BackdoorArts
Senior Member
2014-041:
Working In A Vacuum
Working In A Vacuum
Jake's Backdoor Hippie-palooza, 2014 Edition
- Thread starter BackdoorArts
- Start date
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Really nice shot. Must be an old amp?
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Doesn't really have to be old as there are many great guitar amp builders still making great, new tube amps, but this one happens to be old. '73 Fender Princeton Reverb. First tube amp I ever bought for guitar, and one I won't part with.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
I had no idea you could still even buy tube anything anymore.
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BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Tube amps have never gone away. Fender and Marshall still make them, but they've moved away from the hand-wired variety due to the cost of production and now use PCB board with components either mounted straight to the board or wired to it. While this greatly reduces cost, reliability and repair become an issue, and it compromises tone in a lot of ways.
There is a whole cadre of small builders out there who still do the hand-wired stuff. Some, along with making amps of their own design, also specialize in converting the modern "reissue" amps from PCB board to hand-wired to original specs (Allessandro, Billy Penn). Others specialize in making faithful reproduction of old Fender "Blackface" and "Tweed" amps (Headstrong, Clark, Victoria). Still others make their own designs that are inspired by classic old amps by Fender, Marshall, Gibson and Vox, but take it in their own direction, often building in Master Volume and attenuation circuits so that the sound that used to only be available at full, deafening volume can now be had by a guy like me in his music room. My favorite is an amp by my friend Steve Carr from NC called the Mercury. It's a very loud 8 watts, but has an attenuation circuit to bring the volume down to an equivalent 1/10 Watt level, allowing you to get incredible high distortion sustain without waking anyone in the house (the design was inspired by the arrival of his first child). Makers like Carr, Senn, Dr. Z, Germino, Top Hat, Matchless, Bad Cat, Rhinehart, Tone King, 65, Clark, Headstrong, Victoria, Divided By 13 ... (the list goes on and on) ... are making incredible amplifiers that make it possible to have to tone of the old vintage stuff without the worry of 40-60 year old components failing on the road.
The hard part these days is finding tubes that are of the quality that you could get back in the day. Modern production is plagued by cheap components and frequent failure, making the vintage New Old Stock tube market a real cash cow. Folks hunt down and stash away loads of old Mullard, GE and RCA tubes, particularly anything made to military grade specs.
There is a whole cadre of small builders out there who still do the hand-wired stuff. Some, along with making amps of their own design, also specialize in converting the modern "reissue" amps from PCB board to hand-wired to original specs (Allessandro, Billy Penn). Others specialize in making faithful reproduction of old Fender "Blackface" and "Tweed" amps (Headstrong, Clark, Victoria). Still others make their own designs that are inspired by classic old amps by Fender, Marshall, Gibson and Vox, but take it in their own direction, often building in Master Volume and attenuation circuits so that the sound that used to only be available at full, deafening volume can now be had by a guy like me in his music room. My favorite is an amp by my friend Steve Carr from NC called the Mercury. It's a very loud 8 watts, but has an attenuation circuit to bring the volume down to an equivalent 1/10 Watt level, allowing you to get incredible high distortion sustain without waking anyone in the house (the design was inspired by the arrival of his first child). Makers like Carr, Senn, Dr. Z, Germino, Top Hat, Matchless, Bad Cat, Rhinehart, Tone King, 65, Clark, Headstrong, Victoria, Divided By 13 ... (the list goes on and on) ... are making incredible amplifiers that make it possible to have to tone of the old vintage stuff without the worry of 40-60 year old components failing on the road.
The hard part these days is finding tubes that are of the quality that you could get back in the day. Modern production is plagued by cheap components and frequent failure, making the vintage New Old Stock tube market a real cash cow. Folks hunt down and stash away loads of old Mullard, GE and RCA tubes, particularly anything made to military grade specs.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
As if the timing couldn't be better, a friend of mine posted this to Facebook this morning - "Part Of My Tung Sol Collection - Life Is Too Short For Crappy Tone"
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
2014-042:
Long tables, lots of snow.
Long tables, lots of snow.
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Would not want to sit and eat at that table. At least not today
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Better today than tomorrow ... or the next day!!
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
Would be an interesting shot though to see someone siting at that table with a plate on the table and a picnic basket eating fried chicken and baked beans. Especially if you could have them in shorts and a tee shirt.
RockyNH_RIP
Senior Member
Wow! That is a nice use of leading lines!!
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Thankfully my office is one door from my bedroom and I don't have to go out in this stuff except to clear it. We're supposed to get anywhere from 8-14" tonight, on top of the 8" of powder and ice we've got, but at least we know how to handle ourselves in it.
I've actually enjoyed going out and shooting in it. It makes for pretty pictures. Here's another from yesterday.
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BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Thankfully my office is one door from my bedroom and I don't have to go out in this stuff except to clear it. We're supposed to get anywhere from 8-14" tonight, on top of the 8" of powder and ice we've got, but at least we know how to handle ourselves in it.
I've actually enjoyed going out and shooting in it. It makes for pretty pictures. Here's another from yesterday.
View attachment 72401
Drove past this today and 3/4 of the icicles were laying in ruins. And it never got above 20 degrees!!