Heatseeker Sound Clips Recording Session

Recently sound clips of the Heatseeker hs-18 tube guitar amp were recorded by Mack Music's guitar-slinger friend Richard Smyth.  Dave Ferri's Orchard Studio was the recording venue of choice.

Orchard is located just outside Toronto in the midst of a quiet rural area and, not surprisingly, in an apple orchard!  The setting is perfect for concentrating on music ... and great tube guitar amp tone!

Richard Smyth was tapped to apply his stellar guitar playing skills and improvisational/composition chops to the session.  Richard's amazing ability to instantly create a "piece" that perfectly highlights the tonal characteristics of a particular amp setting and that is a highly appealing musical work is uncanny.  All that a great sense of humor too!

Dave Ferri is a very experienced studio owner, engineer and producer.  And a hell of nice guy!  Orchard Studio is a well laid out and organized studio with all the fixin's: large main room, vocal isolation booth, spacious control room, good sound isolation and lot of great gear.  Dave's experience shows in his ability to effortlessly select the right mic for the application, quickly picking the mic placement "sweet spot" and adjusting the recording gear for stellar sound. 

With both Richard and Dave running the show yours truly sat back and reveled in the music!

The clips have been recorded in such a way as to recreate the sound a Heatseeker player will actually hear playing in front of the amp.  The recordings use a blend three mics to recreate the full tonal range of the amp.  The mic inputs are unprocessed and were carefully balanced to achieve our goal of faithfully capturing the Heatseeker’s sound.

Our approach is to provide our customers with a 'picture' of how the amp actually sounds.  Processed clips or clips including backing instruments often sound terrific.  However, how close are they to the actual sound of the amp?

The clips highlight the great sound and versatility of the Heatseeker.  Tracks span the range of clean to overdrive to slamming distortion.  The Character Switch's ability to dial in the right sound for the right guitar is highlighted on many cuts.  Plus, there are a couple of clips that show the wide dynamic range available to the player simply by adjusting the guitar's volume control.

The clips were recorded with guitars considered the "standard" of rock and blues: a double cutaway guitar with three single coil pickups and a single cutaway guitar with two humbuckers. 

We think you'll like what you'll hear ... great guitar playing ... great music ... and great Heatseeker hs-18 tube guitar amp tone!!

Check out the Heatseeker sound clips.

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