Hot-on-the-heels of BHG’s inaugural release, the « Big Hairy Guitar Collection », Two notes and Michael Nielsen are back with 3 exclusive DynIR virtual cabinets, as previously owned and used by Steve Vai. Bought at an auction with a certificate of authenticity – not to mention being signed by the man himself – Michael has meticulously captured the original cabinet alongside two unique variations, all of which guarantee to up guitarists tonal firepower.

The Hidden Gem Collection

With a no holds barred approach to capture, The Hidden Gem collection is a sure-fire hit within the Two notes community, offering a premium microphone collection, exquisite preamps & converters, and of course, Michael injecting his own personal flavour into the capture process. Cabinets within the Hidden Gem Collection include:

1. Alien White ’86 – The original spec as previously owned by Steve Vai, loaded with original Celestion V30 speakers and used extensively on the road with David Lee Roth, not to mention his own solo material. From 1986 – 1993, this cab was a mainstay on the « Eat ‘Em and Smile », « SkyScraper » and « Sex and Religion » tours.
2. Alien Black ’87 – The same cabinet, this time loaded with the speakers more common at the time – the G12H 30W – the sound that defined guitar tone in the 80’s and a fitting precursor to the legendary V30.
3. Alien Green ’93 – An exclusive insight into the mind of Michael himself: the same legendary cabinet, this time outfitted with 20W UK Celestion Greenbacks, his personal favorite era of Greenbacks, giving a truly unique slant on this iconic cab.

This trio of cabinets have been meticulously captured with 8 industry standard microphones: Blue® Dragonfly, Shure® Unidyne III 545, Heil Sound® PR30, Sennheiser® MD409, Shure® SM57, Coles Electroacoustics® 4038, Beyerdynamic® M160 and Royer® R-121 – all through vintage API® 7600 channel strips with 212L preamps, into Apogee® Symphony converters. As you would expect, everything is connected via premium Mogami® cables, at Michael’s Ninja Tracks studio, Los Angeles.