I recently bought a Blackstar Debut 100RH amp head.
This is going to be an additional pedal platform amp. Read on for my first impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Blackstar Debut 100RH Amp Head”#TweedTone First Impressions: NUX 59 Bassguy Overdrive Pedal
I recently bought a brand new NUX 59 Bassguy overdrive pedal.
What do I think of it so far? Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “#TweedTone First Impressions: NUX 59 Bassguy Overdrive Pedal”New Arrivals: October 2025
It’s been a very quiet month. I’ve had my head down working on improving my Tweed Deluxe signal chain, and haven’t really been interested in any of the gear that’s come up for sale on the second-hand market this month.
There was one item, though: a new challenger to be my #1 drive pedal.
Continue reading “New Arrivals: October 2025”#TweedTone: Is A 5e3 Tweed Deluxe Valve Amp Right For You In 2025?
Last week, I published an updated Tweed Amp Rig price comparison, looking at how much it would cost (here in the UK) to build a Tweed Deluxe rig for home use in 2025.
There was one answer that was too long to fit in that blog post: is it worth you spending that amount of money on a Tweed Deluxe rig for home use?
Today, I’m going to try and answer that question.
Continue reading “#TweedTone: Is A 5e3 Tweed Deluxe Valve Amp Right For You In 2025?”#TweedTone: The Cost Of A Tweed Deluxe Amp In September 2025
Back in September 2023, in a blog post called “You’ve Got To Be A Huge Fan Of Tweed Tone To Get A Real Fender Tweed Deluxe Amp In 2023“, I looked at the costs of buying a real 5e3 Tweed Deluxe amp here in the UK.
Two years later, I’m wondering: what has changed? How has the price changed … and how have my feelings on the price changed?
Continue reading “#TweedTone: The Cost Of A Tweed Deluxe Amp In September 2025”New Arrivals: August 2025
This month, the golden gear theme unexpectedly continued, with a bucket-list item that I thought wasn’t made any more and (I’m ashamed to admit) I’d actually forgotten all about.
And I took my first step towards trying to improve as a musician. Well, I tried, but there are problems …
Continue reading “New Arrivals: August 2025”New Arrivals: July 2025
This month’s theme was going to be “retro”. I’ve picked up one of the o.g. Klon klones from before they were a thing, and (effectively) a re-issue of the original Honey Bee circuit.
Then, towards the end of the month, I had the opportunity to get two more pedals from Origin Effects (the one brand that I planned to explore this year). That has added a distinctly modern vibe to go alongside the “retro” theme.
Continue reading “New Arrivals: July 2025”#CoffeeAndKlon 42: Can I Learn To Love My RYRA The Klone?
#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.
I’ve had my RYRA The Klone pedal longer than this blog’s been going, so why haven’t I featured it at all until now? Why hasn’t it had the love from me that its fan base says it deserves?
And is that about to change? Can I learn to love my RYRA The Klone?
Continue reading “#CoffeeAndKlon 42: Can I Learn To Love My RYRA The Klone?”New Arrivals: June 2025
There’s … a definite theme to the new arrivals this month, shall we say? 😁
I managed to find two of my bucket-list pedals, both of which I thought I’d never get the chance to try. While doing the background reading for their blog posts, I ended up stumbling upon another rare pedal that I didn’t even know about. And then I grabbed one of their cheaper cousins too, because the opportunity was there.
Dear readers, June has been One Control month.
Continue reading “New Arrivals: 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.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #61: Remastering My Original Pedal Platform Presets For Axe-FX 3 Firmware 28.05”