Svarez 520 J Strings

HEARD THE ONE ABOUT THE
100-watt acoustic amp that’s a foot tall,
seven inches wide, and weighs 11
pounds? It’s no joke: it’s AAD’s Cub AG-
100. American Acoustic Development is
headed by Brit ex-pat Phil Jones, whose
experience in hi-fi and studio
electronics also extends to the compact
range of PJB bass amps.
Despite the tiny dimensions, your
basic electro-acoustic needs are
covered via the rear panel’s well-
protected controls. The single channel
offers a -10dB input pad, three-band
KEY INFO ❘ AAD CUB AG-100 ❘ PRICE: £329 (+£29 FOR GIGBAG) ❘ TYPE: ACOUSTIC AMP ❘ WEB: WWW.SYNERGYDISTRIBUTION.CO.UK
MISCELLANEOUS
RATING
also gutsy enough for restrained bands,
as long as you’re not trying to outdo an
acoustic drum kit and electric bass rig:
hook it up to a PA for that.
There are some tonal compromises
involved for this size, but the Cub is
nevertheless simple to use, effortless to
carry and pretty good value to boot.
Could this be the smallest serious acoustic amp available? by Mick Taylor
AAD Cub AG-100 £329
Seymour Duncan Lava Box £99.95
RATING
KEY INFO: SEYMOUR DUNCAN LAVA BOX ❘ PRICE: £99.95 ❘ TYPE: ANALOGUE DISTORTION PEDAL ❘ WEB: WWW.SEYMOURDUNCAN.COM
THE LATEST ADDITION TO
Seymour Duncan’s growing stompbox
range is this molten beast of a fuzz. In
addition to gain and volume, you get the
six-position rumble knob, which adds
progressively more low-end. Build
quality is high as we expect from SD –
including true bypass switching –
although there’s no quick way of
changing the single 9-volt battery.
SOUNDS: The best adjectives to
describe the Lava Box’s sounds are
‘thick’ and ‘smooth’. With the gain
control in its upper reaches and one
of the higher rumble settings selected,
there’s a tidal wave of monstrous, fuzzy
It’s orange, it’s hot, and it might just make your sound erupt…
by Chris Vinnicombe
ADD CUB AG-100 TEST RESULTS
Build quality
Features
Sound
Value for money
■ WE LIKED Ultra-compact design; easy
to use
■ WE DISLIKED No pole/stand mount;
sweepable mid EQ would be good
You can carry it with
one fi nger. Just about
LAVA BOX TEST RESULTS
Build quality
Features
Sound
Value for money
■ WE LIKED An abundance of heavy fuzz;
plenty of level boost
■ WE DISLIKED Fiddly battery access, gets
very bassy, very quickly
Want oodles of
smooth, thick fuzz
at your feet? Try this
JUNE 2007
147
active EQ (+/-15dB at 100Hz,
1Khz and 10KHz) and a series
effects loop. There’s also a line
out, tuner out and a low-
impedance, balanced XLR out,
but no pole-mount, parametric mid
or anti-feedback circuit.
SOUNDS: Using guitars with B-Band
A2 and Fishman Ellipse Blend systems
for the test, it’s surprising how much
volume and spread the Cub kicks out,
making any quality guitar sound
credible. The physical dimensions –
housing a pair of 95dB, fi ve-inch ‘Neo-
Power’ drivers – mean that getting the
ideal mid-range response can
sometimes be a fi ght for guitars with no
on-board parametric EQ, or indeed less-
than brilliant electronics in general.
Verdict
This is an able personal amp/monitor for
electro-acoustic performances and it’s
distortion on offer. In fact it’s ideal for
swampy, stoner-rock riffi ng: Kyuss,
Melvins, Soundgarden and the like.
The rumble control spans thin-ish and
honky, through to way more bass
content than some humbuckers
can handle, so beware. Strat-
style single coils benefi t from
the chunk, of course. The
Lava Box is also very dynamic;
turn down your guitar’s volume
and it cleans up almost musically –
not normal at all for a fuzz pedal! It’s
not as aggressive as, say, a Big Muff,
but then it’s nowhere near as noisy
either; background noise levels are
perfectly good for a pedal of this nature.
Verdict
Tonal purists beware: the Lava Box
stamps its authority all over your
sound. Step on it and you might fi nd
that a previously timid Strat bridge
pickup becomes a fearsome
fuzz-rock monster.
GIT290.rev_quick 147 23/4/07 8:59:32 am