Blutone's Boutique Baby!

  2022 has been a bit of a guitar renaissance for me.  In January I purchased a new electric guitar and since then I have been obsessed with specs and tone.  I have tried out loads of guitars and it has been a sheer joy.  It is also the year that I decided to start a blog about guitars and my music in general.  Very much a hobby and despite the affiliate links, I really don't make any money.  It's really for my own interest and mapping my own experiences. Anyway, today I watched the latest video from one of my YouTube heroes, Darrell Braun.  I have learnt so much from watching his videos and in the one I watched today he talked about the guitars that he felt were the best 'affordable' guitars in 2022. I was surprised to find that three of them I had done quite a lot of research into and two of them I actually have played with one of them being the one I purchased in January of this year. Watch the video below and then scroll on for the links to the three that I would de

  In January 2022, I purchased my first PRS guitar.  It is the PRS SE Starla and I have written an article about that guitar more recently.   I absolutely love it, I use it all the time and I get so many tones out of it that I can use for lots of different styles of music and songs.  It has literally rebooted my interest in six string electrics and guitar tone over a period of 35 years, mostly as a bass player.  Brilliant! Added to this, I absolutely love the marketing from PRS Guitars.  Obviously it is aimed at getting you to buy their guitars but the man himself, Paul Reed Smith, is just brilliant at explaining how electric guitars work and I have been glued to their videos.  So in theory, I should be one of the legions of fans who end up buying multiple PRS guitars and proudly post on PRS Owners Facebook groups about how I have purchased my sixth PRS Private Stock in some exotic colour for £10k . Apart from not having anywhere near the disposable income to spend thousands on PRS g

There's a story behind this guitar. I am referring to my Fender 1972 Reissue Thinline Telecaster . You see I have a problem, I collect guitars that talk to me. If you are a guitarist then you will understand what I mean by that. If you don't then let me explain. I bought my telecaster in 2008 from a guitar shop in Chester called Back Alley  Music. I had always wanted a telecaster. As a boy my dad used to take me along to play with his friends who met in a tiny room, in a rough area of Cambridge. One upright piano with Keith doing his best 'Jerry Lee Lewis' and Roy on his telecaster. Roy was simply rhythm, not a lead guitarist but his sense of rhythm and his tone was beautiful. I was so inspired. He had a white traditional single coil Tele.  Roy had this tone that was exciting and inspiring as he played through his Fender amps. Roy seemed to know hundreds of chords. I was learning at the time and was doing my best to keep up on my battered acoustic guitar. I

About four years ago, I decided that I wanted to do some busking... Having played bass in bands for 30 odd years, and lead guitar on occasion, I realised that busking would completely take me out of my comfort zone and could help me to grow as a performer.  I even went out and bought the gear to enable me to do it as well. Then I bottled it for two years... Then a pandemic happened... It is fair to say that I was experiencing some anxiety about standing on a street and playing my mix of music to passers by and I was putting it off.  The thought was terrifying! In that period of time, what didn't really help with my anxiety was doing little solo gigs for parties and bars.  These little gigs, I thought, would help me to feel better about busking, after all in the most part, the audience would be close friends supporting me.  What could I possibly have to fear?  Whilst I have done quite a few gigs in this way, my anxiety about busking stayed with me until last Saturday when I believe