Today i finally took the time to record a quick video of the Dunlop Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face pedal. I had been up all night (and the previous day) without sleep. I swear I pick the strangest times to do some things. I was tired to the point where I was delirious, but I did it anyway. : )

My opinion on this fuzz pedal is very positive. It costs $99.99 while it’s bigger brother, the Dunlop JH-F1 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz Face Pedal costs $149.99. With a $50 difference in the prices and really not much difference in the sounds, I chose this one, and I’m happy I did.

You can’t count on this video to give you the full effect. You have to hear it in real life and you have to play on it. It sounds much better in person and is not muffled. Anyway, check it out!

I am a very picky guy when it comes to my gear. I have owned both versions of the Dunlop Crybaby pedals. But one of them turned out to be a disappointment. Can you guess which one? Let’s look at the differences.

Dunlop Original Crybaby Wah Pedal

This wah wah is just a plain ole wah pedal. It has a nice heavy durable construction, no bells and whistles and has a nice sweep. It does what it’s supposed to do. Play the intro to Voodoo Child with it and you’ll get the same wah sounds as Stevie or Hendrix did. Price: $69.99

Dunlop Crybaby Classic Fasel Inductor Wah Pedal

This version of Dunlops wah is supposed to be more “classic” but basically the same thing as the original, except this has a fasel inductor in it and this pedal costs $30 more than the original Crybaby. This pedal was actually the disappointment to me. For $30 more, the only thing it gave me was a wah sound that wasn’t as good as the original $69 dollar version. I really don’t understand. Perhaps it was just mine. But I’m definitely more happy with the cheaper version. I feel a bit ripped off now actually. Price: $99.99

I now use and abuse the Original Dunlop Crybaby. It costs less and is just all around better. I would post a video comparison of the two, but the Crybaby Classic crapped out on me after a few months of home use! Do yourself a favor and go with the $69.99 one.

This amp is quite a fascinating little amp for it’s size. Fender sure did choose the perfect name for it.

The blues jr is a 15 watt all tube amp with a Fender Special Design 8 ohm 1×12 speaker, unless you get the tweed edition, which has a jenson speaker and that’s the only difference between the two. The tubes are 3 X 12AX7, 2 X EL84, and a solid state rectifier. Control knobs include reverb, master, middle, bass, treble, “fat” switch, and the regular volume knob. It also includes one channel.

The amazing thing about this amp is that you can really crank it for superb tone without going deaf (actually it’s pretty damn loud). There is nothing shrill or ice pickish about it. I’ve discovered that the cleans from this amp are better than the cleans I got from my Deluxe Reverb Reissue. The Deluxe Reverb was kind of harsh, although I never got it modded. But the Blues Jr is just about perfect right out of the box. You can achieve the tones from songs such as Lenny and Voodoo Chile.

There is a regular volume knob, and there is a master volume knob. The master volume countrols the amps volume, while the volume controls the preamp. If you crank up the volume all the way to 12, you are going to get some thick overdrive from these preamp tubes. You may not even need an overdrive pedal as it can get alot of distortion. The reverb on this amp is decent. Not Fenders very best, but who cares. Still sounds good.

If you needed more power, you will just have to stick a Shure SM57 in front of it. As long as you’re playing small clubs and/or at home, then this is the perfect size if you want to be able to crank it and push those tubes.

This is the best amp I’ve owned in a long time. I’ve compared it to the Hot Rod Deville and Deluxe Reverb Reissue. The Hot Rod Deville was way too big and was muddy for sure. The Deluxe Reverb was clean and could get some nice overdrive, but the amp was too harsh for me. The Blues Jr will be my #1 for a long time.

Check it out at Musician’s Friend

A couple years ago I decided that I wanted to start getting all the ideas out of my head, and onto CD’s. So I started looking for the cheapest way to set up a recording studio right here in my home. I think everything ended up costing me around $250 all together, though I’m not 100% sure.

With just some software, you can have piano, drums, tuba (ha), bass and just about every instrument you can imagine right at your finger tips. Now you can have “full band” recordings all done by yourself.

Before I continue, here’s a couple examples of my own music I’ve recorded with this gear. Take note that these are examples!

- Acoustic Song

- Full Band Song

Now for the setup. The first and most important thing you’ll need is a PreSonus Inspire 1394 FireWire Audio Interface. I choose a Firewire interface simply because it’s better than a USB interface. This Presonus is just a small box with two microphone inputs and 2 instrument inputs (so you could have 2 mics and 2 instruments all recording at the same time if you wanted) and this is plenty enough for me, and probably enough for you too as long as you aren’t trying to mic drums or something. The interface comes bundled with recording software which is Cubase LE I think. Don’t let anyone tell you that you need more than that for what you’re trying to do.

Price: $149.00 at MusiciansFriend

The second thing you need is a Firewire card to hook up to your computer, because the Firewire interface needs to hook up to it to work. These are pretty cheap. I got mine from Newegg.com for about $5 – $10. I forgot which model I purchased. But just go to Newegg and do a search for firewire cards and pick out something decent in that price range.

The third thing you need is a MXL 990 Condenser Microphone. It’s actually on sale right now. Don’t let the price scare you into thinking you’re about to get a piece-o-shit. It’s actually a very good mic at an extremely cheap price.

The 4th thing you need is actually pretty high, and if purchased new, you would for sure go over our spending limit here. It’s Reason 4.0 (I use 3.0 because 4.0 wasn’t out). This is the software I use to piece together all the drum tracks and other instruments I don’t own right into my songs. It’s simply an amazing software. You can find some used Reason 4.0 software at Amazon starting at around $120.

The last things you need are just small things. Mic stand, cable and a pop filter for the microphone. Here’s some links to some of this stuff that’s decent, affordable and gets the job done.

Pop Filter
Microphone Cable
Microphone Stand

The total is $373.00 as long as you can get the used Reason software for $120 from Amazon. I was lucky enough to have it given to me a couple years ago. Unethical, yes. But no one was hurt or injured. Another way to acquire this software would be to go warez, but I’m not gonna point you into that direction!