tomteriffic

Martin Barre (Jethro Tull, Hamer #0004, etc.) auditioned with no amp at all, just a solidbody with the headstock pressed up against the headboard of his bed.

Other than being old enough to have owned or played the Holy Grails when they were just "used guitars", I'm completely unqualified on the subject. But I'm going to spout off anyway. I'd fall into the camp that says that quality materials and superior craftsmanship will be more likely to produce an exceptionally good instrument. That said, as some have noted, now and again you stumble on a cheapie that is just punching way above its weight. I've been through a mess of those, just because they were fun/funky/worth a try at the price. I still have a couple, even. But a lot of them were pound puppies and moved on eventually. Still, they were pretty doggone good for what they were. And that, right there, is the qualifier. Sure I've had a couple of dud Hamers, but that was more often a case of it not meeting my particular needs, rather than it being an actual "bad" piece. I usually take 5 guitars to a gig, two acoustics and three electrics. Of the seven or eight likely suspects to be dragged out on any given night, only one cost me more than $1,100 and it's an acoustic. And that's a whole 'nother kettle of worms.

This too, but it's pretty much my "noodling on the couch" as opposed to actual practice amp. Essential piece of gear. But a significant amount of my actual practice is done unplugged with either my Martin or Taylor. The dippy little folk and roll trip that I'm proud to be a part of is at least half "acoustic" so getting that stuff down is every bit as important as the plugged-in stuff.

Fender SuperChamp XD. Tube power, some good models and digital FX, a lot to like in there. Goes to small gigs, too.

Dibs.

The more I think about it, and as enamored as I am of the double-cut Special shape, I think Serial et. al. may be on to something with the Prototype/2nd Gen Phantom shape. The one I've had was very comfortable.

My thoughts turned to the headstock, as in, what name might be on it. Let's see, we have 3 Monkeys Amps, 2FIG (Two Effing Idiots in a Garage) bridges and? ???

This. ^^^ Possibly with something like a not-too pricey non-Floyd but quality whammy. Blade Runner comes to mind.

Had the pleasure of a meet-up. Awesome guy indeed!

Nuttin', but I did get a bad jones for 3 guitars in 3 different price ranges. Gibson J40. G& L Tribute strat-with-a-humbucker and a Hamer Echotone that needed some love. At my age, I guess that getting a woody over a pile of wood ain't bad at all.

Just 2 cents worth added (no charge). Until the past 20 years or so, it was very common to find ribbon microphones in use in radio stations, particularly old-line "been around forever" stations. These were typically the old RCA types that had that inherently warm, intimate sound with rolled-off highs. This, as much as anything, maybe moreso, was responsible for that warm, "in your ear" kind of announce voice. Consider that, up until "hi-fi" hit, most radio and music was listened to on tinny, squawky speakers. And the few audio nuts around weren't enough of a market to make broadcasters change their practices. So, a warm, bassy character to a voice compensated for the squawky speaker it was being heard over. And, as John noted, anything above 10Khz was essentially non-existent in the audio chain.. Mics didn't pick those frequencies up, so why bother making speakers that reproduced it? This squawky speaker/warm gooey microphone combo was pretty much the paradigm from the 1930's well into the 1950's. Which explains why you saw a bazillion shots of Sinatra and whoever perched behind an RCA ribbon mic.

The first set I would think would last a good long time. Caps have been re-formed and if the tubes are good now, they'll likely stay that way for a long time. And it looks like the guy who refurbed this rig is pretty old-school and knows what he's doing. Couldn't say about the Lafayette. Looks clean but they weren't known as a very high-quality brand back in the day. Heath prided themselves on their quality. The more sensitivity you can wring out of your speaker set the better. Vented/horn-loaded speaker systems were the order of the day back then. If memory serves, the venerable corner-loaded Klipschorn had a sensitivity rating of 104 db, which meant that one of those and a 20-watt amp could get you evicted. Wiser heads will be along presently, I'm sure.

Sorry I missed it. I was rassling with a vampire at the hospital.

But does this thing REALLY sound like a Fender? Absolutely. The clean channel is pure Fender. And the first three models on the B channel are varying levels of Tweed. But, like Hamerhead, I'm no expert. I've only used Fenders since 1965. Manwhile, I'm eyeing my spare Teefused Classic 30 and Music Man 65....

Tell ya what. If an old decrepit grouchy geezer with cancer can find a way to like this show, you whippersnappers oughta go bull-goose crazy for it. Get there.

On it.

Pointless factoid: Until, I think, the late 18th or early 19th Century, the sharps and flats (say C# and Db) were actually slightly different pitches. There were keyboard instruments with two sets of skinny black keys, dual-manual pianos, one for the sharps, one for the flats, etc. I suspect that the piano makers got pissed off and banged a few heads together to resolve it all. And I can see why keyboardists (being a little bit of one meself) would prefer playing in, say Db. You can play a pentatonic major or minor scale starting from any black key, using only the black keys. And it's right handy if you're in a "horn band", seeing as how all the horns are pitched to "black key" keys. Oh and that bit there is why "Johnny B Goode" is actually in Eb. Chuck's piano player, Johnnie Johnson had decades of big band/jump band experience and Chuck was no stranger to horn bands either.

Situations like this are exactly why I own a long-neck (not quite a baritone). when Most Esteemed Redhead decides that the right key for her to sing a song is Eb, C# or Mb demented, I can usually work something out to take advantage of some open strings. fairly quickly. ETA, when we were a bass-less duo, this was more important than it is currently.

Should have gone in with the first class.

Sweet! Great score! Of the gaggle of PRS models I run across, the DG is the one that speaks to me the loudest. Religiously speaking, I'm a different flavor, but I know a guitar-playin' rabbi. I'll talk to him.

This sucks, Ted. I've hardened my house some (it's not the best neighborhood) and mostly work at home, but if somebody watched the pattern of our comings and goings, we could still get hit. Hope that the guitars (and everything else) show up in a pawnshop, Craigslist, or similar. I'm willing to chip in for Kiz's plane ticket. Oh, and I'll supply the ammo.

Well, that sucks six kinds of swamp water. I hope the gits come back and the git that stole them gets his due.

No wonder I've never been able to figure the blinkin' thing out! I've mucked through with a 'stache for decades. But you can get the occasional surprise, no doubt.

Cross-harp? It's because if you try to play it in the same key as the guitar player, he'll become quite cross with you. Or you'll get all crossed up trying to remember whatthehell key you're really in. HellifIknow. Let me see if I can 'splain this without getting you further crossed up. Your basic 10-hole diatonic harp has its key defined by the note that is produced when you blow on the first (lowest) hole on the harp. As you blow and draw on successive holes going across the harp, you'll create (more or less) a major scale. BUT, if you start by drawing in on the second hole and using that as your key defining note (or, let's say the Do, as in Do, Re, Mi), you'll be able to access lots of accidentals and blue notes that weren't available when playing "straight" harp. That second hole drawn note is five notes up the major scale from the first hole, blown note. That is why you use an A harp to Play in E. etc. Because you're starting from a different point of reference than whatever is stamped on the top plate of the harp. But WHY???? Because there's more important notes that can be easily "bent" available to you when playing cross harp, not to mention blue notes, etc. Because it's just more awesome. And Brootalz Special 20 for me too, after decades of Blues Harps. In about 1970 I was working and teaching in a music store and I'd get the question all the time: "What's the difference between a Marine Band and a Blues Harp?" I'd answer "About 50 cents".

Now, that's just sick right there.