Product Reviews
Yamaha Tyros 4 Workstation Review - NZMUSICIAN
The Tyros is Yamaha’s flagship arranger keyboard and is arguably the benchmark for all arranger keyboards. The first Tyros was introduced early this millennium and has been developed continuously since then with the latest version being the Tyros4.
Compared to the Tyros3, Yamaha have doubled the Wave memory to 512Mb ROM, provided a faster processor, replaced the DIMM memory with Flash memory, upgraded the...more
Schecter SOLO6 CUSTOM Review - NZMUSICIAN
On its unveiling in my studio and noise retreat facility, Schecter’s Solo-6 Custom appealed instantly. Sleek and curvy, this is one good looking guitar. I’m guessing part of the appeal is due to my long term relationship and affection for Les Pauls, all standard five kgs of them. I can sense the Gibson in the corner seething at this new younger woman which clocks in a little lighter (0.7 kgs) – rather pleasingly given that my spine feels asymmetrical itself right now, probably from gigging the LP for 15-odd years. It’s not as blunt as a Les Paul, but has many of the qualities I love, and a slightly asymmetrical shape.
Schecter first appeared in 1976...more
Morpheus Droptune Review - NZMUSICIAN
More and more modern rock songs these days utilise dropped tunings to tap into the power and aggressive tone they provide. Typically the only option for performing guitarists who want to play in dropped keys is to have a guitar for every tuning they intend using, especially where balanced tremolo systems are in use as they are notoriously slow and fiddly to tune. The Morpheus Droptune addresses this dilemma in a very simple but effective way by allowing guitarists to lower the pitch of all six strings up to three and a half steps in half-step (semi-tone) intervals – plus there’s a full octave drop for bass sounds and an octave down-plus-dry-signal option...more
Yamaha PAC112 Review - NZMUSICIAN
Pacifica is an arm of the giant Yamaha brand, and according to their website, have been making guitars for 40 years. Originally designed in Yamaha’s custom shop as a test project, the Pacifica line was soon producing a variety of electric guitars from its Japanese factory. The two main body shapes that have become tried and true are (almost inevitably) the Telecaster and the Stratocaster, both originally designed by Leo Fender and co. Pacifica waves its hand of innovation over the latter here in the form of the 112V...more
Ibanez Promethean P5110 Review - NZMUSICIAN
Okay so you’re a bass player. Your band has three different shows this week starting with Friday night’s pub gig with a vocal PA. You need a rig loud enough to stand alone without a DI to the desk, but with limited stage space it also needs to be small enough to tuck into the back corner. A 4x10 cab would be ideal. Saturday’s gig is on a decent outdoor stage with a full mic up. This time you’ll be running a DI to the front of house system but you’re standing so far away from your amp that you need a bigger rig to be able to hear your bass over the thunderous drum kit. This time a 4x10 and a 1x15 would be ideal. Then there’s the little cafe set on Sunday. It’s okay for the guitarist to plug his acoustic into the PA but as the bass player you still need to carry your own amp to the show. Ideally something small and portable that you can carry in one hand like a single 10" would be great, but it also needs to sound warm and full. You could go out and buy yourself two or three different amps, or maybe you could look at the new Promethean system from Ibanez...more
Yamaha MOTIV XS6 Review - NZMUSICIAN
This is the baby of the latest series of Motif workstation synthesisers by Yamaha, available in 61-, 76- and 88-key models; the XS6, XS7 and XS8 respectively. It has thousands of fresh, modern and high quality sounds, complete on-board sampling, sequencing and synthesis capabilities with a new range of vintage effects. It also integrates as a recall-able control surface when paired with a computer running Steinberg's Cubase ...more
ENGL E645 Powerball Review - NZMUSICIAN
ENGL is a new player on the amplification scene, and a brand that I've been very keen to try out since I spotted one of the German company's rugged-looking rigs at Mainline Music late last year. Some very influential guitarists like Steve Morse, Steve Lukather and Ritchie Blackmore (he has his own signature model) have got behind the brand. When NZM asked if I'd be interested in reviewing the ENGL Powerball 100 watt tube head and matching quad box, it was an opportunity to be grabbed with both hands...more