Category: Tubes
Michael Schenker turned 60 in January. Is that a big deal? It’s a round number that implies old-ish age, but it sure hasn’t slowed his fingers down any. Check this video from May 1 of this year. He solos for 10+ minutes — not alone, but with the drummer and bass player. YOU WILL NOT […]
LOVE the first four Van Halen albums. Always have, always will. Love the rest too, including the Van Hagar years (oops, forgot about VH III…), but those first four vinyl donuts are to me and many others just the nads. The nadliest of nads. They’re a band kicking the world’s butt in every way, and […]
Wooooooo-hooooooooo! Stoked! The earliest interview we have of Edward Van Halen is the one Jas Obrecht did that ran in the July (and then November) 1978 issue of Guitar Player magazine. But we weren’t reading everything Jas had on tape because just like with any print interview, what’s published is cropped way down. At the […]
Recently saw a short blog post on GuitarPlayer.com called “Desert Island Amp,” by guitarist guitarist and studio whiz Carl Verheyen. I read it, checked out a couple YouTube vids (I know, not great for tone, but not going by them alone), and am sold: I’m looking for an old Fender Princeton, which can be had […]
Booya!, Ark, Evil Robot, Pedals… Don’tcha just love the smell of hot tubes? A cookin’ amp is one key to Woody Tone, and as I’ve said, the Amp Show was full of Wood. Here are some more finds from the recent NY/NJ Amp Show – but know that I unfortunately didn’t make it to every […]
The Amp Show was AWESOME. Walk into any room, plug in and you get sho-nuff T-O-N-E of the Woody variety. And there most definitely was variety, all of it woody. I didn’t hear a bad amp or even anything approaching a bad amp, and didn’t expect to – though there was one that was a […]
What do you know about the 6CA7 power tube? If you’re like me, you know that Edward Van Halen favored them back in the day, and that they are similar to EL34s but different. You might also know that they never came stock in Marshall heads, that EVH favored Sylvania big bottle 6CA7s, and that […]
The EVH Connection (Sorta), Yngwie’s Amp Settings This Edward Van Halen quote from Tuesday’s post – “Those old Marshalls are all so different and you won’t find two that sound the same” – reminded me of another quote
Part 2 Here’s the second part of the EL84-focused interview with Don Mackrill of Mack Amps, which is based in Ontario, Canada. WoodyTone: What tonal properties can you get from EL84s that you can’t get from other power tubes? Don: In my opinion, EL84s and EL34s are very similar. 6L6s and 6V6s are too, but […]
Part 1 I’m not an amp builder, but to me EL84 power tubes seem like the little brother to EL34s. As Vox is to Marshall, if you will. Similar tone, but lower-powered. And while I love EL34 amps – their sheer mind-bending power – I keep running across awesome-sounding EL84 amps.
Tubes = wood. Some brands of tubes may give you more wood than others. All tubes are not alike. That’s why when buying tubes, you should know what you’re doing – or talk to/buy from someone who does.
It’s cool that Joe Bonamassa is a pretty regular participant on the forum at his website. Maybe that’s because, at 32, he’s a little younger than most guitar heroes. Or maybe it’s because he’s jazzed about gear and wants to share what he’s learned – and is still learning. Whatever the case, the fact that he […]
Fair Warning Tone Ain’t All the Same
Got it in my head to figure out which Van Halen song tones – not album tones – I liked the most. Started with Fair Warning, whose balls I just can’t get enough of…which doesn’t sound so good but you get what I mean. Listen to it cranked in my car because that’s the only […]
Pondering VH’s Fair Warning Tone
LOVE the first four Van Halen albums. Always have, always will. Love the rest too, including the Van Hagar years (oops, forgot about VH III…), but those first four vinyl donuts are to me and many others just the nads. The nadliest of nads. They’re a band kicking the world’s butt in every way, and […]
Recently I was ruined yet again by a good amp. This time a bud’s Bogner Shiva, EL34 version. Let’s call him Sean – because that’s his name…. He’d been talking about how awesome it was for a while, and even though I know he has good ears, wasn’t too motivated to go try it. I’d […]
The Gene-EVH-Ace-Joe Perry Connection
Have you picked up “Guitar World Presents 40 Years of Van Halen” yet? Zactly – I didn’t even know it existed until I saw it in a bookstore (remember those? lol). Anyhow, I’m always amazed at how I think I’ve memorized every word ever written about Ed and his gear and then I read something […]
More On the YMI5150 Model-A Guitar
Few weeks ago I posted a brief “review” (outdated word) of Kevin Holbrook’s YMI5150 Model-A guitar. As a brief reminder, what got my attention were the following things: > A good wood combo: swamp ash, maple/rosewood. > An interesting and unique combo of components resulting in a Strat-shaped and -scaled guitar with an ABR bridge […]
Did You Read the Esquire EVH Piece Yet?
We’re going to have to wait yet another week for the interview with Kevin Holbrook of YMI5150 guitars because we have yet another newsworthy event. This time it’s the recent Esquire interview with Edward Van Halen. Now before you EVH fans get to getting your hopes up, let’s bear in mind the same ol’s: 1. […]
Show ‘Review’: Van Halen at the Garden
Took my 10-year-old son to see Van Halen at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 1. I think he was more excited to see them than I was – not that I wasn’t, but this was the mighty Van Halen whose tunes the both of us have copped, jammed to and listened […]
