[geeks] Guitar callouses

[Joshua D. Boyd]

On Sat, 9 Jun 2001, Mike Hebel wrote:

> Funny you should mention amps - my last job I worked was with Norb
> Funk the creator of Fatboy Amps.  It was _very_ cool listening to his
> stories about meeting Santana and Jeff Beck.  (Last I heard he was
> also thinking about doing a limited number of amps to sell on E-Bay as well.)
> Actually, $500 is about what Norb told me I should get for a basic
> amp to get me started.
 
It depends on how carefully you shop.  I, for instance, have a pretty nice
keyboard amp (works quite well for bases) that is a monster and cost me
$150.  It is all a matter of where you look, and how new you want the gear
to be.

> JDB> Note, be very careful about buying used from individuals rather than
> JDB> stores.  Unless you are an expert, there could be hidden problems that
> JDB> neither you nor the seller know about.
> 
> That's what Norb said as well.  He told me that unless he was planning
> on re-building or refurbishing the amp he would almost always buy an
> amp new just because people "tweak" the internals so much.

I don't think I seen an amp for sale that had the internals tweaked,
unless I was the one who did it.  Maybe it's because I live in the middle
of amish country.  Anyway, anyone know any good web sites to help with
refurbishing a tube amp?  I have one sitting here, but it doesn't work,
and I know it isn't the tubes or any obvious (like disconnect) wire
problems.  It is a 1964 Univox.  The guy at the music store (who wanted
$50 to look at it) said that it was probably a fairly nice amp if I got it
repaired, and that it could be worth a few hundred.

When I made that comment, I was more refering to the instrument itself.  I
wouldn't have any trouble buying an amp from an individual, but neck
problems in guitars can be hard to spot.  I got bitten badly by that
myself once.  The guitar looked fine, but as soon as I changed the strings
it went to hell.  I wasn't able to get 1/4 of the price I paid for it.
Call me the sucker.  Bought it from some kid who had been given it as a
present a few years earlier, but had never learned how to play.

--
Joshua Boyd