Hofner Icon Series Vintage Violin Bass, Transparent Black Review

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(More customer reviews)To qualify this, I have only been playing the bass for a few months at the time I'm writing this review...
I fell in like with the look of the Hofner Icon at the local Guitar Center and bought it. After a month of practice, lessons, and research, I happened upon a Hofner 500/1 vintage '63 reissue violin bass (hand made in Germany) at a hole-in-the wall music shop in downtown Chicago and fell in LOVE with it and it's amazing flatwound strings! I dropped nearly $2,000 and brought this beautiful instrument (such high quality that it should qualify as a piece of furniture) and returned my Icon with no regrets.
I may actually purchase another Icon soon and throw some flatwound strings (Hofners from North Coast Music) and use it for my travel bass when on vacation.
Here's what you need to know about the available Hofner basses:
ICON ($400ish)
-Made in China with Chinese electronics that can be quirky
-Fit and finish is adequate for the price point
-Regular roundwound strings with some fret buzz depending on setup
-Hollow body
-A pain in the butt getting a case sometimes! Go EBay or Amazon!
-Available in lefty (often with a case oddly)
CONTEMPORARY ($700ish)
-Made in China with German electronics
-Fit and finish adequate...slightly better than the Icon
-Has regular roundwound strings
-Hollow body BUT has a sound block inside giving it more sustain and a more modern, hence "contemporary" bass sound
-Has a neck bridge so you can slap on a McCartney-style Hofner strap!
-Available in lefty I believe?
-No case
GERMAN-MADE HOFNERS ($2,000 +)
-Hand-made in the Fatherland
-Fit and finish are amazing! Beautiful wood, stain, finish, feel
-Hofner (Pyramid) flatwound strings that give the most mellow "thump" and feel like butter!
-Comes with either a German vintage bullet case or flight case
-Available in lefty of course!

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With authentic details inspired by the original, the Hofner Icon Series Vintage Bass makes the legendary violin bass available to the rest of us. Don't get the idea that this a just a "nowhere man" look-alike. This quality instrument features a real spruce top and beautiful flamed maple back and sides. The semi-hollow body and set neck will give you the warm, round tone you expect from the violin bass. Rosewood fretboard, sunburst finish.The Icon Series Vintage Bass is featured in the video game Guitar Hero II for PlayStation 2.

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Vox Amplug Cabinet Review

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(More customer reviews)I love the sound this thing gives - I use my metal amplug and it sounds great at a very low volume. My knock with it is the wire that runs from the unit and plugs into the amplug wasn't soldered well at all. Any bump and the amp will cut out - and you have ti wiggle it to get it to come back, sometimes you really have to jerk the wire around to get the sound back. The other issue is that there's no access to this wire on the inside to fix it yourself unless you gut the insides. Parts are glued in front of where the connections are so you can't get to them to resolder unless you basically break the unit.
Bottom line - great sound - crappy build - even at this price they could have done a better job soldering that wire. I can't decide if I should risk buying another one to see if they are all like that or maybe just break this one down and fix it and not worry about what it looks like after I do that.

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The amPlug Cabinet transforms any of the Vox amPlug headphone amps into a tabletop mini-stack amp! The amPlug Cabinet features a dedicated monitor speaker that makes playing guitar even more fun. Vox amPlug Cabinet Features 3 inch Vox speaker 0.7 watts of power Retro Vox design The amPlug series of guitar headphone amplifiers offer a great way to enjoy serious guitar/bass amp sound whenever and wherever you practice. Each amPlug offers an amazing level of sound quality; far beyond what one might expect from a unit of this size. Combined with play-anywhere convenience and solid good looks, the amPlug series have quickly become best-sellers, and continue to attract legions of users. It goes without saying that because the amPlug is a headphone amp, you can hear the sound only through headphones. Using the amPlug Cabinet, you can quickly convert any amPlug into tabletop mini-stack. Connection is easy; just insert the amPlug unit into the amPlug Cabinet, and plug the dedicated cable from the amPlug cabinet into the amPlug. The amPlug Cabinet creates an imposing miniature amp stack that is both attractive, and enjoyably incongruous. The amPlug Cabinet is compatible with all amPlug models, so you can use a variety of amPlugs with a single amPlug Cabinet. AmericanMusical.com is an authorized dealer of VOX products.

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Line 6 Echo Park Review

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(More customer reviews)The echo park is a joy to use, the settings are very accessible and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this pedal out. It is on the heavy side though, feels like a brick in my hands. No noise issues experienced so far with a regular daisy-chain power adaptor.

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Echo Park is based on Line 6's award-winning DL4 Delay Modeler. Echo Park is loaded with unbelievable sounding models including analog, tape, and digital delay, all easily adjusted with the Tap Tempo feature.Different delay patterns such as slap, ping pong, swell, and sweep can be adjusted with the twist of a knob, and the Mod dial can be tweaked for even more variations.Echo Park also features stereo ins and outs.

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Hofner Icon Series Beatle Bass; Sunburst Review

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(More customer reviews)Out of my 4 other basses, this is my favorite performance bass. It looks good on stage and sound unbelievable through an amp.
When I want to practice it's good to use if I don't have an amp since it's a hollow body. The minor down side is that it feels cheap and fragile, but it doesn't really bother me.
All in all, I love this bass!

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Hofner Icon Violin bass. Sunburst Finish. Based on original Hofner 500/1-With case.Value priced!

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Boss MT-2 Metal Zone Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had my Boss Metal Zone for about 15 years and have never had any issues with it. It's an incredibly versatile distortion pedal (whether you're playing Thrash-metal or Brit-pop). I've used other (cheaper) fuzz-boxes etc, but I always come back to the Boss. Well worth the money.

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Equipped with a dual gain circuit, the MT-2 provides super-long sustain and heavy mids and lows like a stack of overdriven amps. With 3-band EQ, a wide range of distortion textures is at your command.

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Vox amPlug Classic Rock Guitar Headphone Amp Review

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(More customer reviews)Easily the best headphone amplifier I've tried! In the past these things were either full of hiss, smothered in echo, or were little more than glorified fuzz boxes with an Walkman-style headset. (That was definitely the case with Vox's discontinued AC1). The Amplug is different. It plugs right into your guitar's output jack, and has distinct tone, gain, and volume controls. No, this doesn't sound like a 100 Watt Vox head shrunk into a palmsize toy. It DOES sound amazingly like a much larger and more expensive amplifier, with very pleasing and tube-like distortion at higher volumes. It's the "classic rock" model, meaning that it's optimized for the chunky tube-distorted sound of the mid 1970s.
I like the Amplug a lot.
If you're into lead or rhythm guitar in the styles of Free, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, or the Who, you're going to enjoy this as a very valuable and inexpensive practice tool. The sound quality is good enough to use the Amplug as an amp simulator if you want to record your guitar directly to your computer. I think many people would be fooled into thinking you really had a large tube amp if they heard the recording. It's an amazing simulation, and I prefer the tube emulation in it to some digital effects units I've tried. I actually like the fact that it doesn't have built-in reverb as I'd rather use my own reverb when recording than be forced to settle with the built-in type.
Drawbacks? The clean sound is anemic. (This is not the headphone amp to use if you're planning on comping jazz chords with a heavy right hand. I have tried my mandolin with the clean setting and the results were somewhat better due to the double coursed strings.) Also, the Amplug really does require fresh batteries - the sound as the batteries weaken becomes more and more abrasive. As the batteries die, the sound gets progressively irritating. The plug isn't angled, so you're going to have a hard time using this with a Strat-like guitar. (I use a Gibson SG and I don't have this problem). The construction is very lightweight plastic that does not inspire my confidence. For a few dollars more, the Amplug could have a metal chassis that would be very durable. None of these things deter me, because I don't expect miracles from a Japanese-made plastic amp. This is in no way a surrogate for a real amp, such as Vox's own DA5, and is very much a single-trick device - but it does its single trick very well.
I bought the Vox Classic Rock amPlug on a whim in a music store. I'm glad I did! It's helped to excite me once more about playing and practicing daily. The price is definitely right, and the distortion sounds are superb. Buy this with the understanding that no amp can do all things and you'll have a great time with it.

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The Vox Amplug AC30 is a headphone guitar amp that lets you enjoy serious guitar sound, fast.Jamming late at night? Don\'t want to wake the neighbors? Maybe you want to work out a lick with your MP3 player without taking the time to set up your amp. You want to play guitar right now. amPlug is the answer. Simply plug this palm-sized headphone guitar amp directly into your guitar, and enjoy serious guitar sound anywhere, anytime.It\'s even available in three different sound styles: VOX AC30, Classic Rock, based on a UK-made amplifier head, and Metal, based on a California-made high-gain amplifier head. Even with its ultra-compact size, amPlug perfectly reproduces the complex and warm distortion that is distinctive of a vacuum tube, as well as the powerful high gain produced by a large amp stack. Using all new analog modeling technology, amPlug delivers full-fledged amp sound.Plugs directly into your guitar—a great-sounding headphone guitar amp that gives you serious sound fast.With its completely analog design, great care was also taken with amPlug's gain circuitry. The AC30 uses two natural-sounding gain stages to reproduce the distinctive AC30 tone. Classic Rock uses four classical gain circuits to deliver that great sound. Metal uses two stages of ultra-high gain plus a mid-cut circuit, giving you modern metal high-gain sound anywhere and anytime. Even the circuit response of the original amp is simulated completely. The simulation extends not only to the response of the tone circuits, but also to the way in which the high frequency and gain are affected when you turn down the volume control of the guitar. Every detail has been faithfully reproduced.With up to fifteen hours of battery life, it's easy to take amPlug anywhere. In addition to practicing at home, it's a great way to warm up before a live performance or on the road. There's also an AUX input jack so you can jam along with your CD/MP3 player.

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Eric Johnson: Total Electric Guitar Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're reading this review and have checked out the DVD details you no doubtedly know who Eric Johnson is and know that he is simply the most amazing guitarist living or dead.
Good news and bad news about this instructional video. Good news: this is the entire VHS copy (with an awesome transfer of video and audio) plus they broke out the lessons in normal and 1/2 speed which you can set (with the DVD menus) to repeat over and over until you figure it out and play it smoothly. Eric also does a great job explaining in detail what he wants to teach you while showing it.
Bad news: after attempting to play what Eric Johnson plays so effortlessly you may soon realize that you're not as good as you once thought you were! May make you want to quit and take up something like origami. Or, this DVD could make you want to practice twice as much and pick up the signature Eric Johnson Strat and try to achieve his clean, pure tone and playing style.
This DVD will show you his playing styles, how he gets his tone, lots of lessons on many styles of playing, we get to watch and listen to a couple of complete original songs (not found anywhere else), and watch Eric show lots of techniques he used on Ah Via Musicom (which hadn't been released when the tape was made) and Tones.
Eric is simply friggin' amazing and for the first time, you get to sit with him and have him explain the stuff that makes him unique. I highly suggest it to people who want to improve at playing guitar (all styles) as well as Eric Johnson fans who just appreciate his ability and want to see him in a private setting with just him solo with he strat.
Every time I see Eric Johnson play, I realize how much I have yet to learn. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes out with an instructional piano video as well after seeing his live acoustic tour a couple years ago.
Thanks Eric... you are amazing. And this video shows that.

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Here is a unique opportunity to study with one of the great electric guitarists. Eric Johnson gives a master class in advanced picking techniques for speed and accuracy, left- and right-hand muting, blues bends, pedal steel-style bends, and unique chord voicings. There is much more too, all adding up to a truly great 90-minute electric guitar lesson from the man of whom Steve Morse said, Eric Johnson is so good it's ridiculous! Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

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