Stuart – HomeToneBlog.com

21st June 2025

Studio Diary #61: Remastering My Original Pedal Platform Presets For Axe-FX 3 Firmware 28.05

‘Studio Diary’ is an occasional series where I talk about building a home recording setup for hobbyists and enthusiasts like us. I share my personal experiences, and the thinking behind some of the decisions that I’ve made along the way.

Fractal Audio have recently overhauled their amp modelling in the Axe-FX 3 / FM-9 / FM-3. And my recent dive into the Orange Getaway Driver has shown me that I need to revoice my signal chain. I’m taking this as an opportunity to re-evaluate everything about the pedal preset I’ve built for the Axe-FX 3.

I spent most of Spring dividing my playing time between the pedal platform patches that are based on the DRRI and using my real Tweed Deluxe amp. When I came back to my original 57 Vintage and 65 Modern presets, I could hear a stark difference – and not in a good way.

So, before I finally wrap up this series on the pedal platform patches, I want to go back and re-master those two original pedal platform presets. There’s been some recent Axe-FX 3 firmware updates that make this easier to do and sound better than ever.

3rd June 20252nd June 2025

First Impressions: Tone King Imperial MKII Synergy Preamp Module #TweedTone

Synergy have just released the Tone King Imperial MKII preamp module.

This is a photo of the Imperial MKII preamp module in a (dusty!) Synergy SYN-1 housing.

On the left of the module, there are two rows of three pots, one row per channel.

The top row of three controls are for the Lead channel (the tweed-voiced overdrive channel). They are labelled Volume, Tone, and Mid Bite.

The bottom three controls are for the Rhythm channel (the blackface-voiced clean channel). They are labelled Volume, Bass and Treble.

Next to them are two large, fixed stepped controls. These are the Attenuation controls, one for each channel.

There's a mini toggle switch nestled in between the two large controls. This enables a high-frequency cut.

On the right, there are two more toggle switches, to switch on the built-in, valve-driven tremolo. Next to them are two more pots, for controlling the speed and depth of the tremolo circuit.

I found one in stock here in the UK the day after launch, and ordered it straight away.

Now that it’s here in a very dusty Hermit’s Cave, what do I think of it? Here are my (very positive) first impressions.

31st May 2025

(Belated) New Arrivals: March 2023

I’ve had computer troubles, which stopped me posting anything for a while. And, unfortunately, I didn’t manage to make a blog post about this pedal before the computer troubles began.

31st May 2025

New Arrivals: May 2025

They say buses come in threes. After a quiet couple of months, I’ve had three new (to me) tweed-tone preamps all arrive within 48 hours of each other.

Sadly, I won’t be keeping them all …

26th March 202525th March 2025

#PlexiTone: Synergy Plexi Module + Axe-FX 3 For Reference Marshall Plexi Tones

After last week’s success with my Synergy BMan module, I decided to see if the same approach would work with my Synergy Plexi module and the Axe-FX 3.

This is a bit more of a quick and dirty effort. But hopefully you’ll agree that the results are, at the least, very promising.

18th March 202516th March 2025

#TweedTone: Dialling In A 5F6 Bassman Reference Tone For 2025

Recently, I posted about my latest attempt at creating a reference tone for my 5e3 Tweed Deluxe reissue amp. I’m still wrestling with creating a similar 5e3 reference tone purely in the Axe-FX 3. Sadly, I’m nowhere near ready to write up my promised comparison of the two.

I decided to take a break from that, and work on another reference tone that I’m going to need for future #TweedTone blog posts: capturing the mighty 5F6 Tweed Bassman sound.

Here’s how I got on. There’s audio demos to listen to, and a full breakdown of the signal chain that I used, with plenty of photos / screenshots to show you everything.

5th February 20254th February 2025

Quick Listen: Ritual Devices Grey Overdrive With Strat And Tele Bridge Pickups

Quick Listen is where I capture and share guitar tones that I’ve dialled in. No exploration; little discussion – just a quick audio demo or two along with a documented signal chain.

A close-up photo of the Grey Overdrive guitar effects pedal, made by Ritual Devices. — The Ritual Devices Grey Overdrive pedal on my pedalboard.

Today, I’ve grabbed my Ritual Devices Grey Overdrive, to find out how well it can rock out when I’m playing single-coil bridge pickups.

4th February 20252nd February 2025

#TweedTone: Dialling In A 5e3 Tweed Deluxe Reference Tone For 2025

New year, new (and hopefully improved!) reference tone from my Fender 57 Custom Deluxe amp.

All made possible thanks to a late 2024 freebie from Origin Effects … and me figuring out how I’d been using my Fryette Power Station PS-100 wrong …

15th January 202510th January 2025

Quick Listen: Plexi-Style Amp with a Les Paul

Quick Listen is where I capture and share guitar tones that I’ve dialled in. No exploration; little discussion – just a quick audio demo or two along with a documented signal chain.

Today, I’ve dusted off the plexi-style amp that I bought back in 2019, and paired it with a Gibson Les Paul and Celestion Creamback impulse responses. Have a listen.

11th January 20255th January 2025

Studio Diary #60: Choosing A Pair Of Compressors

Now that I’ve covered all the blocks that help me explore what a pedal can do, I want to focus on a few extra things that I’ve added just for me, starting with compressors.