Murf's Equipment Recommendations

You guys know the drill, that gizmo that the last Guitar magazine said was the best thing ever is a piece of crap. Distortions sound like a bunch of bee's and it eats batteries like no tomorrow or the thing falls apart if you barely stomp on it. Here are a few things that I find to be excellent and it not totally essential, they are highly recommended.

DanElectro Dan-Echo: This is a pretty cool pedal which provides sounds that I haven't heard since I owned a real tape echo back in the 60's. (yes!! I've been playing with equipment and guitars for that long!!!) This thing is relatively cheap, compared to a real echoplex and works very well. The only negative thing that I can see is that the controls are pretty close together and are not the easiest to adjust. It's not the best looking pedal in the world but it's built a lot better than it first looks. The battery light will not give you a good warning when it dies since it stays bright when the battery is shot, but an AC adapter will cure that problem. I heard of this item from the Eric Johnson news list when it was mentioned that EJ was using one of these instead of his echoplex. That's quite a endorsement. Murf says try it out!!!

Tech 21 TRI-OD: This little item put out by Tech-21 is a offshoot of the Sans-amp. This box gives you switchable sounds along with speaker simulation in a package that you can use either live or in a recording situation. It works great when plugged into a PA system giving you Fender, Mesa Boogie and Marshall Sounds from a box no bigger than your average stomp box. The battery lasts a really long time and it even acts like a real amplifier when you turn down the input volume, cleaning up the distorted sound. It's built like a tank and well worth the money. My only complaint is that the battery is not the easiest to change. You have to remove four screws on the bottom and remove the bottom plate to get to it. Other than that...it's great.

Ernie Ball Volume Pedal - This is the ONE volume pedal to buy. Strong as a tank and able to take any abuse you can dish out. There is NO OTHER volume pedal to consider. Simple to replace the pot (if you EVER wear it out) and totally unbreakable this is an essential piece of gear. The newer ones even provide an additional jack for a connection to a tuner for silent tuning and they have moved the input and output jacks to the front for cleaner cable routing. .