Home of Tone Blog
Mark Johnston getting to know his Jennings Voyager
I've been following Mark's instagram account for a little while as a constant source of ambient and pedal based inspiration, and recently he became the owner of a beautiful Jennings Voyager so have been following even closer to see what he creates with it. Mark's Voyager is outfitted with a set of McNelly Stagger Swagger V2s so it's been great to hear these pickups in an ambient setting. Here's a video from his YouTube channel, the first with his Jennings and displays both his tasteful music and the gear in question. Hope you enjoy
McNelly Pickups at the Home of Tone going into 2019
I'll be honest, with so many aspects of starting and trying to grow your own business, It's difficult to pinpoint my proudest moment since doing this, but I feel I can very much put representing McNelly Pickups right up there at the top of the list. I've worked with Tim at McNelly Pickups since 2015, and he has been one of the most reliable, consistent, innovative and inspiring suppliers to work with and it's an honour to represent such a quality brand here in the UK.
Michael Watts' 'Luthier Stories', with Ervin Somogyi
I absolutely urge you to spare 37:55 of your time and enjoy this video. If you haven't ever happened to have heard the name Ervin Somogyi prior, he is a true icon of the guitar world and luthiery. Our friend Michael Watts visited him at his workshop and put together this inspiring video talk with Ervin and I loved every second. For anyone who is a fan of luthiery, guitars, design and even outlook on life, this is well worth a watch. Thanks for recording it Michael!
Merry Christmas!
I wanted to make this short and sweet, as I'm sure everyone is super busy with their lives at this time of year (plus I'm sure your e-mail inbox is inundated enough!) but a quick wish of Merry Christmas to everyone.
I've gained so many friends, supportive customers and great experiences this year and I'm very grateful for each and everyone of you. Thanks for your support this year and I hope everyone has a great time over Christmas and New year.
I've gained so many friends, supportive customers and great experiences this year and I'm very grateful for each and everyone of you. Thanks for your support this year and I hope everyone has a great time over Christmas and New year.
News!
There will be some changes going into 2018, some major, some natural progressions but all I assure you for the right reasons and to stay true to why it is I wanted to start my business and true to how I want to continue to run it. I look forward to sharing them with you when the time comes, but for now have a great festive time and thanks again for your continued support. It means so much to me and my family,
James, Emma & Miles
Ariel Posen performs "I'm Gone" for the Fretboard Journal
We're big fans of Ariel Posen here, he always provides a great lesson in tasteful playing, and this performance for the Fretboard Journal is no different. I wanted to share this video in particular as it's a great example of his McNelly Stagger Swagger, soapbar sized pickups handling the low tuned, big strings on his Collings 360LTM guitar. Dig in
History of Fuzz!
There's more and more articles and videos popping up about the iconic Tone Bender Fuzz and the birth of Fuzz in general. This new article from Premier Guitar is worth a read if you're a Fuzz guy/gal or are new to the gritty world!
I actually have an all original, mint condition Tone Bender Mkiii Fuzz here on consignment which is available. This is a real collectors piece, check it out on the website if you'd like to find out more!
Pickup spotlight - McNelly Jazzmaster range
For me, the Jazzmaster totally reset the bar of what I wanted from a guitar. The Chime, overall feel, scale, string tension and versatility spoke to me instantly. This is the same for so many of my customers, so I wanted to highlight the range of Jazzmaster pickup options available through us, how you can capture the classic JM tones and how you can mix it up a little without the need for re-routing or a new pickguard. So let's dive right in.
Last few 2018 Mind Charity fundraising shirts available!
I wanted to share a little more with you about the 2018 Mind Charity Fundraiser I'm currently running, and the limited edition shirt currently available!
In case this shirt is new to you and haven't spotted it on previous e-mails or the website yet, the 2018 design was again a collaboration with illustrator, Kevin Wilson. Taking off from our first shirt together, we wanted to show the famous little UFO now taking over your rigs at home, giving us the UFO Tone takeover 2018 shirt design!
In case this shirt is new to you and haven't spotted it on previous e-mails or the website yet, the 2018 design was again a collaboration with illustrator, Kevin Wilson. Taking off from our first shirt together, we wanted to show the famous little UFO now taking over your rigs at home, giving us the UFO Tone takeover 2018 shirt design!
McNelly Black Friday new model release!
For this year's black Friday, we have officially launched a range of pickups which have always been available, but upon special request previously, making them part of the main line-up!
Jennings Guitars Announce 'Navigator' - Their homage to an icon
After months of work, I was really pleased to see Jennings announce their latest guitar, The Navigator last week. I was lucky enough to be sent quite a few teaser photos whilst Chad & Devin were working on this model, and you could definitely tell they weren't content with simply making another 'Tele'. Sure, it would be very important to be true to the design, the reason why the Tele works as well as it does after all! But do so with their own stamp, as well as an interesting ethos behind why they wanted to approach a classic design as opposed to another unique shape to their lineup.
How to guide - Wiring your guitar's jack mono socket
Your guitar's jack socket can take a lot of punishment over a long amount of time, and it's not uncommon to need to replace it from time to time. They can sometimes work loose, meaning the solder connections are damaged, perhaps general wear & tear or maybe you'd like to upgrade a lower quality item to a high end replacement like those by Switchcraft & Pure Tone. Hopefully this how to guide will help you learn a bit more about them, and importantly how to replace them. The jacks most commonly found on our guitars are standard, two connector, 1/4" female audio jack sockets.