In this week's product highlights we're taking a look at some more pro-audio type equipment, a pre-amp and DI, and one of the coolest, quasi-vintage, modulation pedals on the market. 
Marshall Regenerator
A bit of an oldie, but a goldie nonetheless. Launched in 2006, the Marshall Regenerator is a powerful modulation stomp-box that still holds up with modern modulation effects. Now, it’s not going to replace your Strymon Möbius or your Eventide Modfactor but what it will do is give any individual modulation pedal a run for it’s money- Boss CE-1’s, MXR Phase 90’s, and EHX Electric Mistresses better watch out!
Here’s what Marshall have to say:
“A truly expressive effect. The washed-out, romantic sound of chorus and phaser is a pedalboard essential for any guitarist. The RG-1 is much more than the 80’s in a box. With its six modes you’re able to fully adjust chorus, phaser and flanger effects to your own personal taste. Want to take it further? You’re able to control the effect level with an added expression pedal and spread the effect even wider with a stereo output.”
There’s two massive selling points in that last sentence alone- controlling the effect level with an external expression pedal adds a whole other level of tonal creativity to the pedal but what sets it apart from the norm is the stereo output. Having a stereo output means The Regenerator turns from being an average chorus/ phaser/ flanger into a massive sweeping stereo effect that sounds like it came straight from an 80s rack unit.
Put it this way- if you want modulation, there probably isn’t a better, more affordable option than the Marshall Regenerator.
A bit of an oldie, but a goldie nonetheless. Launched in 2006, the Marshall Regenerator is a powerful modulation stomp-box that still holds up with modern modulation effects. Now, it’s not going to replace your Strymon Möbius or your Eventide Modfactor but what it will do is give any individual modulation pedal a run for it’s money- Boss CE-1’s, MXR Phase 90’s, and EHX Electric Mistresses better watch out!
Here’s what Marshall have to say:
“A truly expressive effect. The washed-out, romantic sound of chorus and phaser is a pedalboard essential for any guitarist. The RG-1 is much more than the 80’s in a box. With its six modes you’re able to fully adjust chorus, phaser and flanger effects to your own personal taste. Want to take it further? You’re able to control the effect level with an added expression pedal and spread the effect even wider with a stereo output.”
There’s two massive selling points in that last sentence alone- controlling the effect level with an external expression pedal adds a whole other level of tonal creativity to the pedal but what sets it apart from the norm is the stereo output. Having a stereo output means The Regenerator turns from being an average chorus/ phaser/ flanger into a massive sweeping stereo effect that sounds like it came straight from an 80s rack unit.
Put it this way- if you want modulation, there probably isn’t a better, more affordable option than the Marshall Regenerator.
NUX Melvin Lee Davis Pre-Amp + DIAn absolute essential for all bass players is a pre-amp; unlike guitarists who are often running through the pre-amps of a house amp or their own stack, bassists are often told “We’ll just DI you, it’ll be fine”. Yeah, it’ll be “fine” but you know you won’t be sounding your best. That’s where pre-amps come in.
Designed in collaboration with Melvin Lee Davis, American bass player and MD for Chaka Khan, the NUX pre-amp and DI allows bassists to finally take control of their tone. Here’s what NUX have to say:
“MLD Bass Preamp + DI has tons of functions based on Melvin Lee Davis' musical experience. And offers the best sound-shaping controls such as: 3-band EQ with middle-frequency selection, drive with blend control, speaker cabinet simulation (Impulse Response loader) and built-in noise reduction with Decay and Threshold controls.”
There’s infinite ways that you could add this to your rig but with dry and effect outputs, a dedicated XLR output, headphone output and an aux in, as well as software options to allow you to edit and add your own IR’s, we can’t think of any situation where the NUX MLD isn’t a perfect choice!
IK Multimedia AXE I/O Audio InterfaceSo there’s a lot of interfaces out there and many that are catered to different musicians for different things- some are perfect for a singer-songwriter whilst others are designed to be the final piece in a master mix engineer’s puzzle.
What should a gigging guitarist or bassist choose? The IK Multimedia AXE.
Featuring 2 inputs + 5 outputs, this interface was designed to make guitarists and bassists lives easier in the studio. There’s also two input stages, Pure and JFET, which offers a clean, transparent input stage or a tube-like stage depending on what sound you want to capture.
Here’s what IK Multimedia have to say:
“117 dB dynamic range, 3Hz-32kHz frequency response- these aren’t the specs you typically find on instrument inputs. But they’re essential to capturing the most accurate details of your performance, for coaxing the best performance from your instrument, and for keeping your sound pure and transparent.
AXE I/O provides 2 Hi-Z front ¼" inputs for guitars and basses, 2 rear combo inputs with phantom power to connect mics and line instruments, and clear precision front peak meters to conveniently monitor the signal level at the channels input...
...Two floating balanced outputs, two unbalanced and one floating unbalanced Amp out plus a high-current headphone out let you connect monitors, mains and headphones, with independent volume for both. A Monitor knob makes it easy to blend direct monitoring and the audio from your computer for zero latency monitoring.”Having read through that, it’s hard to think of a scenario where the AXE wouldn’t be the best choice! With all those monitoring options, inputs, gain-stages and preamps, this AXE should be the bread and butter of all recording guitarists/ bassists rigs.
