New on the blog
I Built an LA-2A Plugin with AI (Twice)
With Claude doing the coding, I built two working LA-2A-style compressor plugins for Logic with one prompt. Claude took 8 minutes to create and register the plugin. I then compared it to Softube's Opto, and UAD's LA/2A
Latest gear reviews
Long-term, first-person, from a studio that has to earn its space in a house.
Fender Highway Series Dreadnought — 3.5 Years On, Would I Buy It Again?
A thin-body acoustic that plays like an electric. After 3.5 years and a $499 Yamaha FGX800 in the room, here is what it does well and where it falls short.
Sire S7 FM — A Strat That Punches Way Above Its Price
A hands-on review of the Sire S7 FM — a stunning flame maple Strat-style guitar that delivers premium features at a mid-range price.
Sonible Pure:DeEss — Another Absolute Home Run by Sonible
A look at Sonible's AI-powered de-esser plugin. Smart, fast, and way less fiddly than traditional de-essers. Another win from the Pure series.
Free tool
Headrush Core FX Browser
Every amp, cab, mic, and effect model in the Core 5.0, searchable, with the real-world gear each one is based on. Built because the manual doesn't tell you, and I needed to know.
Latest blog posts
Straight answers to home studio questions, from the gear I actually use.
- 4 min read
Fender Highway Series vs Yamaha FGX800: Which Acoustic for Recording?
For a real acoustic tone on a recording, the $499 Yamaha FGX800 beats my $1,400 Fender Highway Series. The Fender wins on playability and as a second layer.
- 3 min read
How to Make a Songwriting Assistant with AI with YOUR ideas and content
AI gives wrong answers because it's pattern matching on whatever you give it. Here's how I set up a Claude project that pushes back, asks questions, and helps me decide.
- 3 min read
How to Release an Album by Yourself: The Solo Artist Checklist
Eight stages in order: finish the songs, track, mix, master, art and metadata, distribution, pre-release, launch. The order I used for Small Town Wanderer.
Coming 2027
Small Town Wanderer
This is the name of the full-length album I'm working on. It'll be released in 2027.
Hear what's out now →On YouTube
The video back catalog
Gear reviews, long-term updates, and walkthroughs of the Spark, Headrush, Sire, and Alesis gear that a lot of home studios run on.
Subscribe on YouTube →The gear
Everything the content on this site is built around. If you own any of it, you're in the right place.
Guitars & Bass
Sire L7 · Sire S7 FM · Sire T7 · Ibanez SR400 EQM · Gold Tone AC-6 · Fender Highway Series · Yamaha FGX800
Amps & Modellers
Headrush Core 5.0 · Positive Grid Spark 40 · Positive Grid Spark 2 · Yamaha THR10 II
Drums
Toontrack Superior Drummer 3 · Alesis Strata Core
DAW & Plugins
Apple Logic Pro · Apple Logic Remote · Softube mix suite · Sonible Pure series
Monitoring
Sennheiser HD 490 Pro · KRK KNS 8400 · Sonarworks SoundID Reference
Vocals
Slate Digital ML-1 · Vocalista