There’s one thing that’s common to all electric guitarists – we are all looking for amazing sounds that ignite creative expression. The trouble is that everyone has an opinion on the producing the “best tone” and which pieces of gear will get you there fastest. Usually, opinions (particularly from the marketing types) start with the word “vintage” and have the word “tube” embedded somewhere in the copy.

But what if you are looking for something decidedly (and audibly) modern? I’m not talking about a modern piece of digital gear that emulates vintage tone. I mean a modern piece of gear puts a different edge on classic effects. For the most part, approaches to date have taken the former approach rather than the latter.

Recently, I blogged about a relatively new company called Source Audio marketing a series of pedals called Soundblox. The intent of this new line was, in fact, to leverage the full extent of modern digital signal processing to inject a fresh perspective on the most commonly used effects. There are four stomp boxes in this line: the Multiwave Distortion, the Tri-Mod Wah, the Tri-Mod Phaser, and the Tri-Mod Flanger. Following my blog post, Source Audio sent me the Multiwave Distortion to conduct a hands-on review.

The short version of the review is that I really liked this pedal – it definitely adds new energy in the often formula driven distortion realm. If you are looking for a Marshall®-sounding “stack in a box”, then I suggest that this pedal is probably not what you are looking for; however, if you want something fresh and a little askew of center, then read on because the Multiwave brings the goods. Read on for all the details!

When the StompIO was featured this year by IK Multimedia at the Winter NAMM show, I knew that this was definitely one of the products I wanted to spend time reviewing – and given the excitement around the IK booth, I certainly wasn’t the only one interested! For those of you living under a rock, the StompIO is a hardware/software combination from the makers of AmpliTube that leverages a new floor based controller to compliment IK’s expanding selection of award winning series of software modeling processors.

The AmpliTube framework from IK Multimedia has become a standard for digital studio work, among many solid competitors such as Line 6’s Amp Farm, Digidesign’s Eleven, and Native-Instruments’ Guitar Rig 3. I have been impressed with IK’s offerings ever since I was introduced to an LE version of Amplitube bundled with Mackie Tracktion 2. Following that experience, I wrote favorably last year about IK’s updated AmpliTube 2 and their groundbreaking Ampeg SVX software for bass.

Hey, I’m admittedly a “gearhead” – so I love to tinker with the old and the new. But if you are looking for new sounds and sources of inspiration it just makes sense dollar, space, and time wise to invest in good amp and effect modeling software. Imagine being able to access hundreds great sounding effects, amplifiers, cabs and microphones on a single box and reliably carry it all from studio to gig and back. Furthermore, these modelers interface directly with nearly all digital recording interfaces such as Tracktion, Pro Tools, Logic, Garage Band, Cubase, and others – making your DAW life much simpler.

IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube, as one of pioneers in this area, represents one of the superior digital modeling products in its class. However, because it involved a computer as the core interface I couldn’t see how AmpliTube could legitimately be used on stage and provide the same level of feel and control as an “old school” rig. The StompIO was built to change the equation and does not disappoint. While I don’t advocate throwing away your old pedal board just yet, read on to find out why I think the StompIO is an incredibly compelling product that could finally set the stage for computer based amplification.