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January 2011

Blackstar HT-1R combo – review

Following on from my Ibanez RG465M mini-review, here is my Blackstar HT-1R combo review. The Blackstar HT-1R is the newest edition to the HT line of Blackstar amplifiers. This tiny little brother to the Blackstar HT-5 is a 1watt 2 channel valve amplifier, sporting 1xECC83 and 1xECC82 valves, digital reverb, …

Ibanez RG465 – review

Since my wife and new-born son were still in hospital, and having a nap I thought I would go into my local music store and try the Ibanez RG465 and a Blackstar HT-1 combo. I thought I might give them both a mini review. The RG465 is an Indonesian made, …

Restoring a corroded bridge

Guitar hardware can get quite ratty and corroded over time. Climate, humidity, and sweat can eat away at your nice bridge locking nut and tuners, etc. Some hardware finishes are more robust than others, but they don’t always hold up. I’ve noticed that the cosmo chrome and cosmo black finishes …

A new little man added to the clan

I’ve just been through one of the toughest days of my life, and thankfully it ended on a high. My wife gave birth to my second son this afternoon, after a marathon slog of stalled labour, epidural gone wrong, and an induction that could have caused major complications resulting in …

New pedal build: MXR Distortion+ clone part 2

One thing that I really wanted to add to the Distortion+ circuit was a tone control, and in my search for various modifications to the Distortion+ I found a great article from Premier Guitar written by Brian Wampler (of Wampler Pedals). I really found the article interesting, not just because …