I have to hook all this up now but this is what I’m working with now. Wanted my fuzz pedal instead of two overdrives but it finally died on me. So did my ebow. But, since I can’t buy anything right now, this is the pedalboard. Velcro and zip ties, here I come (Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Plus 2 is underneath- the old school Pedaltrains have a compartment underneath to hold your power).
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Is your Fuzz salvageable? Do you know what the fault is? Are you handy with a multimeter and soldering iron?
I was looking at DIY kits for while, and old broken fuzzes that I could fix, but they always had their unobtanium transistors missing. Still haven’t found anything, so I might start barking up the “Percolator” tree.
It’s a Basic Audio Muff. Pretty sure the guy that made it will fix it, just have to email him. Also have a Lovepedal COT 50 that stopped working. That’s gonna be a little harder to get fixed because I heard that guy kind of disappeared. The lights still come on for both of them, I think it’s something minor but to answer your question, no, I am not handy with anything. Not the Mr. Fixit type at all.
Oh well, unfortunate because they’re extremely basic circuits to noodle about with a multimeter, and very few solder points to inspect/fix. If you ever want a new hobby, it’s a good place to start.
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I think I would rather someone else fix it and I’ll just use it to make sound with. I’ve thought about it but I usually end up messing stuff up even more. I’m pretty good at making the sounds though, or so I’m told.
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My review of this Strandberg Salen Jazz NX
I had been fascinated by the Salen Jazz model since Strandberg first announced them, as it was their first semi-hollowbody model with an F-fole. It may have also been the first to feature a mahogany body and neck. Recently, Strandberg introduced the Salen Jazz NX. When I saw they had a Salen Jazz NX on sale in the Refubs section, in the burgundy color, I bought it.
Improvements with NX Concept
The Salen Jazz NX incorporates design improvements that Strandberg describe on their NX Concept page. I have a Boden OS7, which is an older Strandberg model. One design improvement in the Jazz NX that I really appreciate is the EndurNeck is more rounded, which feels much nicer to my hand than the sharper edges of the Boden OS7 EndurNeck. The quality of the setup is better, although that might be because it was refurbished and set up by the Strandberg USA team in California. The tuning knobs on the EGS Rev7 hardware require noticeably less effort to turn than on the older guitar.
Pickups and Sound
There is a 5-position pickup selector switch. The sounds by position:
- Neck Humbucker
- Neck single-coil (inner coil of humbucker)
- Both Humbuckers
- Neck inner coil and Bridge outer coil
- Bridge Humbucker
Position 4 has quickly become a favorite for rhythm guitar. The sound is similar to that of my Tele with its pickup selector in the middle. Pickup designer Michael Frank worked in his magic to make it hum-free too, despite it being a single-coil sound. The humbucker tones are comparable to those of the Seymour Duncan 59s on my D’Angelico guitars, which is not surprising as all these pickups were designed to sound like PAF humbuckers. The neck humbucker sounds a little brighter with the tone control high, compared to the Seymour Duncan counterpart at a similar setting, but that might be because of the Salen Jazz NX’s small body. The bridge humbucker has the expected bite, but with a pleasant roundness.
With a clean guitar amp, I have found that notes can be made to pop out more on semi-hollow body guitars and tend to have rounder tone, compared to solid body guitars. The responsiveness of semi-hollows to variations in playing technique with clean guitar amps attracts me to this type of guitar. The Salen Jazz NX has those semi-hollow characteristics, although they are more subtle compared to my D’Angelico Deluxe SS and Excel Mini DC. I think the smaller body of the Salen Jazz NX reduces the unplugged string volume and makes it sound a little less airy, and more focused than the D’Angelicos. Some have compared its tonal personality to that of a Telecaster Thinline, but I’ve never played one so I can’t compare the supposed similarity myself.
Some Strandberg owners/fans feel they can get the same tones on any dual-humbucker Boden model that has a chambered body. It would be fun to do a side by side comparison with one of those people. The Salen Jazz NX has a mahogany body and neck, with rosewood fingerboard and maple body top. The majority of Strandberg models do not have this wood combination, so there should be some tonal differences, somewhere.
Playability
Most electric guitar bodies have a curve at the bottom for resting on the player’s thigh. The Salen Jazz NX, like other Strandbergs, have two bottom curves instead of one, so you could rest it on your thigh in the more common playing position, or raise the angle of the neck, and let the other curve sit on your thigh.
The combination of the 20" radius fingerboard, rounded EndurNeck, balance of the guitar for standing, and the extra sitting position make the guitar very comfortable to play - if your playing style is a good match. I generally prefer a light touch and don’t dig hard into the strings, except for an occasional accent. The string spacing is comfortable for fingerstyle and hybrid picking. The neck is very comfortable for hammer-ons and pull-offs - very little force is required. Some song arrangements for solo fingerstyle Even notes and chords on the first fret are easy and comfortable to play.
The combination of the 20" radius and 25"-25.5" multi-scale design on this neck allows me to play the double-stop bend that starts the “Peg” solo, which I cannot play on any of my other guitars that have .010 gauge strings.
The sustain is excellent. It might have the best sustain of all my semi-hollowbody guitars.
Verdict: It’s a keeper. It has taken over as my #1 guitar to practice on because it’s so comfortable and is the least likely to cause the return of my Golfer’s Elbow. The selection of tones and responsiveness to playing techniques are also excellent.
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He’s easy to get a hold of and seems like a very good guy. I’m almost positive he’ll sort you out.
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Thanks for the review. I’d love to try the more rounded version of the neck— I just couldn’t get along with the Endurneck on the Boden I had, but I loved everything else. I have the Ibanez Q54 now, but I’m less impressed overall.
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Understood. I like the improved (NX) EndurNeck but it would be interesting to see if Strandberg ever offers a fully-rounded neck option.
The last 20" radius fingerboard I had was on the Carvin Holdsworth Fatboy. Fantastic for hammer-ons, as expected, but I wasn’t working on my rhythm guitar skills enough at the time to evaluate it for that. Loved the thickness of the neck, and the resonance of the fully hollow body. The fatal flaw of the Fatboy was the neck being heavier than the body, because Carvin rejected Holdsworth’s request to make it headless. The balance problem would have been solved by eliminating the headstock. Carvin Guitars is now Kiesel of course, and ironically they now make a Holdsworth model that is headless.
On the Strandberg Reddit, some peeps brought up changes to the guitar tops and veneers that came with the NX design updates. One went so far as to question whether my Salen Jazz NX actually has a maple top with veneer. The burgundy color is so dark that the wood texture - veneer or not - is not really visible unless you hold the guitar within a foot of your face. I like the way it sounds enough, when I play it, that it doesn’t matter to me, really, what kind of wood was used in the top.
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I have one, havent tried it with synths yet, will do that soon
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An interesting video from Chase Bliss about going direct to consumer. They’re pitching it largely as a way to prevent having to raise prices. There’s a lot of other interesting info too. It’s clear they’re thinking a lot about whether they want to remain truly “boutique” or not:
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A Chase Bliss hub in Amsterdam, that’s great news! 
There’s a pre-sale going on for a new supply run of the Templo Nomad amp: NOMAD 50 Watt Battery Amp – Templo Devices
Only 300 units available, I had my eyes peeled for the V1 version after seeing it featured on JHS’s youtube video “Solid State Amps Suck” (the title is sarcastic, for folks who don’t often watch their channel). Here’s their two cents from V1: Solid State Amps Suck - YouTube
The new one has some nice changes - a real spring reverb instead of a digital one, more EQ, etc. It’s got an XLR in and is definitely a great option for anyone interested in busking or doing small impromptu performance, or just not being tethered to a wall at home.
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I bought one of his courses years ago…I received access to the wrong course, wrote him multiple times about it, never got a response. The course itself was unfortunately a mess as well: poor structure, poor editing (some videos ended abruptly, others seemed to miss entire sections that he was talking about), inconsistent formats etc….I just accepted that I had wasted my money on the course, which is a true shame because I think he’s a fantastic guitarist and I love his neo-soul style playing.
If he’s pivoted the approach an now offers a free course to bring people in, I would assume that most of the issues I faced years ago will have been fixed though, otherwise that marketing approach would backfire brutally.
I’ve been off the guitar world for so long…
Can anyone recommend a modern looper to pair up with say… an OT/ST? At least 2 tracks, accepts/sends midi clock and transport commands, with functions like insert and undo functions
When I was really into loopers the echoplex was sort of the go to looper back in the day. Is there a modern echoplex equivalent?
Anyone here tried to the RC-600? Looks decent with 6 tracks and comes with a built in amp sim, which can be really useful going directly into the OT
I think the Boss RC600 is a solid device if you want something bigger (or can live with the form factor). The Pigtronix Infinity Looper 3 is also good. The Aeros Loop Studio is a little different with the screen and UI but powerful…though I’ve read that its midi sync is not always 100% reliable.
I’d say there actually aren’t a ton of options out there that sync up via midi reliably, which is a real shame.
Personally I’m looking at Roland/Boss’ new loopers as the most interesting of the bunch.
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I use an infinity looper, don’t see any reason to change. Sounds good, has good features. Can sync to midi. I’ll post a pic of my board later.
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I don’t know about the 600 but the RC 500 It did not play nice as a midi slave, It needed to be master. I sold it mainly for that reason.
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Pedals are a bit like modular, it’s addictive. The explorer is the latest addition.
Spaceman effects
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My main pedalboard (Pedaltrain PT-2) has been stagnant for almost a year, and it is well overdue to mix things up again. The said pedalboard is primarily built for R&B/Neo-Soul gigs. Based on the pedals already available at home, below is the present plan for the update:
When the revision is finish, actual pics will be posted. Just playing around with different ideas, physically and virtually, at the moment.
Another topic under consideration is whether to upgrade to a Pedaltrain Novo 32, which will allow the additions of a dedicated reverb (Wampler Reflections), octave fuzz (Fulltone Octafuzz OF-2), and a few other goodies.