Not Another Strat

After 11 years at BC Rich, the designer of the Rich Bich guitar, Neal Moser, has got together with the former sales manager of the same company, Mal Stich, to form the AFS Guitar Co. AFS, incidentally, stands for Another F*i^**** Strat...

Funnily enough, the company's first offering doesn't look like a Strat. Called 'The Reaper' it has a winged body, 22-fret bolt on Maple neck, bone nut and a variety of possible bridge and electronics options: the model in the picture has a Kahler Tremolo, Preamp and Di Marzio humbuckers. Prices start at $699.

Further info from Neal himself at Sound Check, (Contact Details).

NEW EBONY ALLIGATORS

At a recent press conference, Langlois Ltd demonstrated their new revised Alligator amps, to be known as the 'Ebony' range. As you might gather from the choice of name, they're rather blacker than before. Very black in fact...

Alligator's previous range, which consisted entirely of all-purpose equipment, has been slimmed down to make room for some new specialised units. Most notable of these is the new AD 175 drumcombo, equipped with two 10" speakers plus a high-frequency horn, and retailing at £490.00: it provides separate inputs for cymbals and hi hats as well as for bass, snare and up to five tom toms. The range also features new guitar and bass-orientated models, including a new 175 watts bass top retailing at £315.00.

Features like the standby, sound shaper and boost switches are retained; however, the units are now sold only through retail outlets in the normal way rather than by mail order.

Further details on all the new Alligators are available from Langlois Ltd., (Contact Details).

NO MORE BRITISH BONDS

The Bond carbon fibre active guitar, with its famous stepped fingerboard, is no longer to be produced in the UK. Owing to difficulties with British manufacturers and suppliers, the Scottish factory has ceased making this innovative instrument.

However, negotiations are underway to have the product manufactured overseas, perhaps in the USA or the Far East; so we may still see production versions of the bass Bond and the digital onboard tuning system one day.

TAKE A BOW

Guitarists who want to sound a bit different will be pleased to hear that the E-Bow is back in the stores after a number of years in relative obscurity. This Electronic Energy Bow is the same device used by Bill Nelson and Big Country, among others, and is now being distributed by Dixies Music. The price of infinite sustain and lots of synth-like effects is around £80 in most shops.

Further details are available from Dixies Music, (Contact Details).

EDEN ENLARGES

Now open is the second 48-track studio at Eden Studios in Chiswick. It's a large overdub and mixing suite with a separate recording booth and equipment room for all the tape machines off the control room. Desk is an SSL-6000, with two Studer A-800's locked with an Adams-Smith synchroniser, and mastering is on the new Studer ¼" and ½" A-820's.

The studio environment has been designed to let producers hear their work clearly in a pleasant atmosphere. To this end, the monitor speakers are "free field" mounted away from the walls, and there is a theatre lighting system installed to allow the room's atmosphere to be carefully tailored. Eden Two also has its own lounge, kitchen and toilet.

For more details, contact Eden Studios at (Contact Details).

NEW MIKES FROM SHURE

Three new microphones have been introduced by the fabulous Shure Brothers adding to their expanding condenser mike range. First of these is the 16L-LC, to be top of the recently introduced Prologue range; this battery-powered electret condenser mike is primarily intended for home multi-track use and features a flat frequency response and uniform cardioid polar pattern. Price is less than £70.

The other two, the SM 94 and SM 96, will accept a standard phantom power source as well as an internal battery. Principal difference between them is the frequency response: the SM 94's is essentially flat, which fits in with its intended use as an instrument miking and recording tool, while the SM 96 has a slight presence rise and smooth low-end rolloff for enhanced vocal performance. The three-stage pop filter is built into the SM 96, and an accessory windshield is available for the SM 94 to make it suitable for vocal applications. Price of both will be around the £200 mark.

Further details from HW International, (Contact Details).

SAMPLE PROGRESS

A company going by the name of The Timbre Co have just finished compiling a very thorough library of sounds suitable for sampling purposes. Now available on two Chrome cassettes, the sounds encompass practically every possible aspect of instruments and sounds that one might wish to sample. Each cassette offers around 100 different samples most of which are played four or more times over the range of the instrument in question.

Recorded with Dolby B, the sound quality that can be achieved by sampling these sounds from their cassette is surprisingly good. The string and brass samples are quite stunning, as are quite a lot of the woodwinds, grand pianos, acoustic guitars, drum sounds...

When one considers that many sampling systems — ranging from the Akai S612 to the Fairlight league — require you to spend a not insubstantial amount on disk libraries, the £27.60 retail price (inc. Package & Posting) of the Timbre Company's 200+ sounds would appear to be very reasonable indeed.

For further information write to: The Timbre Company, (Contact Details).

PEAVEY STEREO CHORUS AMP

In response to the increased use of stereo outboard effects by guitarists, Peavey have launched the flagship of their new range of stereo guitar amps, the Stereo Chorus 400. It has two separate 130 watt (RMS) amps in a combo fitted with two 12" Scorpion speakers.

Each channel features the patented DDT compressor, individual inputs and active presence controls.

Recommended retail price is £495 plus VAT, and further details are available from Peavey Electronics (UK) Ltd, (Contact Details).

MIDI BY MORNING

Anybody who has become tied up in the complexities of making MIDI instruments from different manufacturers talk to each other will be sympathetic to Godric Wilkie when he found it impossible to connect a DX7, CZ101 and an MCS1 together. Not everybody, though, will have come up with the Morning MIDI System's Through Box as a result of such frustration.

Out of a deep spirit of altruism, he is now offering this lifesaver to the public.

The Through Box has two channels, each comprising one MIDI IN and four MIDI THROUGHS. The MIDI INs are switchable to allow two channel operation, crossed over two channel operation or one MIDI IN, eight MIDI THROUGH operation: other configurations such as multiple versions of the above are available to special order. The standard version costs £45.80.

Further information is available from Mr. Wilkie at (Contact Details).

LINN DOWN IN PRICE

Good news from London's Syco Systems is that the famous Linn digital drum machine has dropped in price by £500 to £1,395.00. This has apparently been made possible by improvements in production techniques, which will also mean a proportionate reduction in the price of the Alternative Sound Library.

Syco Systems are at (Contact Details).

SPEAK TO ME

Latest product from McKenzie Acoustic is their new Studio 7 Series of speakers, with power ratings ranging from 100 to 400 watts RMS. The loudspeakers are available in 10", 12" and 15" formats, plus a high-frequency unit — the BHF 520HF.

These drivers are built on precision black aluminium components, and each loudspeaker has the option of an integral grille. For complete quality assurance, the result of a Bruel and Kjaer test on each unit is included with it.

More information from McKenzie Acoustics Ltd, (Contact Details).

ACTIVE SEYMOURS

American pickup specialist Seymour Duncan's latest innovation has now reached these shores. These active bass pickups have three switches on their tops to alter the resonant peak giving eight different sounds, from snappy to warm.

The units are low impedance, with power coming from a single nine volt battery, and are available for Precision and Jazz basses, plus a P-J combination. Cost is £108.50 for a single pickup or £164.95 per pair with a full fitting kit included in the price.

Further details from Labtek International, (Contact Details).

TWO NEW DX MODELS

Hot on the heels of the price-busting DX21, Yamaha have announced details of yet more new DX series synths which are aimed firmly at Casio territory.

The DX 27 and DX 100 share similar electronics, with four of Yamaha's FM operators and eight algorithms on tap. 192 preset ROM voices, which can be edited and rearranged, are featured, plus 24 internal RAM voices intended for creating your own sounds. Both synths are MIDI equipped and eight-note polyphonic, and come with a data cassette interface as an alternative to the cartridge storage system of the other DX models.

Main difference between the two new models is in the keyboard. The DX 27 has a 61 key, five octave version with full size keys, while the DX 100 has 49 mini-sized keys covering its four octaves. In line with this more portable format, the DX 100 is battery powered (a mains adaptor is optional) and has strap buttons on either side, with performance wheels similar to those on the KX5. The mains-powered DX21 has normal wheels for pitch and modulation.

The DX 100 should bein the shops by Christmas, bearing a price tag of £349. The DX 21 will follow about a month later, with an RRP somewhere between £449 and £499. Expect a review soon...

HAMMOND MUSIC

In January 1986, the Hammond School of Music will open a studio devoted solely to the teaching and composition of modern music, equipped with the latest in music technology.

There will be two new courses, each of 10 weekly two-hour meetings. First of these is the Foundation Course in Music Technology, intended for people with little or no prior knowledge, which will go through the elementary principles of acoustics, recording and electronic/computer music. This leads on to the Composing Electro-Acoustic Music course, which concentrates on tapping the maximum creative potential from the new technology. Private study independent of the course may also be arranged with the tutor, Mr Walter Fabeck.

Application forms and further details are available from the school, at (Contact Details).