Alternative Guitar Show #2 Highlights - from Paper Dress Vintage in Hackney, London
It was quite the deliberation - deciding which image should be the cover shot for this feature - on balance I think I made there right decision by picking the very first photo of the day - where Hello Sailor Effects certainly delivers that Technicolour Rainbow which looks so appealing. Moreover I snagged a one-off pedal from that stand - a few minutes before the show was officially opened - but more of that later!
The Venue - Paper Dress Vintage, Hackney
I really enjoyed the unusual venue - a vintage clothing emporium for all, with styles from 1900-1990's. The nature of the shop complex was a little like stepping into the past - while there was a beer garden at the back, and a performance space upstairs - which hosted the show.
The upstairs space kind of reminded me a little of the very first Witney Pedal Party venue - upstairs at the Truck Record Shop. Albeit Hackney's Paper Dress Vintage was a little more spacious - and had a stage at the back, not unlike the current Witney Pedal Party venue Fat Lil's. There was a tiny bar in the corner upstairs too - so plenty of chances to grab a beer if you fancied one.
The Showrunners - Jim and Wayne
instagram.com/alternativeguitarshow/
It was the first time I connected with main show runner Jim Rhesus, where is partner Wayne (of Zona Guitars fame) will be hosting the next one in Nottingham I think it was - and I might have heard November - but am not 100% on that.
So the above is an opportune portrait of the two leading lights of his movement. It's really a not-for-profit organisation - that seeks to help promote independent guitar, amp and pedal brands.
There was a handful of brands that could not make it - although I have no idea where they would have gone - as the space looked fully occupied to me - possible some were able to spread out a little - but it definitely seemed to be on the compact and bijoux side.
The 3 brands that were supposed to be there but encountered last minute snags - were all good friends of mine - Buzzing Bugs' Dan, Intensive Care Audio's Patrick, and Zander Circuitry's Alex. It's been a while since I last saw Alex - I think it might have been as last year's Brighton Guitar Show. While Dan and Patrick were at the recent Brighton show.
In any case I arrived about an hour before opening , and was all done and dusted - just after 2 o'clock - by that time I had spoken to everyone at length - and hanging on would just have been awkward for all concerned! A fabulous show with a really easy and friendly atmosphere - most conducive to effects, amps and guitar exploration, I'm sure everyone who attended had almost as swell a time as me!
The only thing missing really was a fully body-length 'Alternative Guitar Shows' 'I woz here' Poster / Panel - so that attendees could take a snap and mark their attendance of the show on Instagram and other social media platforms!
As I mentioned I believe the next one is in Nottingham - which hopefully is a relatively easy journey for me up from London - I just need to know what the venue is - and how close to the train station it is!
Hello Sailor Effects - Joe and Glyn
Joe Halliday and his father-in-law Glyn are two of the cheeriest people you will ever have the fortune to meet, and it's always a joy to catch up - Joe and I have collaborated quite a bit since around this time last year. I was partly there to drop off a decommissioned faulty Keeley pedal with some beautiful appointments - which Joe is going to make into something intriguingly interesting - and will document the whole process. As requested by Keeley for a faulty model - the main circuitboard has been smashed up and dismantled. We're looking to retain the bakelite knobs and crystal LED lens, but everything else is carte blanche on what comes next - it will be fascinating to see what Joe comes up with there!
I asked Joe to pick out his current favourite showstopper pedal - at which point he showed me a one-off Modded Joyo Voodoo Octave Fuzz that he had wholly transformed - with added features and higher quality mojo parts, As per the picture below. The original Joyo model goes for around £40 these days, while I obviously paid a little more for this transformed edition. I've not really properly referenced it in the visual - as it's just a one-off experiment at the moment. I will be reviewing it later this week and posting up my findings - with a few additional notes from Joe!
Of course the latest Mini Monmouth Octave Fuzz release is still going strong - per my recent coverage - and there were several more beautiful examples of that variant for sale on the stand - alongside various Abbey Road and RangeMaster variants, Anchor Drive, Kossoff Drive and FreeRange varieties, and Joe's expcetional sounding PT2399 delays. In fact there was an all-in one box there featuring Range Master, Kossoff Drive, Anchor Drive, and the PT2399 Delay - already sold of course!
The Controls are - Clipping switch on top : Silicon / None / Germanium, then Fuzz (Gain), Tone, EQ-Profile : Flat / Mid-Cut, and Volume, Left Footswitch is Upper Octave On, Right Footswitch is Effect On/Bypass.
Apart from the beautiful new aesthetics - and note that I changed the knobs too, there is just one noticeable external structural change - courtesy of the Ge / Si clipping toggle. Internally I believe a number of components have been upgraded and replaced. In fact on closer examination it looks like it's mainly capacitors that have been changed - with a couple of very visible green Sprague ones, along a couple of 'tropical fish' varieties too!
Joe describes it as a rather more juicy sort of take on the Foxx Tone Machine - with some additional controls. I'm really looking forward to getting started on this one, it should be going on the board on the same day that this article appears - and the review should appear a few days later!
Zona Guitars - Wayne
Wonderful to catch up with Wayne again - who was running solo at the how - he left his wife - the equally wonderful Anna-Marie back in Exeter. I asked all exhibitors to pick out their main showstopper for the show - the one thing they were promoting - that was also a magnet and catalyst to arouse and draw people's interest.
On this occasion Wayne was focusing on his recent Fenrir Bass - obviously a bass with a Zona aesthetic, while visually to me at least - leaning a little into P-Bass territory. The olympic white pictured edition is presumable a standard issue model - which typically goes for £1.650.
So many of the brands at this show are all about the finer details - superior material and component selection - really neat wiring and circuit design, and unique tone-generation prowess.
As I said at the last show - I really love the Zona aesthetic - with my favourite variety being the The Asgard, which starts at £1,600.
Uberfrank Custom Guitars - Richard
I would like to warmly welcome Richard to the show circuit - as this is the first event he attends. It's all coming on really thick and fast as he's attending the Chicago Fredboard Summit later this week too.
He really looks like he's hit the road running. where his guitars are typically in the range £2,500 to £4,000 - and several of those are beautifully pointed with all manner of special details - including those Chase Bliss Automatone style light up button switches - which are typically used to select pickups.
Two models in particularly caught the eye at the show - both version of the Spellbinder series - the 'Woollycaster' Spellbinder on the left with wool suspended in resin, a bamboo fingerboard with clay dot inlays, cork body binding and old stock or reclaimed hardware, knobs and pickups. A very unique almost marble or kitchen surface looking guitar body - really cool and innovative all round.
Even better was a metallic blue custom edition with reverse headstock - seen on the right - with a toggle selector fo engage Neck or Bridge or Both, and a Chase Bliss style button to select the middle pickup, also a phase inversion switch if I remember correctly, and a kill-switch - and some beautiful aluminium detailing on the facia. That guitar was an already sold commission - which goes at the top of the range for such a guitar.
There are 3 core models in the range - Spellbinder, Elipsis, and Velos - all very cool and distinct - great to have this newish brand involved - first post on Instagram dates back to June 2019 - I'm sure we will encounter Richard more frequently now at those various up and coming shows - best of luck to him in Chicago too!
Good Fuzzy Sounds - Simon
Great to catch up with Simon once more. He was back with his raw and visceral mostly germanium fuzz boxes in their very distinct enclosures. Including the Bad Motorscooter, FZ-X, 2 Bad, and Bad Nite.
Start of the show was the Germanium Bad Motorscooter - which usually retails at £290 but was offered at a discount at the show. That one is Simon's take on the MKI variety, but leaning more into the Maestro FZ-1 source original - with its rawer and more visceral sounds and overall greater aggression, but picking up the sustain from the MKI variant.
We had a decent conversation about naming convention mostly, and what might be done to make the origins of those pedals more easily communicated - so potential customers ar more immediately clued in on what they're look at.
The juxtaposition between the Good Fuzzy Sounds stand and its neighbour Fredric Effects was really quite distinct - those are both valid approaches to pedal design - while they intrinsically attact slightly different audiences. I always state the importance of communication your MO most succinctly - so that prospects more easily understand what you're about and how that may appeal.
The circuits sound really great, while the naming and communication side probably needs a little work. Fantastic raw and full flavour fuzzes though generally!
Molyneaux Guitars - Dan
Cool to see Dan at another of these shows. He was mostly sporting the same roster as on the previous occasion we met, but had a really elegant natural wood Myna on display on this occasion. That had a beautiful figured body, a smoked oak fretboard - which looked a little like Brazilian Rosewood in its colouring. Also several need appointments - including a vintage Bigsby style bridge.
That Tele style guitar was the one that stood out for me at the show - while I forgot to ask Dan the price of that instrument - and there seem to be no further details online - neither on the website or Instagram. I'm sure Dan will get back to me eventually - and I will update the pricing details then.
Update! - Dan has confirmed that the price for the guitar in question would be £2.300 - there is a Guitar Builder / Specifier on the website - while a number of features on said guitar are custom orders. Obtaining specifically patterned and figured wood - is incredibly tricky and highly subjective - such that all orders of that nature have to be personal consultations, and therefore very much within the custom domain - the Guitar Builder / Specifier though features most of the obvious options - while if you somewhat custom requirements it's not going to cover your needs - and you need to enter into a consultation with Dan!
It's great to see so many high quality and distinct independent UK guitar brands - but I guess that's what the show is really about. Obviously a high repeat factor from the previous show - with the only missing guitar brand from then being Maybury guitars.
It will be fun to chart the progress of all these innovative rising brands over the next few years!
Hamstead Soundworks - Brian, and Fidelity Guitars - Matt
Seems like I've known Hamstead's Brian, and Fidelity's Matt forever really - we've encountered each other in so many guitar shows over the years. And it's alway great to catch up - Brian's usual partner Peter Hamstead was absent on these occasions - so Brian, Matt and I had a mini movie summit - as both Matt and I had recently seen Alien Romulus.
We're still waiting for the two new Hamstead pedals to materialise - the signature artist collaboration has so many moving parts - it was originally due to launch around Easter, then at the heigh of Summer, and now looks like mid to late autumn. Brian and Peter are still very cryptic about the signature pedal - which I now gather is not a gain pedal - albeit Brian things I will really like it. While for me the main event is the forthcoming stereo harmonic tremolo project - where a prototype was spied on Daniel Steinhardt's board not so long ago, I any case it looks like I will be making a couple of onsite visits to Hamstead HQ - once in the autumn, and once in the early new year.
Meanwhile Matt was still missing a showstopper guitar - while Tim Wester's excellent Double Standard was a decent stand-in. Where I personally am more a fan of the full-fat and fully loaded Stella Rosa - with all the extras.
In terms of the above photo - that pretty much defies explanation and probably needs some kind of caption competition. A somewhat slightly flipped-out spur of the moment Monty Python shenanigan no doubt!
Fredric Effects - Tim
And last but certainly not least - is my very good friend Tim from Fredric Effects - mostly by dint of that fact that he was the last to arrive and be fully set up.
It's always a delight to catch up with Tim - I think he's the one that I've encountered the most in al my pedal show travels. And much like with NRG Effects - I've been waiting for the right time for a proper collaboration - which is getting ever nearer.
Tm was due to start his Guitar Lutiery projects earlier this year - but several things have gotten in the way and the Luthiery Shed build has been pushed back to mid-Autumn. I was due to do an onsite visit - which now looks like it will happen in the new year.
In the meantime Tim has delivered two new exceptional pedals - in two slightly different sizes of 'Mini' wedge enclosures. The Mini Wedge project still continues apace - while there are still some models in the range with a bit of stock remaining - so the transitions need to be very carefully managed here.
I think Tim might have had the Standard Fuzz Machine (£150) at the Birmingham Guitar Show too, while the Deeply Unpleasant Companion MKII {£140) with all those extra button options - was definitely new here. Cuttently there's only a handful of early builds for those pedals in circulation - where I will be covering both first-hand once Tim has managed to build up a stock.
So definitely exciting times ahead, and there are now enough new variant Mini Wedges in the collection to do a decent feature on.
Meanwhile Tim is re-working the DuoFace into the Mini Wedge Fuzz Face format - with extra features onboard. And he showed me a prototype for a WIP 3-way transistor selection fuzz - with a. cool light-up display window which illuminates your current choice of transistor.
I'm really looking forward to getting my hand on several of these in the near future.
In the meantime Tim is focused on building up to Guitar Summit in Germany - so those new official product launches will likely happen after that (i.e. after 27-29 September!)
