Dauber

Once upon I time I was a bit of a dauber myself. Now I seem to take pictures, not paint them. This happy artist is pictured opposite the Needles on the Solent.

Shameful to admit, but I even use the phone to take pictures, even tough a phone is not a camera.

Roll your own - part 3

This is how it begins: Buy an empty amp case and pull all the nice black covering off it. Then saw a gap in the top for the new amplifier.

Now stand back and admire your craftmanship.

Warm and friendly

Ah. The sound of valves. I rolled my own design...

Roll your own Part 2

How to make your amps sound better without all that dangerous soldering: Cover them in tweed.

Black is so old school, but everyone knows that tweed amps sound better.

Roll your own part 1

Oh dear me, I have been overtaken by another addiction.

I have entered the seductive and slightly shocking world of valve amplifier modifications. 

You thought those old noisy valve guitar amps were dead didn't you. You thought it was all done on computer these days. 

Well, yes it probably is, but there is a growing group of individuals who stick to the old fashioned ways in search of that elusive and perhaps unobtainable tone. So, after a summer spent modifying Leo Fender's commercial valve amplifiers, I decided to start from zero and build an amp. This has now reached the point where the next step will be applying power. I think I will check the circuit carefully, twice, before I do that. 

If you are interested, this will be a dual 6V6 version of the 5F2A with my own tone stack and pre-amp modifications. Oh, you aren't interested.... :-)

New Clear Deterrent

We can't afford to buy a squadron of the new F35 Lightning II jet, so we have to press some of our old faithfuls in to service. 

These will soon make Ivan back off a bit.