Steve Vai’s new signature “schizophrenic” distortion pedal – The Jemini
October 3, 2008 by Andy Martin
Steve Vai is one of those guitarists that I absolutely love but have never been able to see live. Along with joe Satriani, he influenced me to begin playing guitar and had a strong influence on my sound and songwriting when I performed. I came across this new distortion pedal today, the Jemini, and his video demo of the pedal is what really sold me on it. The features certainly qualify for a must have gadget for guitar geeks out there, check out the video and specs on the pedal after the break.
Backlight on the controls
The Jemini is really two distortion pedals in one, with each pedal having a distinct feel and tone. The left channel is a more tone-full, smoother distortion that sounds great on the neck pickup, while the right channel gets a little more granular, with a sharper edge to it. Each channel has its own distinct gain, tone, and level settings to further customize the sound. The knobs are all back lit with LED’s so you can easily tell which channel you’re on, and also recessed down a bit so you don’t accidentally move the knobs with your big feet trying to stomp the pedal on a dark stage (been there, done that) – nice design element. Batteries are easily changed by a pop-out compartment, which is something that I wish more of my old Boss pedals had back in the day. Of course, I was a poor musician and couldn’t afford to change all those 9V batteries, so I just had AC adapters for my pedals. Which shorted out regularly. On stage. Oops. The day I got my rackmounted effects rig was a memorable day in my musical career, but I digress.
Anyway, the best part about the product page is Vai’s own demo of the pedal. And in true multiple-personality disorder fashion, he demos the pedal with . . . well . . . himself. I must say, it’s a well produced video, and Steve can be a pretty funny guy. I’ll never tire of watching him play, though, he makes it look so easy.
Another great thing on the product page is a link to a diagram of Steve’s actual setup. Very cool to see from a guitar geek perspective, very interesting to see how he’s got his signal routed, split, and patched all over. Gives me some ideas on how I might be able to tweak my sounds a bit, maybe you’ll find it helpful as well.
Pay attention to #8, that's the most important part of the rig
On a related note, I had one of those Legacy amps, honestly the best sounding amp I think I’ve ever personally owned. It was much too powerful for my application, I could never get it above 1 on the volume without blowing everyone away, but honestly it sounded incredible. I’m curious to other guitar geeks out there, what amps or pedals are you currently using? Reply in the comments below!
Jemini product page
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Speaking of mind-boggling guitar playing, Vickie Genfan won Guitar Player magazine’s Guitar Superstar contest in SF yesterday. From the local rag: “Genfan doesn’t just play guitar. She also slaps it, tickles it, fondles it, scratches it, tosses it around in her hands and coaxes all kinds of unlikely, rhythmic sounds of the otherwise simple instrument. She was the surprise winner, not just because she was one of two acoustic players, but also because the lineup was larded with the kind of heavy-handed machismo, notes-per-dollar playing that customarily takes down top prizes at such events.”
See for yourself…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clR9PInwDb4
@beth -
Wow, that was amazing!
For a chick . . .
Just kidding, of course. people who can play like that are true masters of the instrument. There are so many up-and-coming guitar players who are just so concerned about how many notes they can fit in, how fast they can play their scales, they lose all feeling and emotion in their playing in the quest for speed and accuracy. It’s refreshing to see someone like Genfan win that competition.