Blog – Page 144

My DigiTech – Multi Chorus

February 4, 2007 by Chris

I bought this item from Tim at the Twelve Fret in Toronto in July, 2006. My DigiTech Multi Chorus was bought with my acoustic guitar in mind.

I just love a big full sounding guitar when I’m playing live. I first try to achieve this while playing unplugged so when I play live, it sounds perfect. As you may or may not know, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I have to have something always ringing on my axe when performing. I just hate a nano-second of dead air. I am just a sucker for a true full sound. This is where the sound of my new pedal comes in handy live. The owners manual is a big help as well!

I always plug in stereo whenever I can. I’m a huge Alex Lifeson nut so … that should say it all! He has sound that just hangs in the air while, other parts drift in and out. When playing live I strive for the sound that he gets when playing Lime Light, Red Barchetta, or my all time favorite, Spirit of Radio. This type of sound is sacred to me. This pedal allows me to take this direction without the high cost of multiple rack mount units to lug around.

The ” Voice ” button is my best friend on this unit. It goes up to 16 voices like a joke and the level control is a close 2nd. The fading/panning aspect that you get out of your P.A. using this is a real pleasant and relaxing sound to listen to when you are playing intricate pieces. I hope to one day play on a true QUAD P.A. but, I may have to wait awhile for that one.

The casing of this unit looks strong enough to drive over it with your car a couple of times but, I truly don’t recommend it. If I was a betting man, I’d try it or, if I had more dollars then cents (get it?) why not.

I honestly don’t use it a lot because I do not play live too often so, I can’t tell you how long the battery life is. You’ll have to try it for yourself and get back to us on that one.

Keep on Jammin’

My old HiWatt, 50 watt 1/2 Stack

January 29, 2007 by Chris

Boy was this HIWATT thing freaking HEAVY!!! It was such a bitch to lug around. But I loved my HIWATT 50 watt, !!!

I vividly remember being in the band for “GOD SPELL” at St. John’s College in Brantford. The music director for this production, who admitted to only be able to play the stereo, use to help us load the BEAST onto a dolly and moving it back and forth from the music room to the gym for rehearsals. He always said ” This big thing sure sounds great but, HIWATTS SHOULD HAVE WHEELS!!!” The cabinet and the head where the same weight I think.

I sadly do not have this beautiful piece of my history with me but ahhh, the memories! My parents bought this for me from the now defunked Brantford icon, “Music and Sound” run by Bruce P. He fled the country to the US because of some tax stuff, or so the story goes.

I had went and checked out amps and decided on this one. The sound was just HUGE! It also had a warm and soothing sound as well. Great from RUSH to Renaissance. With just a acoustic, it was wonderful. I used “Groove Tubes” in this with great results and changed them yearly, they were a bit pricey but you get what you pay for.

Check out this demo that I found on YOU TUBE

The morning after my 16th birthday was fuzzy and quite warm to say the least, the days before air conditioning in my house. I woke up and saw the sun coming into my basement bedroom. This was nothing new but this time I could barely make out a big fuzzie rectangular object sitting in the door way. When my eyes started to focus on this off thing, I realized that it was a FREAK’N 50 WATT, HIWATT, 1/2 STACK!!!!!! I ran over to this thing and plugged it all in, in a nano-second! I then plugged in my RD and let it rip REALLY LOUD! I think it was set to 11 on the volume control.

At this point my parents must have known that I was up and went on downstairs. They told me that God called over from next door (we lived around 100 ft. away from St. Pius X Church) and said he can’t think or something like that. Then came a knock on the door and the sound of a heard of guys flying down the stairs. Yes, it’s the boys from Gemini! They just stood their with their jaws on the ground, right along with me. I think that my parents did the same thing, not realizing how loud this new toy was.

My 1959 Fender Duo Sonic

January 28, 2007 by Chris

This is a picture of a Fender Guitar, not my 1959 Fender Duo Sonic (pre-CBS) but one that I found on-line. Unfortunately, I have lost the tail piece cover and the volume and tone knobs on my Fender. The 1964 Duo Sonic Manual is a blast to look at, check out those beatnik guys dancing around on the front page!

This guitar is like a “Student” model but it plays great if you are a speed freak! The guitar player in Steely Dan, (Walter Becker) and Scott Merrit from my home town of Brantford, Ont., use one!

The guitar is a Student model which is great if your a speed freak. The pick ups are single coiled that has a rich warm sound. The neck on it is fast and smooth flowing and very small. It’s well worn to the point where it practically plays itself.

I remember the day I first saw it. I was in my parents living room doing something when my mom walked into the house with this dusty old guitar case. I asked her what it was and she said that this was an old guitar that sat up in a friends of hers attic for many years. Her son was said to have had it forever and that he had just died and she wanted to get rid of it. Here we go, my mother was always looking for great deals in anything. She had brought some guitars home that would be great to break on stage but that was it.

So she plopped it down on the couch and she let me open it. My jaw just dropped and I proceeded to play this blast from the past and then asked her how much. She replied ” $130.00 (Can.)”, I said “YES!!!!”. I said yes just because it just felt so right! I didn’t even plug the thing into my “Hiwatt, 50 watt bulldog, 1/2 stack”( I will talk about that later).

I also remember vividly the day that i went to look at guitars from Steve’s Music in Toronto and took this with us to see what the price of it might be for curiosity sake. When we opened it up, some older guy came up to us and offered $2000.00 (Can.) right on the spot. We looked at each other and said ” No thank-you sir ” and acted like good country bumpkins that we were, that had just fell off the turnip truck.

In todays market it’s not worth that much but it sure as hell made my mom feel like one of those people on the Antiques Road that used a violin called something like “Stradivarius” to hold open the barn door only to find out that it’s worth just a few more bucks! I just loved that look on my mothers face that day!

Keep on Jammin’

My DigiTech – Multi Chorus

My old HiWatt, 50 watt 1/2 Stack

My 1959 Fender Duo Sonic

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