MyRareGuitars.com

Myths and misinformation (Mythinformation?) abound in the vintage guitar and amp world. Want to start a fight on line? Go to some gear forum and say, “This, without a doubt, is the amp Jimmy Page played on the first two Zep albums.” The amp you use for this example could be a small single 6V6 Supro, a Supro Thunderbolt, a Fender Champ, or any number of others. No matter what, you are guaranteed to get a bunch of folks agreeing with you, and another bunch so angry they start banging their shoes on their desks al-la Krustef while hacking frustrated spittle onto their screen while they post about what an idiot you are.

In Dave Hunter’s great book, The Guitar Amp Handbook, he asks several respected boutique amplifier makers about any sleepers out there on the vintage market (i.e., any great sounding amps that aren’t going for the at-time obscene money that even a Silverface Fender is fetching on the market these days’ though many of them are, of course, fine amps.). Ken Fischer (of Trainwreck fame) talks about a couple of amps that he claims compare favorably to a Marshall 18 Watt Model & the Early Ampeg Reverberockets (AKA Reverbrockets to some), and the Harmony 415, made by Valco in the mid to late 1960′s.

So what did I buy? A late 1940′s Fidelity amp, of course. Haven’t heard of Fidelity? Me, neither. But it met the needs. It was very light an easy to carry. As for meeting my volume needs…it was VERY quiet. Dead quiet. As in, silent. So, that part needed some work. Sixty bucks. Not bad. Less than an assembly-line stomp box. It looked like a 50′s space heater in crap brown with tootsie roll brown and vanilla cream paint and chicken head knobs. Score, Daddio.

I hope you good folks have enjoyed my column so far. This column will be unlike the others as there will be not be so much technical “guitarspeak”. There will only be the truth as I know it, about being a gigging guitar player in the sometimes unfriendly world of clubs, bars and venues big and small.

Hello everyone. I hope you are all winging your way through guitar heaven. Guess what? It’s another list – this time I have listed what I believe to be the best guitar amplifiers for the money. Some may be pricey and not for everyone, but I still believe them to be a good deal.

You dig oddball guitars and strange, rare equipment. Sure, a Fender Telecaster is a great guitar (I have a 1969, and I love it), but there’s something about the weird ones that pulls you in or you wouldn’t be reading this newsletter. Fenders, Gibsons and the rest of the big boys are fine, but if you want a guitar that looks like a kitchen counter, perhaps made out of something more…uh…interesting or futuristic than wood…or one with more buttons than your uncle’s accordion (and you know you do!), you are forced off the beaten path to find your treasure.

One thing I have noticed over the thirty years I have been playing guitar is that guitars have their own sound no doubt, but amplifiers do “reproduce” the sound of the electric guitars differently. Case in point, the Les Paul guitar coming out of a vintage Marshall an amp with plenty of treble, sounds fat yet cuts through nicely. I believe the same thing for a Les Paul running through a blackface Super Reverb, it cuts beautifully. Put that same Paul through say a Tweed Pro or a first run Ampeg Reverberocket and it sounds muddy and has trouble cutting through especially using the neck pickup. IMHO a sure test of a good Paul is does the neck pickup have some bite to it.

My solution was an easy to build, self-made amp stand. It’s made out of 3 wooden boards and 4 movable angles. Since I use this construction, I always can hear myself properly, which makes playing much easier of course. My engineer (on live gigs) does not have troubles anymore with the sometimes extreme highs, because the speakers look upwards now. And, most important, I can use any of the three amps I own, without changing the look or diminish the worth of my amps by drilling holes.