The Box of Rock (TM) is Z.Vex Effect's first "distortion" pedal, highly specialized to simulate the "everything on 10" sound of a classic Marshall ® JTM45 non-master-volume amplifier. You may use the Box of Rock effectively with many different amplifiers, but to get the sound I heard when I designed it, try it through a Marshall at least once. You may use your guitar's volume control to adjust for the exact amount of distortion you need, all the way down to very clean and clear with most drive settings. You will notice the words "distortron engine" on the Vexter version of this pedal (no, that's not a misprint) on the pedal. This is what I named my distortion circuit... call me crazy. On the hand-painted version, the stomp switch on the right is labeled "ROCK" instead, because our paint brushes are too wide for so many small letters. (more...)

A rectifier is an electrical device within a tube amplifier that converts alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), in a process known as rectification. The rectifier is not in the signal chain portion of the amp so your guitar signal doesn't pass through the rectifier. However, the type of rectifier your amp uses does contribute to your overall sound and tone. (more...)

From old Les Paul records, to T-Bone Walker, Grant Green and Pete Townsend, the P90's characteristic tone has helped to shape diverse musical styles. In this article we will look at the background of the P90 as well as compare some of the modern boutique P90 makers around today.

First some History:

The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup first produced by Gibson in 1946. They were introduced to replace the "bar pickup" (aka the Charlie Christian pickup) in models like the ES-150. Towards the end of the 40's P90's were the main pickup used on all models, including the Les Paul introduced in 1952. The introduction of a new "humbucker" (also know as PAF) pickup in 1957 curtailed the growth of the P90. (more...)

Re-live the sounds of the past with Homebrew's Psilocybe all analog Phase Shifter. Get that classic 60's psychedelic vibe and 70's funk, to the classic Eddie sounds. The Psilocybe features Regen and Speed controls as well as shift 1 and shift 2 Toggles to Further Tweak the EQ and intensity of the phase effect.

(more...)

Here's a quick demo of the 1965 Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue. The 65 Princeton Reissue is an authentic tube reproduction delivering 15 watts through a single 10" Jensen Special Design Speaker and housing 3 12AX7's a 12AT7, 2 Groove Tubes 6V6's and 1 - 5Ar4 rectifier tube.

Jim Campilongo really brings out the best of this amp, which to my ears sounds pretty fantastic. It comes in at interesting price point $899.00 which puts it at about half the cost of most boutique amps and twice the cost of something like a blues jr. I will definitely be considering this amp for myself and will be posting a follow up to this after I give it a test drive. (more...)

Here are two amazing new options from Bogner Amps demoed by Reinhold Bogner at the NY amp show. The Alchemist and The Duende run the gamet of tones from vintage clean tones, to subtle overdrive to British Gain. The amps are a perfect synergy of high fidelity sound and vintage sensibility. Here are some the features of both: (more...)