Tone. At Home.
“The Hermit’s Cave” is my little home recording studio. This is a general catch-all tag for anything about me and my gear.
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?”One regret I have over the years is missing out on “limited edition” guitars (especially the early Gibson Collectors’ Choice Les Pauls). I’m not interested in getting one as a collector, and in the past either the timing hasn’t been right or I haven’t known enough about the guitars to feel confident in getting one.
Not this month.
Although, frankly, it sure was made easier because I didn’t have to find Gibson Collectors’ Choice money to get one …
Continue reading “New Arrivals: 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”I’ve just bought myself one of the new Road Worn 60’s Telecasters.
Now that I’ve had it for a full week, what do I think of it? Does it live up to the hype? Read on for my first impressions of my new guitar, which I’ve named Jody.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Fender Vintera II Road Worn 60’s Telecaster In Blonde”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”Back in June, I bought a Deluxe55 amp-in-a-box pedal by Origin Effects.
What do I think of it? Here are my first impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Origin Effects Deluxe55 Tweed Recreation”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”Earlier this month, I picked up one of my holy grail pedals: a Honey Bee OD made by BJFe.
What do I think of it? Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: BJFe Honey Bee OD Retro”I recently bought the Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard, from One Control.
What do I think of it? I’ve made my photo of it the wallpaper on my phone …
Continue reading “First Impressions: One Control Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard”#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?”