For those of you who have been smitten by Jerry Garcia , or have been bitten by the bug of an endless fever dream to try and chase his beautiful and incredibly unique tone , you have no doubt heard of Mr . Brad Sarno . Mr . Sarno is known among guitarist Deadheads ( that is , a special and unique breed of Deadhead usually found hidden amongst messes of tie-die and expensive gear ; look no further than the back of your local guitar hole or Whole Foods to find these guys ), as the creator of the SMS Classic Tube Preamp , a favorite amongst Garcia tone chasers . This preamp is the somewhat unofficial cousin of the Alembic F2-B , which was essentially a Fender Blackface preamp stage in a box . David Gilmour was also a notable user of the F2-B , as he used it to power his Yamaha RA-200 rotary speaker , and it was the main preamp of his rig during the mid-to-late ‘ 80s .
Brad Sarno knows his stuff when it comes to designing incredibly high-quality audio gear . Many folks in the guitar community love his work , and many big names have used or still use his products . When my friend Kit Rae recommended that I try out the Earth Drive from
Sarno , I knew I had to give it a shot . Very rarely does a guy known for his hi-fi prowess go into solid-state guitar pedals . Suffice it to say , my interest was piqued , and I really wanted to know what kind of spell this tonal wizard could cast on me .
The Earth Drive , like many before it , describes its tone on Mr . Sarno ’ s website as “. . . designed to retain your instrument ’ s natural character while providing an organic , full-bodied , yet transparent sound .” I ’ m sure many of you have heard this or something like it before . In the last couple of years there has been a mad influx of effects billed as
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EARTH DRIVE
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For those of you who have been smitten by Jerry Garcia , or have been bitten by the bug of an endless fever dream to try and chase his beautiful and incredibly unique tone , you have no doubt heard of Mr . Brad Sarno . Mr . Sarno is known among guitarist Deadheads ( that is , a special and unique breed of Deadhead usually found hidden amongst messes of tie-die and expensive gear ; look no further than the back of your local guitar hole or Whole Foods to find these guys ), as the creator of the SMS Classic Tube Preamp , a favorite amongst Garcia tone chasers . This preamp is the somewhat unofficial cousin of the Alembic F2-B , which was essentially a Fender Blackface preamp stage in a box . David Gilmour was also a notable user of the F2-B , as he used it to power his Yamaha RA-200 rotary speaker , and it was the main preamp of his rig during the mid-to-late ‘ 80s .
Brad Sarno knows his stuff when it comes to designing incredibly high-quality audio gear . Many folks in the guitar community love his work , and many big names have used or still use his products . When my friend Kit Rae recommended that I try out the Earth Drive from
Sarno , I knew I had to give it a shot . Very rarely does a guy known for his hi-fi prowess go into solid-state guitar pedals . Suffice it to say , my interest was piqued , and I really wanted to know what kind of spell this tonal wizard could cast on me .
The Earth Drive , like many before it , describes its tone on Mr . Sarno ’ s website as “. . . designed to retain your instrument ’ s natural character while providing an organic , full-bodied , yet transparent sound .” I ’ m sure many of you have heard this or something like it before . In the last couple of years there has been a mad influx of effects billed as
46 TONE GEAR SPOTLIGHT TALK // How // To Sarno Master Music Your Solutions Jazzmaster Earth Drive