SR Technology JAM 150 Plus

I have a keeper!  I just picked up an SR Technology JAM 150 Plus and it’s exactly what I was looking for: An amp that is more than an amp.  I play a fairly wide range of sounds — everything from nylon string guitar to electric to guitar synth — so I need an amp that can handle a huge frequency range and lots of dynamics.  The JAM 150 Plus does that with ease.

SR Technology has made the JAM 150 Plus incredibly simple to operate.  You basically have six input channels.  Channels 1 and 2 have 1/4″ inputs as well as XLR inputs, channel 3/4 has 1/4″ inputs that can be used either separately or in combination, channel 5/6 has RCA inputs designed to take an input from your iPod, computer or CD player.  Channels 1, 2 and 3/4 have a high, mid and low eq and an effects send (works on both the internal effects or the effects send).  Channel 5/6 has a high and low eq.  You also have RCA record outs with a level knob, an XLR line out, a 1/4″ effects send and two effects return inputs.

SR Technology has included some built in digital effects.  You have a choice of four effects — one delay and three reverbs.  As well, there’s a phantom power switch for condenser mics and there’s a handy ground lift on the back of the amp.  One last point, the Jam 150 Plus has a mount on the bottom of the speaker which would make it perfect for use as a main PA speaker.  Honestly, if you’re at all familiar with running a small mixer you’ll have zero trouble with the JAM 150 Plus.

So how does it sound?  That’s really the most important thing.  Well, it sounds amazing!  Big and open with a huge amount of headroom.  Everything I’ve put through the amp has sounded absolutely first rate.  Running my main guitar, a Godin Multiac Grand Concert SA through my pedalboard, then into Mainstage 2 (for reverbs and delays) and finally out to the JAM 150 Plus produced some of the best tones I’ve ever had.  When I added synth sounds to my nylon string, I was able to create tones that were lushand defined.

And while we’re on the subject of synth sounds… SR Technology states that the amp’s frequencies extend down to 40 Hz (and all the way up to 20 kHz).  I have no way to accurately measure this, but I did test out the bottom end on the amp.  I dialed up a monstrously low synth bass using Spectrasonics Trilian.  The walls of my condo shook!  Seriously.  This amp has no shortage of bottom end, so if you’re a guitarist using any kind of detuning, the JAM 150 Plus is not going to let you down.

On the electric guitar side of things, the JAM 150 Plus brought my tones to life.  All of my electric sounds (amps and effects) come from Mainstage.  I still occasionally use Amplitube 2 (great plugin!), but the new Amp Designer and Pedalboard plugins in Logic/Mainstage are my number one choice for electric sounds.  Playing these electric sounds through the JAM 150 Plus was an absolute joy!  It feels great and that makes me play better.  To be clear, the JAM 150 Plus doesn’t offer any kind of built in amp modeling — you’re going to need your amp models and effects to be generated by a plugin, effects pedal(s) or some combination of the two.

I guess by now you can tell I’m a fan of this amp.  The SR Technology JAM 150 Plus has everything I look for in an amp: top notch sound quality, portability (the amp weighs only 29 lbs) and world class build.  Doesn’t hurt that it looks pretty sharp too!  I’m keeping it!

“Ignore Everybody”

If you’re just visiting my site and wondering what the heck I’m doing writing about Hugh MacLeod’s Ignore Everybody, I’ll tell you.  Derek Sivers (Founder of CD Baby) sent out an e-mail asking if anyone would be interested in receiving a book and then writing about it.  Derek’s other criteria was — must be a working musician, currently releasing and promoting music and have a blog.  A lot of people responded, and I was one of the lucky ones Derek chose to be involved.  I should also say, Derek sent out these books at his own expense, which was incredibly nice of him, and I’m also very thankful for the time he’s put into organizing this project.

Now Derek wasn’t interested in a simple book review, but a working musician’s viewpoint — “How can I apply this to my music career?” [As an aside, I truly enjoyed Ignore Everybody.  Lots of great insights that pushed me and I liked that.  Also I found the book funny and engaging.  Okay that was my review.]

For me, the main thing that I took from Ignore Everybody was: Be less vulnerable.  Notice I didn’t say don’t be vulnerable — I don’t think you could be an artist (musician, painter, writer, whatever) if you weren’t vulnerable to some degree.  But making yourself excessively vulnerable (no I can’t define excessively and I think it’s different for every one) is, as Hugh illustrates, counterproductive to creative freedom.  Whether the vulnerability comes from the need for external approval, laziness, lack of money, buying in to the “artiste” mythology or any number of other pitfalls, excessively or blindly falling for these traps almost always ends up in some sort of artistic compromise.  So, know yourself and get out of your own way!

The book is broken down into 40 short chapters, each with it’s own take on how to be more creative or more effective in what you do.  I think I’m already doing some of the things Hugh recommends and there are a few similarities between Hugh’s and my own approaches.  Like Hugh I’ve “put in the hours.”  Lots of hours. I’ve also reserved a pure art/music side that’s for me alone in conjunction with the corporate jobs and more commercial music that I do.  I like them both.

Where I do less well though is that I often don’t know how to say no.  Do I want another plugin for my DAW?  Yes!  Do I want to play two three-hour gigs in one day?  Yes!  Program my own database?  Yes!  Learn a few more classical guitar pieces?  Yes!  At a certain point, and I probably reached that point years ago, your focus gets blurred.  Where do I use my time and resources most effectively?  Right now I don’t know that answer, but Ignore Everybody has me thinking.

Still I’m not going to dodge Derek’s initial question: “How can I apply this to my music career?”  I want to give some concrete examples.  First, I’m going to spend more time on music and less on business.  Music is the core of what I do.  So to give me more time for music, I’m going to streamline how I do business.  I don’t need the complexity of FileMaker Pro, Bento suits me fine.  I don’t need to be on ten social networking sites, a few of the big ones are enough.  And if the workload gets too heavy, I’m going to outsource the jobs.

Second, I’m going to look at how I make music.  I need to narrow my sonic choices — more is not always better.  This is going to mean reducing the number of plugins and samples I have (I may take them right off of my computer) and committing to the remaining ones.  I also need to practice guitar more — to practice every day regardless of how many phones calls or emails I have to answer.  This matters.

Third, I’m going to try to ignore everybody and be, as my wife calls it, fearlessly myself.

Leadership lessons from Obama, mismanagement tips from Scrooge

Leadership lessons from Obama, mismanagement tips from Scrooge
Nice article in the Globe & Mail today.  I love this quote from Loretta Lynn:
Marketing advice from country singer Loretta Lynn: “You either have to be first, best, or different.”

Record industry faces liability over ‘infringement’

Record industry faces liability over `infringement’

Hard to believe this is even true.  You have to wonder the logic behind Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada’s decision to “exploit now, pay later if at all.”  Maybe it’s simply pure greed.  Maybe it’s bad management.

But as the author Michael Geist ponts out: “After years of claiming Canadian consumers disrespect copyright, the irony of having the recording industry face a massive lawsuit will not be lost on anyone, least of all the artists still waiting to be paid. Indeed, they are also seeking punitive damages, arguing “the conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against consumers.”

Yup.  And regardless of how this plays out in the courts it looks and smells like it is. Bad.

SmoothJazzNow.com Interview

Please tune in to SmoothJazzNow.com tomorrow (Thursday, December 3) at 9 AM (Mountain Time) to hear my interview with John Beaudin.

Music biz expert Passman: Subscriptions can save us

Nice interview with Donald Passman. I liked his last insightful comment: “The more pain the industry feels, the easier the legal side gets. The better the technology gets, the closer we get to delivering an experience people want.”

“St. Joseph Street” – Smooth Jazz Therapy Review

Terrific new review of St. Joseph Street by Denis Poole (Smooth Jazz Therapy)!