Yeah, they aren't cheap pedals. The one I bought was already discounted to $275ish, and I offered $250 and was accepted.

There are a handful of pedals that appear to have similar circuitry. Has anyone tried any of these? How do they compare to the Kaluna?

Kingsley Constable
Origin Effects RevivalDRIVE
Ethos Overdrive
Friedman BE-OD Deluxe
Wampler Plexi-Drive
Bogner LaGrange

Question for the group. I have a Yamaha Pacifica 112V that I bought when I was getting back into playing guitar that I'm ready to move on from. I put it on craigslist and a guy wants to trade me an Orange Crush 35RT amp.

Would you make that trade straight up?

He might come out a few bucks ahead. Do you really want the Orange Crush amp? If so, then go for it.

I don't particularly want the amp, but i've been trying to offload this guitar for a few months now and not getting any bites. The amp is essentially new (still has the tag on it) and I'm wondering if it might be easier to sell than the guitar has been.

My experience selling an amp was I got almost no bites that were reasonable. Ultimately ended up trading it and another guitar for a different guitar.

My end goal is to get cash, so I may just sell the guitar at GC or a Music Go Round or something. It's not a high dollar instrument, so not that big of a deal to me. I guess I could call up MGR and see if the guitar or amp is more valuable to them.

I don't have any experience with those other ones. I actually didn't do a ton of research before buying mine. I just saw it in a few videos and loved the sound, so I bought it used on Reverb.

I do have a Kingsley Page TS pre amp pedal that also love, but it has a more transparent overdrive sound where the Kaluna seems to be mostly transparent, but definitely has a noticeable Plexi/JCM800 tone.

As for the others? I can't see anyone going wrong with Friedman products. They've earned their reputation. I'm sure the others are also good. I would have to research. Unfortunately, it's always a crapshoot unless you can take it home and put it through the paces. I just happened to love exactly how the Kaluna works in my signal chain with my single coil guitars and my Imperial MKII.

The key point you want to look at are which preamp tubes they're using and if they are running them at high voltage, which I believe is the reason I get the clarity I do at lower volumes. Also, note that my opinion on "low volume" is still around 90 dB'ish.

Beato has to be pinching himself getting to interview these greats.

Chipotlemonger said:

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dave99ag said:

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Beato has to be pinching himself getting to interview these greats.

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These kinds of interviews he has been doing are truly one-of-a-kind. So much of what we generally see from these musicians is always bland, and not as musically-focused.

Beato is an amazing interviewer and has built up a ton of respect and trust within the industry. The people he interviews lean towards "letting their guard down" a bit more than you ever see from anywhere else.

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He even convinced Yngwie Malmsteen to do one. Got him to open up a lot & be more down-to-earth than his standard "rockstar" persona. He talked about using balanced tension strings (normally G is tighter than B, A is tighter than low E, etc.). I've switched to D'Addario XL 09-40 balanced tensions and it really does help with speed & vibrato.

Chipotlemonger said:

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dave99ag said:

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Beato has to be pinching himself getting to interview these greats.

---

These kinds of interviews he has been doing are truly one-of-a-kind. So much of what we generally see from these musicians is always bland, and not as musically-focused.

Beato is an amazing interviewer and has built up a ton of respect and trust within the industry. The people he interviews lean towards "letting their guard down" a bit more than you ever see from anywhere else.

---

Satriani and Vai came to his place and had a great interview and thanked him for what he does for music and praised him for his basement studio space and said that the room smelled great because it smells like guitars and amps and they want a cologne made out of that smell.

Well I know what I'll be watching this weekend.

Never heard of Beato.

Rick complimented Gilmour as a vocalist a few years back in another video. Someone probably showed that to Gilmour and it put Rick on his good list.

I love Gilmour and Beato - I started watching that video and then work interrupted. Planning on finishing it tomorrow before we leave for the game.

Stupid Deal of the Day

I didn't know Epiphone made a Les Paul at this low a price point, even before the deal today.

How bad do you think it is?

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/epiphone-les-paul-special-i-limited-edition-electric-guitar/h71861000001000

I think this review probably sums it up…..

"This is a great little guitar for the money! It just FEELS good to play. The neck has a realy nice feel to it. The pick ups aren't the best, but better than some other entry level guitars. The tuners aren't great, as you'll need to re-tune every time you pick it up. The lack of adjustable saddles makes it nearly impossible to get the intonation right for every string, but you can come close. I like the satin finish, but others may not. All and all don't even attempt to compare this to a $300+ guitar. It won't stack up. But if you are looking for a beginner guitar, or just a cheap guitar you can pound on and not care this would be a great option. For someone new to playing guitar, consider this: You'll need to tune it every time you pick it up. But as a beginner, you need to learn how to tune the guitar. The pick ups aren't amazing. As a beginner you won't know the difference. You won't be able to set the intonation properly. As a beginner, you don't know what intonation is and won't be playing on the upper register. Basswood is not mahogany, let alone mahogany with a maple cap. The tone is not as good, nor is the sustain. But as a beginner, could you tell? The important thing is that as a beginner, this guitar feels good and will encourage you to play. There is a little fret buzz, but it doesn't come through the amp, so it's not really noticable. The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is that the body is thinner than a regular Les Paul, so the guitar doesn't really fit properly in the fitted case. Two folded old T-Shirts should "shim" it up just fine! For the price, for someone just learning guitar, or just a kick around guitar, I reccomend you consider this as an option."

Good find.

FWIW, about 2 years ago I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Studio and a friend did a setup on it for me. I was just getting back into playing after putting guitars down for the past 20 years. It was decent for a year or so, but once I started getting some of my chops back, I felt the need for a "real" LP. Bought a Gibson LP Studio back in January. The difference in playability, tone (pickups), and sustain is big. Like the post 2 up, I think it'd be good for a beginner to see if they take to it.

Need strings? These are on sale pretty cheap.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/ghs-x-light-electric-guitar-boomers-12-pack-box/l99303000001000

So I tried taking my PRS Hollowbody to my gig Thursday. I plug straight into my PA with my acoustics no issue. Using the Hollowbody Piezo bridge it was noticeably quieter in the speakers. Ultimately I just ended up using the other Acoustic Electric I brought with me. Do I need to invest in a DI box to handle the volume issue going into the PA?

Sweetwater has a good contest going right now. I would not be opposed to winning this package!

This is the first time I've seen this X-Vive wireless pedal. Kinda interesting but is it necessary?

I use some X-Vive gear to practice so I don't have to deal with cables. It's pretty handy.

The gold Silver Sky SE (oxymoron?) isn't the color I would choose, but the price is right!

https://www.sweetwater.com/giveaway/

That's awesome! Where was this held?

The story about being dragged to the golf course every day is excellent.

Looking for a way to generate Nashville numbering style chord charts along with lyrics. I figured AI could help do this much faster than the old manual method. I don't even mind paying if the service works well.

I'd like to be able to download them into a format where I can store them in a folder on my cloud drive.
Any suggestions?