Telecaster – HomeToneBlog.com

13th April 2024

(Belated) First Impressions: MXR Duke of Tone

Back in February, I finally got myself an MXR Duke of Tone pedal.

This photo shows the MXR Duke of Tone mini-pedal on my pedalboard. — MXR Duke of Tone pedal, sandwiched between my Analogman King of Tone and my Boss BP-1w pedals.

What do I think of it? Read on for my First Impressions.

29th December 202217th December 2022

2022 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]

13th September 202213th September 2022

#TeleTuesday: Bridge Pickup Comparison – Part 1: Blind Test

#TeleTuesday is my occasional series where I share my own feelings and experiences with Fender’s original solid-body electric guitar … warts and all.

Do all Telecaster bridge pickups basically sound the same? Can you get the same sound (or close enough) from a non-Telecaster guitar? Let’s find out.

11th September 202210th September 2022

New Arrivals: August 2022

August was shaping up to be a very quiet month, gear-wise. I had a plan: I was going to pick up just the one pedal – as long as I could find it nice and cheap.

But then something came along that I knew I’d regret if I didn’t get it …

24th January 2022

First Impressions: Tone City Sweet Cream Overdrive

The Sweet Cream Overdrive, next to the GOAT of tweed-tone pedals.

Back in May 2021 (where did the time go?!?), I picked up a second-hand Tone City Sweet Cream Overdrive pedal. I’ve finally put it onto my pedal board, to see what it can do.

Is it a outright clone of the Sweet Honey Overdrive, or does it have something different to offer? Read on for my First Impressions.

29th December 202126th December 2021

2021 Review: Guitars For Home Playing

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

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

Previous articles: [2019][2020]

13th September 202111th September 2021

First Impressions: Mad Professor Super Black Pedal (Straight Into A Power Amp)

It’s not every pedal that gets not one, but two First Impressions posts here on the HomeToneBlog. In fact, I believe this is the first one that I’ve done this for.

How does the Mad Professor Super Black preamp pedal sound, when I run it straight into a power amp? Let’s find out.

11th September 2021

First Impressions: Mad Professor Super Black Preamp Pedal (Into The Front Of An Amp)

This photo shows a top-down view of the Mad Professor Super Black pedal.

The pedal is rectangular; slightly taller than it is wide.

There are two rows of control knobs. Each row has four knobs.

The top row says: "Bass", "Middle", "Treble" and "Gain". These are all in white lettering.

The bottom row says "Volume" and "Presence" in white lettering. Then there are "Volume" and "Drive" in orange lettering.

Below these controls, there are two toggle switches. The switch on the left says 'Bass Cut' in white lettering. The switch on the right says 'Compression' in white lettering.

There are two footswitches on this pedal. The foot switch on the left says 'ON/OFF' in white lettering. The foot switch on the right says 'ON/OFF' in orange lettering.

The controls in white lettering control the blackface side of the pedal. The controls in orange lettering control the Sweet Honey Overdrive side of the pedal.

Finally, we can see that this pedal has side jacks. The 'IN' jack is on the right of the pedal, and the 'OUT' jack is on the left of the pedal. — Mad Professor’s Super Black Preamp Pedal

I recently managed to tear myself away from my beloved Tweed Deluxe amp long enough to snag a second-hand Super Black pedal. And I swear that I didn’t realise this is (partially!) a tweed pedal when I bought it!

31st May 202124th January 2022

New Arrivals: May 2021

Regular readers are probably bored with me talking about the state of the second hand market here, so I’ll keep that brief. Anecdotally, there still isn’t a lot of second hand gear turning up, and (again anecdotally) it’s becoming more and more common for sellers to list second-hand guitars at above-retail prices. eBay has really cut back on its offers this month too, which probably isn’t helping the situation.

This month, though, there has been a number of interesting (to me) items crop up. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to even think about bidding on them because I’ve been into hospital for an operation, and it’ll be July before I’m fully recovered and able to lift amps and guitars again.

I was able to pick up a couple of pedals off my wish list, thankfully. And this month saw the release of a new guitar that’s completely blown me away. Read on to learn more!

26th April 202124th April 2021

First Impressions: Boss FDR-1 Fender ’65 Deluxe Reverb Overdrive Pedal

I recently picked up another of the Boss Legend Series pedals: the FDR-1.

Is this dinosaur of a pedal a dud or a delight? As with its sister pedal the FBM-1, it all depends on what guitar you play … and what you want to use it for.