Everything the PG editors saw at NAMM on Friday.
PG Contributor Tom Butwin dives into three standout baritone guitars, each with its own approach to low-end power and playability. From PRS, Reverend, and Airline, these guitars offer different scale lengths, pickup configurations, and unique tonal options. Which one fits your style best? Watch and find out!
Reverend Descent W Baritone Electric Guitar - Transparent White
Brickhouse Toneworks BH-90 pickups offer the legendary tone of a classic P-90 in a humbucker-sized package, with zero hum.
Brickhouse Toneworks, a new manufacturer of high-quality and innovative guitar pickups, has announced the release of the BH-90 pickup. This hum-canceling design offers the legendary tone and responsiveness of a classic P-90 in a humbucker-sized package -- with absolutely zero hum.
The BH-90 captures the true personality of the beloved single coil P-90 tone ā its grit, sparkle, and touch sensitivity to playing dynamics ā while eliminating the notorious hum that often limits their use.
Available individually or as matched sets, these pickups effortlessly respond to your playing touch, delivering delicate cleans to aggressive distortion. Youāll get P-90 soul in a humbucker size: the BH-90 seamlessly replaces existing humbuckers with no modifications required. They drop right in where your existing humbuckers live.
āKey Features of the BH-90
- Cast Alnico 5 Magnets; 500k Pots & .022uf Cap recommended.
- Ultra quiet: Hum-canceling design, and lightly potted to minimize squeal.
- Classic design: vintage external braided lead wire, with output comparable to vintage '50s P-90
- Bridge: 19.5k (Average), Neck 17.5k (Average). Note: the BH-90ās DCR reading is much higher than normal single coil P-90s due to the nature of their hum-canceling design. This is a case where DCR should not be considered as a measurement of output because these are equivalent in output to a vintage P-90 that ranged in DCR readings between 7-9k.
- Made in the USA with premium quality materials.
The BH-90 street price starts at $170 each and starts at $340 per set.
For more information, please visit brickhousetone.com.
The BH90 by Brickhouse Toneworks | Pickup Demo - YouTube
The final installment with Santa Cruz Guitar Company founder Richard Hoover details the remaining steps that takes a collection of wood and wire into an impeccable instrument. Hoover explains how the company's craftsman delicately sand and finish the acoustics with a light touch to keeps them shiny and singing. He describes the pragmatic reasoning behind finishing the body and neck separately before marrying the two. He describes the balance between mechanical precision with the Plek machine and luthier artistry for the individualistic, hands-on set ups and intonation. Finally, Richard outlines why the company is now designing strings specific to their guitars.
A digital pedal designed by Andrew Barta to replicate the dynamics and responsiveness of analog tube amplifiers. This stompbox offers preset clean, dirty, and lead tones, MIDI interface, and rugged all-metal housing.
As a staunch proponent of analog, Andrew Barta has never had the desire to venture into digital designs. The inventor of the SansAmp tube amplifier emulation technology, which debuted in 1989, Barta has remained loyal to the analog domain. That is, until now.
According to Barta, āTo me, the main drawback of a digital modeler is the feel and the sound quality. It lacks dynamics and responsiveness. It sounds one-dimensional and it isnāt touch-sensitive, so the nuances of your playing style get lost. It limits your ability to change the tone by using your volume knob, picking lighter or harder. No matter how hard you hit the strings, the result is mostly the same. Thereās no headroom and it doesnāt breathe. You are forced go to a different patch for a different tone. Ultimately, you have to conform to the device and play in a different way. So your artistic expression suffers. Artists have told me itās like being in a cage. You have to wrestle harder to squeeze out the results and their fingers get really tired.
āWhatever device youāre using, be it an amp or SansAmp or modeler, itās really a part of your instrument. Your instrument actually consists of the entire signal chain, not just the guitar. Digital is just a numeric translation and isnāt capable of preserving the individual personality of the guitar you use. The output is pretty much the same whether itās a Fender or Gibson or Ric.ā
Just as the original SansAmp was a personal mission to encapsulate tube amplifier sounds in a compact, portable pedal, Barta has long been on a quest to do the same in the digital domain. Never one to jump on a bandwagon, Barta wouldnāt āgo digitalā until he found a way to replicate the dynamics, responsiveness, and fluidity of its analog counterpart.
After many years, Barta ācracked the code.ā This happened to coincide with the opportunity to collaborate with Marty Friedman. The result is the Marty Friedman Signature SansAmp.
An iconic guitarist who eloquently serves up enchanting and tearful melodies, as well as complicated notes that make your head spin, Marty Friedman surprisingly likes to keep his arsenal quite simple. The goal for Tech 21 was to embody his tone in a neat, compact, plug-and-play footprint. Martyās focus is always on the music taking the spotlight rather than complex gear with distracting bells and whistles or requiring a cumbersome learning curve.
The Marty Friedman programmable Signature SansAmp comes preset with his main clean, dirty, and lead tones. Operationally similar to the SansAmp PSA 2.0, there are two modes: Performance mode to have your 3 main presets at the ready and Studio mode for up to 128 locations for custom presets.
Says Marty, āThis is it! This pedal has been in the works for a long time and only an exceptional design engineer like Andrew Barta could make something with these beautiful tones so incredibly simple to use. Such bonehead easy-to-use effects havenāt been known to have world class sounds in them until now. Iām proud to put my name on the first one."
Controls include Reverb, 3-band active EQ, Drive, and Level. Thereās also an adjustable Gate that dynamically and smoothly cleans up the signal, rather than cutting it off abruptly. Filteralters the tonality by manipulating the mid-range and is specifically voiced for Martyās unique sound.
Other features include a MIDI interface to control the SansAmp externally, a chromatic tuner, an effect loop, 1/4-inch and XLR Outputs, and rugged all-metal housing and knobs. Utilizes included 9V DC auto-switching power supply with interchangeable international plugs for use anywhere in the world. Measures 7.5āl x 5.25āw x 2.0āh.
For more information, please visit tech21nyc.com.
