Guitar World Ultex Sharp Review

SOUNDCHECK

the gear in review

SMALL TALK

Electro-Harmonix Voice Box harmony machine/vocoder pedal BY CHRIS GILL

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HROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY,

Electro-Harmonix has offered guitarists numerous ways to make their guitars “talk.” The Golden Throat talk box provided the most convincing effects, but even the Talking Pedal, Frequency Analyzer and Soul Kiss (sold by E-H founder Mike Matthews’ New Sensor company in 1990) produced expressive vocal-like sounds. Electro-Harmonix’s new Voice Box pedal is really more vocal processor than guitar effect, but it offers guitarists cool vocoder functions as well as two- to four-part vocal harmonies that follow the key of an instrument plugged into it. Add in reverb, octave shifting and a Unison mode with gender bending and Theremin-like whistle effects, and the Voice Box provides plenty of thrills for only a few bills.

FEATURES

DESPITE BEING HOUSED in a six-by-

five-inch box, the Voice Box is packed with more features than the average stomp box. The pedal provides nine selectable effect modes (six Harmonies, Octave Up and Down, Unison + Whis-

tle and Vocoder) each with its own programmable preset memory. XLR input and output jacks are provided for a microphone along with a +45-volt phantom power switch for powering a condenser mic. In addition to blend and voice mix controls that let you adjust the balance of dry/processed signals and harmony voices respectively, the Voice Box offers separate reverb level controls for dry and harmony vocals and a Gender Bender control that morphs your voice from high and feminine to low and macho.

PERFORMANCE

THE VOCODER EFFECT produces everything from robot voices to angel choirs that are triggered by your voice but pitched the same as your instrument, which, when used effectively, could make William Hung sing like Susan Boyle (or Robo-Boyle). The other effects, however, require that you already have some vocal talent to sound halfway decent. While the harmony and vocoder effects both require you to play an instrument along with the vocal (to determine key or provide a sound source for vocoding),

ELECTRO-HARMONIX VOICE BOX LIST PRICE: $286.00 MANUFACTURER: Electro-Harmonix, ehx.com CONTROLS: Blend, reverb dry, reverb harmony, Gender bender, voice mix, mode select FOOTSWITCHES: Mic bypass, preset INPUTS: 1/4-inch instrument, XLR mic OUTPUTS: 1/4-inch instrument, XLR mic OTHER: Mic gain hi/lo switch, phantom power on/off switch, 9-volt adapter included

FULL SPEED AHEAD

Dunlop Ultex Sharp Picks BY PAUL RIARIO

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F ALL THE COMPONENTS that

contribute to guitar tone and playability, the pick is the one that gets the least consideration. For most guitarists, their choice of pick is a lame afterthought, and perhaps with good reason: compared to all the sexy stomp boxes and myriad gear out there, selecting a pick is about as exciting as choosing cufflinks. Dunlop’s brand-new Ultex Sharp picks are the exception. Ultex Sharps are performance tools that will help you shape your tone, increase your speed and improve your accuracy, far better than any old pick. If you pay close attention to the picks that popular guitarists employ, you will find their choice has as much to do with their tone as it does their style: Virtuoso guitarists such as Eric Johnson and John Petrucci swear by Dunlop’s miniscule Jazz III pick, with its pointed end that facilitates their precise flurry of notes. The Edge favors a dimpled Herco

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GU I TA R WOR L D

DUNLOP ULTEX SHARP PICKS LIST PRICE: Player’s Pack (six picks), $4.17 CONTACT: Dunlop Manufacturing, jimdunlop.com

pick to achieve the raspy string sounds that are a signature of U2’s music. Most guitarists I know use Dunlop’s triedand-true Tortex style of pick, while I’ve always used celluloid picks, and although they wear away rather quickly, their even tone has made other choices in guitar picks unnecessary. Until now. The Ultex Sharp is based on a rare tortoise-shell pick (known for its superior tone) and is a standard size. That’s certainly a plus for guitarists that drop picks faster than state senators drop twenties on strippers. The Ultex Sharp is precision molded and nearly indestructible; it took a night of aggressive playing before my example developed chiseled edges. It also has a

the Octave and Unison + Whistle modes will work without accompaniment from an instrument. Only signals routed through the XLR mic input are processed, not those that pass through the instrument input.

THE BOTTOM LINE

THE VOICE BOX MAY be more suitable

for singers than guitar slingers, but it’s a versatile processor that can make your guitar talk (in Vocoder mode) and provides rich vocal harmonies that effortlessly follow your guitar’s key. ✺ PRO

CON

FUN; HARMONIES TRACK KEY OF INSTRUMENT; PHANTOM POWER

SETUP CAN BE COMPLICATED

nonwarping, rigid body that tapers into a sculpted tip. But what really makes it different from other picks is its smooth, composite feel, which is never plasticky. I find its tone acts much like a spruce top on an acoustic, allowing notes to project clarity and brightness to balance a darker back and sides wood. Whether using an electric or acoustic, it intensified my picking dynamics and delivered volume when digging in. With the Ultex Sharp, you won’t have to work as hard to develop accuracy and speed because the perfectly contoured tip strikes the strings evenly and allows you to bounce between them effortlessly while transferring a quicker decay between notes. The picks are available in .73, .90, 1.0, 1.14, 1.40 and 2.0mm gauges. The Ultex Sharp has improved my playing more than any other piece of gear I’ve come across. And with all the picks to choose from, I’m no longer picky. ✺ PRO

CON

BRIGHT AND ARTICULATE, SOMETHING WE ALL ASPIRE TO BE

TALENT NOT INCLUDED