New Arrivals: July 2021

This month has been a very special month. A couple of purchases I’ve been working towards unexpectedly all came together at the same time. And then I learned that you really do need to be careful what you wish for!

The second-hand market remains pretty flat. I did miss out on one of my bucket-list pedals though. It’s going to take me a while before I stop kicking myself over that one. I managed to pickup another great BJFe-designed pedal instead, so it wasn’t all bad 🙂

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First Impressions: Fryette Power Station PS-100

My new Tweed Deluxe amp is a bit of a dream come true. Being a vintage amp circuit, it’s also a bit too loud for regular use at home. If I’m going to enjoy it, I need a way to turn it down.

My tool of choice for the job? Fryette’s Power Station PS-100. Why did I pick this over the considerable competition? And does it actually do the job? Read on for my research notes and First Impressions.

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First Impressions: Fender 57 Custom Deluxe Amp

I’ve finally done it. I’ve gone and bought an actual 5e3 circuit tweed amp. I wasn’t planning on getting one, but when a different planned purchase didn’t happen, I went for it. And then, by an amazing stroke of luck, the amp arrived months earlier than expected – right when I’ve got a short break from work between jobs.

This is going to be one of the longer First Impression posts. I’ve got a lot of notes to share with you, even though I’ve only had the amp a couple of days.

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Second Bite: NABLA Custom Black Tweed Overdrive Pedal

This photo shows my Marshall DSL20HR amp head on a shelf, and my pedal board on a second shelf below.

The Marshall DSL20HR is on the clean channel, and the controls can be seen as follows:

* reverb: off
* resonance: about 8 o'clock
* presence: about 12 noon
* bass: just below 10 o'clock
* mids: about 10:30
* treble: about 1:30
* volume: about 10 o'clock
* gain: about 11 o'clock

On the pedal board, we can see three pedals: the NABLA Custom Black Tweed, the MXR Sugar Drive, and the JRAD Archer Ikon.
My rig for exploring the Black Tweed, second time around.

First time around, the NABLA Custom Black Tweed overdrive pedal just fell a little bit short of what I was hoping for. While I loved the feel of playing the pedal (honestly, it’s like playing an amp), I struggled with the EQ controls and the lack of top-end presence in the overall tone.

That was last year. Six months or so later, do I still feel the same?

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New Arrivals: June 2021

I’m still recovering from surgery in April, which really limited how much time I could spend with my guitar this month. On top of that, the medical bills came due.

And then I ended up having a second (completely unrelated and unplanned) procedure this month too. I’m still recovering from that at the time of writing.

But I did get about a week in between all of this to try something new (to me).

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