With more kick than the existing MBK-1 and MBK-2 pickup sets, as featured on the company’s custom guitars and used by artists such as Matthew Bellamy and Josh Homme, the new Manson MBK-3 pickup sets feature a tech spec to delight the player to whom the word ‘d-jent’ needs no further explanation.

Far more flexible than a metal sounding pickup, Manson’s have been busy experimenting with these custom pickups in several new guitars under wraps at their Devon based workshops. The specs have been refined to provide a hard hitting pickup that’s suited to hard rock, metal, punk, and other unruly sounds! Combining the power of three ceramic magnets in the bridge and an Isotropic Alnico V in the neck, these chrome custom etched pickups work in any humbucker equipped guitar.

The existing MBK-1 custom P-90 in a humbucker set continue to provide hot-rodded blues and rock tones with a punchy, clean, single coil vibe whilst the ever-popular MBK-2 set combine a further modified P-90 humbucker neck pickup with a fat, mid heavy, highly defined custom bridge humbucker utilising Alnico V magnets.

The new passive pickups are handmade in the UK by Bare Knuckle pickups using the finest materials either manufactured by them or locally sourced. The launch of the MBK-3’s comes after extensive consultation with Mansons and is the culmination of years of experience developing the best sounding pickups money can buy.

The MBK-3 pickup sets are available now from Mansons direct at www.mansons.co.uk and retail for £229 inc VAT.

Manson Custom Pickups – tone for all players.

The new UX1000 is available in two configurations: the UX1000-BP, which includes a body pack with an industry-standard 4-pin mini XLR connector that supports condenser microphones as well as Hi-Z (high impedance) instrument pickups plus the UX1000 receiver; and the UX1000-MC, which includes a handheld microphone specifically developed for use with the UX1000, plus the UX1000 receiver. With the UX1000-BP, performers have the freedom of ordering Carvin’s UXGT instrument cable, UX-HM2 headset mic, or UX-LP1 lavalier mic separately. Additional body packs are also available.

Carvin’s new UX1000 receiver is based on Diversity PLL Synthesized technology for robust performance and natural sound quality. The UX1000 is a true diversity receiver featuring two antennas that each feed independent RF receivers on the same channel. Further, the unit supports 960 user selectable channels—enabling performers to find a clear, open channel regardless of their physical location. To better facilitate channel management, the UX1000′s vast number of channels can be divided into four assignable groups. With a 50 HZ – 19 kHz frequency range and a signal-to-noise ratio of 101 dB, the UX1000 has the performance capabilities that enable the system to be used in the most challenging environments.

To simplify operation and keep users informed, the UX1000 provides a low battery indicator. Additionally, this exceptional unit has the ability to inform the FOH (front of house) or Monitor engineer whether or not the microphone is turned on. Together, these features make Carvin’s UX1000 a reliable performer that provides the necessary equipment status to ensure trouble-free, dependable operation.

The new Carvin UX1000 is sold factory direct at $399 for the UX1000-BP configuration and $429 for the UX1000-MC version. The UX1000 will be available Fall 2006.

For more information, visit their web site at www.carvin.com.

Urban Anthemz 2 contains 400 loops of urban melodies, riffs, and hooks where styles range widely from ganksta hip hop loops all the way to unheard of modern hip hop melodies & hooks.

Urban Anthemz 2 works seamlessly with all other ModernBeats loop series where each series utilizes same group & tempo layouts. This allows users to build full productions within minutes by mix-matching & layering loops from each series together. The library is organized into 4 popular hip-hop industry tempos: 87bpm, 92bpm, 97bpm, and 102bpm. Each of the tempo groups contain 25 original loop themes including 4 variation loops within each theme: “Hook1″, “Hook2″, “Verse1″, and “Verse2″. That’s 400 loops across the Loopset with a total of 100 original hip hop melodies, riffs, & hooks per tempo.

A myriad of instruments & effects were used to design the loops such as ethnic woodwinds, orchestral woodwinds, full brass sections & stabs, trumpets, saxophones, ethnic strings, sitars, dizus, erhus, guchins, yangchins, pipas, tremolo strings, violins, cellos, pizzicato & exotic plucking, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, flamenco guitar, wah-wah guitar, banjo, harps & harp glissandos, classic pianos, baby toy pianos, xylophones, marimbas, metallic bells, tines, synth pads, analog synths, sound effects, ambiences, atmospheres, plus more!

The ‘Urban Anthemz Vol. 2′ library is offered on CD-ROM or as a download. Prices start at just $59.95.

Universal Format Compatibility:
Sample Accurate Acidized WAV, Stereo

For more information, visit their web site at www.modernbeats.com.