[Harp-L] Re: Mick's crappy, collectible harp amps



No, that's cool. I hope you understood it was all in fun, tongue-in- cheek sort of thing.

I don't think I've EVER heard of such horror stories with vintage amps of the type of experience(s) you describe.

It sure is hard finding the right amp tech. Only guy I ever had a great relationship with, and trusted, was Ron Holmes. I know many a harp player who has sent their gear to him and had great success in getting things fixed, and fixed right. When the amp was too large to ship, they'd simply send the head or chassis to him. If you ever decide to drop a few more $ into them, Ron is at www.holmeseng.com. Guys on the list (and some well-known pros) can vouch for him.

Good luck, and I hope... well, it can only get better from this point on, eh?

Ray.
--
My Music - www.resgraphics.com
My Band - www.myspace.com/bluemax503
My YouTube - www.youtube.com/raybee127



On Apr 12, 2009, at 6:28 PM, Mick Zaklan wrote:

Hey Ray,
I kind of felt like Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes after that rant. And I figured I'd get some offers from concerned harpists like yourself to alleviate my pain and shrinking pocketbook by relieving me of these ill-functioning museum pieces. How generous of you.
But Ray, my friend, I've come to regard these old amps as merely long term cds. Inflation fighting investments. A last line of defense against bankruptcy and homelessness.
Besides that, I've sort of enjoyed delving into the shadowy world of amp techs. Driving my car into strange neighborhoods searching for addresses, the occasional rundown house and snarling dogs, bumping my amp down a narrow basement stairway, heading toward a workbench in the corner with electronic parts scattered about and the smell of dirty laundry in the air.
I'll never forget one tech named James Link. I was initially impressed that James was operating out of a garage in his backyard with several assistants helping out. Instead of the usual smelly basement. I patiently explained to him that, as a harp player, I was possibly looking for something different than what he might do with a guitarist's amp. I asked for a few modifications that I had read about other harp players doing. After a heated argument, I figured I had prevailed. After all, I was the one paying for the work.
After a week or two went by with a couple of calls by Link informing me that he was finding more and more things to replace on my old Super Reverb, it was finally time to pick up the amp. Link's garage was less than 10 minutes from my place of work but his official hours of operation perfectly coincided with my workday. I asked if he could hang around his garage an extra 5 or 10 minutes while I hustled over with a check. The tab had climbed to around $300, by the way. Nope, James informed he was running a business and I needed to be there during business hours. He wasn't open on weekends. The next day I had to sneak over to his "business" with the company van on company time. Once the check was in his hand, he became quite gregarious. Told me what an "honor" it was to work on an old Fender in such good condition. I asked if he had made the modifications I requested while restoring the amp. Nope, he felt that I should experience the amp just as it had come off the assembly line. Restored to factory specifications. Then, if I was unhappy, he'd be happy to try it my way. I tell you, I had smoke coming out of my ears at that point.
I know this is Easter, but there must be a special place in Hell reserved for guys like that.


Mick Zaklan

On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 2:31 AM, Ray Beltran <raybeltran@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:
Hmmm.... You're right.


Them dang things... I HATE 'em!!!

I feel your pain, bro

Tell ya what... I'll take 'em off your hands, easy. This way you never have to suffer them again.

Let me know.

Ray.
--
My Music - www.resgraphics.com/music


On Apr 11, 2009, at 10:20 AM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:



Message: 5 Date: Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:52:20 -0500 From: Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: [Harp-L] Mick's crappy, collectible harp amps To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx Message-ID: <88bfaf130904110952oe33f342x6a5c6cf558f6d506@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1


I didn't contribute to the gear thread a short while back because I'm not
much of a gearhead. If I had any advice to give to a young player just
starting out, it would be to buy something new. New! Screw the
collectibles. I've got a ' 59 Bassman that looks like it was pulled out of


a house fire. That's the way it looked 30 years ago when I bought it for a
couple hundred bucks. I've also got a mint condition (at least externally)
Fender Super Reverb that I've owned for 25 years. $300 for that one.
Combined, I might have these amps turned on a total of 30 hours annually.
By the end of the year, one or both of them will have quit on me.
Reliability-wise; neither of these beasts, to borrow a phrase from the late
Harry Truman, "is worth a pitcher of warm spit". Nowadays; since I play
maybe one or two paying gigs in 12 months, basically I'm playing to pay an
amp tech. I've probably spent over a thousand bucks with a half- dozen techs
trying to keep these amps running over the years. They've been rebuilt,
restored, re-coned, etc. I think my record is 4 gigs in a row without a
problem. That's pretty pathetic.
I've come to the conclusion that guitarists are like gun owners. One is
never enough. Guitars or amps. When my Bassman fried the other night at
rehearsal for the umpteenth time, the guitarists had four or five backup
guitars and amps gathering dust in the corner. That was just the stuff they
brought to rehearsal. I spent the rest of the night playing out of a small
Music Man. I used to play one of these and had forgotten how crappy they
sound for harmonica. I had no trouble selling my old Music Man years ago.
Every time a guitarist would plug into mine, he would rave about how great
it sounded. For guitar. I would watch with amazement as these guys would
push the volume knob up to 8 or 9. 3 was the maximum I could ever get the
thing up to with a mic and harp. Then the damn thing would feedback like a
banshee.
The next night, I found a Fender Deco Tone amp perched on an amp stand
waiting for me. Just a couple of years old. Though it had gathered a layer
of dust down in the basement the purchase and warranty tags were still on
it. I kidded the guitarist about that. "You left those on for "Antiques
Roadshow", right?". The amp, about the size of a modest television set,
looked like a radio from the 30's. All plastic, round grill, no edges. Like
something out of Flash Gordon. I think the amp had a single speaker, 10 or
12 inches. I'm sure the guts of this thing were probably out of one of
Fender's regular production amps. I have to say, the little guy sounded
terrific down in the basement. Whether it was the room, the hot Sonny Jr.
mic, the amp stand, the particular settings; I don't know.
Unfortunately, Fender only cranked out less than 200 of these. Otherwise,
I'd be ordering one of them now.
Again, in my humble opinion, buy something new. Otherwise, it's like
loading your prized possessions into a car with 400,000 miles on it and
attempting to drive from coast to coast. It's not a question of whether or
not something might go wrong, but when and how many times. I don't know how
many times my old amps have quit on me in the middle of solos onstage.
Nothing more frigging embarrassing.


Mick Zaklan






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