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NUX Recto Distortion – Possibly better than Mesa Boogie

By Electric Guitar, Gear, Vinnie's Youtube World No Comments

NUX Recto Distortion

The buzz has been around the NUX Recto Distortion because of the incredible tone at a fraction of the cost of the original amplifier. Yes, we are talking about a dirt cheap pedal that sounds just as good, if not better than the full-size Mesa Boogie! Intrigued? Let’s find out more.

NUX Recto Distortion

NUX Recto Distortion – More than just a cheap pedal

That famous distortion tone

Allow me to share my knowledge with those who are unfamiliar with the world of heavy distortion. When we talk about rock guitar distortion, the brand Marshall quickly comes to mind. However, Marshall isn’t known for its ability to create the saturated distortion guitar tone.  The closest you can get is probably when Eddie Van Halen was using the Marshall Superlead, but even that is far from a saturated distortion guitar tone. Enter Mesa Boogie.

Mesa Boogie did not start off creating amplifiers with crazy distortion but I’m glad they did! The name Boogie came about when young Carlos Santana tested a Princeton amplifier that was modified by Randall Smith. After testing the amp, Carlos exclaimed that “the amp really boogies“.

Mesa Engineering then went on creating some of the world’s best amplifiers. Amongst the top of the list sits the Rectifier Series. Metallica, Blink 182, Korn, and Linkin Park were just the tip of the iceberg on the list of artists who uses the Rectifier series amplifiers.

As such, it is easy to understand why people are seeking to have that same great awesome tone in their rig. BUT here’s the catch. Mesa amplifiers are never on the cheap side. Imagine you are just looking for something that can get as close as possible to the legendary tone but not break your wallet. That’s when the NUX Recto Distortion comes into play.

Nux Pedals

Who is it for?

If you are already using a Mesa amplifier like my Mark V, this pedal is not for you. However, if you are looking to reduce the risk of bringing your Mesa amp outdoors but still looking for a tone close enough, this is the deal. This pedal, albeit being very cheap, isn’t targeted at beginners. It has such a complex-sounding tone that a seasoned guitarist will be able to appreciate. I A/B this pedal with my Mark V and I was certain that I have to keep this on my pedalboard! But before you go ranting, yes I agree my Mark V is no Rectifier but let’s agree that it’s a close match, shall we? 🙂

With that, this pedal is actually targetted at anyone who wants the Rectifier tone for whatever reasons! It’s also made cheap enough for you to just “splurge”.

Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM Mikro

Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM Mikro – Honest Review

By Electric Guitar, Gear, News 2 Comments

Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM Mikro

Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM Mikro

Terrifying PGM since 1989!

The Paul Gilbert Ibanez PGM Mikro is the latest addition to the collection and we notice that it has been selling like hot cakes! However, the Ibanez PGM (Paul Gilbert Model) has been terrifyingly awesome since 1989! Paul’s first signature model, PGM100, was made by Ibanez and has a purple body with pink painted f-holes. It features the popular Ibanez RG body with a floating bridge instead of a fixed bridge, like most of his later models. The fixed bridge came about as Paul started to develop his monstrous guitar techniques! I briefly remember from an interview that he doesn’t enjoy the feeling of the floating bridge on his right hand and prefers it flat. In any case, we fans sure enjoy the fixed bridge as much as he does.

Ibanez PGM 100

Credit: racerxband.com

Ibanez PGM Mikro: made for crazy moves!

Don’t be fooled by this smaller guitar and classify it a kid’s model or a toy. This guitar is made for really crazy moves! Ultra wide bends, super wide stretches and really just about anything that you otherwise won’t be able to accomplish on a regular guitar. Paul has been using this latest addition on many gigs and boy, the notes produced by this guitar is out-of-this-world! Words can’t do justice to what it is capable of, so we made a short video to share what you can get out of this guitar!

Probably the shortest ever video to convince you to buy a guitar!

In this video, Vinnie incorporated…

  • Arpeggios so stretchy, you need to be Rachmaninoff!
  • Bends so wild we feel like we were teleported to the Serengeti!
  • Chords so in-tune you’d think we faked it with an expensive boutique guitar.
  • Single note melodies that sing better than the Titanic.

Honest Review!

I’m sure there are many reviews out there about this model by now, but we just wanted to assure you with our most honest review!

Tuning

Yes, the default string gauge is a little too skinny and the tuners are not helping the strings stay in-tune. Every so often, you will need to tune your guitar again and the tuners do not have the best gear ratio. But hey, these are an easy fix! We see this as minor and we are comfortable with using this string gauge because of the wide and wild bends it allows. We would advise you to upgrade to some locking tuners though.

Pickup tone

You will be glad to know that the pickup sounds really awesome! There is no need to look into replacing better pickups for this guitar! The amount of gain is enough for you to cover any Paul Gilbert songs easily and the tone isn’t like a typical cheap electric guitar. Really glad with the tone!

Hardware

The only other hardware that you may want to consider replacing would be the input jack. Perhaps it is a one-off case but our PGM Mikro did come with an input jack that was almost impossible to plug in the cable. We swapped it for switchcraft but you can probably stick with the original hardware.

Bridge is very well made and the paint will probably not come off or tarnish any time soon!

Fretwork

A typical guitar in this price range will probably come with horrific fretwork. Not in this case, Ibanez lives up to its name as the king of the well-made mass production guitar. The frets are smooth and very well levelled! No dead fret or buzzing area!

Setup

We are not lying, we did not touch any of the setup on this guitar. The video you watched was played on an off-the-shelf piece! It is that good!

Paul Gilbert Singapore 2019 Attendees Take Note!

Win Paul Gilbert Ibanez Mikro from Swee Lee

Swee Lee Paul Gilbert Ibanez Mikro

Before you assume we were asked by Swee Lee to promote this, we are just big fans of Paul Gilbert and wish to share the good news with everyone! To win this guitar, simply buy a ticket for this show and follow the instructions in this link! We managed to get our hands on one for this article, and are glad to have it so that all our students can get a go at this amazing guitar! Anyway, good luck to everyone and see you at the show!

Vinnie

electro harmonix pog2 polyphonic octave generator

POG2 Presets – You can’t believe your ears!

By Gear, Videos, Vinnie's Youtube World No Comments

POG2 Presets – You can’t believe your ears!

POG2 has been around in the guitar industry for a rather long time but it has never been a popular pedal. Many bought and sold it soon after because of the “limitations” of the pedal. However, these limitations are a result of the user’s imagination! Think about it, the pedal allows a massive 8 user presets to be stored and there must be a reason for that! Still on the subject of “limitations” of pedals, you may want to check out this other episode where I create TONES with Cheap China Pedals! Really interesting even for me…

In this episode, I share 4 of my presets that are guaranteed make you rethink the Electro Harmonix POG2 Polyphonic Octave Generator on your pedal board. Maybe those who don’t own one will now change their minds, and those who blacklisted it will take the listing off! To me, this is one of my must-have pedals ever since I bought it and the versatility it provides is still beyond me!