Frankfurt, Germany (March 28, 2010) -- The global musical instrument trade show, Musikmesse, has officially wrapped, and we're working on compiling all of our photographs and press materials of the show's big releases. Until then, here are some quick hits on some of the most intriguing and coolest things we saw at the show, including an Orange computer-in-an-amp, a new Steve Vai floral Ibanez, TC Electronic PolyTune iPhone app and more. Enjoy, and watch for all of our video and written coverage of the show right here on premierguitar.com in the coming weeks.
New Orange O PC with guitar input, 8" speaker and
modeling software.
Morpheus EFX Capo pedal with remarkably clean digital pitch transposition.
DV Mark DVM Little 40 head with reverb and variable wattage knob that goes
from 40 to .5 watts.
New Line 6 US-made Variax guitars designed by James Tyler. Seymour Duncan pickups, piezo & Line 6 modeling. Read the news release...
Vox flattop prototype with single cutaway and honey finish.
Vox Virage II semi-hollowbody with natural finish and matching pickguard.
TC Electronic releases the iPhone app version of the PolyTune tuner.
ENGL Powerball II amp head. Read the news release...
ENGL's first bass amp: the Bass Rackhead 260 has a tube channel and a
solid state channel.
EBS Classic T90 90-watt tube bass head.
EBS Fafner 750 Extreme bass head.
Ibanez Jet King bass (JTK300B)
Ibanez Jet King semi-hollow guitar (JTK30H).
Ibanez JEM77 Steve Vai signature FP2 (floral pattern 2).
Ibanez Ashula 6-string bass with four fretted strings and two fretless
treble strings.
Ibanez DN1PRM DarkStone
ESP MANA E-JF-X with graceful, gothic curves (part of ESP's Edwards line, available only in Japan).
ESP Custom Shop angel guitar with amazing detail work.
Fender Custom Shop High Voltage Strat.
Fender Dick Dale Malibu CE acoustic with totally tubular graphics.
Hofner HF 14 classical
Hofner Club 50 with carved top and slider switches.
Italia Maranello Custom w/Bigsby and delectable water-sanded finish.
Maton MS500HC w/vintage-style selector switch and bridge coil tap.
Cort GS-AXE-2 Gene Simmons bass.
The first in a new line of Aguilar pickups, the AG 4-J: Alnico 5 and heavy formvar wire.
Warwick Thumb Singlecut 5, Robert Trujillo Signature, Bootsy Collins Signature. Read the news releases: Trujillo, Thumb SC
Framus Panthera Supreme
Framus Diablo
Jägermeister Warwick Corvette bass from the Framus Custom Shop.
Custom Danou (danou-guitars.ch) with Haussel pickups, chestnut body, maple cap, and bot yew neck
Eko Lorenz ApplePie 3 three-watt class AB head and 2x12 cab
Revv G3 Purple Channel Preamp/Overdrive/Distortion Pedal - Anniversary Edition
The Revv G3 revolutionized high gain pedals in 2018 with its tube-like response & tight, clear high gain tones. Suddenly the same boutique tones used by metal artists & producers worldwide were available to anyone in a compact pedal. Now the G3 returns with a new V2 circuit revision that raises the bar again.
If 3 Were 6
With six times the controls found on the 1 and 2 versions (if you discount the original’s on/off slider switch,) the LPB-3’s control complement offers pre-gain, boost, mid freq, bass, treble, and mid knobs, with a center detent on the latter three so you can find the midpoint easily. A mini-toggle labeled “max” selects between 20 dB and 33 dB of maximum gain, and another labeled “Q” flips the resonance of the mid EQ between high and low. Obviously, this represents a significant expansion of the LPB’s capabilities.
More than just a booster with a passive tone, the LPB-3 boasts a genuine active EQ stage plus parametric midrange section, comprising the two knobs with shaded legends, mid freq and mid level. The gain stages have also been reimagined to include a pre-gain stage before the EQ, which enables up to 20 dB of input gain. The boost stage that follows the EQ is essentially a level control with gain to allow for up to 33 dB of gain through the LPB-3 when the “max” mini toggle is set to 33dB
A slider switch accessible inside the pedal selects between buffered or true bypass for the hard-latch footswitch. An AC adapter is included, which supplies 200mA of DC at 9.6 volts to the center-negative power input, and EHX specifies that nothing supplying less than 120mA or more than 12 volts should be used. There’s no space for an internal battery.
Power-Boosted
The LPB-3 reveals boatloads of range that betters many linear boosts on the market. There’s lots of tone-shaping power here. Uncolored boost is available when you want it, and the preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.
“The preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.”
I found the two mid controls work best when used judiciously, and my guitars and amps preferred subtle changes pretty close to the midpoint on each. However, there are still tremendous variations in your mid boost (or scoop, for that matter) within just 15 or 20 percent range in either direction from the center detent. Pushing the boost and pre-gain too far, particularly with the 33 dB setting engaged, can lead to some harsh sounds, but they are easy to avoid and might even be desirable for some users that like to work at more creative extremes.
The Verdict
The new LPB-3 has much, much more range than its predecessors, providing flexible preamp, boost, and overdrive sounds that can be reshaped in significant ways via the powerful EQ. It gives precise tone-tuning flexibility to sticklers that like to match a guitar and amp to a song in a very precise way, but also opens up more radical paths for experimentalists. That it does all this at a $129 price is beyond reasonable.
Electro-Harmonix Lpb-3 Linear Power Booster & Eq Effect Pedal Silver And Blue
