Tone. At Home.
Sure is a lot of TV to watch for listening to guitar tone :)
Watching YouTube this afternoon, up popped an advert for the Odyssey drive pedal from Hamstead Soundworks.
It looks like a very interesting drive pedal. There’s 3 different clipping options, 3 different input boost levels, and an EQ section that can be moved about in the circuit to suit.
Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed their video.
My local shop A-Strings has just posted a quick look at the new Danelectro Billionaire pedals, through a cool-sounding 5w Supro amp.
https://youtu.be/2rqAxhgZrks
There’s four pedals in the range: a boost, a drive pedal, a tremolo and a rotary speaker simulator. It’s a good choice: it’s easy to imagine all 4 on the same pedal board, as a complete pedal board.
I love drive pedals, so it’s almost inevitable that I’ll pick up the Pride of Texas pedal to try at some point. That rotary speaker pedal though … that’s the one that’s really caught my eye. I’m wondering how that’ll sound with a semi-acoustic guitar.
A quick shout out to A-Strings too. They’re my local guitar shop, and in my experience they’re the friendliest store in the whole of South Wales. They’ve just started stocking PRS USA Core model instruments. I’m looking forward to their demos of those!
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Over on the In The Blues YouTube Channel, Shane has posted his latest podcast episode in its new format. This one is all about amps that Shane has recently played.
I thought that my own views on the Kemper echo Shane’s: a great studio tool that doesn’t take pedals at all well. I’ll be writing a lot more about the Kemper soon!
He also covers the PRS J-MOD 100, BOSS Katana Artist, and the Line 6 Helix. I’m always interested in what he has to say about amps. He’s played a lot of gear over the years, and he’s a gigging musician to boot.
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It’s a long one this week – even by their standards – which is why I’ve only just gotten to it.
Dan and Mick take a tour of Josh’s board, including an in-depth look at the Lovepedal Tchula. The Tchula was Josh’s idea. It’s basically two Church of Tone (COT) pedals in one enclosure, with the left hand side fixed at Josh’s favourite setting, and the right hand side adjustable to suit. I can’t think of anything else quite like it.
I loved the segment where the guys had a schwang on Josh’s Tele, which is strung with 13s (!!) It’s fascinating to listen to how different each of them sound, playing the same guitar through the same rig.
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Over on the Andertons YouTube channel, Joss has built his ultimate metal rig – and it sounds epic.
The basic premise is that this is the kind of rig that Joss would use both to record with, and to gig with. It’s a straight-forward, no-nonsense rig that will handle both lead and rhythm duties in one. If heavier tones are your thing, it’s well worth a watch.
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Over on their YouTube channel, mega-European retailers Thomann have taken a look at 5 great dynamic microphones for singers.
Here’s the list of the microphones covered:
You get to hear both talking and singing through each microphone. Very cool.
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Mary Spender has uploaded the first of her on-the-floor vlogs from NAMM 2018:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8BxIvzlDQ4
This is a really good look at the changes to the St Vincent guitar model for 2018. Looks like the solid rosewood necks have been replaced by flame roast maple instead. There’s also a more traditional two-humbucker configuration available, along with some new colours.
And a cool recap of the history of this unique guitar.
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Over on In The Blues, Shane has posted a tasty demo of the PRS J-Mod 100 amp through its matching 2×12 cab.
The J-Mod 100 is John Mayer’s signature amp. Current asking price for one in the UK is around £6,500 (!!) Sadly, the price doesn’t include John Mayer coming along to make you sound like he does.
This demo video is full of tasty playing by Dr Ric and Ryan, showing off both the clean and overdrive channels. They also run some pedals through it. Sounds like a great pedal platform for the person who can afford a genuine Klon Centaur 🙂
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Over on In The Blues, Shane has posted a demo of Fender’s new Original Series 50’s Stratocaster.
You can always tell when Shane’s got a great guitar in his hands by the look on his face, and in this video, I don’t think he stops grinning once. He gets some great tones out of this guitar, that’s for sure.
Fender Original Series has replaced the Fender American Vintage line. Instead of trying to recreate instruments from specific years, the new Original Series instead focuses on the key characteristics from the 50s and 60s. Another important change is the finish, which has been changed to help ensure that the guitar reaches you in the same condition it left the factory in, even after months sat in shipping and warehouses on the way.
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Back in January, Rhett Shull posted a demo of his Divided By 13 amp, the FTR37. Even if you’re not interested in the amp, it’s worth watching the video just for the opening track.
I’ve seen Divided By 13 amps on a bunch of YouTube demos over years, especially Shawn Tubbs’ videos. They have a striking design, and seem to be an amp of choice for pros. Definitely curious to learn more about them whenever I can,
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