Terrence O'Brien

I got my first guitar in the seventh grade. Had a couple of bands in high school and college. And I still play regularly. But, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I only just bought my first tube amp in April of last year. That’s right, I played guitar somewhat seriously for around 25 years before I went and bought what is considered by many (mostly obnoxious purists) the only kind of amp worth playing.

Eventually, I set my sights on a Fender Blues Jr, a simple 15-watt, 1×12 amp. Specifically, I managed to snag a gorgeous Tweed model used for $400. It was too good of a deal to pass up (even if I did have to drive into New Jersey to pick it up).

Now, before you all freak out, it’s not that I’ve never played a tube amp before. My bands often rented a rehearsal space where I was usually playing through Marshall half stack. A JCM800 if I remember correctly, but I’d be lying if I said I cared about anything other than the fact that it was a Marshall half stack at the age of 18.

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

When it was time for me to go out and upgrade from my tiny Yamaha practice amp, I just got the loudest thing I could afford at the time: a 2×12 120-watt Crate solid state amp. I needed something that could be heard over a drummer in my basement or in a small club. It did exactly what I expected it to: It was delightfully crisp and clean, took pedals well and it was loud.

That was my only amp for many years. But, being 120w it didn’t really do “quiet.” Even with the volume at one it was enough to piss off the neighbors. So when I had my first child I knew I needed to get something else. Again, budget and volume were important (turns out kids are expensive). But instead of being loud, this time I needed something that would sound good at levels that wouldn’t disturb a sleeping baby. So I snagged a Yamaha THR10 on sale.

But over the last few years I’d started getting serious about music again. And, in particular over the last two years, I’d rekindled my love of guitar. Between that, and what I’m going to chalk up to pandemic restlessness, I started looking to upgrade to an actual tube amp. I ended up settling on the Blues Jr in part because I still needed something that didn’t get too loud. But I also didn’t need anything terribly fancy. I wanted tube warmth and crunch at a reasonable price and without too many bells and whistles.

While it took me a while to find the amp’s sweet spots, I’m a convert. I now primarily use my THR10 late at night or if I need to be mobile – say, shooting a review in my dining room. But otherwise, I’m firing up the Blues Jr everytime. It can do the jangly clean tones often associated with Fender at lower volumes, and get an almost Vox-ish crunch when cranked. I rarely use the “Fat” switch, which boosts the mids, but I could see it being handy if you’re relying entirely on the internal drive and need to take a solo.

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

The only real amenity you get is a spring reverb, which sounds pretty great. Cranking it introduces a decent amount of noise to your signal, but it really nails those drippy surf tones.

Importantly for me, it has a master volume knob (which not all amps do). That allows you to push the preamp until you start to get some delicious breakup, while keeping things at a level that won’t get the cops involved. But it gets loud enough for gigging too, in case I ever decide to play music in front of other humans again (highly unlikely).

The biggest selling point, though, was that it’s also a pretty solid pedal platform. As a guitarist with more effects than talent, I needed something that wasn’t going to get too muddy or noisy as I started stacking multiple delays and reverbs with fuzz.

The Fender Blues Jr has been around since about 1995. And, while it has undergone multiple revisions in that time, its core character remains largely unchanged. Honestly, I wish I had discovered it earlier. Because, while I’ve fallen in love with plenty of instruments and effects over the years, this is the first amp that I’ve been truly enamored with.

It’s only been a couple of weeks since Cre8Audio unveiled its first self-contained synth. But the company is back already with a companion to the East Beast, called the West Pest. As the name implies this is a West Coast style synth, made to complement the Beast’s east coast flavor. 

Just like the Beast this is an analog semi-modular synth built in collaboration with Pittsburg Modular. It has a 20-point patch bay, a one octave keyboard, a 32-step sequencer, an arpeggiator and a “digital multi-function tool” that can be an extra envelope, LFO or a random generator. 

In fact the two have more in common than not. Physically they’re nearly identical, but with slightly different control layouts and graphics. And they’re both just $250, which is stunningly affordable for an analog modular synth. 

Of course what separates the West Pest from its sibling is its core sound and design features. Its main oscillator is described as “buzzy” and instead of a filter to shave off harmonics, it has a wave folder to add more. Rather than a traditional envelope and filter combo, the Pest has a Dynamics Controller module, that combines the functions of an envelope generator, VCA, and a low pass filter, which sounds more-or-less like a low pass gate. And there’s a generative sequencing function for getting truly unpredictable with your bleeps and bloops. 

West Coast style synthesis has enjoyed something of a resurgence these last few years. Small companies like Erica Synths and big players like Korg have dabbled recently. And the OG of the form, Buchla, came roaring back in 2020 with an updated take on the iconic Music Easel. So it would make sense for a company like Cre8Audio looking to make a splash with it’s first couple of synths to give it a try too.

The West Pest is available to preorder now for $250 and should be shipping “imminently.” 

The Orba is mostly a musical curiosity, but a compelling one especially at the reasonable price of $100. But for its next version Artiphon is hoping to go beyond fidget toy and turn its little MPE grapefruit into a legit groovebox. 

Physically almost nothing has change about the Orba 2. It’s till the same black half orb with eight touchpads across the top. It still has a builtin speaker and synth engine, the latter of which was recently opened up for anyone to design their own patches. It’s still a capable MIDI controller with support for multiple gestures including shake, tilt and spin. 

What makes the new version immediately more impressive, is that it now supports sample playback. You can even record your own samples using the Orba app on your phone and then turn that into a preset that can be played. So you could record a bird call, a car horn or just another instrument and play that melodically. 

But that’s not all, Orba 2 can also quantize your playing, which is extremely helpful if your rhythm is lacking. Lastly, where the original was limited to an eight bar loop, the sequel can handle up a 128 bar loop — or about five minutes of music. 

All of that additional power comes at a bit of a premium. But even at the new price of $150, it’s still one of the most affordable MPE controllers out there and no doubt still a great fidget toy. But perhaps it will also now be a great groovebox too. 

Novation already makes five different versions of its venerable Launchkey series of MIDI controllers, ranging from the travel-friendly Launchkey Mini all the way up to the studio centerpiece Launchkey 61. But for some, 61 keys isn’t enough. And a serio…