Yeah, so I had a deal...

I ordered the single 12" version of the Crate V18 tube amp from Musician's Friend a few weeks back because at $150 it was a steal for a tube amp.

Demand was really high due to the price and they said they wouldn't have any for 2 - 4 weeks. No big deal, I can wait.

Well, earlier this week they cancelled the order like the spineless-pig-whore-dogs that they are.

I CURSE YOU MUSICIANS FRIEND!!!

So now I'm hitting the clearance page there trying to get a returned one at $113.

But I need another guitar...

Actually, I could use another guitar. My Squier Telecaster isn't holding up very well when I have to use it as a backup. My Epiphone Goldtop really has some meat to it because of the P90 pickups and the Squier just can't measure up.

The SX SJM-57 PBU is a sucky name for what appears to be a good guitar.

It comes in a couple of different models and colors so I might end up getting a red one.

Here's a vid of Nick Curran from the T-Birds playing one.

Rock and/or Roll!

Here's a shot of me and the boys playing at the Republic of Texas Biker Rally.

It was... interesting.

Google images for "ROT Rally". You'll see.

TAKE NO NOTICE!

This is just a test.

So, I finally did it...

So I finally got the Epiphone '56 Gold Top Reissue last week.

Initial likes: everything.

Initial dislikes: nothing.

So far this guitar is a winner. The action was seriously screwed up with a major back bow. All kinds notes were fretting out all over the fretboard. Adjusting the truss rod a couple of times and taking the action back down at the bridge turned it in to a real joy to play.

It doesn't play like a $499 guitar, it really feel and sounds like it should cost at least triple.

In my exctiement though, I forgot to order the case!

English Channel

Here's a picture of the English Channel that I finally finished.

It gets you real close to the sound of a Vox AC30 for about $1,000 cheaper.

The clean sound is like the early Beatles sound, but the dirty sound actually sounds more Marshall like than it should. I probably need to go inside and re-bias the transistors a little closer to the specified voltages.

It plays well with the 250, Phase 90 and my BYOC Delay but it hates my Distortion+ and Tremolo pedals. But this might be fixed with the re-biasing thing.

The boy kinda freaked on how close it sounds to a real Vox. He even hinted that he'd like one.

Maybe for a bday present.

One man's trash...

A couple of weeks ago the boy and I came back empty handed from a gear quest. Not that we have any money to actually buy gear, but the hunt is fun.

As we pulled up closer to our driveway I noticed that our neighbor had put a small guitar amp to the curb for trash collection.

The boy grabbed the amp and brought it in to the house for inspection. It turned out to be a DOD Grind IT practice amp. At first look the amp didn't seem to be in bad condition. The terminals on the speaker were missing, just broken off. The wires connecting the amp to the speaker were just twisted together. Also the clean/dirty switch was broken and unable to latch to dirty. Other than that the amp was dirty but in good physical condition.

After attaching a speaker terminal and soldering the leads from the speaker coil to the terminal I powered it up. The sound was pretty lame; as in very bad indeed.

Since I don't need another amp I gave it to the boy to use as a very terrible/experimental keyboard amplifier.

So I guess the moral of this story is "One man's trash is another man's".

EDIT / UPDATE:

So the amp sounds cool with some effect and a crappy keyboard going through it!

Also, I offered the amp back to the neighbors and they didn't want it.