Trip to Madras. Some gears and reviews.

Hi,
Yesterday I was in Chennai for a short visit. So happened to meet the Tulasi guys to check out if there's something new. He had 100W Combo which he had made. I didn't check if it had an Overdrive. But I played through it for about half an hour to check how good it was. These are the things

1. It's a 100W Combo with a 12" speaker, so pretty huge. Dont like a combo to be huge because portability becomes an issue. I'd prefer this as a head and a speaker cabinet seperately. The Amp is pretty loud and is loud enough for small to medium gigs.

2. The real treat is the speaker. The highs were amazingly clear, much clearer without harshness than any of the things I have played before. It had tight lows too and moderate mids. Then he told me that the speakers were original Eminense. For those guys who dont know Eminence it's as good as Celestion use in a several Professional high end Combo Amp and Cabinets. I happened to check out the speaker too. He was using the Legend Series Model 121. When I played Arpeggios it sounded very clean and full and sounded like a mild chorus was used. With a good Chorus like a Rocktron Tsunami or a Maxon CS9 Pro, I think this will give a serious competition to the Roland Jazz Chorus. Maybe I am exhaggerating.. Neverthless it sounded great.

3. I am not sure if it had an inbuilt overdrive but I am sure it will be useless because most guy use a processor. The finish was only okay. Doesn't look great but surely sounds great. It cost Rs.8700 I guess or something like that. I forgot the actual price he quoted.

If you dont mind the looks and are open minded enough to play a custom amp, then go ahead and give it a try. Highly recommended. Maybe for my future 12x2 cabinet which is in the pipeline, I will get these speakers and make it myself or rather get him to do the whole thing. The Eminece is a real treat.

By the way I am no representative of this product, so dont question me about this. If you have any queries talk to him straight.

 

Tulasi Acoustic Guitar
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Saw this Tulasi made Ovation kind of Fibre back Acoustic Guitar with pickup and volume / tone control. I guess it was Rs.3800, not sure again. Here are the things about it.

1. Like any other fibre back it lacks that super clean lows. I love jumbo guitars for their nice lows and highs. This thing has a clean highs but not bassy enough to my taste.

2. Decent quality piezo. It has nice clarity when amplified. I have played through a low end Ovation which sucked big time. Played through a Takamine EG240 which sounded great. So this Tulasi surely sounded better than that sick Ovation I played through but Takamine EG240 is much better than this. The EG240 is about Rs.15000 in India and this Tulasi Acoustic is only Rs.3800. If you have good cash, get yourself a Martin. But this Tulasi is surely a better alternative than to buy Givson or Gibtone or something like that. For slightly higher price, you get a better one.

3. No idea about the longevity of the product. I have their Electric and is doing well. So I can trust on the same lines.

 

Yamaha F380 Acoustic
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Basic Guitar with no pickups. Played this in Mussee Musicals for about 45 minutes.

1. Nice Action and setup done really well. Very well playable.

2. No cutaway, so 14th Fret and beyond might be difficult.

3. Rs.7000 for the Black one. Rs.7100 for the Natural Finish. The shop keeper had no clue about the woods used, so if you need info check out the internet.

4. Good quality for the price. In Bangalore, you get GB&a for about 7K and compared to GB&a or Montana this one is pretty good.

5. Highs were not very clean and articulate. Decent lows. Played some Arpeggios and some Chords. I was impressed with the over all.

6. A pickup and a volume/tone would have made it to be much more better. If you are not a pro but will play small gigs in School / Colleges, this would be good buy if you can find the same version with the pickup or add a pickup or a piezo to it.

 

Yamaha Pacifica Electric
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Saw this when I was almost leaving Mussee. I had to hurry up becasue my cousin was showing me the watch and bothering me to leave . So I just play it for about 10 minutes. Didn't plug in at all.

1. It had a single piece Maple neck. At least I didn't notice any joint in the neck. The grains were the same from the place where it joins the body till the tip of headstock. No idea about the body of the guitar. Strat Styling.

2. Not much heavy, well balanced. Finish was only okay. Your house painter could have done it better.

3. Neck was pretty smoot, factory setup action was very low and nice. Fast feel to the neck. Not thick like the fenders.

4. Rs.11,000 was the price. Did't plug in, so no clues about how the pickups are. If the pickups are good, then it's a very good first guitar. SSS, so NO NO for total Metal Heads.

 

okay kooooooool

 

I had a friend asking me about Tulasi Acoustic Guitar recently, thanks ronnie reps for you! Do these guys deliver to Mumbai?

 

Hi Neo,
Thanks for your Reps. No idea about whether Tulasi ships it to anywhere. I guess if the buyer can bear the shipping cost, anybody would ship it. Anyway if you are interested, I will get you his contact details and you can talk to him straight. I just played his guitar and no idea about his other details.

 

hi Ronnie,

It would be great of you if you provide us their (Tulsi's) contact number so that guys interested would talk to them.

 

For Tulasi Guitar and Amps, contact Mr.Venkoba Shah at (0) 98400 52565. I dont have the address but you can talk to him and get whatever details. By the way this is a Chennai number, so include that 0 if you are calling from elsewhere.

Another update. He told me that he can make Tube Amps too and now he has a selection of different pickups for different sound requirements. Talk to him directly for details.

I am getting an Acoustic from him. Just thinking of some wild Psychedelic Painting for the guitar. Dont want it to look like just another one :beer: .

 

hey cool..different choice in pickups and tube amps ?:shock:..Tulasi is going places...have to check these out..hmm..that chennai trip I keep postponing has to be planned even earlier now

 

He said that the tube amp is under progress. In another 10 days time it should be ready. Even if there's a delay I guess it will worth checking it out.

He says that if anybody comes through IGT, he will give special discounts.

@Nebu, I was expecting you this weekend at the Jam Room. Wanted to check out your Silver Dragon.

 

hey ron what is that JAm room? some place in Bangalore?

 

Yep. It's some place in Bangalore.

 

But dude ... guess there is no road from Hangar 18 to the Jam Room !!!!!
There is a Huge Wall In between !!!!! Ha ha ..

The jam room is nxt to the runway !!!!!

 

:RollLol:

are u serious?
what if u ppl get rundown?

 

Ssslayer. That's true. The Jam is room is right next to the run way. They wont run down on us because Nanda the Devil scares them away :think: .

 

Hey there is a wall after the ruway .. and then a small road .... So no probs ...

 

ok ... me visiting that place ... the next imge i land in Bangy ..

 

Yup sure dude .. u r welcome ... but which place r u frm anyway ??

 

Hangar 18 what else? :grin:

am from Delhi ...
working in Hyderabad ...