I recently picked up an 83 Drive by Demonfx.
What did I think of it? Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Demonfx 83 Drive”Studio Diary #55: Tackling Noise In The Axe-FX 3 Pedal Platform Preset
‘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.
Back in July, I tackled the major cause of noise by sorting out the gain-staging for my pedal platform preset. However, that hasn’t completely eliminated all noise in the signal chain. (Some noise is inevitable.) What can I do about the noise that’s still getting through?
That’s what I’m going to look at in this blog post.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #55: Tackling Noise In The Axe-FX 3 Pedal Platform Preset”First Impressions: Rockbox Baby Blues Vintage Distortion
I recently picked up one of the pedals on my bucket list: the Rockbox Baby Blues vintage distortion pedal.
What do I think of it? Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Rockbox Baby Blues Vintage Distortion”Studio Diary #54: The Challenge Of Keeping Up With Fractal Audio’s Firmware Releases
‘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.
Today, I want to briefly talk about the consequences of (what is probably) Fractal Audio’s greatest strength: their regular stream of firmware updates to make their products get closer and closer to the real amps that they’re replacing.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #54: The Challenge Of Keeping Up With Fractal Audio’s Firmware Releases”New Arrivals: August 2024
I had a (very minor!) bit of emergency surgery at the end of July, which really limited how much time I could spend with the guitar this month. At the time this is published, I’m pretty close to being fully recovered, and looking forward to getting a few more blog articles written.
I did pick up a couple of pieces of gear to try. It’s fair to say that I had mixed feelings afterwards …
Continue reading “New Arrivals: August 2024”#CoffeeAndKlon 39: A Deep Dive Into The JRAD Archer Clean
#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.
Always the bridesmaid, but never the bride … until now. It’s time that I finally take a deep dive into (perhaps) the most unusual Klon klone that’s out there.
Today, I’m discussing the JRAD Archer Clean.
Continue reading “#CoffeeAndKlon 39: A Deep Dive Into The JRAD Archer Clean”First Impressions: JHS Pedals Notaklön
Recently, I picked up a JHS Notaklön overdrive pedal.
What do I think of it? Read on for my initial thoughts.
Continue reading “First Impressions: JHS Pedals Notaklön”First Impressions: One Control Blue Bee OD 4K Mini (BBOD4K) Overdrive
I recently picked up a Blue Bee Overdrive (4 knob version), or BBOD4K for short, by One Control.
What do I think of it? Read on for my (shorter than usual) First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: One Control Blue Bee OD 4K Mini (BBOD4K) Overdrive”First Impressions: LPD Pedals Dutch ’24 Overdrive As A Main Overdrive Pedal
This is a second (and lengthy!) look at the LPD Pedals Dutch ’24 that I recently bought.
I’ve already written a First Impressions on the Dutch ’24. In that, I said that I’d briefly tried it as a main overdrive, and was a bit meh about it. (You should definitely go and read that post. I was very happy with how it helped me address the top-end of position 4 on my Strat.)
When used as a main overdrive, I’m finding the Dutch ’24 both incredibly familiar and – at the exact same time! – quite different too.
It’s been bugging me ever since.
So I spent a couple of evenings at the start of the week comparing the Dutch ’24 against other pedals aimed at the blues-rock market.
Along the way, I fell in love with how the Dutch ’24 is its own thing.
Continue reading “First Impressions: LPD Pedals Dutch ’24 Overdrive As A Main Overdrive Pedal”First Impressions: LPD Pedals Dutch ’24 Overdrive
I recently bought a LPD Pedals Dutch ’24 Overdrive pedal.
What do I think of it? Read on for my First Impressions.
Continue reading “First Impressions: LPD Pedals Dutch ’24 Overdrive”