Tone. At Home.
The magical beast that turns potential into sheer tone!
Last summer, I bought what is probably the bucket list amp for me: a re-issue of Fender’s legendary Tweed Deluxe amplifier.
Nine months or so later, how am I getting on with it? Was it a good decision, or do I regret paying the perceived Fender tax for an almost 70-year-old amp circuit that’s been heavily cloned?
Continue reading “Short Term Review: Fender 57 Custom Deluxe (aka Tweed Deluxe) Re-Issue Amplifier”Last summer, I bought a Fryette Power Station PS-100 as an emergency purchase, so that I could use my Tweed Deluxe at home volume levels.
Nine months later, how am I getting on with it? Would I buy it again if anything happened to it? And would I recommend it to you? Read on to find out.
Continue reading “Short-Term Review: The Fryette Power Station PS-100”This month is a tale of two eras: before land war in Europe, and after the war started.
My plan was to get Hedgehog back in action, and (if they came into stock) pick up a couple of things I felt I needed for some planned recording. And that’s how the month started.
Then Putin launched his invasion of a democratic European nation, while willy-waving his nuclear arsenal at the rest of the world. While we’re almost certainly safe from major consequences ourselves, I decided to bring forward my major planned purchase of the year anyway.
Continue reading “New Arrivals: February 2022”The Christmas break is always good for getting me to wire up and fire up the home recording studio, and the end of 2021 was no exception. It was a good reminder of just how much I enjoy making music (rather than just noodling around).
So, this year, I want to at least try and have a bit more purpose when I choose which new (to me) gear to try:
Last year, we had one month when there were no new arrivals to write about. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have several more this year. But not this month 🙂
Continue reading “New Arrivals: January 2022”
After a couple of months of waiting, my Synergy IICP preamp module pre-order has finally arrived. Yay!
Was it worth the wait? And how is a tweed-tone nut going to get on with a recreation of an amp most famous for being the sound of progressive rock and classic metal? (Spoiler alert: this thing sounds fantastic in tweed … 😎)
Continue reading “First Impressions: Synergy IICP Preamp Module”#TweedTalk is my occasional Tuesday column, where I talk about all things related to tweed amps and tweed-tone pedals.
In the recent Black Friday sales, I finally picked up Universal Audio’s Fender 55 Tweed Deluxe amp plugin to add to my collection of tweed tone options.
Is it going to get much use, or am I going straight back to the real amp? Here are my First Impressions.
Continue reading “#TweedTalk 2: First Impressions: Universal Audio Fender 55 Tweed Deluxe Amplifier Plugin”Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m going to do a rundown of what amps I’m using for pedal platforms, and why.
Previous articles: [2019][2020]
Continue reading “2021 Review: Pedal Platform Amps”How has it been three months already?!? And how am I getting on with my Tweed Deluxe amp?
I’m supposed to be rehearsing the four (possibly five) songs for acoustic guitar that I’m aiming to record by the end of the year. However, for the last few weeks, I’ve been lured away by the seductive purr of my guitar amps.
Here are three short narratives on the sirens that have waylaid my acoustic adventures …
Continue reading “Studio Diary #27: A New Lease Of Life To My Old Amps”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 🙂
Continue reading “New Arrivals: July 2021”