Brandon will be recording a few more songs in the coming weeks and releasing an EP shortly.  Until then he graciously decided to give away this first song for free on Bandcamp.  Head on over there are check it out!  You won't regret it.  

This is The Edge's (U2) original 1964 Vox AC-30.  It has suppossedly been used on EVERY U2 album.

Brian May of Queen. Nine AC-30's!

It was 1958 when Vox first introduced the AC-30 to be a big brother to the popular AC-15.  By the early 1960's the AC-30 had taken on the look and sound that we all know and love today.  In fact, I first totally fell in love with the AC-30 in a studio in New York.  I recorded most of the electric guitar parts for that record through the studio's 1964 Vox AC-30.  Of course I already loved the guitar tone of the aforementioned bands,  but playing/recording through that amp sealed the deal.  I quickly sold some gear and bought my first Vox AC-30.  

Those early 1960's AC-30's have become some of the most sought after vintage amps out there, which of course means the price to get one is VERY high.  Thankfully for us in 2007 Vox introduced what they are calling "The Holy Grail of Vox tone", and "Perhaps the finest Vox amplifier in the company's 50 year history".  This limited addition (only 500 made) version of the AC-30 is completely hand-wired and absolutely beautiful.  The normal channel in this amp is an exact copy of the 1958 EF86 preamp channel, and the other channel is an exact copy of the 1963 Top Boost channel.  To top it all off it's made out of stunning African Mahogany and (of course) includes two of the famous Celestion Blue speakers.

This amp immediately blew Eric and I away when we first plugged it in.  As I played through it and adjusted the tone, I could hear the famous sounds of Johnny Greenwood, The Edge, and Brian May spilling out of the speakers.  This amp is truly a joy and inspiration to play and we are excited to put it to great use!

The second new amplifier that deserves a fine introduction is an amazing 1969 Marshall 50 watt head.  The guts of this thing are seriously from 1969 and of course, are hand-wired and all original.  Once again if this type of amplifier isn't ringing a bell think early Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, early Eddie Van Halen, and Angus Young.  The list could go on and on. 

Jimi Hendrix's Marshall stack.

Eric Clapton shown here while playing with Cream.

Needless to say, Marshall amps have greatly helped shape the voice of electric guitar over the past several decades.  It was actually in 1969 that Marshall first introduced a 50 watt version of their 100 watt Superlead.  These new lower wattage amplifiers were called the 1987 model (no relation to the year) or also referred to as 50 watt Plexi's.  

Honestly I haven't had a very extensive history with Marshall amps.  I am proud to say that the first "real" guitar amplifier I bought (when I was in highschool) was a Marshall JCM 900 half stack.    This was a pretty impressive amp for a 17 year old and I played this amp exclusively until I fell in love with Vox (refer to the story above).  So even though I've heard amazing Marshall sounds on recordings most of my perception of these amps came from my JCM 900.  While there is nothing at all wrong with that amp, my memories weren't all that  impressive.  So when Eric started talking about wanting a Marshall head I just kinda went along with it.  I assumed I'd use it here and there but really it'd be Eric's tool.  Well let me be the first to admit I was gravely wrong about true vintage Marshall tone!!  As soon as I began playing through this beautiful red amp I knew I was falling in love all over again.  Yes, Vox is my first love, and will always be, but now there was a new contender.  

This Marshall sounds HUGE!!!  It is the perfect "rock n roll" amplifier.  It does everything from very "dirty" or distorted to "crunchy" mild breakup.  If these words and terms mean nothing to you then just take my word for it, this thing is amazing and very versatile.  


By adding these amps to our "tools of the trade" we believe that we'll be able to give our clients an even more enjoyable and inspiring studio experience.  We take what we do very seriously and want to be able to offer the best.  Actually, very soon we'll have another exciting addition to our amplifier collection to tell you about!  But until then we'll be perfectly content with these two new (to us) pieces of guitar history.

 The first pedal Caroline released was The Wave Cannon.  This pedal puts all my other overdrive/distortion pedals to shame.   More of my clients and friends have bought this pedal, after playing it here in the studio, then any other pedal I own.  It's  is extremely versatile in the best way possible.  I find myself using it mostly for low to medium gain settings, but this thing also excels at high gain and even fuzz sounds.  Trust me, I'm not the only one loving this thing.  It is getting high praise all over the place.  Watch the Guitar World demo video here.  

The Olympia was the next pedal released by Caroline.  It is a transistor-based fuzz that has really caught my attention.  Think of a Big Muff on steroids (but in a smaller housing!), without the need for a tone knob.  We all love fuzz pedals but sometimes it's hard for me to commit to putting one on my pedal board. Let's face it, they have a very specific sound that is not always usable, BUT this fuzz is versatile enough that I immediately knew I could find uses for it and it now sits nicely on my PT-2.   

The third (and quite possibly my favorite) addition to this fine line of pedals is The Icarus.  This is a clean boost pedal but to put it in the words of the designer; "Here at Caroline, we think there’s a distinction to be made between clean and plain".  I couldn't have said it better myself.  This pedal has a personality that does nothing but enhance your tone!  I'm currently, most often, using it to drive  one of our fine tube amps into a smooth breakup, but I seriously have a hard time turning this pedal off at all.  Since I got it, The Icarus has been on about 90% of all the electric guitar tracks I have recorded...  I may be obsessed...
 
All three of these pedals are so responsive that as I'm playing through them I feel like I can take them wherever I want to go and they happily oblige.   Do yourself a favor and get one or all of these fine pedals immediately!  Click here for a list of their retailers, or of course you could come check them out here (AAS) and get them on your new record! 

While I still have a few pieces to replace I can tell you with certainty that my Caroline Guitar Company "Wave Cannon",  will never leave my board.  That along with my Keeley Compressor and Fulltone Full-drive 2 are responsible for most of my tone these days.   Of course the Keeley modded TS-9 and Fulltone Fat-Boost are great as well!  

Well, the reason for this post is that while re-building my board, I've discovered that due to the amount of pedals I'm using, I'm actually losing some tone somewhere in between my guitar and my amp.  This of course is a huge problem.  I'm carefully choosing pedals to advance my tone NOT deplete it.  While some of this tone loss may be due to the random assortment of cables that I've amassed in the last ten years (this problem will be taken care of very soon with all new cables), I know that some of the loss is due to having a large number of "true bypass" pedals.  When a few of these pedals are stacked together there is noticeable loss in clarity and top-end.  

Much to my relief there is a solution!  And best of all, it doesn't have to break the bank.  

Introducing the T1M Mini Buffer.  While I barely understand what this little thing does it has made a huge difference in my tone!  So far, I'm putting it first in my chain and it sounds like I've lifted a sheet off my amp.  Please check this it out and do yourself a favor and go ahead and buy one!!!  At $39 plus shipping this is the most inexpensive tool you could add to your pedalboard with the most amount of positive change.  Get it!