52 Telecaster Relic – HomeToneBlog.com

8th July 20255th July 2025

First Impressions: One Control Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard

I recently bought the Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard, from One Control.

This is a photo of three mini-sized guitar effects pedals on my pedalboard

On the left, in blue, is the One Control Blue Bee OD 4K Mini (BBOD4K-mini for short).

In the middle, in yellow, is the One Control Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard (HBOD4K-mini-standard for short). This review is about this pedal.

On the right, in a crimson red, is the One Control Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Custom (HBOD4k-mini-custom for short).

Each mini pedal has four control knobs, for Volume, Gain, Bass and Treble.

Although all part of the same family, and based on the same circuit design, all three pedals sound quite different.

What do I think of it? I’ve made my photo of it the wallpaper on my phone …

6th July 20255th July 2025

#CoffeeAndKlon 42: Can I Learn To Love My RYRA The Klone?

#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?

3rd June 20252nd June 2025

First Impressions: Tone King Imperial MKII Synergy Preamp Module #TweedTone

Synergy have just released the Tone King Imperial MKII preamp module.

This is a photo of the Imperial MKII preamp module in a (dusty!) Synergy SYN-1 housing.

On the left of the module, there are two rows of three pots, one row per channel.

The top row of three controls are for the Lead channel (the tweed-voiced overdrive channel). They are labelled Volume, Tone, and Mid Bite.

The bottom three controls are for the Rhythm channel (the blackface-voiced clean channel). They are labelled Volume, Bass and Treble.

Next to them are two large, fixed stepped controls. These are the Attenuation controls, one for each channel.

There's a mini toggle switch nestled in between the two large controls. This enables a high-frequency cut.

On the right, there are two more toggle switches, to switch on the built-in, valve-driven tremolo. Next to them are two more pots, for controlling the speed and depth of the tremolo circuit.

I found one in stock here in the UK the day after launch, and ordered it straight away.

Now that it’s here in a very dusty Hermit’s Cave, what do I think of it? Here are my (very positive) first impressions.

5th February 20254th February 2025

Quick Listen: Ritual Devices Grey Overdrive With Strat And Tele Bridge Pickups

Quick Listen is where I capture and share guitar tones that I’ve dialled in. No exploration; little discussion – just a quick audio demo or two along with a documented signal chain.

A close-up photo of the Grey Overdrive guitar effects pedal, made by Ritual Devices. — The Ritual Devices Grey Overdrive pedal on my pedalboard.

Today, I’ve grabbed my Ritual Devices Grey Overdrive, to find out how well it can rock out when I’m playing single-coil bridge pickups.

28th December 202428th December 2024

2024 Review: Guitars For Home Playing

Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m doing a rundown of what guitars I’ve had my hands on, and what I’ve learned from the experience.

This post covers guitars that I play at home for fun. I’ll cover the guitars that I gig with tomorrow.

Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021][2022][2023]

25th December 2024

First Impressions: ThorpyFX The Dane mk2 Overdrive / Boost Pedal

Father Christmas has been, and left me something very purple indeed 🙂

The Dane mk2 guitar pedal from ThorpyFX. A brushed black gunmetal top, with five white control knobs and two foot switches. Purple accent sides.

What do I think of it? Read on to find out.

31st October 202430th October 2024

New Arrivals: October 2024

I wasn’t supposed to buy anything at all this month. Christmas is fast approaching, and I’m one of those people who gets their Christmas shopping done super-early. Which, indeed, I have done 🙂

Then I found a couple of real bargains, and decided that I didn’t want to pass up those opportunities. Oh, and I needed a new power supply for my pedalboard too.

(And I got a sneak peak at a very special guest that’s coming before the end of the year!)