Pedals
One of the greatest struggles for a teenage guitarist coming up in the late 70s was procuring an amplifier capable of getting you heard above a drummer (or a room full of other teenage guitarists coming up in the late 70s). It’s easy to take for granted the sheer number of affordable, medium to high
Guitars
The 80s was a wild decade. I remember experiencing the dawn of new wave with all the asymmetrical haircuts, zippers, makeup, and lots of things exploding or breaking in slow motion. I also remember how lots of people were claiming that the guitar was dead. No more guitar rock for us, bring on the synth
Pedals
I currently own and use 2 Tube Screamers. One 90s reissue TS-9 and one 80s TS-10. I use them both often. I picked up the TS-9 in ’96 or so and put it on my live board. It’s been on there ever since. It’s also been engaged the entire time. I am an “always on”
Guitars
I think most musicians go through a fair amount of gear in their lifetimes. I know as I’ve collected, and gotten rid of, a lot of gear – I’m reminded of the ones that got away. My first sad story begins with the recommendation from a friend. He told me about this cool Gibson Flying
Amps
I was in no real hurry to enter the work force after high school graduation. I also had no plans for college since I assumed college was just a more self-disciplined version of high school and I really hated high school (and self-discipline). All I really wanted to do was play rock and roll guitar.
Guitars
In 1980 or so I accompanied a friend to a music store to help him pick out his first guitar. My friend didn’t play at all so he wanted someone along who could help evaluate the instruments that caught his eye and his wallet. I believe he had something like $300.00 to spend. We arrived
Pedals
In 2008 or so I took up building pedals. I became quite obsessed with the hobby for a couple of years. The www provides so many great resources for building, modding, and dissecting guitar pedals. It’s a great community and a classic example of the internet used for “good”. I reckon I built 30 or
Guitars
This is the one that got away…and came back. In the late 70s/early 80s I had been working my way through a number of mediocre Japanese electrics. The cover band I was in (my only source of income at the time) was getting a lot of gigs and I was starting to squirrel away a
Amps
This Musicmaster bass amp came to me as part of a trade for some amp repair and restoration I did for a friend. It was 100% original including the cheap, leaking filter caps. I replaced the speaker, the filter caps and other electrolytics, added a fuse and fuse holder, removed the little blue “death cap”,