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Truly Matchless

Big year this one, I finally managed to acquire a Matchless amplifier, something I’ve been wanting for a looooong time.

Being totally honest… I loved the way the look, that was the main reason I wanted them, something that looks that good has to be good too.

There are not that many artists that use matchless, but the main one I care for is Ricardo Mollo, guitarist from Divididos and probably the Argentinean Hendrix, the guy is an animal and a tone freak, very colourful playing, interesting rhythms and sounds.

A few weeks back as usual I started watching videos about it… then reviews, then more videos, then pictures… and then I found one in Reverb at a very decent price, so I pulled the trigger.

The seller brought it to my house that very same day, I was super excited, a few hours later… the amp arrives. Oh my god, what a feeling… I think level of excitement matched the one I had when I got the 71SG and the Jaydee.

 

I quickly took it to my studio


I first plugged in the telecaster… don’t ask me why… but I wanted to hear a single coil pickup

They look great together!

Man… as soon as I started playing I was in a sensory overload, the cleans… the depth of sound, it was like the first time you enter a house of mirrors… you just look everywhere and think “what the hell is going on”

Every chord just sounded perfect, every string had its own character, suddenly you can hear how the guitar was truly designed, I think this should be Matchless’ moto: “hear your guitar for the first time”

Let me dig deeper into this concept, I’m a Marshall Man, I have like 10 of them and I’ve always loved them way more than anything else, I’ve always thought that any other brand with a similar sound was just trying to imitate them, so… why bother trying them.. just get the real thing. But… you know when you are playing with the band.. or with just background music and your solos don’t cut through or you can’t really hear that high E string on the G chord? I know of course you can tweak your sound, etc. But I’m talking about a different level of “hearing everything”

Matchless provides cut through 360 degree sound, I don’t understand how they do it, my Matchless is a Lightning 15 Reverb, so it’s not top of their line but everything they do is top of the line…. everything is done to a level of detail that is out of this world.

 

Every single terminal is shielded

I’ve started testing tones and everything just sounded incredible, the Treble and Bass control (yes… no mids) interact with each other in a ver intuitive way… and they are extremely responsive, you can go from scooped mids, high bass, high mids, high treble, etc but just playing around with these two knobs.

I play in an AC/DC tribute band, and I tell you… this amp does better AC/DC tone than a Marshall, and my usual setup is either the JTM45 or the 1987x with a 1960AX cab… so.. also top end stuff, but again… Matchless is just incomparable.

They are crazy expensive, but I suggest you find a way of trying them out, it’s a before and after experience, I don’t think I’ll be purchasing another brand any time soon… at least until I get to buy their flagship model… DC 30.

So… to summarise… Matchless is just that… something that is impossible to Match, something that has been done with so much care and thought that it can’t be better… everything has a purpose nothing was left to chance or to economic reasons, everything is there for a reason.

Comparing these two, Matchless still wins even with Marshall using the Matchless speaker… which was really clear and sounded awesome.
Small-ish at 15 watts, but being Class A amp… sounds like a 30 Watt amp. It’s also very very heavy.
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Being in a successful band

Success is whatever makes you and the people that surround you happy.

Most of us want to play in a band, most of us started playing because the band was there first, some of us are no longer in that band and we have a room full of gear and we play by ourselves.

At least that was me, I’ve been playing for 20 years, I’ve been in numerous bands that never played live much but rehearsed a lot. All these bands had something in common… lack of direction.

I’m not talking about being a band leader and calling the shots, because to be honest… you need to be a renowned musician to behave like that and still have musicians following you. I’m talking about setting expectations and following them through.

At the moment I’m playing in an AC/DC tribute band that I formed with two good friends, and now that the band is fully formed… we are 5 good friends :). However there’s still a sense of “ownership” of the band, and again this doesn’t mean calling the shots (I’ll keep repeating this).

The band was my idea so I do have a responsibility of fulfilling what I pitched that night at the pub when my two good friends accepted to join the band. I knew what I wanted: to be out there enjoying the stage.

Maintaining a band together is no easy task, but trust me… it is a lot harder when there’s no reward, and what’s a musicians best reward? Tick tock tick tock… yeah.. you know it… it’s playing to an audience! Why would you spend 1 year rehearsing without at least having one gig.

Step 1: be ready sooner rather than later. How?

You need to book rehearsals, manage the diary, make sure everyone remembers there’s a rehearsal that day, if 1 person can’t make it… meet anyway… a rehearsal without one member can be just as productive and it will force the other member to do homework, because guess what… you are not slowing down!

Step 2: start talking about gigs

We all want to live in the 60s travelling in a volkswagen van and playing every night… but that’s not possible, if you are like me… in your late 30s, you probably have a job, mortgage, partner and maybe a kid, and if you don’t… someone in the band will.

You need to be realistic, and set achievable expectations, so maybe after 6 months of getting the band ready, try to set your self to get at least 3 gigs for the next 3 months.

Step 3: maintain the band spirit

Wait… so the next step is not getting gigs? Well… hold on. Getting gigs is freaking difficult and no one wants to do it, trust me… everyone has suggestions… But it is very hard to close a deal, so while you plan your “getting the gig” strategy, make sure to keep a motivated rehearsal plan, maybe now that you are ready… reduce the rehearsal schedule to once every two weeks, and bring beers to rehearsals, bring ideas, and keep the guys up to date with the plan

Step 4: get those gigs

Ah yes… this is the “secret sauce” how do I get gigs, facebook, email, go to the pubs, facebook groups, phone calls, be pushy but not desperate, offer a trial gig.

Alright let’s break that down: facebook and facebook groups. You got to setup a facebook page for your band, once all your relatives and friends are following you (they won’t go to your gigs) you need some real followers.

Get some studio shots, rehearsal audios, maybe a bit of video, all to attract attention and also to have content to share with the pub/bar you want to play at, but… don’t be too serious about it, remember which business you are in….”entertainment”

Get to the pubs: this actually doesn’t work that well unless you know the pub owner, I’ve shown up at places with CDs in my hand and talking about how great and cheap we are… and none of them materialised, but it was a crucial step for me… it made me realise how the pub dynamics work, any tip you can get from them it’s extremely valuable.

What worked for me was basically contacting venues/pubs through facebook messenger where it is very easy to be cheeky and share a video/picture with very little effort and of course your facebook page link

Step 5: prepare for those gigs

Ah yes… the good old 1-2-1 formation, or maybe 1-3? Or 1-1-2-1. It is critical that you don’t just show up to the venue unprepared about positioning yourself on stage. This is your chance to shine, it is your sunday match… you need to blow these people heads, so make sure you turn up with a plan and everyone knows what to do, act professional so the landlord sees that you know what you are doing. So make sure you rehearse stage presence… a lot!!

Step 5.1: design your gig, invest!

Let’s be honest, you are not impressing anyone with your guitar solos, or drum solos, and if there is a musician in the audience… he’ll be trying to pick on your mistakes. There are 3 things that the audience will remember.

How good you sounded overall (not just you… yeah you… you know what I mean), how good was the singer AND how much fun they had.

Let’s break these down again.

A) How good you sounded: of course… making less mistakes means that you’ll sound better, right? Well… yes but no. You need to learn how to recover from mistakes, everyone, EVERYONE screws up a few times per gig, most of them goes unnoticed… but… if some one does.. we need to cover up for him. Together we stand, divided we fall. If the singer misses the start of the chorus, if the drum started on the wrong beat, if the guitar player is going for a longer/shorter solo… you need to adjust the song.

Everyone needs to listen what each band member is doing and make sure you are constantly adjusting to make the band sound good. Not just yourself.

B) How good is the singer: Well… anyone can sing, right? Wrong! There is nothing more annoying than seeing a band with a bad singer, the singer is the most important member, the songs need to suit the singer and the singer needs to suit the songs, there will always be a song that you love and your solo is great on it… but if the singer is not feeling it.. then you are not playing it. The Singer is the face of your band, they present the band to the public and the public will judge the band based on his performance. So.. keep the singer happy and do the songs he likes and the one he sounds better at. Remember… the performance is not for you… it is for the audience.

C) How much fun they had: oh yeah, my favourite!! Don’t just stand there like lemons… move around, engage with the audience, buy props, lights, banners, be different, give the audience some gifts.

This has really made a difference for us. Lights, smoke machines, confetti cannon. The look on people’s faces when you fire that confetti cannon… it’s priceless, suddenly you’ve become the center of attention even for those that don’t like your music… who cares.. confetti! Let’s dance. Simple as that, if this was an equation… fun = confetti and confetti = fun.

Step 6: be consistent and step up your game everytime

Have something new every time you return to a venue, not necessarily songs… but props, lights. Be consistent on you performance quality and step up your game on how you engage and entertain your audience. For example… last time we returned to a venue… we filled up the place with balloons! And we don’t have roadies.. it was just us inflating balloons (over 100).

So that’s it…. basically… follow your heart and lead the way. Not everyone in the band will have the same passion for the songs, but everyone in the band is up for having fun, and that’s your responsibility.

Am I (the author of this post) credited to give advise on this? I think so… I’ve moved to a new country and managed to setup a band that ir is regularly gigging and does not need constant rehearsing, so the fun to homework ratio is very high.

Follow my band here: Meanstreak UK

Last but not least… none of this would’ve been possible without the encouragement of Chris, so… Chris if you are reading this… THANK YOU!

 

 

 

 

 

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The Fender Telecaster Elite

I’ve never been a Fender fan…. I love many players that play fender… but I never got used to the scale Fender uses compared to a Gibson, it always took me too long to get used to it when switching guitars.. but that’s mainly on a Stratocaster, also the middle pickup always gets in the way of picking.

However the Telecaster is a whole different beast, for someone like me who likes good old rock and hard rock, a Tele is not a very desirable guitar, but they are very sexy and let’s not forget that Jimmy Page uses one every now and then. I’m aware that Keith Richards also is a tele man but I’ve never been a fan of him, also SRV has been seen with a tele a few times.

Anyway… I had a tele many years ago but I sold it to buy my first SG. and I haven’t played a Telecaster until 2 years ago when I went to the Birmingham Guitar Show and I saw an Elite hanging on the Fender area…. it was calling at me…. gorgeous finish, shiny frets, body binding… it was really beautiful, but that was not it… I plugged it in and it played phenomenally well, the fret finish was impeccable and the neck felt like part of my hand.

I went out of that guitar show impressed with that Tele.. 2 years went by and I convinced the boss to let me  buy one :), I went with the budget to buy anything up to a Custom Shop, I drove 2 hours up to Birmingham because that’s where PMT had a gorgeous custom shop I wanted, I went in.. sat down and started playing it… it felt really bad.. sticky neck, the neck was also huge and not comfortable… so I asked for an Elite.. and all those feelings I had came back, it was like playing a guitar you’ve had for ages, everything felt right, so I went ahead and purchased it!

I still have it but I rarely use it.. mainly because the music I play needs a humbucker and not a single coil but everytime I feel like SRV blues style I pickup that Tele and have a great time, if you are in the market for a Tele… do yourself a favour and go try an Elite, it is by far the best Fender I’ve played and possibly the most comfortable guitar out there.

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Taming a big boy’s Marshall Amp

Marshall 8080
Marshall vs100
Marshall JCM 900 combo
Marshall JCM 900 head 5881 tube version
Marshall JCM 900 EL34 version
Marshall JTM 30
Marshall JCM 2000 TSL601
Marshall Class 5
Marshall 8040
Marshall VS102R
Marshall JMP 2200
Marshall JCM 800
Marshall ministack
Marshall 1987x
Marshall 5005 (lead 12 no reverb)
Marshall 5005 (bass)
Marshall JTM45
Marshall DSL15H
Marshall 2201

Those are all the Marshall amps (heads and combos) I’ve owned over the past 20 years, I’ve sold some of them and I must have around 8 or 9 at my home studio now, I’m only listing them so you have an idea of what my Amp Journey has been.

Once you enter the tube/valve world you don’t look back (sometimes you do :p) but this tube/valve world is complex, confusing, expensive, loud and heavy!!

Let’s talk about the Loud characteristic most of these amps posses, you can buy a 5 watt tube amp and it’ll still blow your pants off, there’s a number of reasons this happens, the speaker efficiency also plays a huge part of this, but let’s stick to the amp.

The guitar signal moves through the inside of the amp getting powered up and ready to come out of the speaker ready for you to enjoy, on this journey the signal acquires distortion, volume and EQ, now… valve amps have a “power section” which is where the famous power tubes come into play, this is where things get out of control on tube amps (mostly vintage jmp styles with no master volume) because this stage not only gets you the volume but it also gives you more distortion and a specific tone that you might be after.

Some Marshalls will have a Master Volume, and this controls the amount of voltage that gets routed to the power tubes, it also allows you to play with distortion at “bedroom levels”, but the most exciting Marshalls to play (plexi style) often don’t have a master volume…. what does this mean? Well… it means that you don’t have a gain control, so all the distortion comes from the volume, which means… you need a ridiculous amount of volume to get the distortion we all look for, this is THE distortion.. Page, Hendrix, AC/DC, etc. This is what we all want to hear from a Marshall.

So… why am I writing this? Because I’ve found ways to obtain this sound without going deaf, and believe me when I say…. these amps are loud! I wasn’t around in the 70s so I’m not sure how loud these bands would play in pubs, but it would’ve been deafening loud.

What you need is an attenuator, to attenuate the signal that the amp spits out before it hits the speakers, now… this is critical to remember. The Master Volume controls the voltage to the Power Tubes but the attenuator, lets the amplifier be and it attenuates the audio signal that goes to the speaker after it leaves the amp, so the amp tone is genuine… everything you want it to be. And why do we want this? Because power tubes are a component of the sound too so we need to let them be a part of the tone. The attenuator is a genius invention and gives us the ability to run these genuine marshall tones at bedroom levels

There are a lot of attenuator brands out there but I’m going to talk about the one I have but also give some pointers of what to look out for.

  • Don’t buy an L-pad attenuator. These can be found for like 30 bucks on ebay, they do work but they also catch fire quite easily if you overload them. Trust me.. I built one and once I tried to use it with a 100W amp and smoke started coming out even though it was for 100W. If you do use an L-pad attenuator get at least double the rating of the amp
  • Don’t buy attenuators that only work with one speaker load combination, THD hotplates, Palmer and some others offer attenuators at decent prices (£250) but they are designed for 4, 8 or 16 ohms, so you’ll need a new piece of equipment if you ever change your speaker combination.

I bought the Two Notes Reload, why? Because I found it at a good price and it has an ohm load selector along with other things, it’s a great piece of gear, it also has cab simulation and some other fancy stuff that I’ll never use.

 

 

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Guitar volume pots are important!

This next experience is related to a few gibson SGs and humbucker pickups.

Do you know what’s inside your guitar? It’s safe to say that we all know more than before… you can find anything on the internet about your guitar specs and whether they are good components or not.

Pots are often ignored, we look at wood, pickups, tuners and of course guitar brand, however pots are critical, think about them as the wheels of a car, you can have the best and biggest engine ever… but if your wheels are worn out or cheap quality then your car will just spin out of control.

CTS. I’m sure you’ve all heard of this brand, it’s probably on 90% of guitars out there, and they are the best of the best, however… they can be even better… there’s a company called RS Guitarworks that worked with CTS to develop a more authentic vintage taper and a more realistic value of the pots, humbuckers almost always are installed with 500k pots, however… they are not always 500k, they can be 450, 510, 460, etc. And even though the number is not really important… there’s a reason why they need to be 500k, and this is how the pickup was designed to work, with a 500k pot, because that’s just how it sounds like the developer wanted.

I was tired of having different tapers on the guitars I use live, the taper defines how steep the volume increase/decrease is when you turn the pot. This can be ok for your home guitars because they can all have a different character and you might actually like this, but for live performances you want to be able to switch guitars and at least for me… hoping for a similar performance when using the volume, I manage how much distortion the guitar gets by using the volume on it.

So I bought 4 RS Guitarworks superpots for my main SGs, after 2 hours of dealing with my not great soldering skills I was able to test the first guitar, I was blown away and I don’t say this lightly, I don’t often go around changing things in my guitars. The guitar sound just became more clear and more alive, the old pot probably with a below than 500k reading was holding the pickup down.

The volume taper was amazing, the sound of the pickup was amazing instantly, I was now able to get a crunchier sound by setting the volume to around 5 and then getting an angrier sound when I turned it up to 10.

By the way… I’m not associated with them in any way.

I play in an AC/DC tribute band called Meanstreak, and being able to use the volume on the guitar to control distortion is key and absolutely necessary, to cut a long story short… I can’t recommend them highly enough, they are a bit more expensive than regular CTS but they are totally worth it! Give your guitar a treat and get one of these to try out.

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Playing with tone

Don’t be a knob snob, that is my advice and second advice is… follow suggestions to prove them wrong or right.

I don’t have much patience when it comes to trying things out, usually I just try to plug in and play, I have little time to play during the week and I sort of think that I waste time when I find myself fiddling with gear for hours.

However I’ve decided to start locking some time in and try to record a few things (I also don’t like recording) just to see if I could come at peace with this tedious and boring task. To my surprise… I still found it tedious and boring… but… it helped me re-discover my amp controls and equalization, I know this sounds obvious and most of the amps have had those 3 basic eq controls since the beginning of time, but I’m sure that most of you keep everything in the middle… (noon).

We all know what they do… but we often play with treble or bass controls and leave the mids in the middle right? I learnt what the mids does when I started playing heavy metal… I had one of those valvestate marshalls that had the “contour” control which scoops the mids, scooping the mids means taking out mids, remember that U shaped eq on your dad’s hi-fi system? Well it’s the same thing.

What does this does to my tone? Well… it adds “tightness” it changes the way distortion sounds, it’s an awesome thing to play with, suddenly everything sort of sounds better, the problem is that if you scoop them too much your sound will not cut through the mix, but a little bit of it can get you to that sweet spot you’ve been waiting for.

Even though I knew about mids (of course… I’m not a rookie… right? :p) when I finished my recording tests I found that the guitar was too much in my face… like a gritty sound, I tried mic placement (another art) which it changed the sound but I still wasn’t happy, so I went to the Eq section and started moving things around until I remembered that U shape!!, so now even though I mainly play AC/DC I still scoop the mids a bit… if listen to “Shoot to Thrill” you’ll see that mids are heavily scooped.

Long story short…. spend time playing with the knobs, try recording and playing with the eq on the computer/ipad, you’ll be surprised how closer you’ll get to the sound you are after and then you can try yo mimic those settings in your amp. Remember that all the records or live concerts you hear have a myriad of experts sorting out every detail of the sound until it’s perfect. Remember that old story “guitar straight to amp”? Well… it is true… but remember there’s a team between the amp and the sound you finally hear.

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Marshall 1987x

We are in constant search for our sound… and I don’t think it’s a one way journey… it’s got many many curves, loops and we sometimes go back to places we’ve been, it’s definitely something that characterizes us musicians, there is always something we are missing, but I don’t want to come across as “hard to please” there are many many moments were you feel you have  the perfect rig, the perfect setup, the perfect tone, that moment during rehearsal or a gig were you just feel you are sounding exactly as you think you should.

But the journey must continue :p. what’s the thing that we bump into a lot of times in our journey? Amps… and which brand? Marshall…. there is just nothing like it.. I’ve tried many many brands and models in fact I went ahead and tried a Friedman… and a Victory… and you know what they all compare themselves to? a Marshall… and what is everyone trying to sound like? a Marshall… but don’t get me wrong… Marshall was at the right place at the right time, anyone could’ve done it… but Jim was there in his shop when Eric Clapton came in looking for an amp, and that is the sound my generation relates to, not Eric.. but Marshall.

But… which Marshall? would any of them do? YES! try them all please, some are crap.. some are awesome… some of them work for different stages in your guitar life.

Anyway…. yes.. as the title says this is about the 1987x a Marshall that looks as good as it sounds and as loud as your mom calling out for lunch while you were out playing with your friends.

I owed it to myself… a Marshall with no master volume, were the distortion would come from turning that bastard all the way up to 11 (actually.. anything above 3 or 4 just creates more distortion and not volume.. 7 is about right for AC/DC) I knew that this amp would only be useful in a rehearsal with a really loud drummer or in a gig…. (stadium gig) but I wanted it anyway, even if I didn’t have the right attenuator.

This amp sounds so good! it’s just so 70s in your face guitar distortion… not too distorted, not too clean.. just about where you want it. I bought mine used… as like everything I buy because it’s cheaper and it’s just as good as new or even better… it has been broken in already 🙂

This is probably the purchase that I did more research for…. I’ve tried as I stated above… Friedman, Victory, JTM 45 and Cornell Amps (British made), the 1987 is the one that I liked best…. the one that represented the tone I was after… the Cornell one was awesome.. that came in second.. but I always knew that I would’ve still wanted a Marshall after buying  a Cornell.

it’s got the basic controls but the difference here are the inputs.. it’s got 4 inputs… but.. what for!! well.. they are actually 2 + 2… two of them are high and 2 normal…. brighter vs less bright….  but you can combine them… I only use the high input, but you can connect a short cable between a input 1 and input 2 and then you can mix high and low so you have a bigger spectrum of sound.

I’m currently using it with a Torpedo Reload, it’s an attenuator with a lot more functions…. apparently it is also awesome for recording… but I haven’t tried that part yet.. I can say the attenuation bit works like a charm… you can control the volume with a normal knob…. and not with those stupid decibel steps like the Palmer or many others… it also has a multiple OHM selector… so it will work with 4,8 and 16ohms, easily changeable.

IMG_0533IMG_0532IMG_0536

If you are into Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Hendrix, Ac/Dc or  any thing that uses an electric guitar and has classic distortion… do not hesitate.. and try this amp.. it is Loud! you WILL need a good attenuator.. and they are not cheap so you need to budget at least half of what the amp costs for an attenuator.

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Gibson SG Classic Custom

I’ve chosen the SG as my type of guitar since I saw the VHS of the Ac/Dc Show at Donington on ’91, I was in love with the band and the SG, what a powerful beast! those devilish horns yet so sexy with those feminine curves.

I’ve been trying to purchase all of the models I’ve seen Angus using… but the one that was harder to find was the Custom SG he uses on the back in black tour… and that he still uses every now and then, the black and white SG… such an iconic instrument that I’m still struggling to understand why Gibson hasn’t released a Angus Young Signature of that specific model.

Anyway…. I’ve been after this guitar for quite sometime. I know that I could’ve  just purchased a 70’s custom with 3 pickups and make some mods… but… I wouldn’t feel too comfortable with that… I would’ve kept the 70s custom with 3 pickups and try to buy another one with 2 pickups :).

I finally stumbled upon the Guitars of the Week. something Gibson did back in the mid 00’s, I remember vividly these  models coming up… one of the most sought after is  the Diablo SG, but I didn’t remember the Guitar of the Week number 38… this is an almost exact replica of Angus’ black and white…. apart from the fact that it is not Black… it is Dark aged cherry or something like that.. but it really looks the part.

I went ahead and pulled the trigger, and man… is this a great guitar or what! I know it might not be the best investment I have… because no one really is after this specific model.. but who cares… this instrument is stunning in every way, I could make a few more adjustments to make it more similar to Angus’… but I choose not to… I even left the string gauge it came with it… ’10s even though I’ve been using 09’s for years… I fell  in love with the ’10s again.

I sort of believe in leaving guitars  as original as possible because that’s the way it was designed and intended to be played, every component and even the setup were carefully thought to work together

The guitar itself is a Standard SG built with Custom Shop parts, so for example you get:

Grover Tuners and an Ebony Fingerboard, the previous owner had replaced the bridge ’57 pickup with an Angus Young model, I’ve read mixed reviews about this pickup… and of course Angus does not really use it but I like it… it’s a hot bright pickup it’s pure raw hard rock.

I almost forgot to mention… who doesn’t love a split diamond on a Gibson :).

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Recording guitars at home

I’ve read so many forums about recording at home… there is loads of info out there.. but as always… I can’t find someone normal with a normal budget who is not a purist and is just trying to get some decent tone out of his gear.

I’ve decided to just buy a few mics and an cheap interface to get me started.

Interface: Alesis IO2

Mics: SM57, SM58 and SEX1R Ribbon.

The interface was recommended by my guitar teacher who said “I’ve used this for years and has never failed me” and he records a lot… so I just bought it without hesitation.

The microphones… well.. the SM57 is just a must have according to everyone out there… the SM58 is more for vocals and I just wanted one, but the unusual one here is the Ribbon mic. Don’t know about you but when I recorded in the past I always found the guitar to be too dry… too much “in your face” creating an unnatural Tone… I believe that sound should have enough space to develop itself before it reaches a “reverb” ish state.

The Ribbon mic does this.. it picks up signal in an 8 shape giving you loads of space for the sound to develop, and the SM57 gives you that “in your face” sharp guitar tone, the combination of those two gives you an awesome result, a very natural tone without any effort, I downloaded Audacity which is a free recording environment without too many tricks but it gets the job done and did I mention… it’s free!

The interface is as simple as it gets and it’s very sturdy, I also use it to listen to music from my computer, it’s got 2 inputs and a separate gain control for both, it’s got phantom power, stereo/mono and master volume, very simple.

“Recording” is a very “scary”/”tedious” process… every time we see that red light suddenly our fingers get nervous and they don’t want to play as they always do… very frustrating, however.. having the interface at home means you can get used to this feeling.. of being recorded.. you can also do as many takes as you want or just leave it recording for hours without spending money on a studio. the other very useful aspect of Audacity + Audio Interface is that you can play along recordings/songs with great quality through your headphones… getting the true tone of your microphones wherever you are sat in your room, it also allows you to experiment with mic placement.

Conclusion… buy stuff and try… there is just too much information out there and too many good salesmen trying to get you to buy the expensive stuff.. talk to normal people.. approach your teacher or someone at the rehearsal place and ask them what they use, you’ll be surprised by the results!

I love what I achieved with all the little gadgets.. I bought everything 2nd hand except for the ribbon mic.. spending  a total of USD $370 (interface + microphones + cables) which is very cheap compared to what a lot of people spend on this first approach.

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