Tone. At Home.
Did you have a good Christmas and New Year?
I did: I spent a lot of time with my old Marshal Origin 20H amp and the Wampler tcd drive pedal. Great-sounding combination.
And that got me thinking about what I want to cover in my long-term review of the Marshall Origin 20H, and why I still want to write about this amp at all after nearly 8 years of owning it.
Continue reading “Marshall Origin 20H in 2026: Planning The Long-Term Review”Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I do a rundown of what amps I’m using for pedal platforms, and why – along with other amps I’m using at home with both electric and acoustic guitar.
Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021] [2022] [2023] [2024]
Continue reading “2025 Review: Pedal Platforms & Other Amps”Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m going to do a rundown of what amps I’m using for pedal platforms, and why. And, this year, I’m expanding it to talk more about using amps for more than just pedals.
Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021][2022][2023]
Continue reading “2024 Review: Pedal Platforms & Other Amps”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”When I started building my own pedal platform presets for the Axe-FX 3, my goal was to recreate the sound of my old valve amp rig. I really wanted to demonstrate how these pedals might sound if you put them through your own valve amp at home.
I’m not trying to do that any more.
In this blog post, I’m going to do my best to explain why. Grab a drink, there’s a lot to talk through!
Continue reading “Studio Diary #46: My Philosophy For Building Pedal Platform Presets For Digital Modellers”Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m writing up a rundown of what pedals I’m using, and why.
Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021][2022]
Continue reading “2023 Review: Pedals”Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m going to do a rundown of what amps I’m using for pedal platforms, and why.
Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021][2022]
Continue reading “2023 Review: Pedal Platform Amps”When I looked at how Marshall’s The Guv’nor sounded next to Warm Audio’s ODD Box v1, I came away with some questions. One of them was this: is the ODD Box closer to the Shredmaster than the Guv’nor in sound?
This is just a quick blog post to find out.
Continue reading “Side-By-Side: Marshall Shredmaster and Warm Audio ODD Box v1”In a previous blog post, I said that I wanted to hear how Warm Audio’s ODD Box v1 overdrive pedal compared to Marshall’s The Guv’nor.
Read on to find out!
Continue reading “Side-By-Side: Marshall The Guv’nor and Warm Audio ODD Box v1 Overdrives”A week or so ago, I picked up a new (to me) NUX Morning Star overdrive pedal.
Is it going to be another fantastic find, a big disappointment, or somewhere in between perhaps? Read on for my First Impressions of this pedal.
Continue reading “First Impressions: NUX Morning Star Overdrive Pedal”