Musik Indonesia

Vintage tube amps are highly sought after by guitarists who won’t settle for less than the cream and crunch of days gone by. There’s a good reason for that: many vintage amps simply got it right. Hughes & Kettner’s Statesman Series amplifiers don’t rely on modeling or digital voodoo to re-create classic tube sound—they are pure, 100% tube amps loaded with all the killer tone and mojo that vintage-amp lovers crave, but with modern twists that allow you to shape them across styles and even time.

Past meets present

Vintage amps typically do one or two things, and do them very well. This is generally because of the type of tubes and circuitry they contain. For example, a 12AX7 tube preamp coupled with 6L6 power tubes gives what's typically referred to as an "American" sound, due to the predominant use of 6L6 tubes in most U.S.-made vintage amps. These amps are celebrated for their loads of airy headroom on the clean side and a round, warm breakup when overdriven. However, in your typical vintage amp, nothing changes in the circuitry when the amp is pushed harder, so tonally speaking, what you get is what you get.

Hughes & Kettner's engineers have given the Statesman amps the most gratifying tube combinations and incorporated modern circuitry that actually restructures the preamp circuits and switches the current feedback when you switch from the Clean to Drive channels, allowing the power tubes to adjust perfectly to either preamp channel. Result: vintage tone that is more versatile than most vintage amps could ever approach.

Men of state

The Statesman family of amps offers a number of models to choose from—the DUAL EL84, QUAD EL84, and DUAL 6L6 combos, as well as the DUAL EL34 head and a 4x12 cabinet for half- and full-stack rigs. All utilize a 2 x 12AX7 preamp section, but each offers its own power tube section for a variety of power outputs, tones, and applications.

In addition to the varied power sections, there are some EQ and other control differences that give each of these amps its own versatile take on vintage tone. The DUAL EL84 and QUAD EL84DUAL EL34 head and DUAL 6L6 combo offer separate EQs for each plus an additional master volume for the Drive channel. The DUAL and QUAD EL84 both employ a serial effects loop; the other two amps have a selectable serial/parallel loop. use a shared 3-band EQ for both channels, while the

Although they have their differences, there are some notable shared features that speak to the flexibility of the entire series. All Statesman amps come equipped with a phenomenal-sounding Accutronics spring reverb with a balance control to match the effect to your preference for each channel. Two very handy functions are the Twang and Boost switches for the Clean and Drive channels, respectively. Twang boosts the higher-end mids—perfect for chicken pickin' country rhythms or shimmering leads—while Boost ups the gain, taking the overdrive from a smooth '60s crunch to the scorching lead tones of the '80s.

Super-sized combos

The DUAL EL84 and QUAD EL84 combo models are identical except for the doubling of the EL84 tubes (hence power output) in the QUAD model. At 20 watts, the DUAL EL84 delivers plenty of volume and is perfect for guitarists playing clubs and other small venues, while the QUAD EL84 revs things up for those needing more headroom and volume.

Thanks to their EL84 power tubes, these combos deliver a classic, open-back clean sound that breaks up nicely with higher gain, perfect for the classic "British Invasion" sound. But the wonderful thing about these (and all the Statesman amps) is their ability to make sonic time jumps. Switch over to the Drive channel and you can easily call up '70s and '80s big rock sounds that you'd normally expect from a half stack.

The third combo in the Statesman series is also the most powerful—the 60-watt DUAL 6L6. This amp stands out due to its use of two 6L6 tubes in the power section. As mentioned earlier, 6L6 was the preferred tube for the big, classic American amps of the '50s and '60s. The DUAL 6L6 delivers the warm, rich clean tones many of those amps are revered for magnificently, as well as thick, creamy distortion with a modern edge.

Head games

For the ultimate in vintage versatility, pairing the 50-watt DUAL EL34 head with the Statesman 412 cabinet is the way to go. As its name suggests, two EL34 tubes make up the power section on this model. EL34s defined the sound of the British amps of the '60s that drove the British blues revival, and the DUAL EL34 certainly has that type of growl and punch.

However, like its fellow Statesmen, the DUAL EL34 is capable of so much more, including its impressive ability to reproduce the signature clean sound of an open-back combo. I admit I was a bit skeptical about this claim, but hearing is believing, and I am now a firm believer. The DUAL EL34 can also be used in a full-stack configuration via separate 4-, 8-, and 16-ohm outputs.

Back to the future

With its Statesman Series amplifiers, Hughes & Kettner has gone back to the roots of vintage tone. But rather than just delivering one or two signature sounds, by enhancing the circuitry and control sets, these amps deliver an incredibly wide range of classic tones. Whether you need vintage American twang or the throaty roar of a big British beast from days of old, look no further than the Statesman series. These amps are modern vintage, done right!

Features & Specs

All models:

• 2 x 12AX7 preamp section
• Clean/Drive channels
• Twang/Boost modes
• Accutronics spring reverb
• Adjustable reverb balance

Dual 6L6 combo/EL34 head:

• 60W/50W
• 2 x 6L6/2 x EL34 power section
• 3-band EQ per channel
• Presence control
• 2 - 12" Eminence Rockdriver Cream speakers (Dual 6L6)
• Selectable serial/parallel FX loop
• Includes FS-3N footswitch

Dual EL84/Quad EL84 combos:

• 20W/40W
• 2 x EL84/4 x EL84 power section
• Shared 3-band EQ
• Serial FX loop
• 12" Eminence Rockdriver Cream speaker

TASCAM makes recording simple and fun again with the new DP-004 Portable Digital Pocketstudio. Based on our groundbreaking cassette Portastudios, the 4-track DP-004 retains its creative interface while updating the sound quality with CD-quality digital recording. Smaller than a paperback book, it’s portable enough to take anywhere, and built-in microphones make it perfect for capturing song ideas and rehearsals. Despite its compact design, the DP-004 retains the famously simple TASCAM Portastudio interface—so you can concentrate on making music.

Back to basics

Thirty years ago, TASCAM invented home recording with the Portastudio 144. This breakthrough recorder allowed musicians to put together their own multitrack recordings for the first time, and gave artists like Bruce Springsteen, Alan Parsons, and Don Felder the ability to make music on their own. Now we take home recording for granted, but in the late ’70s and ’80s, this was a revolution.

Today, recording is more affordable than ever, but the creative connection with the artist can be lost in the windows, menus, and complex interfaces of modern recording software. TASCAM’s DP-004 recaptures the immediacy of our cassette models, updated with CD-quality digital recording. The compact multitrack recorder is covered with knobs and controls, making recording and mixing simple and fun.

Simple recording interface

A pair of 1/4" inputs on the DP-004 accepts mic or line-level signals for recording. Input A also switches to guitar input for recording bass or guitar directly into the unit. These inputs can be sent to any of the four recording tracks by pressing the Assign button, then selecting an input for each track. There’s even a pair of built-in microphones for capturing song ideas or portable recording.

The DP-004 records at CD-quality (uncompressed 44.1kHz/16-bit audio), so you’ll hear every detail of your performance. Recordings are captured to SD Card media, and a generous 1GB card is included with the recorder. Press the Record button under tracks 1 through 4 to "arm" a track for recording, then press the Record button. Set your record level using the input knobs and the meters on the LCD screen.

If you need more tracks, a bounce function mixes your tracks over to a new track, making room for more overdub layers. You can edit your tracks to clean up mistakes or silence noises. A built-in tuner and metronome make recording even more compact and convenient, and the recorder has autopunch and repeat modes. There’s even an Undo button in case you record over something by mistake.

Dedicated mixdown track

A set of knobs for level and pan make mixing a snap—no menus to navigate. There’s even a dedicated stereo mixdown track and a master fader to fade out your song. When you’re ready to mix, press the Record Mode button and switch from Multitrack to Master Record mode.

After you record your mix, the USB 2.0 jack allows you to transfer it to your computer to burn a CD, or upload an MP3 to your website or MySpace® page. The USB jack also allows you to backup your song as a multitrack, so you can remix it later on, or export tracks as WAV files for use in computer recording software.

Designed for musicians

TASCAM’s Portastudios have been the choice of musicians for 30 years because their simple operation helps you stay creative. The DP-004 takes the simplicity and affordability of TASCAM cassette Portastudio and updates it with the sound quality, editing, and flexibility of digital recording. The DP-004 keeps the perfect balance of portable design and usable interface—any smaller and it would be painful to operate!

The perfect recording solution for creative songwriters, guitarists, bands, and students, the affordable TASCAM DP-004 Digital Pocketstudio keeps recording simple for musicians.

Features & Specs

Connections:

• 2 - 1/4" mic/line inputs
• CD-quality 44.1kHz/16-bit WAV recording
• Switchable guitar input
• Headphone/line output
• USB 2.0 connector

Recording:

• 4-track digital multitrack recording
• Records to SD Card media (1GB card included)
• Powered by AA batteries or optional power adapter
• Autopunch, repeat, and record undo controls
• Dedicated stereo mixdown track

The new Road Worn Series of guitars and basses from Fender is a real winner. That’s based on the overwhelming praise from the players who tried out the samples I put in their hands—a ’50s Telecaster, ’50s and ’60s Stratocaster guitars, ’50s Precision Bass, and ’60s Jazz Bass. Everyone says they look cool, play great, and reliably pump out revered Fender tones. The Road Worn concept is simple to grasp: a beat-up guitar or bass looks worn because we love them so much, just like our favorite comfortable sweatshirt or pair of tennies. Paying big bucks for a rare collectible axe is just not in the cards for most players, so how about one that looks like it’s seen lots of love?

The Road Worn instruments are given a reverse makeover at the Fender factory in Ensenada, Mexico. The worn finish, dings, pockmarks, yellowed plastic parts—even rust stains on the bridge saddles and springs—all simulate proud battle scars that show this axe has proven itself in countless gigs, it’s as if you were playing Keef or Bruce’s favorite Tele, the Strat slung by Slowhand or Rory, the Jazz Bass that catapulted Jaco to legend, or the P Bass Sting used to pump up The Police. These Road Worn axes are not just pre-aged; you could say they are “pre-disastered.” You won’t throw a conniption fit when you bang it up as you would when the first ding appears on a freshly minted, shiny new guitar.

Vintage-styling with mods

The Road Worn Series guitars are based on Fender’s Classic Series with authentic vintage-style touches such as a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. These axes have been updated with player-centric mods, such as taller frets and hotter pickups. The 6105 jumbo frets are tall and narrow to allow more string bending on the rounded 7-1/4" radius fretboard. On both Road Worn Strat models and the Tele, the original-style single-coil pick-ups have been replaced with Tex-Mex single-coils that have extra wire windings. This results in more output with sparkling highs and a warmer tone than vintage-style single-coils. The ’50s Tele is chock full of authentic details including the ash body that shows off its blonde nitro finish.

Like the Tele, the ’50s Strat has a one-piece maple neck with skunk stripe and a peghead teardrop just above the nut. The nitro finish is available in two-tone sunburst or black. The ’60s Strat has a maple neck with rosewood fretboard glued on, so there’s no telltale skunk stripe. You can choose the three-tone sunburst or Olympic white. Each Road Worn guitar has a distinctive neck shape. The ’50s Tele has the rounded U-shaped neck first introduced by Leo Fender in 1950. The ’50s Strat has a slender V neck from the mid-50s, and the ’60s Strat has a C-shaped neck that resides between the two in size and feel.

PB&J Basses

Like the guitars, the Road Worn basses have a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. No mods, the basses have simply been aged to give bass players what they love, a stock Fender with a broken-in feeling. The ’50s Precision Bass has a one-piece maple neck and an alder body with a comfortable contour. The split single-coil pickup produces the solid, defined bass sound that supplied the bottom for so many great Motown and Stax singles. The classic, wide P Bass neck plays host to 20 vintage-style frets. It’s big, friendly size adds to the tone known for cutting through guitar stacks. The gold-anodized aluminum pickguard contrasts nicely with either two-tone sunburst or fiesta red finish.

The narrower, thinner Road Worn ’60s Jazz Bass rosewood neck features a closer string spacing that creates a tapered feel. An overall crisper tone is provided by two standard vintage alnico magnet Jazz Bass single-coil pickups. Now you too can be inspired by playing a Jazz Bass with the look and sound that fueled influential players like Larry Graham, John Entwistle, and Flea.

Road Worn guitars and basses are like your favorite broken-in pair of jeans—they look cool, they play great, and they’re fun. And there’s no need to baby them; you’ll want to get your mitts on one and start adding your own battle scars right away.

Features & Specs

• Alder body (Strat, 2-tone sunburst Tele, Jazz Bass, Precision Bass), Ash (blonde finish Tele)
• Nitrocellulose lacquer finish
• Soft V shape (’50s Strat), C shape (’60s Strat), U shape (’50s Tele)
• Maple fretboard (Strat, Precision Bass), rosewood (Tele, Jazz Bass)
• 7-1/4" fretboard radius
• 21 - 6105 frets – guitar, 20 vintage frets – bass
• 1-ply white pickguard (’50s Strat and Tele)
• 3-ply mint green pickguard (’60s Strat)
• 4-ply brown shell pickguard (Jazz Bass)
• 3 Tex-Mex Strat single-coil pickups (Stratocaster)
• 2 Tex-Mex Tele single-coil pickups (Telecaster)
• 1 Precision Bass split single-coil pickup
• 2 Standard vintage alnico magnet Jazz Bass single-coil pickups
• Deluxe gig bag

Single-ply musicality with double-ply durability and focus

Your choice of drumheads has arguably a bigger effect on your sound than even the kind of drums you play. Jazz drummers and those who play other primarily acoustic styles generally prefer the open response and melodic sound of single-ply heads. But they usually need to attenuate the sound by applying tape or other muffling as single-ply heads tend to have excess ring and a lot of unwanted overtones. Harder-hitting rock, pop, and fusion players often prefer double-ply heads for their fat, punchy sound and increased durability.

The new G Plus tom and snare heads from Evans take a different approach. Rather than slap another ply onto a single-ply head, G Plus heads use a single, thicker 12-mil ply of specialized film to increase durability and decrease ring. The concept is to provide the toughness and natural tone-dampening qualities of a double-ply head in a head that retains the tone and feel of single-ply design in order to satisfy drummers in a wide range of styles from jazz to headbanging. I was keen to find out how G Plus heads would measure up to this lofty goal.

Sticks meet skin

G Plus heads are available in sizes ranging from 6" to 20" in clear or a frosted translucent coated finish. The head selection Evans sent for testing included two pairs of 14" clear G Plus heads for the snare and floor tom; one clear and one frost-coated translucent head for the 12" tom; plus one 20" EMAD Adjustable Dampening Bass Drumhead. First I tried out the 14" tom head by suspending it from the rim while tapping the head with my other hand. It produced a distinct fundamental musical note without even mounting it on the drum, which is the sign of a good drumhead. I then mounted the G Plus heads on my vintage Rogers drum set. Tuning the heads was a breeze. They had a punchy attack and lively melodic tones almost as soon as I got them up to playing tension, without a lot of finessing the tuning lugs. The sound had a character like those heads that have a "power dot" applied to lessen overtones, with more vibrance and resonance.

The next night I tried out the G Plus heads during a club gig with a four-piece smooth jazz/pop quartet. After the first tune I adjusted the tension of the heads to a point where they delivered a punchy presence in the band’s mix. While I used to feel compelled to use a strip of muffling tape on my tom heads to get a focused sound, particularly in live small-to-medium acoustic spaces such as the bar my band was now playing in, I found the G Plus heads sounded just fine without any dampening. On the snare drum, the G Plus delivered a full tonal spectrum from cracking rimshots to a solid, deep tone when played in the center sweet spot.

The attractive frosty translucent coated finish on the 12" tom gave it a sound that was a bit warmer and rounder than the clear G Plus heads on the other drums, rolling off the attack just a touch. For the player who prefers a more controlled sound, I would recommend the frost-coated G Plus heads, especially for the snare drum, where coated heads are usually used, particularly by drummers who like to play with brushes. The clear G Plus heads gave my snare and floor tom riotous new life. The drums had a singing quality without confusing overtones, providing plenty of sustain; a dry, punchy attack; and panther-quick response.

Mad about EMAD

The Evans EMAD bass drumhead has been around for a few years—long enough to acquire an enthusiastic following among players. The EMAD head features a 10-mil single-ply design that includes two interchangeable dampening rings that maximize attack and low-end. You can change the dampening rings in an instant without removing the head, allowing you to customize the drum’s resonance, sustain, and attack on the fly. No more need to stuff a pillow into the bass drum to get it to sound right!

I found that using the smaller of the two rings provided a great kick drum sound—full and fat without too much ring, providing just the right amount of propulsive punch to drive groove-oriented songs, yet still producing a musical fundamental note ideal for the call-and-response of jazz improvisation and Latin rhythms.

Four decades of drumheads

G Plus drumheads are the latest product of a company distinguished by its ability to respond to the evolving demands of drummers from pros to students. One of the more memorable products Evans has created came about nearly 4 decades ago when they were asked to make a drum for the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. Evans responded with a massive drum called the "Boot Hill Boomer" that measured seven feet in diameter and took four drummers to play!

In 1958, Evans produced some of the earliest All-Weather drumheads that could sonically compete with the calfskin heads that still ruled the day, sandblasting their heads to simulate the feel of real skin heads. In the ’60s Evans produced the first transparent heads, and in the ’70s created a popular line of hydraulic heads that incorporated a thin layer of oil between the head’s two plies.

The years that followed saw the evolution of pioneering products including the Genera and EQ Series, giving drummers unprecedented control over their sound. The purchase of Evans by D’Addario has served to further energize and diversify Evans’ offerings. The introduction of Evans EC2 heads with their integrated tone rings in 2005 is particularly notable, counting among their enthusiastic fans players such as the great Dennis Chambers.

With their G Plus Series, Evans would appear to have another hit on their hands. There are other heavier-grade single-ply heads out there, but to my ears they don’t compare with the open, musical tones you get with G Plus heads. The longer I play them, the better they sound, and more importantly, they make me sound better. What more could a drummer ask for?