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Like some folk have a weakness for cheap, oddball guitars, I have a soft spot for cheap, oddball amps. When this one showed up on eBay, I had to have it. I've heard of Jay Turser, but I didn't know this Classico amp existed until I saw the auction listing. It's such an odd mashup of tweed...

So this is waaaaay off topic and it may eventually wind up on a construction forum, but . . . My son recently acquired a pair of old Sullivan Industries D185 air compressors, one utility mount, one towable but without wheels. Based on serial numbers, they're around 30 years old. Both have...

I have a set of Mackie MC-150 headphones for listening to music and for plugging into my amp when I want to practice silently. They're not pro-quality studio headphones by any stretch but they're more than adequate for my needs. I particularly like these because they're the first pair of...

I've been on the lookout for a used Blues Cube Hot basically since the start of the p******c that dare not speak its name. For some reason, used ones at reasonable prices have gotten really scarce over the last year and a half. They're easier to find in blonde tolex, but I wanted black. Since...

This Cort LP showed up on Seattle Goodwill's eBay page. Basic low-priced Les Paul type with a bolt-on neck, except . . . What's that poorly-positioned fifth knob? It must have been added by an owner, but what does it do? Master volume? Master tone? A second neck PU volume ala Rickenbacker...

When I'm not playing my 2012 American Standard Tele, it hangs on the wall, where the bridge is more than four feet above the floor. I took it down to play today and noticed a strand of dog fur along the top of the pickguard. I brushed it off . . . but it didn't go. I brushed it again . . ...

I'll start with pictures, since that's what everybody wants. Now the review. I ordered this from MF a few weeks ago, using a 15% off coupon that lowered the price to $170. My preferred color was Baltic Blue Metallic, which was backordered for about ten days. It arrived in the basic wedge...

I've been discussing with friends how changing technology changes music. I don't mean things like autotune machines or digital recording, but substantial changes in society. We had fifty years of songs about cars. The telephone triggered a slew of songs about talking on the phone (the most...

I have a small, cloth-covered wood suitcase I want to turn into a speaker cab or possibly even a micro deluxe if I get really ambitious. It's big enough to accommodate an 8-inch speaker. This isn't an antique. I think it probably was meant to be a home decor item (sorta tacky, if you ask me)...

A week ago, I ordered a Vintera '50s Modified Telecaster from one of the big online retailers during an open-box special. They knocked $200 off the sticker, which got the guitar into what I consider the proper price range. (I assume these Vinteras are very popular because no one's discounting...

Notice how NO ONE jumps in to see whether the drummer is OK. Plenty more where he came from, I suppose.

A few months back, I picked up an older Luna Athena semihollow. This isn't a traditional semihollow (front, back, molded sides), it's a radically chambered Les Paul type. I bought it mainly on a lark because it's unusual, it's attractive (I'm a sucker for art deco anything), and it was a...

I was watching some video of Sister Rosetta Tharpe's amazing performance at Wilbraham Road RR station in Manchester, England, during the 1964 "Blues and Gospel" tour with Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Cousin Joe, Otis Spann, and the Reverend Gary Davis. That is, watching it for, I...

I just brought home a Line 6 Pod, v2.0, that I picked up from a local seller for $30. This isn't anything I need, it's just a toy, something to mess around with and see what it can do. I know it works but the seller wanted to keep the power supply. No problem, I thought, I have plenty of 9V...

I've had a Vox AD30VT for a long while and really like it. A few weeks ago, a great deal on an almost new VT40X fell into my lap, and since this amp is three generations "more advanced" than the AD30, I snagged it. The VT40X has a lot to recommend it over the AD30VT, but it's also coming up...

I've never spent much time with stratocasters, so a while back I resolved that if I found a bargain on a black strat with a maple fingerboard, I'd add it to the lineup. Of all the strat looks, I think nothing is as sexy as a black strat with a tortoise shell pickguard and maple fingerboard. A...

The power switch broke on my Mustang II v1 amp. I bought another DPDT switch at Fry's, installed it -- with the wiring exactly the same as before, or so I thought. When I switched it on, the power came on and amplified, clean sound comes out, but the only control that does anything is the master...

I recently picked up one of those cool Nano Legacy amps (the Mojo Diamond). All my other amps are combos, however, so I don't have any stand-alone speaker cabinets. Until I have the time to make one, I'd like to adapt one of my practice amps by either adding an input jack wired directly to the...