- A hall of shame for items of musical equipment that have been through a pretty crappy R&D process and reasons how and why they have been improved. Or not. Further suggestions are welcome and can be submitted through the contact page.
<< The Digitech Whammy II - The original Whammy was a top shelf piece of kit. A big, red, sturdy metal construction with a treadle that you could stamp on like a bastard. If you are only familiar with the updated, midi capable Whammy II then- like the fourth Yorkshireman- you were lucky. The first version of the Whammy II was a plastic piece of junk with one particularly stupid feature- what is the point of having the bypass switch at the top? During a combat situation on a darkened stage a person has to carefully reach over the program select switch with an arched foot and pointed toe to turn the thing off...I think that you can spot the danger here for yourself. Also, the gain pot was useless and you would put the effect in line and it would sound like a blanket had been thrown over the cabinet. Finally, on a personal note, why was the deep detune program missing from this version? We were in a band once and our most well known song had a distinctive guitar hook that featured this effect. We went through our whole career in dread of our only Whammy 1 breaking down...
The Pod Pro>>

A bit of clarification before we begin here I think- Line 6 make some fantastic products. I am a big fan of the modelling FX in both the pedal and rack mount versions and I think the POD is an astonishing innovation and a valuable tool for studio use. I am also indebted to the staff and technicians at Line 6 UK as they have been a great help to me many times. However, this site is mainly dedicated to the live touring situation and I was in the position recently of working with an artist who took a POD Pro on the road and my problem with it is this. Why can you not edit noise gate thresholds, delay times etc from the front panel? Using a POD in situ in a studio means you can keep it connected to a computer for instant editing and any problems with local noise can be dealt with once and for all at the beginning of a session. Live touring doesn't work like that, all venues have different reflection characteristics (which obviously also changes when the people come in) and some rooms have more noise interference than others. So, having to whip out a laptop to tweak settings is a major ballache and as we know, getting the right delay balance can be a lengthy business- you can't be fiddling with your computer all the way through a gig there is far too much other stuff to be doing. Not to mention the dubious wisdom of keeping your laptop in the firing line of audience projectiles, stagedivers, beer, etc. So full marks for innovation but nil points for practicality I'm afraid.
<< Schaller Straplocks

Straplocks. Strap. Locks. Devices for locking your strap in place so the guitar does not slip off the buttons and shatter into splinters on the floor. A pretty good idea so far. BUT the screw which is provided with a pair of these has a thread so feeble that there is not enough to get a good purchase in the wood. Also the retaining nut which holds the washer onto the strap and 'locks' it into place unscrews very easily, falls off, lets the washer fly off the button thereby creating the potential for the guitar/floor interface mentioned above. So what should we all do? Fill the existing strap holes with a dowel & woodglue mixture then wait 24 hours for it harden before drilling new holes? We can use the time to send the runner to the chemists for some nail varnish to use to stop the nut unscrewing on the other half (the other half of the straplock that is, not the missus...). We could even get thread lock from Homebase if we are feeling flash (more money, same result). Or we could not bother with the whole thing and just buy Dunlop straplocks that have a bigger, better screw and a retaining collar that snaps into place with no loosening of parts resulting. And they lay flat to the strap too which looks a lot better.
Neutrik Angle Jacks >>

What's wrong with Neutrik? They have the industry standard for straight jacks (in some people's opinion. I think the lugs are too small) but they just can't seem to get a decent angle jack together. They make an all metal one that is about the size of a mains plug and this one which unfortunately features a plastic jacket, which is an issue all of its own which I won't go into here because it is not the main thing that annoyed me about it. I was in Norway some time back and in need of angle jacks and the Neutrik version was all that was available locally so I had no choice in the matter. This jack doesn't have a separate lug for the earth connection, the cable screen has to be soldered directly to the body, that is annoying feature number one. Annoying feature number two is that the metal it is made of is so thick that once I'd managed to heat it up enough for the solder to flow, I then had to leave it to cool for 20 minutes before I could touch it and finish the job. Multiply that by the number of cables I had to make and you get a shed full of wasted time and I don't have that kind of time to spare on a gig day. In a mixed end situation, some people get round the angle jack issue by putting a straight Neutrik on one end of a cable and an angle Switchcraft on the other but I reckon that is the work of bounders and cads. I like my ends to match so its Switchcraft all the way for me.

<< Peavey 5150

At last! News from the colonies. My good friend Leif Bodnarchuk (real name) of Canada has been in contact to nominate this badly thought out example of valve technology. Its not the audio quality he is picking fault with but, well, just about everything connected with servicing it. It is a lengthy moan, so it will not fit here but the highlights include-

"I found the design and layout of this amp a total nightmare"

"If there is too much signal a fuse in the bias supply circuit blows. Good, right? Not really..."

"It is my opinion that the 5150's manufacturing process is orientated toward saving money"

Excellent stuff. Read the whole thing here Thanks Leif.