’57 Custom Series Amps Overview
Fender’s ’57 Custom Series amps harken back to the heyday of their first tweed combo amplifiers. These new reissues deliver the same fat cleans and throaty overdrive when pushed via their simple, yet expertly hand-wired circuits. Recently, we received the full stable of amps here at zZounds HQ, along with a visit from Fender Product Manager […]
Perfect Pairings: Orange Rocker Stereo Rig
In this edition, we’re pairing up Orange’s new Rocker 15 and Rocker 32 amps with a slew of stereo-friendly effects to create unique, immersive sounds. So, what do you when you get a delivery of two killer Orange combo amps? You make the wildest-sounding stereo rig you can think of, that’s what. We took the […]
EHX Announces SYNTH9 Synthesizer Machine
Electro-Harmonix announced the release of the SYNTH9 Synthesizer Machine pedal today, along with a solid overview video showcasing its features. The SYNTH9 is the latest in the company’s 9 family of pedals that emulate everything from classic electric pianos to organs to the tones of the Mellotron. The SYNTH9 features 9 presets, emulating classic synths from Oberheim, […]
Legends of Tone: Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan – even the name sounds legendary, huh? SRV was a part of the later period of the “Blues Revival” that initially started in the 1960s. The demand for authentic blues music in the 1970s and ’80s opened the door for Stevie and his rude brand of the blues to take the Austin […]
Ribbon Microphones 101
Attention, home studio musicians: If you’ve already invested in a large-diaphragm condenser mic or two, perhaps it’s time to add a ribbon microphone to your bag of studio tricks! Here’s a beginner’s guide to ribbon microphones and how you can use them to get that smooth, “vintage-style” sound you’re going for. Ribbon Microphones, Yesterday and […]
Jaki Liebezeit and CAN: A Look at Krautrock’s Human Drum Machine
With the news of Jaki Liebezeit’s recent passing, what better time than now to take a look back at his influential body of work? Let’s begin where it began. “Communism, anarchism, nihilism” — those were the powerful words rumbling through Jaki’s head in 1968. Christening the band CAN — a move away from their original name Inner Space — […]
Perfect Pairings: EarthQuaker Devices Space Spiral & PRS Sonzera
EarthQuaker Devices Space Spiral Modulated Reverb The EarthQuaker Devices Space Spiral is a dark, murky dream machine that can conjure up an array of feelings thanks to its 30-600ms of analog-voiced digital delay and variable wave shape LFO. The most instantly recognizable characteristic of the Space Spiral is that the LFO can go from a […]
Catalinbread at NAMM 2017
During NAMM 2017, we met up with Andrew Yeghiazarian of Catalinbread to get a peek at what the pedal purveyors are putting out in 2017. In addition to the new Fn55 providing hot-rodded tweed tone, the popular Belle Epoch delay is getting two siblings in the Belle Epoch Pre and Belle Epoch Deluxe! Small but incredibly mighty, […]
Korg Monologue and volca kick Demo at NAMM 2017
We stopped in at Korg’s booth during NAMM 2017 and got a one-on-one tutorial on the Korg Monologue and volca kick from Nick Kwas of Korg USA. In the video above, Nick walks us through making a beat on both synths, and highlights some awesome features like the Monologue’s key trigger and hold functions, and the […]
