Halfway through the month, but the prizes keep coming! Enter Stompboxtober Day 14 for your chance to win a P-Split Stereo from Lehle!
Lehle P-Split Iii Signal Splitter
- Stereo split, summing, double DI box and problem solver
- Hum-free and lossless splitting and isolating
- Two high-impedance LEHLE TRANSFORMER HZ
- Phase and ground switch per channel
- Suitable for unbalanced or balanced signals
- Passive – doesn’t need power
The LEHLE P-SPLIT STEREO combines passive intelligent splitting with the highest possible signal fidelity in a double pack.
The classic solution for splitting, eliminating hum, balancing and reamplification in recording applications, now appears in a doubled version and this time adds the passive summing of signals.
Two LEHLE TRANSFORMER HZ are working at the heart of the LEHLE P-SPLIT STEREO, galvanically isolating the particular ISO outputs from each other, eliminating any possibility of ground loops and hum.
Pedals, pedals, and more pedals! Enter Stompboxtober Day 13 for your shot at today’s pedal from Electro-Harmonix!
Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter Distortion Pedal
With its take on the cult-classic, chainsaw distortion pedal, the EHX Hell Melter takes distortion to its extremes. The Hell Melter features expanded controls and tonal capabilities, allowing the already in-your-face sound of the pedal to broaden by switching to more open clipping options and boosting the internal voltage for increased headroom, less compression, and more attack.
Originally designed as the ultimate in high-gain tone, this world-famous distortion circuit is known for the death metal sounds of Sweden’s Entombed and the shoegaze wash of My Bloody Valentine. It’s even found a home in the rig of David Gilmour!
The EHX Hell Melter’s expanded control set includes Gain and Level controls, and a powerful active EQ featuring with parametric mids for improved versatility. The Dry level control allows for blending your input signal for improved low-end when used with a bass or even blending in other distorted tones.
Boost Footswitch engages an input gain boost and volume boost which is internally adjustable. The Normal/Burn switch toggles between the classic chainsaw sound and the more open clipping option.
The new evolution of the Spark combines surprisingly great sounds, an intuitive app, and a rock-bottom price to transcend mere practice amp status.
Surprising high-quality sounds. Easy-to-use app interface. Amazing value.
App sometimes makes it tricky to multitask on your smartphone.
$299
Positive Grid Spark 2
positivegrid.com
Since debuting in 2019, Positive Grid’s Spark amps are among the best-selling practice amps on the market. But calling the Spark a practice amp sells it short. It can also function as a USB audio interface, and the free Spark app opens up a vast world of modeled amps, effects, and practice tools that’s extra impressive when you consider the sub-$300 price.
Horsepower for Less
The Spark 2 offers 33 amp models and 43 effects. You can use three pre-amp effects and three post-amp effects for each preset. These sounds are powered by a new DSP amp-modeling processor that's twice as powerful as its predecessor and Positive Grid’s Sonic IQ audio chip. The original Spark delivered 40 watts, but the Spark 2 ups the output to 50 watts. It uses angled full FRFR (full range flat response) speakers, which most modeling aficionados prefer as a clean, neutral slate for varied sounds and models.
With the 11 knobs on the top panel, Spark 2 is easy to use in the same ways you would use a traditional amp. However, tapping into the Spark app changes the experience significantly and is a must if you want to extract the most utility from the unit. Convenience is king, after all, and the app makes selecting and creating tones and accessing all the practice tools exceptionally easy.
Light a Fire From Your Phone
On the app, preset tones are grouped by genre, with names like “British accent” in the rock category and “dancing in the room” in the pop section, to name a couple. When you choose a tone, a complete amp and effects chain shows up on your smartphone, and you can adjust all of the parameters you see on screen or via the physical knobs on the Spark 2. You can also save as many as eight of your own presets, rather than four on the previous model.
Most presets are pretty accurate representations. I especially liked the “Blues Ark” preset (from the blues tones category), which, after the addition of a touch more gain, sounded really creamy and clear. Bass tones were rich and even had much of the dynamic touch of a real amp, cleaning up nicely and opening up room for fingerpicking detail when I attenuated the guitar volume. Presets are just the beginning, though. For more tone options you can click the ToneCloud icon in the top right corner of the onscreen signal chain and access over 50,000 ToneCloud-community-generated tones that are available to download for free. Additionally, the new Spark AI feature lets you type prompts in the app, which generates sound recipe suggestions based your input. That should keep you busy for a while!
A Powerful Practice Partner
The music icon of the app opens up the page where the majority of the practice materials live. There are several play-along sections here, with playlists of YouTube links categorized into specific sections, like “Paul Gilbert’s Positive Grid Playlist” or “Dorian Backing Tracks,” and genre-based options like rock, blues, pop, and lo-fi hip-hop, among many others.
When you play a music video on the app, chord diagrams from the song are generated by the app and scroll by in real time. This came in handy when I was teaching a student some Taylor Swift songs, and we could readily play along without having to look up the song’s chord chart.
Another fun feature is the Smart Jam technology, which enables you to play whatever you want and the Spark 2 creates a rhythm track based on what you’ve played. I put the Smart Jam to the test in several different styles. First, I played a simple G–D–C–D progression strummed in a pop style, and the Smart Jam gave me an appropriate rhythm track for accompaniment. I later created a new track where I played two measures of A-minor pentatonic licks followed by two measures of C-minor pentatonic licks, and the Smart Jam presented a matching track with A minor and C minor roots, respectively, in the bass part. When I tried more esoteric chords and harmonically ambiguous lines, the results could be a little more “interesting,” but sometimes they pushed me in compositional directions I hadn’t foreseen.
Killer Looper
Of all the new features Positive Grid has added to the Spark 2, one of the most practical is the excellent onboard looper. There are two looper modes on the Spark 2: simple looper, which just plays back what you record, as a conventional looper does, and groove looper, which lets you add in a drum beat from Spark 2’s massive library of in-app drum loops.
Generally loopers are footswitch based, which can be tricky to use in terms of accurately timing the loop’s beginning and end. The Spark 2 offers an almost foolproof solution to this problem. Rather than stepping on a pedal to engage and disengage the loop, you first choose the tempo, loop length (up to 16 bars), and time feel, and then the Spark 2 gives you a count-in and metronome to record against.
The Verdict
Although it’s marketed as a practice amp, the Spark 2 could easily work in performance. It’s loud enough to handle gigs at smaller café venues without additional sound reinforcement. At about 12 pounds, it’s very portable, and if you’re playing bigger stages, the stereo line outs in the back could be used to send your signal to the house PA. If you want to play in the wilds, an optional rechargeable lithium-ion battery gives you around 12 hours of playing time at 50 percent volume, making it ideal for busking.
Inevitably, many people will probably use the Spark 2 as a practice tool, and in that regard, it’s very hard to beat. The sounds are inspiring and everything on the Spark 2’s app is very intuitively laid out so you can get going in seconds. I used the Spark 2 a lot since it arrived and, quite honestly, think my playing has noticeably improved in that time.
Positive Grid Spark 2 50-watt 2 x 4-inch Combo Amp - Black
Spark 2 Combo Amp, BlkThe multi-instrumentalist bandleader and ex-Metallica bassist talks the strain of professional touring, creative fulfillment, maintaining artistic balance, and cellphone screens.
Jason Newsted spent 15 years holding down the low end in Metallica, playing bass for the band from 1986 through 2001. That era included records like …And Justice For All and Metallica—AKA The Black Album—plus the iconic S&M live album with the San Francisco Symphony.
But that was just the beginning for Newsted, an artistic polymath who has since pursued a life of balance and creative freedom. On this episode of Wong Notes, he opens up to Cory Wong about why he left Metallica, and details the “Olympian” physicality and discipline that hard international touring requires. Newsted needed a break; the band wanted to keep going. “You gotta sometimes give it a minute,” he says.
Newsted shares his thoughts on Dave Mustaine and his predecessor Cliff Burton, and goes deep on the issue of cellphone usage at concerts. (Spoiler alert: He doesn’t like it very much, and he’s got good reasons for his disdain.) But Newsted isn’t just a performer. He talks about his painting and the way that practice differs from music-making, plus his private artistic journeys with theremin, mandolin, and sequencers and loopers—rabbit holes he might not have gone down if he stayed in Metallica. “I don’t say no to any medium,” he says.
Maybe leaving Metallica created the need to explore. “I did not get to fulfill that journey,” he says, “so I’m making up for it.”
Wong Notes is presented by DistroKid.
Use this link for 30% off your first year.
This compact multi-effects unit provides four simultaneous effects with a user-friendly experience inspired by traditional guitar pedals.
The effects are based on the award-winning Axe-Fx III, and include hundreds of classic stompbox and studio effect models, including drives, delays, reverbs, choruses, flangers, phasers, pitch, plex, EQs, compressors, wah, tremolo, and many more.
Key features include:
• Uncompromising Sound Quality: True to Fractal Audio's reputation, the VP4 delivers pristine sound quality, and is suitable for use on the world's finest stages and studios.
• Four Footswitches: Classic ON/OFF switching makes it easy and intuitive to use the VP4 like four traditional pedals. Meanwhile, the factory default “Gig Mode” switching system places Presets, Scenes, Effects, Channels, Tuner, and Tap Tempo right at your feet.
• 104 Presets: Each preset is like a complete pedalboard with your choice of four effects. This flexibility allows a single VP4 to replace an entire collection of other effects. Additionally, each preset has its own Noise Gate, Master EQ/levels, and more.
• Expression Pedal Compatibility: Connect up to two expression pedals or switches for real-time control of effect settings. The Fractal Audio EV-1 and EV-2 are perfect choices!
• Accurate Tuner: The VP4 includes a dedicated large display tuner mode, plus a handy “mini-tuner” that’s always visible. It uses our latest pitch detector from the Axe-Fx III.
• Flexible, High-Quality Connectivity: Mono/stereo analog I/O, with unity gain an ultra-low noise floor, “4CM Mode” allows you to divide effects in front of your amp and in its loop. Plus: buffered analog bypass, SPDIF digital I/O, MIDI I/O, and USB audio/MIDI capabilities.
• Beyond the Basics: For those who want to go beyond a basic pedalboard, the VP4 supports Scenes, Channels, Modifiers, and more for a highly customizable experience.
• VP4-Edit: Customize your VP4 with VP4-Edit, a free companion software editor and librarian.
• Upgradeable Firmware: Like every Fractal Audio processor, the VP4 features upgradeable firmware, ensuring that you can enjoy free updates with new features and improvements.
The VP4 combines ease of use with exceptional performance, offering musicians a high-quality, versatile effects tool. Featuring a pristine signal path and rugged, road-ready design, the compact VP4 delivers world-class multi-FX processing to take your sound to the next level. The VP4 also works great with acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, and other instruments.
Retail Price: $699 Availability: October 15, 2024 Visit https://fractalaudio.com/vp4 for updates and to purchase, or contact your local Fractal Audio dealer for inquiries outside the USA/Canada.