Burlap and Blues, The Blues Blog

Hey world!

here is a quick update on what is going on at Burlap and Blues:

We are getting close to being at the end our our contest #8 with CASH prizes! If you are new to the forum, you can still enter, just sign up at www.burlapandblues.com make a few entries and send us your best acoustic jam!

We are looking at having some new great reviews here in the next few weeks, so stay tuned to the blog for reviews of guitars and accessories.

The Craigslist Manifesto – amplifiers

Don’t expect to get what your paid for an effect for your used amplifier, that’s just the way it is.

A non working solid state amplifier is practically worthless even if it is vintage, that’s just the way it is.
Retubing and biasing a tube amp is part of amplifier maintenance and does not necessarily increase the worth of your amplifier. It may make your amplifier more saleable but does not increase the value, that’s just the way it is.

Replacing a speaker in a vintage amplifier does not make it worth more than list, that’s just the way it is.

Before posting your amplifier, check the value because if you do not you leave yourself open for silly reply posts on how dumb you are, that’s just the way it is.

The Craigslist Manifesto – effects

Don’t expect to get what your paid for an effect for your used effect, that’s just the way it is.

The Boss DS-1 is one of the most sold pedals in the world, almost everyone has had one and knows that a used one is worth about $20. No one cares what you paid for it, that’s just the way it is.

There are some vintage effects that are worth more than they were originally priced at, none of them are currently available for sale, that’s just the way it is.

Multi effects pedals devalue over time, that’s just the way it is.

Effects generally are not worth more if you tell us that someone famous uses that kind of effect. If you claim that the specific pedal was used by someone, plan to show pictures, that’s just the way it is.

Before posting your effects, check the value because if you do not you leave yourself open for silly reply posts on how dumb you are, that’s just the way it is.

The Craigslist manifesto, selling guitars.

Your coputer is not going to be worth more than you paid for it, that’s just the way it is.

Windows XP is not the latest operating system, it has not been for a long time, that's just the way it is.

When you say that your computer is hardly used, please define hardly used because it means different things to different people, that's just the way it is.

If you purchased your laptop for $1,200 and now you can buy a better one new for $500, your laptop is not worth $500, that's just the way it is.

People who sell freeware such as AVG, Gimp, and Open Office on Craigslist for more than free, should be banned from internet use on a permanent basis. You might as well just post asking for someones bank account number, it is stealing, that's just the way it is.

Weird Al was prophetic about the instant devaluation of computers, please watch this before posting your computer AD:

Take some time to check to see how much your computer is worth. If you post something ridiculous in price be prepared for retaliatory comments about your stupid post, that’s just the way it is.

The Craigslist manifesto, selling guitars.

Your guitar is not going to be worth more than you paid for it, that’s just the way it is.

Your first act guitar, maestro guitar or other guitar that you purchased at Wally World, or other big box store is probably not worth anything even if you put new strings on it, that’s just the way it is.

New strings do not make a guitar worth more, that’s just the way it is.

Do not even try and say that dings in your guitar make it worth more because it is road worn, that’s just the way it is.

Selling an extra set of strings also does not make your guitar worth more, that’s just the way it is.

If you put in your ad that the guitar has only been played three times, please be prepared to give out the dates and times that it was played when asked or people will think you are full of it, that’s just the way it is.

A Squire guitar is not a Fender guitar, an Epiphone guitar is not a Gibson, that’s just the way it is. If you do not want to believe that then buy my Yugo by Cadilac.

A guitar set up by a professional luthier is standard guitar maintenance and does not make your guitar worth more, that’s just the way it is.

The MSRP of a guitar is not what a guitar is worth. The only company that sells things at MSRP is Apple, that’s just the way it is.

Take some time to check to see how much your guitar is worth. If you post something ridiculous in price be prepared for retaliatory comments about your stupid post, that’s just the way it is.

I know the blog has taken a week off, but we will be back in full force with more gear reviews and such soon. Have a great presidents day and enjoy the fact that you won't be getting any bills today... Unless you have your bills sent to you by email.

Barbie turns 51 today. The first Barbie cost $3.00.

The Winter Olympics Start today.

I wonder over the years if Barbie has gotten more air time than the olympics...

Did you miss the superbowl, or the superbowl comments.

Check out the Burlap and Blues recap:

http://burlapandblues.com/index.php?topic=3803.0

Although my search will always continue for the ultimate overdrive and distortion pedal, I will discuss today the Overdrive and Distortion pedals that I have kept and found a home for on my pedal boards.

The one effect that I have that I base the rest of my distortion pedals is the Keeley Mod DS-1. The mod takes the harshness out while adding more harmonics. This pedal has a moderate amount of distortion available to it and has 2 different clipping modes. A very versatile pedal and one that I would like to secure a backup for at some point in the near future.

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For the last week and one half I have been reviewing overdrive pedals that I have owned. I will be wrapping up this series of reviews with the pedals that just did not find their way onto my permanent pedal board that I have not reviewed with a quick reason why I did not keep them. Some of these pedals are really bad, and some are not bad at all, just never stayed around. Tomorrow I will run down the remainder of the pedals that I have kept.

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The latest pedal in my pedal arsenal is the Boss HM-3. According to Boss Area The HM-3 Hyper Metal replaced the HM-2, 1993. Until the release of the MD-2, 2001, the HM-3 was the distortion pedal with the highest gain. The controls are the same as on the HM-3 and the design goals remained unchanged; create a powerful hard-edged sound with powerful sustain with more accurate dynamic response. The MT-2 Metal Zone had been released 2 years earlier and the the HM-3 never managed to get out of the MT-2s shadow and was discontinued 1999.

Serious high gain is the name of game with this pedal, with deep lows and the ability to get too much high if you are not careful. This pedal in my opinion is less fizzy than a stock DS-1, but can get fizzy if you are not careful with your settings.

Here is a sound clip of the HM-3 from clean to very heavy distorted.

<a href="http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mig/playlistbadge/25.swf?autoload=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;playlist_url=http://burlapandblues.com/uploads/boss_hm3-sample.mp3" target="_blank">http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mig/playlistbadge/25.swf?autoload=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;playlist_url=http://burlapandblues.com/uploads/boss_hm3-sample.mp3</a>

Source http://burlapandblues.com/uploads/boss_hm3-sample.mp3

I am not sure if I will be keeping this on my board or not. If I do I will make sure that it is in a loop that can be easily switched on and off as this, like all high gain distortion pedals can be very noisy.

The next pedal that I will review, is a pedal that I owned and lent to someone and never got back. For me, the Boss BD-2 was a great introduction pedal into what a good overdrive can sound like into a tube amp if everything is set up right.

As it's name suggests, the Blues Driver can get a really bluesy tone coming from it when placed in front of a decent tube amp. With creamy overtones with the distortion set up, it can add some great harmonic overtones to your guitar tone. The biggest let down with this pedal is the lack of range with the tone control It is very hard to dial in a good tone, and when I purchased this pedal, it was suggested that I purchase a graphic EQ and place both of them in a switched loop to get the best tone. I did not purchase an EQ nor did I keep this through a loop which probably is why I lent this pedal to someone. I really do not care that this pedal is gone, because it is not really as good as it could be unmodified. I hear there are several good mods for this effect to make a better tone but sometimes it is not worth the work to get a pedal like this modded when better things are out there....

I would probably never purchase another Boss Blues Driver unless I found one with a mod that was pretty reasonable.

An overdrive pedal needs to be a lot of things to make it as a permanent part of my pedal board. The Fulltone OCD is a versatile pedal and it has found it's way into a spot on my board on a more permanent basis. I originally purchased this pedal to be a boost/drive for the 2009 KOTB contest.

The Fulltone OCD does a clean drive very well without buzzing or extra unwanted frequencies. The OCD also does somewhat more heavy tones with the overtones of an over driven amp. Almost all overdrive pedals clean up when the volume on the guitar is rolled down, but the OCD reacts in a slightly different than I would normally expect from a distortion. Overtones are still present as the tone cleans up which leads for some real interesting tones.

I did a little clip of the OCD which goes from clean unaltered sound, with the OCD at about 20% and then the OCD at about 70% drive.

<a href="http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mig/playlistbadge/25.swf?autoload=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;playlist_url=http://burlapandblues.com/uploads/ocd-sample.mp3" target="_blank">http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mig/playlistbadge/25.swf?autoload=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;playlist_url=http://burlapandblues.com/uploads/ocd-sample.mp3</a>

Source http://burlapandblues.com/uploads/ocd-sample.mp3

I will keep the OCD on my acoustic pedal board to give a little kick when playing my electroacoustic or even for lead tones with the acoustic. I am now starting to see the OCD being sold at guitar centers and other online stores so it is easier to try one than it had been when it was only found at boutique dealers (at least around here). This is definitely a pedal worth trying out!