You don’t have to spend $6,706 to sound like a punk. And don’t ask what the six cents are for! My pal Linda B. is a killer rock and roll drummer who also plays a pretty mean guitar. She’s decided to form an all-female Sex Pistols cover band, with her assuming the duties […] 
Which kick more ass? Class A or Class AB? The recent experience making a DIY Class A Champ reignites for me the eternal debate between the merits of Class A and Class A/B amps. (I link once more to Dave Hunter’s excellent short article on the topic, since he explains the distinction so […] 
When you make DIY stompboxes powered by 9-volt batteries, your biggest fear is a solder burn (or dropping your drill on your iPad, but that’s another story). DIY amps are different: AC voltage can kill you, so a klutz like me approaches amp builds with caution. Which brings me to one of the great things […] 
You can probably get cool tones from any old crap with a tube in it, such as this ’60s PA amp. There were lots of interesting replies to last week’s post on small amps. Thanks for all the tips about some of today’s best tiny terrors! The discussion reminded me of a cool […] 
I’ve got a Tweed Champ kit, and I’m not afraid to use it. Or at least not VERY afraid. Why do they make amps so damn loud? It’s not just a cranky question from a guitarist who’s drawing depressingly close to the “Get off my lawn!” years. I ask sincerely: Why? Big amps […] 
My amp has a sad. Thank heaven I became a guitar geek shortly before my 12th birthday. If I hadn’t, I probably would have requested a minibike for my bar mitzvah present a year later, instead of my first electric guitar. And today I’d be an over-the-hill biker instead of an over-the-hill guitarist. […] 
Kitty power!!! Okay, as promised: One more quick video featuring the Hello Kitty Strat, this time with one of those new Duncan Synyster Gates Invader pickups. I’m told the ceramic-magnet Invader is literally the hottest possible non-active pickup. I’m inclined to believe it. Take this one with a grain of salt. As much […] 
Sad news: Jim Marshall of Marshall Amplification has passed away at age 88. More info here. He was a nice guy. I once ran into him, of all places, in a elevator in Tokyo.
What could possibly go wrong? There are two ways to approach amplifying an acoustic guitar: trying to duplicate the natural sound, only louder, and NOT trying to sound naturalistic at all. This post is about the second approach. I love playing acoustic through an electric guitar amp (as opposed to a dedicated acoustic […] |
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