Traditionally, December is a month where I try to avoid buying new (to me) gear, because Santa Claus (aka my wife Kristi) normally has something under the tree for me.
This year, though, I was forced into an emergency purchase, because I sat down one afternoon and discovered that my entire guitar rig was dead. Oh the (necessary) joys of using a power conditioner to power everything!
Furman M-10XE Power Conditioner
This was an emergency purchase, to replace a failed unit.
Right at the end of November, my trusty Furman PL-PLUS C E power conditioner died. It worked fine in the morning, and then the same afternoon it wouldn’t power on any more.
Unfortunately, the PL-PLUS C E isn’t easily available in the UK any more. My best option was to import one from Thomann, which would have taken at least a week. Fortunately, Andertons stock Furman’s budget unit – the M-10XE – with next day delivery.
The only thing I truly miss from the PL-PLUS C E is the placement of the power switch. I’ve built up 14 years of muscle memory for switching it on and off. It’s going to take a while longer for me to unlearn that!
Otherwise, the M-10XE is everything that I need as a home hobbyist (so far) – at about a quarter of the cost.
Wampler tcd Distortion Pedal
This is my Christmas present from Kristi 😍
Wampler’s tcd is Brian’s take on the legendary Fulltone OCD distortion pedal. According to Brian, his new pedal has the stock OCD tones in it, plus a whole lot more. I’m still on the hunt for a great replacement to the original pedal, so I’m really looking forward to exploring that when I can find the time.
So far, I’ve been having a lot of fun using it more as a mild boost / crunch into my Marshall Origin 20H and a couple of tweed amp presets that I’m building on my Axe-FX 3. I’m really into open-sounding drive tones atm, and Wampler’s tcd gets me there very easily.