Gear: August 2012
Summer’s here and the time is right for some dancing in the street and a little NAMM show product wrap-up . . .
Allen & Heath
ZED60-14FX Mixer
Longtime English live sound boffin Allen & Heath has launched its ZED60-14FX, an affordable and compact analog mixer that is ideal for small bands and venues. This 4FX goes “one louder” than its 10FX brother launched earlier this year, employing the same high-quality, 60mm sound faders, but with the addition of an extra four mono/mic channels.
Of the eight mono channels available, each has high-impedence jack inputs that can take a normal line level or a low level input from a acoustic/electric guitar, so guitars (or bass, if you dare) can be plugged straight into the mixer without the need for DI boxes. These inputs have been modified to recreate the sound of a classic tube preamp in a combo or head amp for incredible definition and warmth.
Two stereo inputs are provided for MP3/CD players or keyboards. The 14FX also comes with configurable USB audio in/out, making it easy to capture a stereo recording at a gig or in the studio.
The mixer is equipped with XLR main stereo outputs, a flexible monitoring section with headphone and speaker outputs, and 16 high-quality digital effects.
Allen & Heath des-igner Mike Griffin spent a lot of time ensuring ZED would play nice with the other kids. “We designed the ZED-60 mixers to complement the very popular ZED-10FX, which is a super-compact but professional standard mixer with rotary faders. The ZED-60 models incorporate additional channel-mute switches and 60mm faders, making them great to use for dynamic mixing but still retaining their diminutive size. The ZED60-14FX takes it one step further with eight mono channels, two stereo channels, and our renowned in-house designed effects – it’s a very useful piece of kit indeed.” A&H see ZED retailing in the $500 range. Info can be found at allen-heath.com.
PRS
59/09 Guitar Pickups
PRS’ vintage-inspired 59/09 pickups are now (finally!) available for purchase for the first time through the PRS accessories store and authorized PRS dealers. No more cannibalizing your PRS guitar to use its pick-ups. (What you do with its brain and soul is up to you.)
Introduced in 2009, these proprietary pickups (along with the acclaimed PRS 57/08 pickups), were designed by Paul Reed Smith to capture the iconic tones of legendary 1950s-era guitars. Made with vintage-style wire and wound in-house in PRS’ electronics dep-artment, critics have called these magnets a modern classic. For players looking to refine the voice of their guitar, the 59/09 pickups are what the company calls “articulate while providing rich harmonic, overtones.”
With a dynamic bridge pickup and a touch of brightness in the neck, “these pickups are made to achieve clarity and definition with a punch.” It’s also compatible with five-way blade or five-way rotary pickup switch PRS Guitars. For info, visit www.prsguitars.com.
News & Notes
Peavey is rewarding one lucky winner of its Rehearsal Room Makeover contest with a free 1,000-watt sound system that includes a professional mixer, loudspeakers, microphones, and more. Totaling thousands(!) of dollars in gear, the Makeover prize package includes a TriFlex II portable sound system with two speaker stands, a PV 14 USB mixer with direct USB output, a PV-1 wireless handheld microphone, and three PV MSP2 XLR microphones. Enter by liking Peavey on facebook.com/peaveyelectronics.
— David Gedge
