9.Fender Pawn Shop Special Excelsior Guitar Amp
(MSRP $399)
With a crossed-swords logo, open-back speaker cabinet, brown vinyl cover, and low price point, the Excelsior pays homage to the simple and soulful no-name amps of the ’50s and ’60s. Along with a similar Pawnshop series of guitars, the Excelsior and its sister amp, Greta, are part of Fender’s effort to address the junk guitar market, currently in high demand with a group of players weaned on The Black Keys and White Stripes.
While it’s easy to find old Teisco and Silvertone amps on eBay, playability and functionality can be an issue. For about the same price, Fender’s Excelsior delivers a vintage sound without any of those concerns. With just volume and tremolo knobs and a bright switch, you won’t find much versatility in the amp, and it often pushes you into the territory of blues and gritty rock and roll. The amp breaks up well in the mid-volume range, while staying clean at lower volumes. With 13 watts and a 15-inch speaker, Excelsior can push a little harder than a Champ or Princeton, with the option to run an external speaker for a larger room scenario. Excelsior’s tremolo recalls the languid Louisiana sound of Slim Harpo or the west side blues of Chicago’s Magic Sam, though today’s musicians will likely get a raw and scuzzy garage-punk sound out of it. – DAVIS INMAN
10.MXL Trio USB Condenser Microphone
(MSRP $99)
Ideal for demo recording and podcasting, the MXL Trio’s solid construction, ease of use, and classic look make it a good choice if you’re looking to improve on the quality of the recordings you’ve been getting from your computer, or your iPad’s onboard microphone. For less than $100, the MXL Trio offers a significant upgrade over the onboard microphones on most computers and tablets.
Intelligibility, presence, and reduction of ambient noise are all improved by the use of the Trio. The included desktop stand makes it easy to position for interviews and looks great; it can also be attached to traditional mic stands.
The Trio includes a low-latency 1/8th inch headphone output directly on the body of the microphone, allowing users to monitor their recording while in progress. This function is extremely useful, but without any volume controls, you’ll have to make those adjustments on your computer. Even so, the amount of volume available from the headphone jack seems limited, but will suit vocal overdubs and acoustic guitars just fine.
Plug and play compatibility for Mac OS and PC allow you to use the Trio without installing any extra software. Simply plug the microphone into your USB 2.0 port on your computer (use with an iPad requires an additional adapter), and select it as an input source, and you’re ready to go. The Trio worked seamlessly with Garageband, Logic, and Quicktime. Getting it to work with the iPad took a few tries, but once it was up and running, it sounded great. The ability to record at 44.1 or 48kHz sample rates is a nice bonus, and one that we wouldn’t have expected at this price. The Trio employs a cardioid polar pattern, and a frequency response of 40Hz – 18kHz. – STEVE MARTIN
11.The VOX AC4C1-BL Guitar Amp
(MSRP $425)
The VOX AC4C1-BL is a sharp looking amp, aping the stylish look of vintage ’60s VOX amps. It’s portable, with an all-tube design, and has a simple set-up with just four knobs: treble, bass, gain, and volume. We initially plugged a Jazzmaster straight in, bypassing the effects rig. The sound at low volume seemed a little thin, but when we opened the gain and volume knobs all the way up, the sound was thick, crunchy and powerful. It came closer to emulating the trusty VOX AC-30 through our effects board, including a Rat with the distortion dialed down and an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail digital reverb.
At 4 watts, the AC4C1-BL isn’t really loud enough to use on a full-band gig. Nevertheless, the “top boost” sound is actually quite authentic when turned up. We placed a Shure SM-57 in front of the 10 inch Celestion speaker, and the playback revealed that it’s a great little recording amp. Plus, this sexy little dude would look fantastic on your bookcase. – JOHN P. STROHM
5 Comments
Leave a Reply