Tag: Synergy Amps

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First Impressions: PRS Mary Cries Optical Compressor

At the end of September, seemingly out of the blue, PRS dropped their first three guitar pedals ever: an overdrive (the Horsemeat), a double-flanger (the Wind Through The Trees) and this one, an optical compressor (the Mary Cries).

The photo shows the PRS Mary Cries optical compressor, sat on my pedal board.
The PRS Mary Cries Compressor Pedal

Mine has just arrived. What do I think of it? Is it worth the price? Read on for my First Impressions.

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Studio Diary #31: Attenuators Colour The Sound

This photo shows the front panel of my Fryette PS-100 Power Station attenuator. To one side, we can also see a glimpse of my Two Notes Captor too.
The Two Notes Captor and Fryette PS-100 Power Station

Attenuators are one of the reasons we can enjoy valve amps at home without upsetting the neighbours. I’ve never really thought about how they affect the overall tone … until now.

In this blog post, I’m going to look at the two attenuators that I have – the Two Notes Captor and the Fryette PS-100 Power Station – and work out what they sound like. And I’m including some sound samples, so that you can hear the differences for yourself.

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New Arrivals: February 2022

This month is a tale of two eras: before land war in Europe, and after the war started.

My plan was to get Hedgehog back in action, and (if they came into stock) pick up a couple of things I felt I needed for some planned recording. And that’s how the month started.

Then Putin launched his invasion of a democratic European nation, while willy-waving his nuclear arsenal at the rest of the world. While we’re almost certainly safe from major consequences ourselves, I decided to bring forward my major planned purchase of the year anyway.

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New Arrivals: January 2022

The Christmas break is always good for getting me to wire up and fire up the home recording studio, and the end of 2021 was no exception. It was a good reminder of just how much I enjoy making music (rather than just noodling around).

So, this year, I want to at least try and have a bit more purpose when I choose which new (to me) gear to try:

  1. Things that will help me record music.
  2. Things that will help me perform music.
  3. Bucket list items.
  4. Things that will help me learn about the gear I already have.

Last year, we had one month when there were no new arrivals to write about. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have several more this year. But not this month 🙂

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First Impressions: Fender 57 Custom Deluxe Amp

I’ve finally done it. I’ve gone and bought an actual 5e3 circuit tweed amp. I wasn’t planning on getting one, but when a different planned purchase didn’t happen, I went for it. And then, by an amazing stroke of luck, the amp arrived months earlier than expected – right when I’ve got a short break from work between jobs.

This is going to be one of the longer First Impression posts. I’ve got a lot of notes to share with you, even though I’ve only had the amp a couple of days.

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