Billy Corgan, where the f**k have you been? Zeitgeist is an album that rocks hard and clearly justifies the return of the Smashing Pumpkins. Cynics be damned, Zeitgeist bursts from the speakers and thumps you over the head.

All the classic hallmarks of the Pumpkins are present. The pounding kick drum of Jimmy Chamberlin, the Billy Corgan snarl, and most importantly that massive wall of guitars that knock you back and demand to be noticed.

The first half of the album, in particular, serves as a reminder as to just how good the Pumpkins were at their peak. If I had to recommend two key tracks to listen to I'd say Doomsday Clock and Tarantula.

One thing that has changed since the Siamese Dream/Melancholy era is Billy Corgans choice of amps. Throughout the current Zeitgeist tour he has been favoring Bogner (Uberschall) and Diezel (Herbert) heads.

Whilst he has retained a fleet of strats, and a couple of SGs, for the low tuned songs (dropped C etc.) he appears to favor a Black Schecter C-1, as you can see in the image below.

In terms of the guitar tone on the album, it is reminiscent of the Machina album. Bruising. A lot of the trademark Pumpkins octave runs and high squeals are still there, and I'd guess the 'Big Muff' fuzz pedal is still getting a solid workout, although now in conjunction with a wider selection of high end rack effects.

Sad to see the old JCM800 not on stage anymore but from a listen to the album I'm quite sure that both it and the JMP1 preamp both got an ample workout.

In summary, buy Zeitgeist and allow it to kick your ass!

Here's something you won't see everyday, a guitar lesson with Buckethead. As any Buckethead fan knows, he's not big on conversation. So in this he speaks through a 'head puppet'. Don't ask me what that is all about, because I just don't know! Anyway, check it out, if nothing else, it'll make you scratch your head and go, 'huh?'.

Even if you aren't into shredding, I'd recommend giving the last Buckethead album "Enter the Chicken" a listen. Most tracks feature guest vocals, including spots from Saul Williams and Serj Tankian (of System of a Down).

When I saw this on YouTube I just had to post it! I've been a big fan of Spinal Tap ever since their seminal "Intravenous De Milo" album. When I heard they were getting things back together for the Live Earth show, I was excited. When I read that they performed "Big Bottom" backed by an army of bassists it was a dream come true.

Now, watch and bask in the glory that is, Spinal Tap...

This is the first in what will possibly be an ongoing series detailing the gear I either own, use or lust after.

The BOSS DS-1 Distortion pedal was first released in 1978 and since then, has become the weapon of choice for a huge number of guitarists. It's popularity underwent a massive surge in the early 90's when it was often seen onstage with Kurt Cobain. It has also been popular amongst shredders like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani.

The controls on the DS-1 are extremely touchy, which can allow you to go from the sublime to trashy with the slightest change. Perhaps that is part of its appeal. One of the biggest criticisms levelled at the DS-1 is that it sounds "thin" and lean to heavily on the treble side. To a certain extent this is true, but the treble can be tamed with either some careful tweaking of the DS-1 or the addition of an EQ pedal of some sort.

Whilst the current pedals are produced in Taiwan, the earlier models produced from Japan are considered as being 'smoother' than the newer models. That's why you'll notice some of the older DS-1's going for higher prices on ebay.


Because of it's relatively simple design, the DS-1 can become easily modified. Personally I picked up a Keeley modified DS-1 a couple of years ago. Nice sound, I don't use it all the time, but it definitely has its place. I've actually run vocals through it a couple of times when I've been getting freaky, as well as running my bass through it (although when I do this I also use an EQ pedal to cut off the treble).

I'd recommend the DS-1 for anyone looking to add another shade of distortion to their arsenal. The things are build to last, so I'd recommend picking one up second hand, rather than forking out for a new one.

Previously I posted an signal flow diagram of Adam Dutkiewicz's stage rig with Killswitch Engage. Since that diagram was produced he's undergone a couple of changes in terms of the amplifiers he uses on stage. He moved from the Hughes and Kettner Triamps to Framus, and now I've just learned that he has signed on with Mesa Boogie.

Here is a relatively recent image of him live on stage.

According to Mesa Boogie, Adam D is now using Roadster Heads with a 4x12 Traditional Rectifier Straight Cab as well as a Lone Star 2x12 Combo.

Let me start by saying I have purchased a lot of stuff from ebay. It can be a fantastic source of weird and wonderful old music gear as well as a good place to get a decent price on some new stuff. With that being said, I have also noticed a huge number of 'too good to be true' auctions for Gibson Les Paul's. These auctions usually feature ridiculously under priced products and originate from China.

I'd like to think that most people out their wouldn't fall for these sorts of scams, but I can understand if people get blinded by the price. A $100 price tag on a Les Paul Black Beauty Custom should be enough to set off the alarm bells. But what happens if someone buys one of these counterfeits and then attempts to on sell it at what would be a more realistic price for the genuine article?

Gibson have outlined an example of this on their website:

Last year, 15-year-old Jonathan Jakubowski of Cary, North Carolina emptied out his savings account to purchase a Les Paul he found advertised in the local newspaper.

Intending to purchase the advertised Les Paul Standard, Jonathan and his father visited the seller at his house, where they were persuaded instead to purchase a Wine Red Les Paul Custom, which the man said he’d bought off a traveling musician. Jonathan paid the man $1,000 for the guitar, but once he got it home, he could tell that something wasn’t right.

The staff at a local guitar shop confirmed Jakubowski’s suspicions—the guitar was a counterfeit. The high school sophomore alerted police, and following an investigation, the North Carolina man who’d acquired the guitar from a Chinese website and resold it to Jakubowski was arrested on two felony counts of criminal use of a counterfeit trademark.

This is but one of several reports that have prompted Gibson to lead an aggressive industry fight against the growing problem of counterfeit instruments being shipped from and sold by outlets and individuals in China.

In this case, the seller was based in the US and the price tag was realistic for a used Les Paul Standard. Therefore, the two tell tale signs of a fake product weren't present. To have recognized the counterfeit guitar, the buyer would really need to know what to look for. Telling the difference between a fake and the real thing can be quite difficult if you haven't had a chance to examine the real thing in person.

Gibson have provided the following tips for consumers, to help people avoid getting ripped off:

• Measure the guitar to check that it’s not undersized. Correct measurements can be found on www.Gibson.com.
• Examine headstock and headstock logo to determine that they match those of authentic Gibson guitars.
• Check to see that all pearl is inlaid.
• Check that Les Paul model script is always in cursive.
• Verify that there’s not a three-screw truss rod cover.
• Check the control and pickup cavities for sloppy routing or wiring.
• Make sure the pickup cavity is not painted black inside.
• Always ask for the Gibson Owner’s Manual and Gibson Warranty Inspection card.
  Check the wiring. If it’s plastic it isn’t a true Gibson.

Long story short, if in doubt, contact the manufacturer.

This practice has been going on for a while. We can only hope that Gibson pursue this issue as aggressively as they did the Paul Reed Smith Single Cut lawsuit!

A Pro Tools crash is usually accompanied by an unhelpful error message. Luckily some of the errors or crashes aren't as bad as they first seem and can be easily fixed. Here's an example.

If Pro Tools crashes repeatedly every time you try to launch it, and keeps doing this even after restarting the computer, then you most likely need to remove the Pro Tools setting files for a clean start. The procedure varies depending on whether you use a Mac or Windows.

Mac fix:
1. Go to Users/[your directory]/Library/Preferences and trash DigiSetup, DAE Preferences, and Pro Tools Preferences
2. Restart.

Windows fix:
1. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\[your directory]\Application Data\Digidesign. Remove DigiSetup and Pro Tools Preferences. Remove the DAE Preferences from C:\Program Files\Digidesign\ DAE\DAE Prefs.
2. Restart.

The Korg Electribe series has undergone a few changes since the first versions hit the streets. The price tag on the newer models has also bumped up a little. I'm glad to say that I picked up both the Korg Electribe ER-1 and the Korg Electribe EA-1 second (possibly even third or fourth) hand of ebay.

Construction wise, I guess the units could be built a little stronger, but in saying that, these two guys have clearly seen some action and both still function perfectly. The ER-1 is the rhythm or drum machine unit. Can pull some very nasty beats from this thing. Nasty, downright ugly, to standard electronica. I prefer nasty!

The EA-1 unit is the synth. Controls are the same as the ER-1, and yes, you can plug in an external midi controller if you want. I've used the EA-1 to knock out ugly synth bass lines.

Both the EA-1 and ER-1 are getting on in years now, but if you see them on ebay they are well worth picking up.

You can download a sample pack (recorded using the ER-1) from the Chrome Decay website. Very nice little sample pack.

You've installed Pro Tools and have it up and running. Now you'd like to optimize it's performance, but where do you start?

Not surprisingly, the Pro Tools performance optimization settings are a good place to start. These can be found on the Playback Engine page. You can get there via the Setups drop down menu.

The Hardware Buffer setting offsets audio throughput latency against plug-in processing power. This is a balancing act. More power allocated to plug-in processing will potentially increase latency. Personally I hate latency, so I like to sit on the fence a little here, if anything, allocating less processing power to plug-ins. If I've finished recording a track, I may adjust the settings here to allow for greater use of plug-ins.

CPU Processing Limit lets you set the maximum amount of resources allocated to audio playback and plug-ins, so that you can hold some in reserve for things like screen redraws. Personally I like to minimise the 'pretty visuals' in favour of dedicating more resources toward recording, playback and plug-ins.

The DAE Buffer is Pro Tools' disk reading buffer. In basic terms a higher setting allows for increased track count. The downside to this is that the increased track count comes at the expense of reduced playback responsiveness. How you set this really comes down to where your priorities lie. If track count is your primary driver then set it high, if not go for the well balanced route.

Here is a free VST plugin that is definitely worth checking out. The CamelCrusher from Camel Audio is a nice little plugin that adds 1 part distortion, 1 part compressor, 1 part filter which equals 3 parts phat-ness! Camel Audio describe it as a 'colouring' multi-effect plugin.

Features include:

• Two different distortion types.
• Warm, analogue-modelled resonant low-pass filter.
• High quality, easy-to-use compressor, with 'Phat' mode.
• Powerful 'MIDI Learn' function.
• A collection of useful Preset patches to get you started.
• Randomize for instant inspiration.

Here's a screenshot for your viewing pleasure:

Visit the Camel Audio site to download the free CamelCrusher plugin.