Cheap import guitar of the week #5 - Chaul Reed Smith
For this week's cheap import guitar of the week, I'm talking about a Paul Reed Smith, I mean, um.. Chaul Reed Smith guitar.
China copies of guitars like the PRS Custom 24 exist. And like with any of these I list, I have absolutely no idea how it plays or sounds, but again, cheap, and that's what counts here.
When you look these up, most have the bird inlays and gold-gold-gold everywhere, even on the frets. The back of the guitar is usually mostly correct. For those knowledgeable about the PRS Custom 24, the first thing you'll notice as a giveaway that it's fake is that the rear plate isn't the correct shape. But who cares given how low the price is?
What's the best part about this guitar? It's cheap enough to where you can hack and mod it up and not care.
Personally, what I'd do with this guitar is put in a set of Seymour Duncan zebra humbucker pickups. Specifically, the SH-4 JB Bridge and the SH-1 59 Neck which can be bought as a set. The zebra look would work well for the finish on the PRS copy, and it's a good pickup set without spending an insane amount of cash on it.
Worth it? That's your call.
DigiTech RP360 Review
Take a DigiTech GSP 1101, put it in pedal form, add in a 40-second looper, and you get the RP360.
Although the RP360 has been on the market for something like a year, I just found out about it recently. My cost for it was almost free because I traded out my GSP1101 for it.
I took a guess that the RP360 sounded just as good as the GSP1101 with the addition of a 40-second looper in it. And I was right. It sounds exactly like the GSP1101. And believe me, that's not a bad thing. Not at all. In fact, it's a very good thing because the GSP1101 is a supremely good effects processor.
A while back I owned a Hotone Wally looper pedal. It started developing problems. Namely, the internal storage it used would crash, resulting in high-pitched nasty noises, so I had to part with it.
Ever since then, I've wanted a looper again. But at the same time I didn't want to give up my GSP1101. When I found out about the RP360, that is what I was waiting for. A floor unit that has just about everything the GSP1101 has, and a looper. I was sold.
Interface
Not as good as the GSP1101 was. The GSP's menus were a lot more straightforward. The RP360's menu layout, while not exactly terrible, does the annoying thing of making you scroll horizontally instead of vertically to get to certain functions.
Yeah, I can get to everything I need to, but that go-right-or-left-to-do-anything is a bit trying on the nerves. However, it's nothing I can't get used to.
Weight
Just right. It also has nice rubber feet so it stays put. Good. Very good. The RP360 has some weight to it, but isn't too heavy. DigiTech definitely got it right here.
Foot button spacing
Good. No complaints here.
Display
This could be larger when looking at it from standing position. Yes, it's readable, but I'm 100% sure it would totally get washed out in sunlight for outdoor gigs. But then again, so would any other pedal even with an LED display.
For indoor use, yes, it's fine. And for playing gigs, you can assign custom presets so you could operate the unit by muscle memory without even having to look at it if you wanted to.
Sound
Oh, yeah, we're doing really good here, said sincerely.
Like the GSP1101, you do have to purposely set the unit to "MIXER" output instead of "AMP" for feeding into a mixer/recorder so it sounds right. I knew this up front, so it was no big deal.
Drum Machine
Fairly useless, but nice to have, I guess. Some players will appreciate it.
Price
Even if I had paid full retail price for this, it's still one heck of a multi-effect pedal for the price.
Now if you're thinking, "Gee, if the RP360 had an expression pedal, it would be perfect", you want the DigiTech RP360XP. Same thing as the RP360 with expression pedal attached. Yes, it costs more than the RP360. However, it should be noted that you can get the RP360 and add on your own control/expression pedal later, and it doesn't have to be made by DigiTech. So if you already have an expression pedal, it can hook right up to the RP360.
A farewell to rackmount units
The reason I bought the GSP1101 originally is because for the longest time I used nothing but rackmount effects processors. I used them so much that I had become basically anti-pedal. I hated floor units, hated wires running on the floor, hated the fact that pedals get dusty really quick, and so on.
However, things change. I changed as a player.
You can't use a looper without it being a floor unit; that's required. And pedal technology has advanced enough to where you can get all of what was in the older rackmount units in a floor unit and have an expression pedal if you want and have the looper too.
For home recording, which is what I do most, it basically doesn't get any better than the RP360. Small enough not to be a burden, big and weighty enough for each foot control in a chassis that stays put and, of course, great sound.
Like I said, I was sold, and in less than a day of owning it, I was so happy to ditch the rackmount for this. I lost nothing by switching over.
Oh, and one final selling point of the RP360. It comes with a power supply. Yes, it does. No need to buy a separate one. That's about $20 saved right there. Maybe that's not much, but I can't stand electronic things that don't come with their own power supplies (like the Wally Looper).
Alternatives?
Yes. Both ZOOM and BOSS offer multi-effect processors, so be sure to see those as well.
Cheap import guitar of the week #4 - Chibson Ace Frehley Budokan VOS Les Paul
Why be someone that pays huge for one of these when you can have one for absolutely dirt cheap?
Yes, there are people who pay big for one of these things. Why? Because some KISS fans are willing to pay big money for certain things.
If you're going to buy this, you might as well get it cheap, and that's where this Gibson copy of the Ace Frehley Budokan Les Paul comes in.
How is it wired? I have no idea. Does that matter? Not really, because the only pickup that matters in this guitar is the rear (bridge) side, given that's the only pickup Ace ever used.
If you wanted to have this be the "total Ace sound", all that's required is installing a DiMarzio Super Distortion. Seriously, that's it. It's not like Ace's sound was anything special.
This is yet again a guitar you buy just for looks and nothing else. It's got that classic 1970s look to it, and the lightning bolt fretboard inlays do look pretty cool.
When you look at the photos for this guitar on the link above, you may think the pickups aren't mounted correctly. In fact, they are. The "crooked" look is because of curved pickup rings (or frames or whatever you want to call them.) If the lean bothers you, they can be swapped out easily with replacement rings for real cheap.
You also might be wondering where the pick guard is. It doesn't come with one - but that's a good thing because the vast majority of the time, the guard is installed wrong on these guitars even when built by Gibson or Epiphone, and at times the guard is the wrong color (such as white instead of creme.) Get yourself a dirt cheap guard, and problem solved.
So yes, this Paul takes a little work to get it into "full Ace mode", so to speak. Worth it? That depends on how much you like the look of this guitar. If when you look at it, you think, "Yeah! I'd love to have one of these!", then go ahead and get one. With some minor tweaks, it can be a great player - if you get can used to the 3-pickup layout, that is.
Should you bother seeking one of these Chibson Ace guitars?
NO!
It's really not that difficult to mod a Les Paul style guitar to fit 3 humbuckers. AND REMEMBER, it's only the bridge side that needs to work ANYWAY for an "Ace" LP guitar. All you need to do after that is put lightning bolt stickers on the fretboard and an "Ace Face" on the headstock.
ZOOM R8 book finished and available now
The manual has arrived.
After a brief delay, The Better ZOOM R8 Manual is done. Obviously, it's meant for those who own a ZOOM R8. You can get the book on Amazon in eBook, printed paperback or hardcover version.
The book is also available internationally, so no matter what country you are in, you should be able to get a copy. If it does not, search Amazon for The Better ZOOM R8 Manual and it should show up in the results easily.
I tried to make this manual as plain English as possible. It doesn't replace the original R8 manual, but you can consider it a really good supplement that actually explains how to do stuff without being so cryptic.
One thing I realized while writing this is that I may have to write another book completely dedicated to the effects section alone. I cover it in the book, but don't go into every single effect because that alone would have overtaken the rest of the content in there.
What I tried to do here was make a well-rounded book that covered how to get going with the R8 real quick. I went over how inputs work, how tracks work, how effects work, how bouncing works, how to undo, auto punch, explained the difference between how pre and post-effects work in the R8, and so on.
I was requested to write this, so yep, it's done. Check it out. Again, you can get it on Amazon in eBook or printed paperback or hardcover version.
[UPDATE] There is now also the 2nd book How to custom create your own guitar patches on the ZOOM R8, so be sure to check that one out too.
[UPDATE 2] The printed version of The Better ZOOM R8 Manual now includes the full text of How to custom create your own guitar patches on the ZOOM R8.
ZOOM R8 book update
Yes, finally, an update.
One of my more popular YouTube videos recently is How to bounce, loop, trim and sequence on the ZOOM R8. I made mention of a book I'm writing, and several have emailed and asked me when it will be released.
I'm going to try and have it done this weekend. Hopefully, it will be released next Monday, April 6.
[UPDATE] Book available now.
These are the reasons why it hasn't been released sooner.
First, life happens.
Second, a book isn't like a blog post as there's a lot more to it.
Third has been trying to decide what to put in the book, and more importantly what not to put in it. For example, it's most likely true that I won't be saying anything about using the R8 as a USB-connected controller. Most want to know how to use the R8 in 100% standalone mode. Why? Because many who bought it specifically wanted it as a way to record without any laptop/PC involvement at all, which is totally understandable. (If recording with the computer, you'd use recording software instead of buying more hardware.)
Fourth is length. I don't want to clobber the reader (you) over the head with mountains of tech info, but at the same time don't want to omit anything that's important to know. Striking that right balance has been a bit of a juggling act.
But anyway, regardless of all that, I'm going to try my best to get it released Monday the 6th. I've made people wait long enough for it.