Tone. At Home.
This one’s a bit different – an overdrive pedal made specifically for acoustic guitar. What do I think of it? Will I be able to gig with it? Let’s find out.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Fender Smoulder Acoustic Overdrive Pedal”
These were an unplanned purchase. Towards the end of March, I started having some new noise problems with my board; the kind that sounds like there’s a wire loose somewhere. I realised that I didn’t have any spares, so I ordered a whole pile of EBS flat patch cables in three different lengths.
Here’s how I got on with them.
Continue reading “First Impressions: EBS Flat Patch Cables”This will be the last regular “New Arrivals” for the time being.
Partly thanks to the UK Government following scientific advice that was based on an outdated model of the wrong disease, Britain has failed to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus before it became widespread. We’re heading for a lengthy social lockdown (at best), with the serious economic hardship that inevitably follows.
Don’t worry, the blog’s not going anywhere. It’s just that there’s more important things right now than buying guitar gear.
Continue reading “New Arrivals: March 2020”Yes, Gibson the company has a knack for bringing bad publicity on itself (to put it mildly). If you want to boycott them, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a Les Paul. There’s still plenty of great second hand Les Pauls out there to choose from.
Either way, there’s a lot more to buying a Les Paul than simply clicking ‘Buy Now’ on an online store, or buying one from your friendly local guitar store. And, in my experience, the same advice applies to Les Paul-like guitars made by other companies too.
Continue reading “Choosing A Gibson Les Paul”I bought one of these last year, and first time around, I didn’t get on with it at all. Although I planned to, I never actually sold it on. With the country in lockdown thanks to the 2020 pandemic, I’m not going to be selling it any time soon.
So, I dug it out and put it back on the board for a bit. Am I going to be just as disappointed second time around, or am I going to actually like it this time?
Continue reading “Second Bite: Fender’s Tre-Verb Pedal”Back in November 2019, I picked up a set of Kinman pickups from Knighton Music Centre. I’d taken my wife there so that she could look at their impressive range of acoustic guitars, and while I was there, I spotted a promo poster for Kinman pickups.
I didn’t even know you could get these in the UK.
I bought a set, brought them home with me … and then they sat on the shelf here for several months. I’ve finally had them put into my Strat. What do I think of them? Read on to find out.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Kinman Impersonator 54 Noiseless Pickups For Stratocaster”I’m a huge fan of the Danelectro Billionaire series of pedals. I’ve now got all of them except the tremolo pedal, and I’ve been delighted with the sound quality of each and every one of them.
This isn’t the last pedal to arrive before the pandemic lockdown, it’s just the last one for me to put onto the board and spend time with. How did I get on with it? Read on to find out.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Danelectro Big Spender Spinning Speaker Pedal”I don’t have a lot of experience with Earthquaker Devices. Over here, they’re a pretty rare brand, and pricey too. I have had both versions of their Speaker Cranker pedal at various points, and I really liked them.
Am I going to like the Dunes as much?
Continue reading “First Impressions: Earthquaker Devices Dunes Drive Pedal”I’ve actually had this pedal for almost a week. Normally, I try and post my First Impressions within a day or two of plugging in a pedal. In this case, though, I’ve really been struggling to get to grips with the Paisley Deluxe.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Wampler Paisley Deluxe”Earlier this month, I picked up the Xvive Golden Brownie Distortion pedal (a JCM 800-in-a-box pedal), and I really liked it (once I got my head round it!).
With everything that’s going on right now, I wanted to buy something from my local guitar shop to try and support them, and it was my good luck that they had Xvive’s other dirt pedal in stock.
I’ve had a couple of hours with it so far. Here’s how I’ve gotten on with it.
Continue reading “First Impressions: Xvive Sweet Leo Overdrive”