Recent content by jmv

I'm considering getting a new guitar. I have a gibson LP standard, and I love it, but there are some reasons I'd be considering a strat. Reasons why i'd want a strat: 1. the sound - I'd really like to have a great strat sound to compliment the great humbucker tones I have with my gibson 2...

So, one of my guitar heros, Monte Montgomery, has some of the biggest loudest ballsiest harmonics i've ever heard. For once i'm actually able to listen to his songs and pick out some of the things he's playing and in trying to recreate the songs i'm having a big problem of very little harmonics...

So, over the years i've done a few things to improve my already good blackface bassman... new power tubes (=C=), replace a few caps, new speakers (original jensens were blowing, got replacement webers)... but i've never bought pre-amp tubes for it. I believe i got a couple EH 12AX7s from...

Okay so, i'm going to school to be a percussion teacher. I'm about halfway through school and have lots of different drumline experience, so like most other guys i'm getting jobs as a tech at different high schools. Theres a high school i go to who is trying to put together an indoor drumline...

Okay, so i always read people saying "'if you don't know how to discharge the capacitors in an amp, DON'T mess around with it!" I understand that amps deal with high voltages, deadly voltages, and that they aren't something to just fool around with. The problem is, i never see anyone saying...

Hey guys, i got my Weber speakers and was getting ready to put them into my bassman cabinet... and i realized that all the mounting holes are covered by some sort of material. Is this normal?? What do i need to do in order to clear these spaces out?? I shot an email off to ted weber...

Well, i got my '66 bassman back from the shop, a guy who came highly recommended Biased it and gave it a once over. He said everything looked pretty good, but it looked like nobody had been in there in quite some time. He also informed me that only one capacitor in the amp has been replaced...

Can someone help explain the differences, sonically, to me?? I'm thinking more in terms of the originals or the general feel of the amp, not really the reissues. The way i understand it, the JTM is the lowest gain, more of a 'bluesy' feel, partly because of the tube rectifier. But if you...

Can anyone recommend a book that delves into how amps work, how everything interacts with everything else, and all the electronic shenanigans that take place in amps, specifically older style tube amps?? I'm getting interested in the idea of building an amp, likely from a kit, but some...

Okay, i'd like to see if you guys can help clear some things up for me. I'd have to say, as cliche as it may be, my biggest guitar influences are hendrix, cream-era clapton, and early zeppelin. Based on all that i've read, they all share one important thing in their tone that i don't have...

Okay so i was cleaning my BF bassman while i had it semi-taken apart getting ready to replace the speakers. On the tolex, all thats really there is some dust, because it spends most of its time in its flight case avoiding other grime. Problem is, i can never seem to get the tolex thats exposed...

Okay guys, curious if anyone here has an opinion on this. Trying to give a little love to my 1966 Bassman, so i just recently bought new powertubes for it, and i'm gonna get new speakers. I also read that you should probably replace the PI tube when the poweramp tubes get replaced. The tube...

I wanted to see if you guys could maybe help me understand this pedal a little. Something that i've been doing recently since i got the champ 600 is to run the amp pretty wide open, at least when i'm going for a dirtier tone, and then use my TS-7 tube screamer with the gain turned pretty low to...

Well, i was trying to figure out what to do for a practice amp at the apartment. There was one at a local store so i decided to check it out. I definitely dig the tones it offers on the verge of breakup. I plug it into my bassman cab (which has speakers on their way out, so it gives a general...

Are they really as amazing as everyone says?? Theres an EL34 shiva at a store just a few minutes from my house.... i'm thinking about taking my gibson down there to plug into it, but i almost don't want to because i'm afraid i'll like it too much, and theres no way i could afford a $2000...