Blackouts are a new set of 9-volt active pickups from Seymour Duncan. Before starting their design the company did some research and claims to have found a a fundamental flaw in the design of the circuitry that causes signal compression and a loss of frequency response. They concluded the problem was the use of an unbalanced differential preamp. Therefore, in Duncan’s design they use balanced inputs which made Blackouts 14dB quieter than EMGs the competitors. As a result they claim you get more lows, more highs, more output, and less hum.

They do their regular round of name dropping to promote the product, citing players who have switched to Blackouts like Mick Thompson of Slipknot, Corey Beaulieu of Trivium, and Mike Schleibaum of Darkest Hour. To be fair, I’m pretty sure these guys were all already Seymour Duncan artists… so it’s not like they jumped over from “the other guys”.

Blackouts are already available for purchase. The neck and bridge pickups will be sold individually and in a two-pickup matched set. Battery life is 1420 hours for one pickup, or divide that by two for a set of pickups.

I Love my EMG 81/85 active pickups, but I have always wanted to try some Seymour Duncans. I think this is probably where I would start.

Designed for those guitarists who like to add that extra gain to their amps or simply want a classic overdriven tone for their clean channel, the Krankshaft delivers. Featuring a heavy-duty chassis and true bypass circuitry, the Krankshaft can help you achieve screaming leads or smooth country rock-blues tones.

I cant say that I see anything specifically special about this pedal, but the Krank fanboys out there will probably love it. The only feature information I could find was that it has true bypass and a heavy duty chassis. It’s a simple pedal that has only three controls including output, tone, and gain. There is a true bypass switch and thats about it.

Online retailers are listing the unit at $129USD and it should be available for purchase by tomorrow.

On their official website Line 6 states that “Pocket POD® exhibits all the celebrated features and pro tone that makes POD a standard in recording studios everywhere”. I’m obviously skeptical of that statement since why would the release a lower end version if it has all the same features. So I decided to take a closer look.

Comparing the Pocket POD and the POD 2.0

• Both units include the same 32 amp models, 16 cabinet models, and 16 professional effects.
• Both units have an aux input (CD/MP3 player), an amp output, a direct/headphone output, a guitar input, and power a port for an AC adapter.
• Both units have Line 6’s A.I.R. Mode for recording mic simulation.
• Both units have a USB connection that can be used to edit effect/amp/cab presets on the POD.
• The POD 2.0 has MIDI inputs and outputs, the Pocket POD does not.
• The POD 2.0 has 8 dedicated control knobs for each of level, drive, bass, mid, treble, channel volume, reverb and effect tweak. The Pocket POD has 4 knobs. Two controls are shared per knob and an ALT button is used to switch between them.
• The POD 2.0 has 1 knob for amp models and 1 knob for effect selection. The Pocket POD uses a 4-way menu system.
• The POD 2.0 has a port for an external floor pedal. The Pocket POD does not.

All considered the Pocket POD really is a repackaged POD 2.0, they just added battery power, made the AC adapter optional, and dropped the MIDI external pedal ports. Oh, and the price also dropped about 60$. All of the effects are the same and you should get the same sound from a Pocket POD that you would get from a POD 2.0. It just comes down to how you interact with that sound.

This would be a really great tool for people who want portability. If you want to be able to play your electric guitar with effects through headphones where you have no power source, Line 6 has you covered. If you are never going to be in that position you might as well spend the extra bucks and get a full POD 2.0 because it comes with the AC adapter. If you want USB recording then the PODxt is what you should be looking at.

The Pocket POD is being presold at online guitar stores. If you order it now the expected arrival date is July 9th, 2007.

[Via Peter's Reviews]

There was a time when Wylde was the be all and the end all for me. I thought he was the king shit of life and if I ever had a dream it was to be able to play like him. I have since broadened by metal tastes, but I would still love to have one of these on hand when I just want to plug in and play some BLS.

His custom Gibson guitars are some of the best selling signatures ever, and I’m sure product makers just can’t wait to put the Zakk Wylde stamp of approval on anything they can. The good thing is he won’t put his name on just anything. He is pretty strict when it comes to the quality of his products and you can tell by the sound.

Basically, if you ever wanted to sound like Zakk Wylde then you need a MXR ZW-44 overdrive pedal. Not only is it approved by Zakk, but he actually uses this pedal in his own stage rig.

The unit is a standard overdrive pedal that has been tweaked to Zakk’s liking. It includes the following features:

• Output – controls overall effect volume (inactive in bypass mode)
• Tone – shapes overall EQ
• Gain – controls overall amount of distortion
• Footswitch – toggles effect on/bypass (red LED indicates on)
• Sports the classic Zakk Wylde Bullseye paint job

The unit can be powered by a 9V battery or with the optional Dunlop AC adapter. The battery is good for portability, but I always suggest using the adapter when you have the unit hooked up at home.

If you want to sound like Zakk and you want to do it on a budget, pair the MXR ZW-44 pedal with a set of ZW EMG active pickups and you’ll be squealing and slaying just like the man himself.