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 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”I’ve recently switched back from Universal Audio’s LUNA DAW to good old Reaper. Why? Because I need to work on some midi drums, and LUNA doesn’t really support that yet.
This is partly a note to myself, and partly a tutorial, on how I setup Superior Drummer 3 and Reaper to work well together.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #29: Setting Up Superior Drummer 3 In Reaper”We’ve just started band rehearsals again, after a 2 year break because of the global pandemic. That means that my time with LUNA has to come to an end, at least for now.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #28: Returning To Reaper, After 2 Years Of LUNA”Earlier today, the fine folks at Andertons posed this question over on Twitter:
I don’t think I’ve talked about this on the blog before, so here’s my take on it.
Continue reading “Worth Upgrading To Locking Tuners? My Experience”I recently bought a new compressor pedal: Fender’s The Bends. It has a reputation for being a very boring compressor pedal. That’s good: I’m a boring guitar player, and I like boring gear. The question is: is it too boring?
Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Fender’s The Bends Compressor Pedal”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”
Last year, I picked up Hedgehog (my Squier Esquire 60’s Custom), and it quickly became one of my firm favourites. I’m on a hunt to find the right bridge pickup to bring out the best in it.
I’ve already given the Seymour Duncan Antiquity II a go. Will I be any happier with the Bare Knuckle Pickups True Grit? Read on to find out.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Bare Knuckle Pickups True Grit Telecaster Bridge Pickup”
Back in March 2020, I picked up a second hand Paisley Deluxe (Paisley Drive Deluxe? Even Wampler’s own marketing uses both terms …), and really struggled with it. And that has bugged me ever since.
A lot has changed since then. Will that make any difference, or will it still be a pedal that just isn’t for me? Details below 🙂
Continue reading “Second Bite: Wampler Paisley Deluxe”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”
Back in May 2021 (where did the time go?!?), I picked up a second-hand Tone City Sweet Cream Overdrive pedal. I’ve finally put it onto my pedal board, to see what it can do.
Is it a outright clone of the Sweet Honey Overdrive, or does it have something different to offer? Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Tone City Sweet Cream Overdrive”