Joe Gajan Group live at On the Limiter 9/18/10 YYZ

Joe Gajan Group live at On the Limiter 9/18/10 Captain Nemo

DIY - Bring your Chinese U-87 clones to life!

I have a $49 Nady SCM900 (large diaphragm condenser) that never really sounded right, always sputtered with any kind of spl apllied to it. So after it being shelved for a couple years I did some web research and found a really great way to get rid of it dropping out/sputtering and at the same time really bringing it to life (the dynamic range before was awful). The trick is to get the drain voltage on the one fet in the circuit (the other trannys are general purpose devices) down to 10vdc. Mine was over 20vdc. So after finding this thread - http://www.prodigy-pro.com/diy/index.php?topic=14003. I decided I would try my own approach (as the mic. in the thread was a bit of a different layout than mine) This involves removing one resistor r7 (which is connected to drain and terminates to ground on opposite board) and replacing it with a mini pot wired as a variable resistor, the resistor (r7) I removed was a 2.2k, I didn't have a 5k mini pot so I used a 10k mini wired as a variable resistor (top end of r7 to left leg of pot then bottom end of r7 to right leg & wiper together). Just a little past half way on pot I was at about 10vdc. I put everything back in place and gave it a check and voila no more sputtering/dropping out. So if you're having issues with your Chinese U-87 clone (theres a few different ones on the market) give this a try. I'm glad I did!

DIY Stompbox review - Ibanez FL301 Flanger

Ibanez 301 Flanger. Layout by F. Pena www.Tonepad.com. Great sounding flanger uses MN3101/MN3007 bbd chips & sounds a lot like an old MXR Flanger which used the bigger SAD1024 chip. I ended up using a bigger housing for this build in the end. I socketed all the tranny's to get orientation right & hear some ones with different gain structure. It worked perfect after setting trims a 'lil. A lot of close traces on this board so make sure your etches are clean! Rating - 5 stars

Guitar, Pickups, Bridge

Lately I've been mesmerized by wraparound style bridges (this one is stock & intonates perfectly). This is 1 of 2 Gibson Les Paul DC Studio's I own. The Studio DC is the one with the wraparound, which puts the strings energy-transfer from the bridge to 2 points (the studs) on the body, 3 if you count the bridge itself. The harmonics just jump out of it. The chambered Mahogany body & the extra frets (24) are a bonus to its uniqueness. The (Bill & Becky or Wilde now) Lawrence xl-500 pickups are hands down my fave p/u's, the quality control and potting process is second to none. And they're super great people to deal with, to boot. http://wildepickups.com/

My personal fave strings. Dean Markley Electric "Helix" brand 9-42. http://www.deanmarkley.com/Strings/Electric/HelixHDNPSEl.shtml

DIY Stompbox review - PT80 Delay

Another one from DIY stompboxes.com. Here's the PT80 Delay (uses Princeton Technologies 2399 chip). This is one of the best delay pedals you can build, period. This is a very organic delay, and you get 800 ms (maybe more) of delay. Does a very cool unique oscillation thing if you crank repeats and turn delay time from one extreme to other! Noise floor is excellent, and controls work perfectly. I didn't use one regulator transistor (the 12v+ one) as I use a super regulated adjustable power supply (set at 9.5 vdc.), or the millenium bypass option, I prefer the 4pdt true bypass switch with led/resistor network (not in pic). I also changed a resistor in the feedback loop of the dual op-amp to get more gain, which jacked it up perfectly. Probably an easier build than the 3208 delay, and more versatile. Rating - 5 stars

DIY Stompbox review - 3208 Analog Delay

From DIY stompboxes.com. The 3208 (going by bbd chip #) analog delay by Tim Schwarz. More of an advanced build & have to be patient tweeking trimmers. But this is the real deal, true analog delay - nice warm repeats & no delay "whine" if trims sre dialed in right. Only thing is you're limited to maybe tops 350ms of delay, but sure sounds good with a relatively low noise floor. I think I goofed with making delay longer by making the "delay time" pot larger but started getting whine so went back to suggested value. Rating - 5 stars

Timeless music Review: Pat Travers - Live! Go for what you know

I was fortunate enough to see this P.T. lineup at a very young age, P.T. opened for Rush (Hemisphere's tour). I remember P.T. closing with a song entitled Snakeskin Blues. I have to say P.T. probably was a better show than Rush (believe it or not). The twin guitars of Travers/Thrall where & still are mind blowing, as well as a killer rhythm section consisting of Peter "Mars" Cowling - Bass & Tommy Aldridge - Drums. The intensity of the show was absolutely thru the roof (it was outdoors actually - no roof)! This disc captures what I saw well. Killer songs in a Hendrix/Funk/Progressive/Southern feel. You hear crazy jet/race car flangers (the mighty a/da Flanger), Echoplex triplets, screaming Wah riffs, MXR Blue box sounds & more! Dig it!

Timeless music Review: Freddy King - Lets Hide Away & Dance Away

Here's an album that probably sparked the British blues explosion, all by itself. You can hear what Clapton emulated six years later sometimes note for note on "The Beano, John Mayall Bluesbreakers album". Freddy has a very distinct sense of melody & vibrato in his playing which many modern guitarist could learn from. This album is song after song incredible. Dig into every track as Freddy is a true virtuoso. If you want a prime example of how a P-90 pickup is supposed to sound this is probably the album/disc to refer to as well.