Höfner HCT-VTH

139
GEAR GUIDE REVIEWS
1 BLACKSTAR SERIES ONE
45 COMBO
£899 WWW.BLACKSTARAMPS.CO.UK
WE SAID: Beautifully built, everything
you need for great valve tone with the
minimum of fuss.
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1 GIG FX KILO-WA H
£145 WWW.GIG-FX.COM
WE SAID: The Kilo-Wah has four
modes to give you all the fi ltered
sounds you’re likely to need, from a
classic tone to a modern, biting wah.
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2 LINE 6 SPIDER VALVE 112
£605 WWW.LINE6.COM
WE SAID: When you crank this
arachnid you get some of the hottest,
sweatiest, most organic tones there
are on the market.
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2 MOJO HAND ANALOGUE
FILTER 442
£89 WWW.MOJOHANDFX.COM
WE SAID: You may struggle to fi nd an
original DOD 440 envelope fi lter, so
this is the next best thing.
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3 DIEZEL EINSTEIN COMBO
£1,850 WWW.DIEZEL.CO.UK
WE SAID: A quick tweak of the
controls takes you from indie-licious
vintage drive to perfectly useable
blues tones and heavy distortion.
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3 LINE 6 OTTO FILTER
£90 WWW.LINE6.COM
WE SAID: The Otto Filter (a dedicated
Auto-Wah) has three fi lter modes to
choose from and a sweep direction
control for extra versatility.
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4 RANDALL KH120
£735 WWW.RANDALLAMPLIFIERS.COM
WE SAID: TG wants the fi lth and
seconds after heading for the drive
channel, we’re riding the lightning. You
won’t need a boost pedal here.
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4 BEHRINGER FM600
FILTER MACHINE
£45 WWW.BEHRINGER.CO.UK
WE SAID: It has three fi lter modes:
low pass, band pass and twin. You’ll be
playing the Shaft intro for hours!
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5 BOGNER ALCHEMIST 212
£1285 WWW.BOGNERAMPLIFICATION.COM
WE SAID: Its digital effects are cool
but the Alchemist’s real boast is that
it’s a quality valve amp that works
brilliantly for a range of styles.
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5 MOOG MOOGERFOOGER
MF-101 LOW PASS FILTER
£239 WWW.MOOGMUSIC.COM
WE SAID: Filters are where the Moog
sound comes from and the MF-101 is as
creamy as Mr Whippy on his birthday.
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GIGGING AMPS
SEMI-HOLLOW ELECTRICS
FILTER PEDALS
BUYER’S GUIDE
PEERLESS WIZARD STANDARD
£579 WWW.PEERLESSGUITARS.CO.UK
WE SAID: We couldn’t take our eyes off
the Wizard, and the same goes for our
fi ngers. Its P90s have got grit, attitude
and character, and the lack of a dedicated
pickup selector is more than compensated
with three volume controls, letting you dial
up a bespoke tone. This model is perfect for
anything from blues to melodic rock.
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1
HAGSTROM DELUXE-F TREMAR
£625 WWW.HAGSTROM-GUITARS.CO.UK
WE SAID: Looks like the guitar of an indie
elitist but fl ows like a widdler’s wet dream.
The pickups’ brightness stops the neck
position from straying into woolly territory,
while the bridge opens up with a bit more
upper mid range – cutting but not harsh.
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2
ADAM BLACK HS CENTRE
£219 WWW.ADAMBLACKGUITARCOMPANY.CO.UK
WE SAID: Played clean, you get the mellow
fl avour that’s central to the semi mythology.
We felt this guitar was that bit more
convincing when we cranked the gain,
spitting aggressive lead at the bridge and a
scary rumble at the neck.
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3
HÖFNER VERYTHIN-CT
£390 WWW.HOFNER.COM
WE SAID: The combo of central sustain
block and hollow wings gives the Verythin
a textbook semi-hollow tone. Those twin
’buckers have a thumping quality and swing
convincingly from mellow jazz at the neck to
white-hot solos at the bridge.
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4
WASHBURN HB 30
£299 WWW.WASHBURN.COM
HOW TO BUY A SEMI-HOLLOW
ELECTRIC GUITAR
WE SAID: The ‘classic’ semi-acoustic sound
is warm and mellow, and the HB30 turns
in a decent reading, with the dark warmth
of the 621 pickup perfect for blues, the 623
ragged enough for rock, and the inherent
sustain bringing a sense of cut-price class.
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Semi-hollow guitars can be associated
with unmanageably large bodies, but you
can see a selection of dimensions above.
The features you need help govern your
purchase, but if you’re not sure try different
body sizes, pickup types and voicings, and
vibrato or fi xed tail to help you choose.
5
A round-up of TG’s best Rocked & Rated gear
TGR193.gear_guide 139 14/8/09 7:46:57 am