With its burly build, tiny footprint, and super-reasonable price, this may be the ultimate modeling/IR option for space-conscious players on a budget.
Impressive amp, cab, ambience, and miking sounds, with just enough studio-style tweakability. Super-rugged build.
Built-in tuner and “spring” reverb would rule. USB cable not included.
$399
Boss IR-200
bossinfo.com
If you’ve been lusting after Kemper, Fractal, or Line 6 amp modelers but fear they’d be overkill for your brain or wallet, the Boss IR-200 is among the most stacked—yet relatively simple and straightforward—alternatives you could consider.
Boss IR-200 Review by premierguitar
Recorded with a Schecter Ultra III’s TV Jones Magna’Tron bridge pickup into IR-200, then an Audient iD44 interface feeding GarageBand with no EQ-ing, compression, or effects.
- 0:00: Bogner Überschall w/IR of Vintage 30-loaded 4x12 miked with a Royer, an SM57 & a Sennheiser
- 0:16: Bassman 4x10 w/ IR of close-miked Sennheiser MD-421
- 0:25: Bassman w/ IR of close-miked Royer R-121
- 0:34: Bassman w/ IR of close-miked Neumann U 87
- 0:44: Bassman w/ IR of distance-miked Neumann U 87
- 0:53: Bassman w/ IR of close-miked AKG C451B
- 1:03: Bassman w/ IR of distance-miked AKG C451B
- 1:12: Bassman w/ IR of close-miked Shure SM57
- 1:21: Bassman w/ IR of distance-miked Shure SM57
The high points: 128 presets, eight core amp models (including Fender, Marshall, Vox, Bogner, and Roland homages), 244 cab and mic IRs (including Shure, Royer, AKG, Sennheiser, and Neumann nods), three reverbs (hall, studio, room), and stereo, MIDI, effects-loop, USB, headphone, auxiliary-input, and footswitch/expression-pedal connectivity. (IR loader software is available for Windows and iOS.)
If your budget has never allowed you to tinker with pricey microphones, it’ll be a treat to hear the sorts of tonal nuances the IR-200’s virtual microphone locker can avail.
The IR-200 interface is, for the most part, very intuitive, with top-mounted controls for traditional amp functions—gain, level, bass, middle, treble—two footswitches for advancing patches, menu and exit buttons, and four slightly larger dual-function knobs for navigating memory slots and editing amp, cab, microphone, ambience, and other parameters.
Upon power-up, opening presets like “Natural 1” and “JC-120 1” may not excite tube-amp addicts, and factory noise-suppressor settings are a bit stringent—which can work against the feeling of “realness” in otherwise really good amp models—but thankfully the latter is a cinch to tweak, thanks to simple screen prompts and smart architecture. No matter what the preset, the same sequence of three button/knob pushes accesses threshold and release settings. Once you’ve tailored these and other subtleties to your preference, you’ll find that the tones inspired by the aforementioned classic amps are damn impressive. And if your budget has never allowed you to tinker with pricey microphones, it’ll be a treat to hear the sorts of tonal nuances the IR-200’s virtual microphone locker can avail—particularly when mics are used in complementary pairs.
Test Gear:Schecter Ultra III, Audient iD44, KRK Rokit7 G4 monitors, Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro headphones
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Metalocalypse creator Brendon Small has been a lifetime devotee and thrash-metal expert, so we invited him to help us break down what makes Slayer so great.
Slayer guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman formed the original searing 6-string front line of the most brutal band in the land. Together, they created an aggressive mood of malcontent with high-velocity thrash riffs and screeching solos that’ll slice your speaker cones. The only way to create a band more brutal than Slayer would be to animate them, and that’s exactly what Metalocalypse (and Home Movies) creator Brendon Small did.
From his first listen, Small has been a lifetime devotee and thrash-metal expert, so we invited him to help us break down what makes Slayer so great. Together, we dissect King and Hanneman’s guitar styles and list their angriest, most brutal songs, as well as those that create a mood of general horribleness.
This episode is sponsored by EMG Pickups.
Use code EMG100 for 15% off at checkout!
Learn more: emgpickups.com
The legendary German hard-rock guitarist deconstructs his expressive playing approach and recounts critical moments from his historic career.
This episode has three main ingredients: Shifty, Schenker, and shredding. What more do you need?
Chris Shiflett sits down with Michael Schenker, the German rock-guitar icon who helped launch his older brother Rudolf Schenker’s now-legendary band, Scorpions. Schenker was just 11 when he played his first gig with the band, and recorded on their debut LP, Lonesome Crow, when he was 16. He’s been playing a Gibson Flying V since those early days, so its only natural that both he and Shifty bust out the Vs for this occasion.
While gigging with Scorpions in Germany, Schenker met and was poached by British rockers UFO, with whom he recorded five studio records and one live release. (Schenker’s new record, released on September 20, celebrates this pivotal era with reworkings of the material from these albums with a cavalcade of high-profile guests like Axl Rose, Slash, Dee Snider, Adrian Vandenberg, and more.) On 1978’s Obsession, his last studio full-length with the band, Schenker cut the solo on “Only You Can Rock Me,” which Shifty thinks carries some of the greatest rock guitar tone of all time. Schenker details his approach to his other solos, but note-for-note recall isn’t always in the cards—he plays from a place of deep expression, which he says makes it difficult to replicate his leads.
Tune in to learn how the Flying V impacted Schenker’s vibrato, the German parallel to Page, Beck, and Clapton, and the twists and turns of his career from Scorpions, UFO, and MSG to brushes with the Rolling Stones.
Credits
Producer: Jason Shadrick
Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis
Engineering Support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudion
Video Editor: Addison Sauvan
Graphic Design: Megan Pralle
Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.
Katana-Mini X is designed to deliver acclaimed Katana tones in a fun and inspiring amp for daily practice and jamming.
Evolving on the features of the popular Katana-Mini model, it offers six versatile analog sound options, two simultaneous effects, and a robust cabinet for a bigger and fuller guitar experience. Katana-Mini X also provides many enhancements to energize playing sessions, including an onboard tuner, front-facing panel controls, an internal rechargeable battery, and onboard Bluetooth for streaming music from a smartphone.
While its footprint is small, the Katana-Mini X sound is anything but. The multi-stage analog gain circuit features a sophisticated, detailed design that produces highly expressive tones with immersive depth and dimension, supported by a sturdy wood cabinet and custom 5-inch speaker for a satisfying feel and rich low-end response. The no-compromise BOSS Tube Logic design approach offers full-bodied sounds for every genre, including searing high-gain solo sounds and tight metal rhythm tones dripping with saturation and harmonic complexity.
Katana-Mini X features versatile amp characters derived from the stage-class Katana amp series. Clean, Crunch, and Brown amp types are available, each with a tonal variation accessible with a panel switch. One variation is an uncolored clean sound for using Katana-Mini X with an acoustic-electric guitar or bass. Katana-Mini X comes packed with powerful tools to take music sessions to the next level. The onboard rechargeable battery provides easy mobility, while built-in Bluetooth lets users jam with music from a mobile device and use the amp as a portable speaker for casual music playback.
For quiet playing, it’s possible to plug in headphones and enjoy high-quality tones with built-in cabinet simulation and stereo effects. Katana-Mini X features a traditional analog tone stack for natural sound shaping using familiar bass, mid, and treble controls. MOD/FX and REV/DLY sections are also on hand, each with a diverse range of Boss effects and fast sound tweaks via single-knob controls that adjust multiple parameters at once. Both sections can be used simultaneously, letting players create combinations such as tremolo and spring reverb, phaser and delay, and many others.
Availability & Pricing The new BOSS Katana-Mini X will be available for purchase at authorized U.S. Boss retailers in December for $149.99. For the full press kit, including hi-res images, specs, and more, click here. To learn more about the Katana-Mini X Guitar Amplifier, visit www.boss.info.
Snark releases its most compact model ever: the Crazy Little Thing rechargeable clip-on headstock tuner.
Offering precise tuning accuracy and a super bright display screen, the Crazy Little Thing is approximately the size of your guitar pick – easy to use, unobtrusive and utterly dependable.
Housed in a sturdy shell, the Crazy Little Thing can be rotated for easy viewing from any angle, and its amazingly bright display makes it perfect for the sunniest outdoor stages or the darkest indoor studios. You can clip it to the front of your headstock or on the back of your headstock for extra-discreet usage – and you can easily adjust the display to accommodate your preference.
As the newest addition to Snark’s innovative line of headstock tuners, the Crazy Little Thing is rechargeable (no batteries!) and comes with a USB-C cable/adapter for easy charging. Its display screen includes a battery gauge, so you can easily tell when it’s time to recharge.
The Crazy Little Thing’s highly responsive tuning sensor works great with a broad range of instruments, including electric and acoustic guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin and more. It also offers adjustable pitch calibration: its default reference pitch is A440, but also offers pitch calibration at 432Hz and 442 Hz.
Snark’s Crazy Little Thing rechargeable headstock tuner carries a street price of $21.99. For more information visit snarktuners.com.