Sunday, October 19, 2008

new gear...


I have an amp I bought on eBay and from the first time I turned it on, we were musical brothers. It's called a Divided by 13 (see the link on the right), a hand-made job out of LA in the vein of a vintage AC30 but with a lot more wallop and reliability, and it is an amp that sounds exactly like I always hoped an amp could sound. This particular model was designed and built for Paul McCartney's guitarist, Rusty Anderson. I bought mine from a guy named Brad Fernquist who plays for the Goo Goo Dolls. It's super cool, and incredibly loud, probably my favorite piece of gear I own.

Now before I continue, and I will keep this brief, there are three classic and basic types of amps in the world from which all others worth playing are derived - the 6L6/6V6-based Fender, EL84-based Vox, and the EL34-based Marshall. So you may be wondering, what's the difference? For the Fender, think of all the classic country, blues, and jazz guitar sounds you know. For the Vox, think jangly pop from George Harrison, to the Edge, to great chimey contemporary guitar work. As for the Marshall, we're talking rock and roll - Hendrix, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin. Everything else stems from one of these traditions. The Vox-style is my favorite voice and probably the most versitile, hence the Divided by mentioned above, but a professional player should have all three to keep his bases covered.

For a while now I've been wanting something small with a nice tone that was quiet enough to play in my bedroom, maybe something with an old Fender-sort of vibe. It would be a step in rounding out the collection, but budget is short so I've been waiting. Gibson and Epiphone do a yard sale a couple times a year to get rid of seconds, overstock, and damaged product. Most of the stuff there is junk, but occasionally there are some gems that come through. It seemed a good time to find a practice amp and I convinced my boss to let me miss the first couple hours of work on Friday to stand in line. When I got there, I eye-balled this pallet of Gibson amps, probably the only pieces of actual Gibson product in the sale, and though I had never played one, I knew it was my best bet. The employees get in first, and they immediately went after the amps. I started worrying all the cheap Gibson's would be gone, but when they finally let the proletariat in, there were three left and I grabbed one.

I had no idea what I had bought, so I pulled it up online and checked it out. Turns out it's a hand-wired, 15-watt amp in the classic Fender vibe, just like what I've been wanting. I was blown away, and instantly worried that it wasn't going to work. Now, I'm not one to make a point of money, but this deal was too good not to share so here goes. The Gibson GA-20 RVT, which I purchased, sold new for between $1000-1200, and I bought it new with nothing more than a scuff on the vinyl and a bad but usable tube for $100. To top it off, this thing sounds great! As simple a thing as this is, I think God chose to bless me with this amp, giving me something I had been hoping for in a way I had never expected to find it. It's a nice addition to my collection.

Next up is the Marshall, some day. On another note, I really do want to blog more. Thank you for still checking in, and feel free to pressure me. Cheers!

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Yayyyy for a new amp!!!!!! Even though I have no idea what you just talked about I love it...:) Remember you still have that 10 minutes....:)

Anonymous said...

ahaha I had a friend who sold his Marshall stack to buy an engagement ring... don't let that happen to you! :-)