Zeppelin Design Labs’ Quaverato Harmonic Tremolo guitar pedal is a great sounding, versatile, and practical tremolo pedal at an attractive price. Among its features are: digital control for flexibility and tone; relay controlled true-bypass switch; harmonic or traditional tremolo modes; harmonic mix function; adjustable crossover frequencies; tempo multiplier; and adjustable LFO wave shape, rate, depth, and spacing. Its software is easy to update to include improvements and new features, and the open-source code can also be customized. Quaverato is available as a DIY kit ($89) or ready-to-play ($189).
Tag Archives: gear
GHS Strings Fingerboard Care Kit
GHS Strings Fingerboard Care Kit makes it easy to maintain your instrument’s frets and fingerboard. Guitar maintenance is just as critical to an instrument’s sound and playability as a new set of strings. Clean, smooth frets allow for optimal contact of the strings to your instrument, improving sustain and tone. The kit is ideal for all instruments with natural, non-glossy, darker fingerboards and can be used on electric, acoustic, classical, and bass guitars, as well as mandolins, banjos, ukuleles, and more.
Breedlove Lu’au Concert Ukulele
For many years, Kim Breedlove left his workshop in the late afternoon, only to go home to his garage workshop and build ukuleles. Now retired, Breedlove has launched the Lu’au Concert ukuleles based on his custom shape and bracing. The instruments feature mahogany (nato) neck, solid Sitka spruce top, and myrtlewood back and sides. It has 18 frets and comes with nickel open gear tuners and a UK-T1 pickup. MSRP is $332.
Sabian Center Hammered Triangles
Sabian Center Hammered Triangles are designed to boost projection and shimmer. Made from heavy gauge phosphor bronze, they allow for more clarity in any performance venue. The dense center hammering technique produces a rich timbre with overtones, rather than a single penetrating pitch. For occasions where a consistency of timbre is required, such as a sequence of notes, there are unhammered areas at the corners. And for a single rich sound, percussionists can play the multi-surfaced, center-hammered area.
Boss VE-500 Vocal Performer
The Boss VE-500 Vocal Performer vocal harmony/multi-effects pedal provides automatic harmony/pitch correction, plus effects that range from subtle sweetening to over-the-top, even robot voice sounds. Easily integrated into any pedal board, its three assignable footswitches offer versatile control, while stereo XLR outputs send vocal sounds directly to a PA mixer, stage monitor, or recording device. An automatic harmony engine detects guitar chords and key to generate smooth and natural two- and three-part harmony in real time. Users can edit sounds and save them in 99 user patch locations.
Sound Spike Endpin
The innovative and affordable Sound Spike Endpin was developed by Local 60-471 (Pittsburgh, PA) member Aaron White, a double bassist for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It’s designed with a carbide tip, which will stay sharp and perform on almost any surface. Sound Spike’s corrosion-resistant rod is made of a super hard stainless steel to improve clarity and projection. An over-sized rubber boot provides a larger, stickier surface area and matches the notches on the rod exactly. Bass endpins are available in both 10 mm and half-inch diameter at lengths of 8, 12, and 16 inches. Cello endpins are available in 8 mm and 10 mm diameters. Sound Spike Endpins make dull endpins a thing of the past.
Boss Tu-03 Clip-On Tuner and Metronome
The Boss Tu-03 clip-on chromatic tuner and metronome provides two essential tools in one device. The tuner allows users to switch between chromatic mode and dedicated guitar, bass, ukulele, and violin modes. Flat and double-flat tunings are also supported. Reference pitch is adjustable from 430-450 Hz and can be sounded through a built-in speaker. In metronome mode, TU-03 becomes an important practice tool, allowing instrumentalists to both hear and see the beat. It provides eight different patterns and 10 beat variations. Tempo is adjustable from 30 bpm to 250 bpm.
Deering Rustic Wreath Banjo
Deering Rustic Wreath is a stunning and affordable walnut-stained maple banjo that honors the heritage of the instrument, while taking on a sleek, minimalist feel. It retains older aesthetic features—the Golden Wreath inlay, prewar peghead shape, and iconic flange hole pattern. The tapered profile of the maple neck provides a comfortable playing experience and the deep resonator yields greater bass frequencies. It has an understated satin finish over a dark walnut stain, and single white binding on the resonator. It’s tone has a bright crack, thanks to a Deering 06 tone ring mounted to a three-ply violin-grade maple rim.
Yamaha Genos Digital Workstation
Genos is Yamaha’s most advanced digital workstation keyboard to date. It features a sleek, modern design, breathtaking sounds, 550 accompaniment styles, and robust recording. The semi-weighted keyboard provides enhanced touch response. Genos has a 1.8G internal, nonvolatile flash memory and supports WAV, AIFF, SoundFont, and REX for creating voices and drum kits. The main display is a brilliant nine-inch color touchscreen. Six large Gateway Buttons navigate the major modes of operation. Six assignable buttons let the player cue custom actions or changes. Ten registration buttons (with multiple banks) save and recall Genos panel settings. Registrations can be organized into playlists. Multi pads trigger one-shot musical phrases and hits spice up performances, while the keyboard plays the main instrument voices.
Fender Zuma Concert Ukulele
New in Fender’s California Coast Series, the Zuma concert ukulele is crafted from sapele with an open-pore finish for a balanced earthy tone that blends well with other instruments. Its easy-play, 16-fret neck extends the range, while the no-tie bridge makes changing strings quick and easy. A striking abalone rosette, bound top, back and fingerboard and 4-in-line Tele headstock stand out.