Doing Things Wrong

No More Reviews

Alas, it seems my supply of cheap Chinese stuff to review has dried-up completely. If fact, all the cheap Chinese stuff has dried-up - just look at eBay. Oh well, I don't need another "Phas" pedal anyway. A number of the products have disappeared from Amazon as well, but the pedals are still in stock, and they're even cheaper now.

"Vintage Phas" on the right
The sad thing is, these are actually not bad!
At least Home Depot still loves me - check out my free workbench
I was really looking forward to getting one of these

WordPress 5.5 just dropped, and once again they have made a complete mess of image handling. Now every image is smeared out in the vertical direction.


this guy poisoned the world

All the little bits and bobs that I used to order cheap from China have become much harder to get. eBay is a shadow of what it was just a year ago, there is not nearly as much cheap loothery supplies. But even if you find something, half the time it just disappears in shipping. Or at least it seems to disappear in shipping - a lot of tracking numbers from China are completely imaginary. As soon as you order something, they issue a tracking number to lock it in. That doesn't mean it shipped, or that it ever will! Fortunately, eBay makes it pretty easy to get your money back from such scammers.


My verdict on active tone controls for a guitar is that they are not worth it. There is already plenty of treble, and not enough bass that boosting it will make much difference. If you want to try an active control on a guitar, try an onboard distortion instead.

But the Artec EXP tone control is a funny thing. In the middle, it gives a flat clean boost. Turn it forward, and you get a high/low boost, or what amounts to a mid-scoop. Turn it back, and it gives a mid-boost. Sounds interesting, so I decided to try one.


First, I am bound to state that I received this product at no cost for review. Having gotten that out of the way ...

This is a 2-amp negative-tip 9-volt power supply for guitar effects pedals. This supply has more than enough power to drive multiple effects pedals, and the 8-way split "Daisy Chain" cable lets you do just that. You can neatly power up your entire pedal board with a single connection.


First, I am bound to state that I received this item at no cost for review. Having gotten that out of the way …

I am astonished at what is included in this beginner's kit for only $50. You get:


Here at Luthiery Labs, we're only interested in woods that are reasonably priced and locally available.

Wood Notes:

Since the gubment made rosewood illegal, ** despite the fact that there is no real definition of what rosewood is, alternative fretboard woods are going to become more mainstream in loothery. Bubinga is also illegal now, but that's no great loss.

** For a while, no longer

Printed from luthierylabs.com