On The Gain Stage – Page 8 – HomeToneBlog.com

26th December 2022

New Arrivals: October 2022

The tail end of September brought a bit of a surprise: PRS now makes pedals! And the initial demos made them sound really, really good. Fortunately for my bank balance, they haven’t hit the stores yet over here. Well … except for one …

26th December 2022

First Impressions: Tone City Dry Martini Overdrive Pedal

Back in October, I picked up a new (to me) mini pedal: Tone City’s Dry Martini overdrive. I’ve seen folks recommending this as a viable alternative to Fulltone’s legendary OCD pedal.

This photo shows two pedals on my pedalboard.

On the left in shades of purple and pink is Tone City's Dry Martini mini pedal.

On the right in a warm cream colour is Fulltone's OCD pedal. — Tone City’s Dry Martini pedal next to the Fulltone OCD

But … is it really? And if not, is it still worth checking out? Here are my first impressions.

15th December 202226th December 2022

First Impressions: PRS Horsemeat Overdrive Pedal

Back at the start of October 2022, PRS released their first guitar effects pedals. There were three pedals in the line-up: an overdrive, a compressor and a flanger. Only one – the overdrive pedal – actually turned up in the shops here in the UK 🙁

What’s the Horsemeat like? It’s an expensive pedal. Is it worth it? Read on for my quick (if delayed!) First Impressions.

30th November 202226th December 2022

First Impressions: Tone City Mandragora Overdrive Pedal

I’ve had a lot of fun with the two Tone City pedals that I recently picked up. So when the opportunity arose to pick up another one at a nice price, hell yeah, why not?

This is a photo of the Tone City Mandragora overdrive pedal on my pedal board.

It's a mini pedal. There are three mini pots visible at the top: Pre, Vol and Tone. Below that, a regular-sized know labeled Gain.

It takes a 9v input on the right-hand side of the pedal.

And yes, it really is quite a shocking pink in real life under strong light! — The Tone City Mandragora overdrive pedal

29th October 202228th October 2022

First Impressions: Tone City Bad Horse Overdrive Pedal

I recently picked up Tone City’s Bad Horse off the second-hand market.

Is this the budget-friendly Klon klone for the masses, or (like the EHX Soul Food) is it going to be a case of you really do get what you pay for. Read on to find out.

11th September 202210th September 2022

New Arrivals: August 2022

August was shaping up to be a very quiet month, gear-wise. I had a plan: I was going to pick up just the one pedal – as long as I could find it nice and cheap.

But then something came along that I knew I’d regret if I didn’t get it …

21st August 202221st August 2022

#CoffeeAndKlon 33: The EHX Soul Food

#CoffeeAndKlon is my (irregular!) Sunday morning magazine series, where I talk about whatever’s on my mind right now. There’s always coffee, and there’s normally chat about the Klon and its many competitors.

Today, I want to talk klones, and specifically the most important klone pedal ever released: Electro-Harmonix’s Soul Food. Make yourself your favourite morning drink first. This one is going to be a #longread … with audio demos.

7th August 2022

#CoffeeAndKlon 32: A Digital Klone In The Axe-FX 3?

#CoffeeAndKlon is my occasional Sunday magazine-style series, where I talk about whatever’s on my mind about guitars, gear, music and yes, sometimes my love of both coffee and the Klon pedal.

Fractal Audio recently released a digital Klon klone pedal for the Axe FX 3. Knowing Fractal’s reputation, it will have been meticulously modelled against a real Klon Centaur pedal – either one they own, or one they were able to borrow from the community.

Can a digital klone be a stand-in for the real thing? Let’s find out together.

1st August 202230th July 2022

New Arrivals: July 2022

I didn’t pick up any new (to me) gear last month, and just the one item this month.

The Axe FX 3 has definitely been a big factor in this. I’ve promised on Twitter that I’ll do a separate blog about this soon. The short version is that it’s been much better than I hoped for, and I’ve been putting so much time into exploring what it can do that I haven’t really had time to be curious about other gear.

So what did I find, and how was it interesting enough to wrench me away from the Axe FX 3 for a little bit?

30th July 2022

First Impression: Walrus Audio 385 Overdrive Pedal

This photo shows the Walrus Audio 385 Overdrive pedal on my pedal board.

It has a black enclosure, with yellow print on the top. The yellow print depicts an old cinema projector.

There are four block control knobs shown.

Next to the 385 is my Archer Ikon pedal. Side by side, the 385 looks a good 25% larger in all dimensions: width, height and depth. — Walrus Audio 385 Overdrive Pedal

A couple of days ago, I finally bought a Walrus Audio 385 Overdrive pedal. It’s my first Walrus Audio pedal, and I’ve been waiting a long time to get one.

I absolutely love it. Let me explain why …