Zoom G5 guitar effects and amp simulator

With the G5, Zoom engineers have somehow extracted extra goodies from the same ZFX-W chip used in the G3 version. The G3's trio of LCD display/footswitches is increased to four, while simultaneous use of up to six effects jumps to nine--with four visible at a time for instant tweaking. The new 3D Z-pedal can control three separate parameters with up and down and left and right motion. Looping is extended to 60 seconds, and there are 22 amp models and 123 effect models. Also added is a 12AX7 Tube Booster with dedicated Tone control. Like the G3, the G5 contains an integrated drum machine, a tuner, and a USB audio interface for DAW recording (a version of Steinberg Cubase LE is included).

Zoom multi-effects have long found favor with metal guitarists who groove on their high-gain pedal and amp simulations. The G5 has those in abundance, but there are plenty of quality, vintage-oriented Fender, Vox, and Marshall emulations as well--the 59 MS, based on a 1959 model Marshall is exceptional. The amp models don't attempt to ape the exact controls of the originals, but capture their feel and flavor admirably. Pedal models also nail the signature tonalities of classic effects like Fuzz Face, Marshall Guv'nor, Pro Co Rat, and E-H Big Muff. 

As an occasional experimental guitarist, I was over the moon about some of the more outside effects, such as the wiggle and warping of Space Worm and W-Shift, and the digital chop of Granular. For me, the G5 is worth buying solely for the BendChorus, which automatically slides notes and chords into the target note from above or below. The Tube Booster is touted to kick a solo or signature lick up a notch, but I found leaving it on all the time added warmth to all the models, and its Tone control became a global EQ tweaking tool. One quibble: The only parameter an external expression pedal can control is the master level output, thus cutting off reverb and delay tails. 

With all of these digital goodies going on, I expected some sonic compromise--I was wrong. As far as I can tell, the only thing sacrificed on the altar of these additions--other than $100 more of your cash--is the ability to run it all on batteries. Pitch shifting displayed minimal aliasing, the HD Reverb at full wet resisted graininess, and the sound quality overall was uniformly high. If the G5 ran out of processing power, it let me know by rejecting the latest effect installed. I just had to place that effect on another patch. 

With its massive range of great-sounding vintage, metal, and "beyond" tones, ease of use (I barely cracked the manual), solid build, and compact size, the Zoom G5 rates a high priority to investigate if you are in the market for a multi-effects pedal.

3 Monkeys Orangutan Jr Review

Best known for its scorching mid sized models like the Grease Monkey and Orangutan, 3 Monkeys was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2007 as a three-way partnership between amp designer Ossie Ahsen, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, and Aerosmith guitar and amp tech Greg Howard. The new Orangutan Jr. cuts the tube complement of its big brother's four-6V6 output stage in half to deliver 15 watts, while retaining the meaty overall sonic signature. Hand wired like the bigger amps, and made from top-notch components, the Orangutan Jr. also apes 3 Monkeys' house style with its hip trapezoidal cab and space-age retro styling, all in a superbly compact format.

If the basic description of the Orangutan Jr. has you thinking "tweed Deluxe", probe a little further before you check the box and move on. It does have a cathode-biased output stage like that '50s classic, and uses a cathodyne (a.k.a. split-phase) phase inverter too (for a predisposition toward raw, throaty tones), but the Treble and Bass controls give you significantly more EQ ability than most '50s tweedies, and the inclusion of tube-powered spring reverb, a Master Volume, and a footswitchable boost (which bypasses the Bass pot to fatten up the signal) ups the amp's versatility significantly. Workmanship is extremely tidy inside and out, and the entire package exudes a hip, original, and high-quality vibe. It's a superbly easy 30-lb load that's petite enough to sling on the front seat of your Fiat 500. 

Fired up, the Orangutan Jr. offered a surprising amount of headroom with a Stratocaster, staying clean and crisp, yet thick and dynamic right up to about 2 o'clock on the dial. It really only started to grind a few ticks past that level, it's a loud 15 watts, too, and the Master really helped to rein it in for home and studio use. Setting Master levels south of around 11 o'clock rendered the amp's front-end overdrive just a tad buzzy (as so many such master volume controls will do), but it was handy for judicious attenuation. The Boost didn't induce faster breakup within the first half of the Volume's range, but mainly made it louder and fuller. Since it knocks the Bass control out of circuit, it's also a portly boost at that, but worked great to beef up my rock'n'roll riffs, which is mainly what it's there for. 

Even a Les Paul didn't bring on much crunch with the amp's Volume shy of high noon, and then it segued gradually to a thick, meaty crunch that remained impressively articulate for a dual 6V5 amp. One of the biggest surprises, though--for me, at least--was what a great little jazz and clean-with-soul amp this thing proved itself to be, which was particularly apparent with Volume around 11 o'clock and the LP's neck pickup selected. Warm, rich, and dynamic, yet with a sweet, tactile bite when you dig in, I was feeling some vintage Ampeg tones here, and enjoying them a lot. 

The reverb worked well enough, although it was a hair dark and distant compared to some other standard on-amp reverbs; a useful addition, nonetheless, and it doesn't bury your note, even when wound up pretty high. All in all, the Orangutan Jr. is a great sounding little amp, with a surprising bounty of gusto and unexpected versatility.

A closer look at Demeter TGA-1-180D The Mighty Minnie

Measuring a mere 10" X 7" X 4.5" and weighing just five lbs, the Mighty Minnie was originally designed for Sonny Landreth, who needed an amplifier that was small enough to fit on a pedalboard when he couldn't bring his Demeter TGA-3 rig on fly dates. This hybrid single-channel amp features a hand-wired TGA-3 tube preamp that couples with a high-grade Jensen audio transformer to drive a 180-watt (into 4 [ohm] class D output stage. It's a tremendous amount of power for a "mini" guitar amp, but plugging into an 8 [ohm] cabinet drops the power to 100 watts, while a 16 [ohm] 4x12 reduces the output to a humble 60 watts. Still, that's plenty of power for any gig, and the fact that the Mighty Minnie is small enough to stuff into a camera bag makes it a perfect companion for players on the go. 

Ruggedly constructed with a steel chassis and a perforated metal cover to protect the two preamp tubes, the Mighty Minnie packs Gain, Bass, Midrange, Treble, and Master controls--the latter with a push-pull function that inserts a 20dB pad into the circuit in order to give the Master more range of control at high Gain settings. The amp also features a standby footswitch (with status LED) to mute the output when tuning up or going on a break. Another hip feature that more amps should have is a regulated 9-volt jack (2.1mm) for-powering pedals. All that's needed is a cable with multiple outlets (not included) and you're in business. I tested the Mighty Minnie with a Buzz Feiten T-Pro, a PRS Modern Eagle II, and Gibson 1963 ES-335 reissue. Speaker cabinets consisted of an Alessandro Crossbred 1x12 with a Eminence GA-SC64 ceramic-magnet speaker, and a Fuchs Buzz Feiten Designed Ultralight Vintage 2x12 with Eminence Patriot Series Texas Heat speakers. 

For its part, the Minnie did everything asked of it, delivering detailed clean tones with the Gain set to around 9 o'clock and the Master pointing halfway up or higher. The headroom is quite impressive (especially with the Master fully up), and this configuration worked great with the pedals on my board, which included an Alairex HALO distortion, a Way Huge Echo Puss delay, a Diamond TRM-1 tremolo, and an MXR Phase 99. The preamp can be turned up as needed to get more overdrive, which, with the Gain pushed toward 3 o'clock and the Master down a bit, was a perfect recipe for sweetly overdriven neck pickup tones with humbuckers--great for slide playing-and slicing leads from the T-Pro's bridge single-coil. The TGA-3 preamp stage is very responsive to picking dynamics, and it stays smooth sounding as the gain is dialed toward maximum for heavier rhythm grind and sustaining lead tones, which sounded fat and sinewy when driven with the Gibson and PRS guitars' bridge pickups. 

The well-mannered EQ also makes it easy to dial in different guitars, providing ample low end, bright treble, and rich midrange textures from humbuckers and single-coils alike. Most importantly, however, the Mighty Minnie sounds and feels like a tube amp throughout its volume envelope. The class D output stage provides the heavy lifting, but it doesn't sound clinical or in any way detached from the core tube tone being generated by the preamp. The fact is, you can essentially forget that you're playing a hybrid amp and just dig on the convenience and ease of setup that the Mightly Minnie affords. Bottom line: if you need a rig for travel or just don't want to lug around a heavy tube head, take a look at what this new Demeter has to offer.