It’s been a year since I saw that first demo of the Helix at NAMM, and I haven’t stopped dreaming about it! But I decided that I should really sell some old gear before investing in the Helix. And I just never got around to it.
But after the dreaded HD500X sunlight-wah-freakout happened again, this time in front of a huge crowd at a gig in October, I decided it’s time to make this happen, before the sunny season rolls around again.More
My band plays a number of outdoor gigs every year, and I usually need to wear sunglasses to survive the gig.
Aside from the sunlight-triggered-wah-freakout issue I wrote about last year, the HD500X works fairly well in the sun. The light rings around the footswitches tend to disappear in bright light, but the main display seems to maintain reasonable visibility.More
My band is looking forward to playing in this year’s Kiwanis 4th of July Parade in Danville. We’ll be on a huge flatbed truck, so we need some big banners. I prepared a modified version of our business card as vector graphics pdf, and sent it to this company BingBanners down in LA. I orderd two 3’x6’ vinyl banners, very reasonably priced, and the banners showed up the next day!
The logo is printed over a dark eggplant-purple color, and I wasn’t sure how it would turn out on vinyl, but they turned out fantastic! And I’m sure we’ll be able to use these at other gigs as well.
Here’s the artwork:
Followup: here’s how the banner looked on the truck in the parade. Maybe we should’ve gone even bigger!
I’ve used the classic A-frame OnStage stand forever, but its time to upgrade to something better! There have been too many near misses, where my guitar nearly fell off its stand. And, these strange reactions between the foam and the guitar finish are just not worth it.
This is the Ultimate Support GS-1000 Pro. It has a very unique design with a sturdy asymmetric tripod base and telescoping top yoke that basically guarantees that the guitar won’t tip over.
One of the great features of our Mackie DL32R mixer is the ability to record rehearsals and gigs in fully independent multi-track audio.
We don’t have a sound guy in my band, so this feature lets us record the soundcheck at a gig, then walk out front and play it right back. We can listen to it in the room from the audience perspective, adjusting the channel levels and EQ as necessary. Much easier than trying to walk out front while playing!More
I had a chance to see a live demo of the Line 6 Helix at last week’s NAMM show, and I was blown away.
They’re really taking modeling to the next level. The Helix sounds amazing, looks amazing, feels amazing.
The Helix addresses all the issues that I have with myHD500X – the legibility/visibility of the small screen, solid tuner, clean boosts, scribble strips over the buttons so I don’t need to remember what’s what. And editing on the Helix looks so simple and natural, compared to the HD500X.More
We have been having some issues with four of our OnStage MS9700B+ microphone stands. We bought the “heavy duty” stands in the hopes that they will withstand the wear and tear of rehearsals and gigging. But they haven’t been so touch after all. Good news- it turns out there’s a new version of the MS9700B+ stand, and it is much better.
On a couple of the stands, the clutch mechanism at the base doesn’t hold. The thumbwheel just spins freely without locking the post – so the post drops to the floor instead of holding firmly.
Last month I wrote about my new Panasonic G7, and how I was having good success in low-light video. I’m using an old inexpensive manual Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens, along with an Fotasy FD – M4/3 adapter.
At our last night-time gig, I had to position the camera really far away for the 100mm focal length to fit the entire band in the frame.
We’ve been using the Sony HDR-MV1 camera to video our gigs, and it works reasonably well, but I’m continuously frustrated by the poor quality in low light. The stages we play in my band are always either super-sunny, or very dimly lit.
I know that my Canon T2i DSLR works much better in low light with its bigger sensor and better lenses, but like most cameras, its maximum video recording time is very short (under 15 minutes). So it’s impossible to use for gigs.More
Strap locks are an indispensable investment for any guitar. There’s nothing worse than having your strap twist free, and your guitar drop to the ground.
On my Les Pauls, I used the Dunlop Dual Design strap locks. They worked fine for a Les Paul, as they attached on the guitar horn, rather than on the back of the guitar. But on my new SG, I needed something different.