One of the most interesting pieces of equipment showcased at this year’s NAMM conference was the Two Notes Torpedo VB-101. A multipurpose guitar/bass rack processor, the Torpedo follows in the footsteps of Line 6’s POD series and DigiDesign’s Eleven Rack with a twist. Equally suited for live sound or recording use, the Torpedo enhances your instrument’s sound by processing the output of your amplifier or replacing it all together. Once routed into your signal chain, the Torpedo models the sound of 16 different speakers and 8 microphones. It also comes with software that allows you to download additional free settings and load them onto the unit.

For those who are wary of  digitally altering their tone, the Torpedo boosts an impressive conversion rate of up to 24 bit, 192 kHz. With its flexible I/O the Torpedo can output digital signal directly to your audio interface or right into your computer, bypassing unnecessary digital to analog conversion. Combining the features of a DI box, recording interface and effects processor, the Torpedo seems like an extremely versatile unit. This item won’t be ready until the Spring, but we’re looking forward to hearing more of what it can do.

 

For specs and more information head over to Two Notes’ site here.

Since its first appearance, Amplitube has been one of the most popular guitar (and later bass) amplifier emulation plug ins. We remember getting a light version of Amplitube 1 bundled with our first M-Box (circa 2000). This initial plug-in was a neat, simple program with a few options, but when we saw version 2 our jaw dropped: many classic amps, pedals and cabinets were recreated beautifully in both the audio and graphic departments. Extra options related to cabinet miking (choice of type of microphone, on or off center placement and mic distance from the amp) sweetened the deal even further. IK Multimedia presented Amplitube 3 at NAMM, and it looks like the main focus in developing this new version was to expand the selection of emulated hardware: AmpliTube 3 has nearly 100 more gear models than its predecessor, including about 70 top amp and effects models from AmpliTube Metal and AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix.

One of the most interesting new features is the new cabinet module. Sporting a redesigned GUI, not only can you mic and mix each cabinet with 2 microphones, but the microphones also can be freely moved around the speaker, making it easier to find that magical sweet spot. Cabinet “size” can now be also controlled so you can enlarge and shrink your cabinet beyond the limits of the physical world. In addition, you can adjust the room ambience and room mic positioning for an ultra-accurate modeling of the cabinet in the natural recording space.

Interesting news on the effect side of things too: AmpliTube 3 also includes new effects not found in other modeling packages such as StepFilter, StepSLicer, TapDelay, Rezo and Swell in both stomp and rack versions. There’s also a  3 speaker cabinet module that contains a very cool rotary speaker based on a model of a vintage Leslie 147. Largely as a result of requests fom AmpliTube users, you can now reconfigure your pedal board and rack effects chain simply by dragging & dropping an effect into its new position.

Another interesting feature is that Amplitube 3 is now expandable: you can now add individual pieces, or entire collections like AmpliTube Fender™ or Ampeg® SVX. This will also allows you to purchase “singles” on an as needed basis in the future, and have them all available in one plug-in from within the AmpliTube 3 structure.

The Barker Assmaster from Malekko Heavy Industry is a hand built clone of the Maestro Bass Brassmaster harmonic octave fuzz. This updated version supplies the same classic fuzz tones as the original in a modern, rugged and reliable package. Although aimed at bassists, this pedal performs equally well on guitars and even synthesizers. The three knobs control the effect level, the attack of the fuzz (Ass Volume and Sensitivity, respectively) as well as the level of the original, dry signal (Bass Volume). In addition, there are two toggle switches affectionately dubbed Ass and Harm. These controls act in conjunction with one another allowing the user to thin out the fuzz or unleash it on unsuspecting eardrums. True bypass switching keeps your sound clean and unaffected when you decide to take a break.In practice, the Assmaster becomes fiendishly easy to cop bass sounds that could please any fuzz freak. Rolling back on the Sensitivity knob keeps the Assmaster on its best behavior, yielding controlled fuzz perfect for that vintage vibe. Roll it clockwise and things can get crazy fast. Industrial and metal fans rejoice - this pedal delivers! No matter how freaky your fuzz, the clean blend allows bassists to keep one foot in the pocket or boost the clean volume to drive the front of your amp or other effects as well. Additionally I would like to say that using the Assmaster in conjunction with a cranked SVT rig sits somewhere on the border of sublime and downright dysfunctional.With its bright pink and brown sparkle appointments the Assmaster may raise some eyebrows but this pedal is dangerously fun and addictive, not to mention very well made. If you are looking for a bit of fuzz this is one to check out. - Arthur Fleischmann

The Sonnox Oxford Supresser is a simple yet highly flexible de-esser and dynamic EQ. At first glance, this plugin appears to be similar to the built in de-essing plugins that come with Logic or Pro Tools. When inserted on a vocal, it can easily handle duties of suppressing harsh high end frequencies that are often created when using cheap Chinese made condenser microphones.

Without much hassle, the Suppresser can be set to natural tame a poorly recorded vocal in seconds.This plugin really shines in handling other sources as well. I recently had a mix session where the snare drum was recorded very poorly. There was a lot of high hat bleed coming in to the snare mic. This made it very difficult to properly compress the snare. I used the Supresser to dynamically duck the high hat hits at 5 khz while retaining the punch and the crack of the snare. This allowed me to compress the snare after the Supresser without creating a washy hi hat.Another useful feature of the Supresser is the listen modes. The user can easily monitor what is being compressed as well as what is not being compressed. This makes honing in on certain problematic frequencies a breeze. A final feature that I suggest all plugin manufactures include is a blend control. The user can blend the de-essed signal with the dry signal for a very natural tucking of the hard frequencies, without destroying the original intent of the performance. - by Shane O’Connor

Boutique distortion pedals are a lot like New York City bagels: everyone seems to make them, and everyone seems to claim his or hers is the best. The Chuck Collins Harmonic Percolator makes no outlandish statements about being number one, but for any fan of the Steve Albini/Big Black tone, this pedal presents one of the most unique buzz saw grind effects in the rock realm. The original design of the Harmonic Percolator was created in Wisconsin in the 70’s. Collins took apart one of these original pedals (no easy feat considering their transistor boards were GLUED TOGETHER to keep their inner workings a secret) and set about re-creating the Percolator ‘note for note’ from original, new-old-stock parts.The result of his painstakingly accurate version is a tense, gritty but flavored harmonic distortion quite unique from any pedal I’ve played. Newer released versions actual have type on their cream and tan surface to assist the player, although my pedal has no markings whatsoever. This is especially head scratching at first as the input/output jacks are opposite other modern pedals (and the resulting squelch of reversing the cables, while not musical, was certainly as unique as the pedal itself).This is no crunchy effect. In fact, the Harmonic Percolator’s terse grind almost commands the player to work his or her riffs ‘around’ the sound of the unit. About how many distortion pedals can that be said? This pedal is true bypass and creates enough grind to make your neighbors call 311, but if you need a noisy pedal with an incredible history to inspire your next post punk writing jag, look no further. - by Greg Hoy

When you look at Jay Braun’s bio, you get the sense that he likes his music honest and raw. Which recent artists do you think of when you hear those adjectives? Maybe John Spencer Blues Exlplosion? (Jay’s worked with them). How about Mooney Suzuki? (Jay’s been known to pick up bass duties in that band). Maybe you’re thinking about Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers (Jay recorded and produced their album, then joined the band on guitars). Visiting his Williamsburg studio, Melody Lanes, you get the sense that the room is a work in progress. Located in an old garage with an equal parts sawdust, steel, copper, solder, and tubes, he recently recorded two albums that have been getting some well deserved attention. First being the aforementioned Shilpa Ray release “A Fish Hook an Open Eye”, Second being Sean Bones’s rocksteady and ska flavored release, “Rings”. - read Mike Straus’ interview with Jay here.

As a big fan of Stillwell Audio plugins, I was eager to try the new stereo pitch shifter in Stillwell’s Schwa line of time based plugin effects. Upon installing the plugin, the first thing I noticed was the sleek and interesting graphics that they incorporated with this effect. The unit looks the way it sounds with big grey knobs and futuristic lighting.

The CMX is a stereo pitch shifter and delay device that is meant to be used for instruments that don’t need reverb, but still need to have some sort of ambience. In modern pop and rock production, reverb on vocals is often sparse. Delays are used to create space while allowing the vocal to sit in the forefront of the mix. The CMX creates  small pitch shifts and delays to be added to a vocal and blended in to taste. Stillwell also includes other features such as a stereo width control and a color control, which emulates the pitch shifting of vintage hardware processors.

For a typical pop rock production, I usually set a short delay of 22 milliseconds on the left channel, and 24 milliseconds on the right. Similarly, I pitch the right side up 3 cents, and the left side down 3 cents. Without the CMX I would use 4 auxiliary sends and a bus to create this effect. I may even run all of these effects through a small amount of distortion and EQ. With the CMX I can create a similar ambience with one plugin. The trial version is free through the Stillwell website.

In the contemporary boutique effects community, the hippest stomp-boxes offer bizarre and unprecedented ways to thoroughly dismember one’s guitar signal. Conversely, traditional effects like phasers and vibratos have become about as sexy as huge crimped hair and shoulder pads. The chorus pedal, like the floyd-rose tremolo and 12-string bass guitar seem to have been excommunicated from the Church of Cool.Tortuga Effects, a hot new stomp-box company, enjoyed early success with products such as the Sasquatch, a fuzz device with a second channel that makes one’s guitar howl like a lovesick Bigfoot. Founded by Seattle high-end gear guru Matt Johnson, Tortuga is putting its cool-cache on the line with their first chorus pedal, the Martini. Influenced by the boundary-bending irreverence of the Sasquatch, the Martini stirs up the classic sound of traditional chorus by acting as two distinct pedals in one, with two speed controls that can be switched on the fly. The “order” button turns Martini on, and “how strong?” switches between the “single” and “double” channels. The latter can switch between “Shaken” (chorus) or “Stirred” (vibrato) modes. Powered by a standard 9v wall wart, the hand-made pedal features obsessive construction quality and true-bypass switching, so it will not affect tone when disengaged.From The Police’s plinkyness to swampy Nirvana sludge, I found every classic chorus sound in the unit. Doubling distorted solos with a chunky chorus setting yields an unbelievably thick lead sound. Riffs become more gut-wrenching. At a list price of $299, the dual-channel Martini packs more value than single-channel boutique offerings like the Empress Chorus by Redwitch, and industry staples like the Stereo Chorus/Flanger by TC Electronics and Chorus XII by Carl Martin. If you have a shy, sober guitar sound, the Martini is the perfect sonic social lubricant. - by Ben Wigler

OktavaMod - MJE-K47H - Full Review here.

When you pay a lot for a brand name mic (that is, if you even have the money in the first place) you are paying for a quality design, build and components, right? For the most part that’s true. But it is frustrating to know that you are also paying more simply for the brand name and in some cases the vintage of the mic, which implies a certain quality. Conversely, you may save money on a cheap mic, but it’s even more frustrating to hear the poor sounding results. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just take your cheap mic to a mic guru and have him soup it up into a super high-quality, boutique mic? Well, that’s exactly what Michael Joly of OktavaMod in Springfield, MA does. This boutique service from OktavaMod is the biggest step forward for home recordists in a long time and it’s the next big step up for your recordings. In fact, this aftermarket modifying and upgrading service is part of a bigger trend in audio products that I believe will become a huge part of the market in the next few years.

OktavaMod offers an array of awesome mods for Chinese and Russian-made condenser and ribbon microphones, as well as selling new modified mics. The newest product available is the first one to be offered under the Michael Joly Editions brand
- the MJE-K47H large diaphragm capsule head for popular 22 mm small diaphragm condenser mics (a.k.a. pencil condensers) like the MXL 603, the Nady CM95, etc. Michael Joly, President and founder of OktavaMod, sent me one to check out and it was totally amazing. The first thing I noticed about it was an extraordinarily clear, balanced signal. It was notably true-to-life. Working at a major studio I have access to many of the greatest mics ever made, and we’re especially strong in classic condensers. I put the MJE-K47H up against some of our more modern classic large diaphragm condensers – like the Neumann U 87 and the AKG 414 – and it was every bit as rich in the bottom and even more open and clear in the top end. In the time that I borrowed the MJE-K47H it became one of my favorite mics and certainly my go-to for all non-tube condenser tasks. If you’re looking for a smooth, velvety vocal mic I would generally go for a tube condenser. But when you need something crisp and accurate I would go for a more modern condenser design, and the MJE-K47H is my new favorite amongst some very tough competition in this realm. - read Michael Vecchio’s full review here - check out this  thread about the MJE-K47H on GearSlutz.com.