New Arrivals For February

February has been a very strange month for gear.

The Winter NAMM announcements are over, and now we wait for actual stock to appear in the shops. Some items – like Marshall’s new Studio line of heads, combos and cabs – have arrived quickly (and largely sold out just as quickly). Other pieces – not so much.

eBay started slow, but in the middle of the month, there was a lot of great gear up for grabs at surprising prices. I was expecting most people to be waiting for the “free for private sellers” changes coming at the start of March. I was wrong.

Here’s a list of everything I’ve picked up in February, along with my initial impressions. I’ll write up a full article on each of them once I’ve had a bit of time with them.

Continue reading “New Arrivals For February”

Blindfold Tubescreamer Challenge

Chappers and The Captain have posted their latest blindfold challenge. Can Lee tell a real Tubescreamer from a pool of clones? And which ones will he like?

The Tubescreamer is possibly the most-copied pedal circuit of them all. Most pedal brands have a TS-style pedal in their range, and there’s a TS-style pedal to fit every budget.

It’s not really an overdrive pedal, and that’s very confusing when you get one for the first time. It’s more of a colour pedal, thanks to it’s pronounced mid-hump. Run it into a dirty amp to shape the overall sound, or run it after a gain or fuzz pedal to act as a great boost.

A Strat -> Zendrive -> TS signal chain in particular is a very special sound.

Over the years, I’ve had a few of the pedals in the video, and the one I use is the Mad Professor Little Green Wonder. You can’t get a sense of it from this video, but one of the great things about the LGW (and, indeed, all Mad Professor pedals) is the low noise floor.

I’d love to try a Wampler Clarksdale one day – just waiting for one to turn up at a good 2nd hand price. The J Rockett Blue Note is another pedal featured in this video that I want one day. Burgs did a demo of it years ago now that really sold me on it.

And just how good does the new Hot Rod Deluxe Mk 4 sound?

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed the Andertons video.

The Ultimate Metal Rig?

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.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Joss’s video.