bobmeyrick

He's also a fine guitar player, and as such adds such useful touches to the designs; for example the footswitch for the Drive King has two 9v outlets for powering pedals.

Yes indeed, I have the first production model. Ian Beestin, a drummer friend of mine, goes way back with Cliff Brown - I think they were at school together. It was through Ian I got to know Cliff, when he was still at Blackstar and just about to set up 633. Ian was always saying that I should try one of his amps, so when I was able to try the Drive King prototype at a music shop demo I was convinced! Here's a pic from April 2016 when I went down to Cliff's place to pick up the amp. I brought along my 1x12 cab, the Heritage H150 VSB and Paulman Tele to try it out.

Birthday celebration part 2 (the CC H150 Goldtop was part 1). I've had the 633 Drive King for a few years now, and was intrigued when Cliff Brown at 633 brought out the Firefly, a 7 watt Class-A 1x10 combo. It's basically the Dragonfly with the overdrive circuit from the Drive King added. I ordered one in February and picked it up yesterday. It sounds very good... The controls are Volume, Tone (with a pull switch to toggle between "Tweed" and "Blackface"), Drive, Level, Reverb and Power. The Drive switch and Cab-sim output re located underneath at the back, while Drive can also be activated with a footswitch. The range of tones available is pretty wide by judicious use of the volume, drive and power controls, from a sparkling clean to Santana-like sustain, all at reasonable volume levels. Here's designer Cliff Brown putting the prototype through its paces... Some photos...

For quite a while now I’ve been using a TC Electronics Plethora X5 - five “slots” into which you can put any of the TC Tone print pedals. Each set of five constitutes a “board” and the unit can hold 127 boards! There are plenty of videos showing how it can be used, but I tend to have a relatively simple setup, with the effects being mainly modulation/delay/reverb in the effects loop of the amp. No overdrives, but I use the amp’s overdrive for solos and a Fuchs Plush Drive in front of the amp for a bit of crunch. My setup is Guitar -> wah -> Plush Drive -> Plethora input -> Plethora Insert send to amp input -> amp fx send to Plethora Insert return -> plethora output to amp fx return. The board I tend to use most has the Viscous Vibe as the first pedal, before the Insert Send (so the signal is going from the vibe into the amp’s input), with the signal from the amp’s fx send into Corona Chorus, Pipeline Tremolo, Flashback Delay and Hall of Fame Reverb, and back to the amp’s fx return. I hope that makes sense... You can edit the effects on the unit, and you don’t have to press anything to save - your changes are saved when you exit edit mode. There are firmware updates, most recently the Infinity Sample Sustainer has been added to the available toneprints. Ever since I heard the 1973 Robert Fripp/Brian Eno collaboration No Pussyfooting, I’ve been a fan of ambient music. They used a couple of Revoxes for tape delays, but this chap shows how you can do it with the Plethora...

You know how it is. You're wasting time on the internet and you come across a very nice guitar at a very nice price and not too far away... Big birthday coming up (exactly 10 years younger than Eric Clapton), contacted Rolly's Guitars and Rolly put the Heritage on hold for a few days until I could call in, which I did yesterday. I spent a pleasant hour playing the Heritage and talking guitars, bands and assorted nonsense, then made my way home as new member of the Custom Core Club. It's a 2023 model, well set up, in almost pristine condition and sounds glorious through the Drive King. I made a slight adjustment to the bridge pickup height, but that was it. Pics, I hear you say?

Just after 12'45" you can see him try to do a swell with the bridge pickup selected. It doesn't work, so he selects the neck pickup and swells away!

I found this picture of an Aria Pro 2 TA60... The one in the original picture looks like a fancier version with the block markers and different pickups. Maybe a custom model?

Actually to me it looks like they could be Aria Pro 2 guitars. Google "Jerry Reid Aria Pro 2" and you'll get a load of results that would seem to confirm this. Perhaps the prejudice against the Heritage headstock in some quarters was down to the similarity with the Aria design?

I can recommend a book by Dave Stewart (keyboard player with Hatfield and the North, Bruford, and his duo with Barbara Gaskin, not the Eurythmics guy) called "Musicians Guide to Reading and Writing Music". It was published quite a while ago, so may only be available used.

Playing in a band should be fun, and that sort of behaviour is totally unnecessary. Getting gigs is hard enough, without alienating the person who runs venue. Luckliy the four of us in the Pete Donaldson Blues Band get along well. On the subject of guitars, do you have any particluar idea of what you want? I have a couple of H150s that aren't getting much use - a Trans Black H150CM and a Gold top H150 Special (a slightly thinner and lighter body). I've changed the bridge and tailpiece on both for Nashville units, and reinstated the original Schaller pickups - at one time the Trans black had a pair of Phat Cats in it, and the Special a pair of P-Rails with the Triple-shot rings. Hmm... I might put them back in. Let me know if you're interested. Yamaha make fine guitars - I used to have a PAC1511 Mike Stern model, a bit like a Tele on steroids, with a Seymour 59 in the neck and a Hot Rails in the bridge.

Hi Mark, good to know you're out there playing. If you're in the market for a new amp I have one that might be of interest - a Seymour Duncan Convertible 2000 1x12 combo. I need to make some space as I've ordered a 633 Drive King, and the Seymour just isn't getting used. If you're ever down Nottingham way pop in and give it a try. Send me a message if you're interested.

Vocalists, eh? In my experience you're lucky if they have a decent mic of their own. Here's a thought - do you know anyone who has a small PA you could hire, possibly another local band? When we (the Pete Donaldson Blues Band) gig, we use a mate of our drummer to provide a PA for a fifth of what we make on the gig. If he can't do it, we use my PA, which is a modest affair I've put together from a mix of second hand and new bits. I got a Studiomaster Powerhouse 300 8-channel mixer-amp (300W per channel, built in digital FX) for a couple of hundred quid via the local paper and a pair of RCF cabs (12" plus horn) for about the same from a local shop. Pete has his own Shure SM58 plus stand and a Peavey powered monitor. I bought an SM58 and powered monitor for myself. This setup is more than adequate for pub gigs. I suppose my point is that it's possible to assemble a usable PA for significantly less than £1200. Anyway, best of luck and I hope you get it sorted so you can use that 555 in front of an audience!