Mark Borneman

I haven’t played my amps out loud in my own house for some years now… I can play and study in the evening, but then my little girl is asleep. Years ago I started out with a Line 6 POD and afterwards a POD XT. Both did an amazing job. What I missed was a ‘one fits all’ solution, which would also play the audio of my Macbook through the same outputs, ánd would have recording capabilities. Enter Avids Eleven Rack. A Pro Tools 10 interface, Which is quite cool on it’s own, but with a monster tone, that’s also really good at clean tones. Something that the line 6 company didn’t get in my opinion. You can use the interface for live playing and has a multitude of connecting capabilities. Still easy to use and dial in a great tone with ease. I bought it for €699,-, so much cheaper then competitor Fractal Audio’s Axe FX II, which - if you have the money (€2300) - would top the Eleven Racks sound.

I tried alternatives like the Apogee Jam, iRig and Amplitube software. The first two, working with Ipad or Iphone, have considerable latency. Using software plugins works, but is just not as easy as a hardware box, that can be turned on in an instant…

Do you play the Eleven Rack or are a big fan of another sound unit, let me know!

Mesa Boogie is famous for it’s punchy clean tone and especially my Lonestar 2x12 has much of it. But traveling with a tube amp can sometimes give you problems with tubes or fuses. If you ever need to replace tubes, than Mesa has put in some effort to make you able to do it yourself. They’ve put up some wonderful videos explaining how to. Thanks guys!

Who better than the master of tone himself, Eric Johnson, can give us his top ten of greatest guitar tones ever. He shares his search for tone and the people that inspired him in that quest. Examples like Movin’ Wes by Wes Montgomery and Aerial Boundaries by Michael Hedges.

Check them all out at Musicradar.

Have you seen the latest video’s that Fender Custom Shop uploaded on Youtube? Talking about neck radius, fret jobs, wood tone etc. Great stuff for anyone who doesn’t know what fretboard radius is about, or why you should choose a certain wood to fit your playing style. Check it out!

Cobalt strings you say?… The newest innovation of string manufacturer Ernie Ball, is the use of cobalt in their strings. I’ve tried them out of course. They keep their ‘highs’ longer, in comparison to my main string set D’Addario EXL 110’s, which already start to sound dull after a few hours of playing. And especially with overdriven sounds they are a bit tighter in the low end. They also feel different, a bit more ‘worn in’ from the start. Supposedly cobalt is the most magnetic iron in it’s class, which gives a different respons compared to nickel, brass or stainless steel.

I’ll be giving them more test time. You have to consider the price though. My D’addario’s, bought in sets of ten, cost me around €5 a set. The new Ernie Ball Cobalts take you back for about €10.

Test them out for yourself. Ernie’s got a great ‘string sound’ feature on their website. And a lot of artists like Slash and John Petrucci who comment as well.

Let me know what you think of them…

World renowned guitarist Larry Carlton has been at it quite some time. His phrasing and musicality are unmatched. And more, he’s a great teacher. Last week I stumbled upon his site www.mr335.tv and I got a lot less sleep after, playing for hours and hours. A wonderful mix of blues, jazz and pop tuition and an even better videoplayer called Truefire. I will be checking that one out for sure. Don’t forget to buy the new tuition dvd (335 improv) from Larry. It’s on my birthday list the 6th of november, so please please…