CMusicBlog

Many of us over a few decades old may remember a time where products from Japan were considered junk.  Cheap, poorly made and poorly working items foisted upon the US market, often as alternatives to American goods.  Those of us also remember when the Japanese started making some really great, affordable alternatives to US goods.  Cars like Toyota and Honda come to mind.  In the guitar world it was brands like Ibanez, Aria and ESP that made products rivaling American giants like Fender, Gibson and Martin.  A lot of this happened at ...

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Time for another review.  Digitech is seriously making a play for the boutique pedal market with their Hardwire series.  So serious in fact, that they initially opted to treat it like a totally separate brand, even requiring me to fill in additional paperwork to carry them.  Since then, Digitech has realized that they can use their well known name to help launch this series.  Smart move.

The basic premise is to offer a line of effects pedals that meet some of the criteria found in the more expensive, boutique pedals while offering a pedal that is affordable, somewhat uniform (in other words, it isn't some weird shaped box that takes up a huge amount of room on the floor and plugs in at different angles, thereby making your pedalboard a mess) and sounds great.  To this end, they have acheived their goals and more.  Boutique pedals can often be expensive, hard ...
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Sorry, I haven't been keeping this as regular as I'd like but I'm working on it.

We hear the phrase "he/she might not stick with it" referring to a child's interest in music and the parents need to invest in an instrument.  I can certainly understand that concern.  As a parent myself I know that kids often do not stick with those things that only a short while ago were 'gotta haves'.  Our son's interest in BMX bikes is a good example.  But music is a little different.  Sure, there are plenty of people who tried and gave up playing and I feel safe in saying that most of those regret not being able to play.  A recent study suggests somewhere in the area of 70% of non musicians wish they had pursued playing a musical instrument.  And I honestly have never heard of someone who can play a musical instrument ...
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Some of my peers have been debating whether the video game, Guitar Hero, is good for the actual guitar market.  Some argue that the game makes guitar playing look easy and when faced with the challenge of really playing a guitar they will become disheartened by the actual effort needed and give up quickly.  Others argue that it is a gateway to real guitar playing, that after the 'toyish' effect wears off kids will yearn to play the songs on real guitars.  I've seen both happen but what the greater effect on the whole has yet to be seen.

I think one good thing is the exposure to great music that features the guitar.  Getting kids to interact with the music seems like a positive step towards actual music making.  Another thing is the fun factor, playing music is fun and getting that message out is nothing but good.  But there ...
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