve fallen seat-first into a LA-Z-BOY made of your favorite jeans.

NEW GIGS:
Not a tremendous amount of “new” gigs to speak of. I became the staff producer for The Armchair Project, which is an ongoing project to add fresh music into traditional church services. • I got to play on a handful of tracks for the ever-so-talented Andrea Hamilton’s new record, available here. • I tracked commercials for Farmer’s Insurance, Extended Stay America hotels, Pioneer car audio, and I even did voice-over work for Elixir Strings. • I was on the beta team for the DT series of amps for Line 6. • I am halfway through the production of a follow-up EP for Kip Fox, the most talented male vocalist I know. • My instructional video (Worship Guitar Now: Tones, Tools & Tips) is still in the editing bay so I’m hoping that you’ll see that in 2012. It would’ve been out by now but they’re trying to use computer special effects to make the host less ugly. haha. • I’ve done a handful of on-site workshops teaching college students how to approach live and session work as a thinking guitar player. • And I just completed my 5th full year as a traveling clinician for Taylor Guitars’ award winning Road Show program. My hope is that they want another 5 years, but you never know how long somebody’s gonna need a contract guitar player and Product Specialist. The shelf life is fixed and short. All the more reason to hold it in the highest regard and to wear your appreciation on your sleeve.

PLANNED FOR 2012:
I have articles planned for the next few weeks of TheToneChef.com. Reviews of the JHS BunRunner, the Visual Sound Dual Tap Delay, Taylor Guitars Solidbody Double Cut are in the works and articles on small-bodied acoustics, Beginner’s Guide to getting into the rack effects world, an update on Three years of Line 6’s M13 in action, how to succeed in the mail-away guitar session world, and a primer in studio ownership (hopefully) are all in the works.

MY PREDICTIONS FOR 2012:
• Van Halen will tour but not everyone will care. A little too much drama in that camp to keep up the devil-may-care, good-time vibes.
• I will buy more gear, testing the bounds of my wife’s patience.
• Guitar players will still be trying to find a Dumble in a stompbox.
• Guitar players will still be trying to find a Klon clone on the cheap.
• Guitar players will still be wasting time with fruitless gear-searchess instead of practicing. Frodo is dead, boys. Get back to your metronome.
• Brazilian Rosewood will reach an all-time high of Brazillions of dollars for just the sawdust.
• Gibson will still be Gibson. *sigh*
• Fender will try to sue every family in America with the last name Fender. *sigh* (I share a birthday with Leo, so my deepest love goes out to that company, but still….)
• Hipsters will still love stupid things, but only ironically.
• Everyone who wore a mustache in 2011 will see pictures of it in 2012 and be moved to apologize publicly.

Happy New Years, y’all. Smooch.

{ 2 comments }

Christmas Music Anyone?

OK, so I’m finally off the road. It’s been a long few months (but I absolutely love it). I should be back to work here at TheToneChef.com a little more frequently now. And just to show you that I still love you, how about some free Christmas music for your ears and your band? Who doesn’t love free music.

Guitars are Taylor acoustics (BTO Grand Symphony and a GS Mini nashville strung), a Les Paul Special and what I affectionately call the “Pearce-o-caster” from Tom Anderson Guitarworks. Amps are an Electroplex Rocket 22 and some JMP Marshall 2061x.

Click the link here to Enjoy! (Link is via The Armchair Project)

{ 1 comment }

First Time Visitor?

If you’re a first time visitor here at The Tone Chef.com, feel free to cruise around at your leisure. If you’re not sure where to go, check:

Here, here, and here for some video demos of guitars and amplifiers…
Here, here, and here for tracks that I’ve recorded for commercials and such…
Here, here, and here for some great How-To articles.

And before you leave, click here to check out my cd.

If you have any questions, you can contact me through this page.

Ton appetit’!
-TTC

{ 3 comments }

“@theTwilightKing: @TheToneC…

“@theTwilightKing: @TheToneChef who are you & who do you work 4?” Justa gtr player in SoCal trying 2 keep working (just like all the rest)!

{ 0 comments }

“@Lanceweisser: Hey @joshfry…

“@Lanceweisser: Hey @joshfry, check out @TheToneChef ,his logo and. handle alone are worth the follow :)”// THANK YOU! 😀

{ 0 comments }

“@theTwilightKing: @TheToneC…

“@theTwilightKing: @TheToneChef who are you and who do you work for ?” That sounds ominous… But I work for a handful of gear companies.

{ 0 comments }

Dear guitarists, @switchfoot ‘…

Dear guitarists, @switchfoot ‘s #ViceVerses is a clinic in creative use of fuzz in a pop/ heavy rock setting. Class is in session…

{ 0 comments }

Today: BUF > JFK > event…

Today: BUF > JFK > event at Rudy’s Music > JFK > HOOOOOMMMMMEEE. Yay.

{ 0 comments }

The view from my bed tonight. …

The view from my bed tonight. Yes, that’s a hot tub. http://t.co/tBF2WnSi

{ 0 comments }

Benefit of an all-day flight f…

Benefit of an all-day flight from OC/CA to NYC? I get to buy the new @switchfoot three hours early. #wearethedarkhorses

{ 0 comments }

Today is the day the Lord has …

Today is the day the Lord has made. I will be rejoice and be glad in it. 🙂

{ 0 comments }