Name: Jacques Blanchette
Location: Rhode Island
Guitar: Blue Hawaii
I've been building guitars on and off since the '80s. I worked at Guild Guitars in Westerly, Rhode Island, for two years under Kim Walker's tutelage. After leaving, I worked at a music store as manager, repairman, and buyer.
I haven't been active in the music field since the mid 1990s. It's very hard to work as a builder or repair tech alone with no reputation. I build guitars now as a form of therapy. I don't really think about what I'm going to do with them when they're finished.
This is the latest guitar I've built. I call it Blue Hawaii, and it's actually the second of a set of three guitars. The third one is still in my head.
Blue Hawaii is a tribute to 1960s import guitars with a nod to the surf scene. The pickups are my own version of the old Danelectro lipstick tubes but without the tubes. I used 42-gauge wire wrapped directly onto alnico 6 bar magnets. The metal interferes with the magnetic field, so I leave them open. These pickups are handwound, as in bobbin in left hand and wire in the right hand. They have a very tight and snappy kind of sound, not much low end—think Fender with a bit of Rickenbacker mixed in. I made a set of these for my 12-string, too.
Each pickup has a volume, tone, and on/off switch with a master volume as well. The pickup covers are white PVC, the bridge is a salvage, the tuners are Gotoh, and the neck is a Chinese import. The guitar's body is a solid slab of poplar. The finish is nine coats of Rust-Oleum Lagoon. That's it, no clear coat. This guitar took about three months from start to finish, including finish-drying time.
I don't use many power tools, mostly because I can't afford the good ones. I just have a cordless drill, belt sander, jigsaw, and palm sander. I source most of my parts through Amazon. What I can't find, I make.
I've always loved the '60s and early-'70s imports and this series is my take on the various makers. The surf vibe of this guitar is because that's what those guitars were primarily used for. I decided on a set of three guitars like this, in primary colors. First is red, then blue, and finally yellow. The yellow guitar is still in R & D.
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Warm Audio, the leading manufacturer of faithful recreations of legendary recording gear and guitar pedals, today announces the release of two new pedals. Introducing the WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato, a faithful recreation of the most celebrated chorus in guitar pedal history with a 100% analog preamp and additional no-compromise features for exploring legendary modulated tones. Additionally, Warm Audio is releasing the Pedal76, an all-analog, transformer-balanced FET compressor pedal that accurately reproduces one of the fastest and most powerful studio compressors of all time known for ultra-responsive dynamic control with rich analog tone. The WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato (MSRP $189 | 219 € inc.VAT | £189 inc. VAT) and Pedal76 (MSRP $269 | 299 € inc. VAT | £259 inc. VAT) are available at launch at authorized retailers worldwide.
“This launch is exciting and unique for us. We’ve applied the Warm Formula to deliver the OG ofbold chorus sounds and we’re thrilled to authentically bring that tone back to pedalboards. Additionally, we’re leveraging our 10-year expertise in 76-style studio compression to create a compressor pedal that not only delivers premium studio performance but is loaded with additional features & controls to make it a heavy-hitter in its own right,” said Bryce Young, founder & president of Warm Audio. “The WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato not only brings back that iconic, lush chorus sound and rich, three-dimensional vibrato, but the high-quality preamp inside delivers pure, all-analog tone that just can’t be replicated by digital emulations.”
Young continues, “With Pedal76, we’re excited to bring the high-quality circuit and premium components of our WA76 studio compressor to pedalboards for controlling dynamics on stage without squashing character. With the added features and stage-friendly circuit, we’ve ensured that Pedal76 plays nice with both your rig and a live sound mixing board, while providing additional boost as needed. We’ve intentionally designed Pedal76 to be the ultimate all-analog compressor pedal for guitarists and bass players.”
WA-C1 Chorus Vibrato
The WA-C1 is built upon a true-to-original circuit design and a premium, 100% analog preamp that lives up to the demand for ultra-responsiveness on stage. Matched to the renowned original, the all-analog preamp features level control that adds bite, depth, and even some natural compression to guitar tones, even in bypass mode. The chorus setting features separate depth and rate controls to expand beyond the limitations of vintage units while preserving the legendary tone. These separate controls (vs. the vintage “intensity” control) allow for adjusting depth and rate independently to dial in more depth and slower rates for even richer chorus tones. Just like the vintage units, the WA-C1 delivers lush midrange depth and detail associated with proper Bucket Brigade Device analog chorus pedals and has a stereo output. When it’s time to add true wobble, the vibrato section of the WA-C1 is authentic to the original pedal delivering added speed and bounce to the tone. Leveraging a modern BBD chip recreation with other premium components and boutique build quality, the WA-C1 is carefully clocked to match the depth and rate of the original pedal to reproduce the detail expected from the most sought-after vintage pieces.
While maintaining true-to-original tones, the WA-C1 delivers some modern upgrades to the experience. The WA-C1 features a selectable impedance on the back panel to select between the vintage input impedance of 50k ohm and a 1.1M Hi-Z setting that allows players to compensate for higher impedance of guitars vs. keyboards and to add clarity to the high-end on guitars, if desired. This switch also works in bypass mode to maintain clarity. To deliver the appropriate voltage associated with the original, the WA-C1 is supported internally with a dualDC-DC voltage converter to deliver robust power when using a standard external 9V power supply. The WA-C1 adds a flashing LED for effect monitoring, showing which setting is engaged along with the rate of the modulation.
Introducing WA-C1 | Stereo Chorus & Vibrato Pedal With Depth & Rate Controls - YouTube
Pedal76
For over 10 years, Warm Audio has been building a premium, award-winning 76-style studio compressor, the WA76. With expertise in building this circuit and knowing what drives the sought-after tone of the most coveted dynamic control, Warm Audio now delivers truly professional, full-feature compression for the pedalboard. Pedal76 features a custom CineMagtransformer that is spec’d to duplicate the performance and tone of the studio units in a pedalboard-friendly format. Premium capacitors, resistors, and transistors round out a circuit that cuts no corners in delivering an authentic studio experience on stage. The added harmonic depth from the FET circuit and rich tone preservation from the custom transformer blend perfectly to recreate the ultimate compressor for guitar and bass players. Pedal76 features Attack & Release, Ratio, and Input controls, critical for taming unwanted changes in volume on stage. Pedal76 also has added features optimized for live performances including an external switch for true and buffered bypass operation, ensuring the compressor plays nice in your rig. Switches for input sensitivity, ground/lift, pad engagement and high/low gain modes (both for DI operation) provide added utility at gigs or in the studio. The separate balanced (DI) out also sends proper signal to the mixer or live recording rig, with the high gain mode adding grit and rich transformer tone.
For more information, please visit warmaudio.com.