# Assuage my guilt, people



## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Please tell me it's OK that I bought three guitars in three weeks while I'm supposedly paying off a cash debt...

I HAD to! I hadn't bought a guitar in almost 20 years and they were SCREAMING buys off Craigslist!

:stupid::love-struck:


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

indexxx said:


> Please tell me it's OK that I bought three guitars in three weeks while I'm supposedly paying off a cash debt...
> 
> I HAD to! I hadn't bought a guitar in almost 20 years and they were SCREAMING buys off Craigslist!
> 
> :stupid::love-struck:


You are obviously suffering from GAS. (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome). 
Happens occasionally to all guitar players. I presume you are in your 40s? I bought 3 as well from E-Bay in 2007, (in my 60s) after visiting Nashville, Memphis and the Gibson
factory.


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## hystat (Jun 18, 2010)

depends on the price, the details and the pics you will now upload..... 

Good guitars are pocket change now since the Koreans got ramped up.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

hystat said:


> Good guitars are pocket change now since the Koreans got ramped up.


Some Korean guitars are good, others are not worth the asking price. Resale on any asian made guitars is very dubious and generally you won't get back what you paid for them.
American made guitars (Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, PRS, etc) are in demand by pros and generally they fetch a good resale price.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Fender FMT Custom Tele- Indo made, neck-through body, spalted maple top on mahogany body, Seymour Duncans '59 and Pearly Gates Plus, with coil-split: $400

Squire Classic Vibe Thinline Telecaster- China, maple neck, Mahogany Semi-hollowbody w/F-hole, Alnico-V single coils: $275 (INCREDIBLE sounding guitar)

Ibanez RG370, Korea, 'Superstrat'- cheapo Ibanez 24-fret shredding machine. Crappy Powersound pickups that I'll replace, guitar needs TLC from neglect- $100

All three very different axes, all great quality (esp the Teles!) and all virtually unplayed. Custom has not a single mark, zero fret wear - probably saw 15 hours of use. CV Thinline still had the plastic on the pick guard, (my god what a chameleon this thing is- the pickups spit, snarl, whisper, scream, and float depending on your attack- incredibly articulate and dynamic). Ibanez still had the string from the hangtag on the strap button, and all the store stickers on the back ($669.99 at long and MqCuade, apparently!). Surface rust on body hardware shows me that it's sat in a closet for ten years- the strings have surface rust at the saddle points. So all three were owned by kids who got them for xmas years ago probably, realized they didn't care anymore, and finally their moms told them to get rid of them.

All told- 3 wicked-playing axes for $775.

I've been a Les Paul guy my whole life (1968 Gold Top for 3o years) and SWORE I'd never buy three things:

1- a Squire. But I CAN'T put this guitar down- it sounds and plays soooo great
2- anything except American made high-end instruments. (I like both of my Teles better than anyAmerican I played at L&M last week)
3- a cheap, generic Ibanez metal cheese-shredder. Great neck, well-made; just needs am hour of attention and a better neck humbucker.

pics to come...


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

indexxx said:


> Fender FMT Custom Tele- Indo made, neck-through body, spalted maple top on mahogany body, Seymour Duncans '59 and Peary Gates Plus, with coil-split: $400


59 classic SD's on a Tele (neck?) and Pearly gates (bridge?) on a Tele? This is more LP sound than a Tele, but I'm sure it must sound great.



> Squire Classic Vibe Thinline Telecaster- China, maple neck, Mahogany Semi-hollowbody w/F-hole, Alnico-V single coils: $275 (INCREDIBLE sounding guitar)


Never thought much of the asian pups, but GuitarFetish has some good pups and I've bought a few from them alone with guitar components for my 3 home made LP types. 



> All three very different axes, all great quality (esp the Teles!) and all virtually unplayed. Custom has not a single mark, zero fret wear - probably saw 15 hours of use. CV Thinline still had the plastic on the pick guard, (my god what a chameleon this thing is- the pickups spit, snarl, whisper, scream, and float depending on your attack- incredibly articulate and dynamic). Ibanez still had the string from the hangtag on the strap button, and all the store stickers on the back ($669.99 at long and MqCuade, apparently!). Surface rust on body hardware shows me that it's sat in a closet for ten years- the strings have surface rust at the saddle points. So all three were owned by kids who got them for xmas years ago probably, realized they didn't care anymore, and finally their moms told them to get rid of them.


Sounds like not a bad deal then, even if you have to do some work on the cheeze-shredder. 



> All told- 3 wicked-playing axes for $775.


I spent more than that on wood and parts for my first homemade LP, so you got not too bad of a deal then.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I don't know anything about the price of guitars, but as someone who never learned how to play any musical instrument, I think it is a very valuable asset.....which dwarfs the cost of buying the actual instruments.

Probably a lot of people would gladly part with a pile of money to be able to instantly transfer musical talent to themselves.

If I could instantly play as well as this young lady.............I wouldn't care what the piano cost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if8epsj52Gw

Just a thought from the........"I wish I could play like that"..........bleacher seats.

So...........revel in your gift..........buy and play away.


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## hystat (Jun 18, 2010)

carverman said:


> Some Korean guitars are good, others are not worth the asking price. Resale on any asian made guitars is very dubious and generally you won't get back what you paid for them.
> American made guitars (Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, PRS, etc) are in demand by pros and generally they fetch a good resale price.


What you say about resale is 100% true. 
However, my Korean LP cost what would be the tax on a real Gibson so I wasn't worried about resale. 

What is a myth- is that you have to spend a lot of money to get great tone and quality electronics in an electric guitar. 
Same with amps. 

I actually used a $29 guitar (OLP MM5) and a $119 solid state amp (Vox Pathfinder 15R) when I started learning to play seriously. I took a week long music course at the Haliburton school of the arts called Jammin' the Blues, and used that setup for the week. I had the best tone in the room. lol. There were guys with $5000 worth of gear that were not coming close to my tone. They were all in awe. 

check out that little amp sometime:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBpWK8tmmBs


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## hystat (Jun 18, 2010)

indexxx said:


> 1- a Squire. But I CAN'T put this guitar down- it sounds and plays soooo great
> 
> pics to come...


awesome!


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## Jim9guitars (May 5, 2012)

I picked up a Squier Strat recently and love it! You can never have enough guitars, I had 17 at one point, here's a few of them(including the Strat).


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## Video_Frank (Aug 2, 2013)

I got into guitars late in life, and I'm not very good, but you can't resist the siren's call of GAS.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Jim9guitars said:


> I picked up a Squier Strat recently and love it! You can never have enough guitars, I had 17 at one point, here's a few of them(including the Strat).
> View attachment 429


Yea, I hear ya. I had 8 at one point. 3 Epiphone Jazz guitars (Ebay), 1 Takamine flat top, 1 tak Hirade Classic, 3 of my home made LPs and a cigar box 6 string.
All I have left now, is my Tak classic, and my homemade LP types. Never owned a Strat or a Tele in my life though. I'm more of a Gibby fan. 

Here are my 3 homemade LP types. I used Guitar Fetish pups and their hardware on them. These were created in 2007/2008. All are neck through designs.
The one on the left, I call the Legacy (Les Paul's Legacy), the middle one is a double cut (25.5 scale) Blues Master with SC Mean 90s, 
the one on left is a 3 inch thick semi-hollow called the Tribute.It has a LR Baggs Piezo T-o-M bridge as well as Vintage 59 HBs. 

Other than the Legacy, (based on a 59 LP blueprint from Stew-Mac) the other 2 are my own design.


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## Jim9guitars (May 5, 2012)

carverman said:


> Other than the Legacy, (based on a 59 LP blueprint from Stew-Mac) the other 2 are my own design.
> View attachment 431


Nice work! I was Gibson fanatic for a lot of years, had a mid 70's Goldtop and an SG. Then, by pure happenstance I came into possession of a 1967 Fender Mustang and went Fender crazy. I've since sold off the more expensive guitars being that I no longer play live and since the Mustang was stolen during a break in(and retrieved the same day from a local pawn shop!). I was paying a fair amount in insurance and it wasn't worth it. Here's the Les Paul and the Mustang.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Jim9guitars said:


> Here's the Les Paul and the Mustang.
> View attachment 432
> View attachment 433


Very nice looking GT. What year? Those don't look like the original pups it came with (Classic 57s) though.


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## Jim9guitars (May 5, 2012)

carverman said:


> Very nice looking GT. What year? Those don't look like the original pups it came with (Classic 57s) though.


It was mid 70's, maybe 74. A former owner altered it beyond vintage value by replacing the stock soapbar pick ups with humbuckers! He actually gouged out the holes with a chisel, and wore a big buckle rash into the back in the 5 or 6 months he owned it. I got it cheap because of this and replaced the crap humbuckers he put in with D'Marzzio dual sounds, the mini switches between the controls allowed me to go from humbucker to single coil. Next, I was having trouble keeping it in tune so I had the body routed and installed a Khaler locking trem. It was my work horse guitar for many years after that, it would stay in tune for a whole set and give me whatever sound I wanted. Despite all the mods I got a pretty good buck for it on ebay about 5 years ago.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Jim9guitars said:


> It was mid 70's, maybe 74. A former owner altered it beyond vintage value by replacing the stock soapbar pick ups with humbuckers! He actually gouged out the holes with a chisel, and wore a big buckle rash into the back in the 5 or 6 months he owned it. I got it cheap because of this and replaced the crap humbuckers he put in with D'Marzzio dual sounds, the mini switches between the controls allowed me to go from humbucker to single coil. Next, I was having trouble keeping it in tune so I had the body routed and installed a Khaler locking trem. It was my work horse guitar for many years after that, it would stay in tune for a whole set and give me whatever sound I wanted. Despite all the mods I got a pretty good buck for it on ebay about 5 years ago.


A Gibson gold top is still a gold top. I've heard that the original ones go for a pretty penny. But yours was modified, so that may have lowered the resale value,and mid 70s would
put it in the "Norlin Years" after McCarty and Seth Lover left in '66. 

A '59 standard burst LP (made in the heyday of Gibson when McCarty was running things), was valued over $300k US by collectors at one time. 
They are considered the"holy grail" of the LPs. Not bad for for 55 years, considering a standard LP burst was listed at $265 in the 1960 Gibson catalog. 
Here's one with a few more zeros added to the original price $265.00
http://www.maverick-music.com/recently-sold/1959-gibson-les-paul-sunburst


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

carverman said:


> A Gibson gold top is still a gold top. I've heard that the original ones go for a pretty penny. But yours was modified, so that may have lowered the resale value,and mid 70s would
> put it in the "Norlin Years" after McCarty and Seth Lover left in '66.
> 
> A '59 standard burst LP (made in the heyday of Gibson when McCarty was running things), was valued over $300k US by collectors at one time.
> ...


Carver- I particularly love the one on the right. Excellent work all around!

This story breaks my heart every time I think of it: When I was 18, my buddies and I drove from Edmonton to California to see the US Festival, in 1983. While we were there, we went to some guitar shops in Hollywood, and found this place called Voltage Guitars. This was in the heyday of hot-rodded Strats and glam metal, so everyone was selling off their old Fenders and Gibsons to modify Hamer bodies etc. So Voltage Guitars was kind of a specialty store- they were buying up all these sell-off from guys trying to be the next Van Halen or George Dokken. There were many great axes and other stuff- I got an original Thomas Organ Crybaby from 1960 (before they were Vox) for $35, and my bass player picked up a prototype Gibson Thunderbird for about 6 bills. 

But here's the killer- in the window, just innocently sitting on a guitar stand, was an actual 1959 Flametop in perfect condition. Asking price? $1,100. Yes, eleven HUNDRED dollars, now worth a quarter to a third of a million. But of course who knew.

Where's Mr. Peabody with his Wayback machine when you need him?


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

indexxx said:


> Carver- I particularly love the one on the right. Excellent work all around!


Thanks. these, I consider my more crowning achievements at this stage in life. I had the woodworking and carving tools at the time,
now most of these tools have been sold off.

Bought a Korean made Epiphone LP Custom off E-bay in 2007 after visiting the Gibson factories in Nashville and Memphis and attending the big carving show
in Ocean City Md. The Korean LP custom was heavy and had some kind of "mystery wood"..not sure if it was asian mahogany or what and 
Epiphone asian brand pickups. 

I was into Gary Moore (Still got the blues), and after hearing his flametop LP wail...I thought to myself..why not and started to carve my own. 

Gary Moore (still got the blues) BTW..the 59 LP he is playing here is supposed to be the one that Peter Green (who wrote Black Magic Woman)
used with the flipped out of phase magnet on the neck pup.
This one, who ever has it now..iS worth a lot because Gary has passed into Guitar Heaven.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyVj2DRoU34


> and my bass player picked up a prototype Gibson Thunderbird for about 6 bills.


Those are the Firebird basses. Not bad for $600.



> But here's the killer- in the window, just innocently sitting on a guitar stand, was an actual 1959 Flametop in perfect condition. Asking price? $1,100. Yes, eleven HUNDRED dollars, now worth a quarter to a third of a million. But of course who knew.


Yes, who knew. I was workiing in a guitar shop here in Ottawa in '66 and could have bought a 66 LP back then (the last ones of the McCarty era) but I ended up getting an
Epiphone archtop back then since I was into playing jazz and classical. Times change of course..and if I could go back 48 years, knowing what I know now..I would do things
a LOT differently. My divorce lawyers probably bought lots of Gibsons from the thousands I spent on them. However, I have never regretted even $1
that I have spent on my guitars to this day.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Great discussion here! Nice to share a bit and get away from focusing on finance.

All in the family- from left to right:

-1968 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top with Patent-Sticker PAFs from the first couple of years of production (installed by previous owner); bought 30 years ago for $400. Headstock break professionally repaired by previous owner. All wear on finish was there when I bought it- paint is completely cracked, frets were worn almost totally away, (I had to replace them) wood between frets is burned down from constant playing, bridge and tailpiece corroded to nothing from sweat; strange that a guitar that was only about 18 years old at the time had so much wear, and I thought for a long time it might be a lot older, but internet research says the serial number dates it to 1968. I had a little custom electronic work done about 20 years ago but don't remember exactly what- think it has a treble bleed and a different audio-taper volume pot. Had to replace much of the hardware over time as it has been played to the point of wearing out; but the guitar itself is still totally solid.

-2009 (?) Fender Telecaster Custom FMT, Spalted Maple top, Seymour Duncan 'Pearly Gates Plus' in bridge, SD '59 in neck, coil-split pull on tone knob. Bought three weeks ago- $400
-2003 (?) Ibanez RG370 JB, aka "The Cheese Shredder", 24-fret Wizard ll neck, H-S-H pickup set, bought four days ago- $100
-2012 (?) Squier Classic Vibe Thinline Telecaster, semi-hollow mahogany body, bought two weeks ago- $275

All three of these new additions were sitting neglected in various Craigslist basements- the Ibanez required a complete rebuild and generous amounts of steel wool, WD-40 and lemon oil to get the parts moving again- the strings were literally rusted to the saddles. (and were probably the original strings...) and the fretboard was CAKED with crud. The Thinline's strings were literally black and rusted dead from never being cleaned. But all three were almost pristine beneath the neglect (or because of it) - owned by non-players who let their guitars languish in closets untouched and therefore undamaged. The Ibanez still had the price stickers on the back, a price tag string on the strap button, and the protective film on the backplates, and the Thinline had the protective film on the pick guard. The FMT saw maybe 15 hours of play time, based on the lack of fretwear or pick swirls in the finish.


Doing a blind taste test with the exact same settings, the Paul is the clear and exalted winner, with those sweet, stickered PAFs bleeding mojo like, well, Gary Moore. Women fall to their knees and men faint in its presence... each: There is nothing this guitar can't do, including gently weeping. In a class of its own and I'll be buried with it. 

Second would actually be the Korean Thinline Squire- amazing articulation and definition, extremely dynamic and touch-sensitive, crystalline cleans and and really aggressive dirt when spanked hard. A true chameleon that really shocked me. Was initially going to upgrade the PUPs but after playing it endlessly for two weeks (I just cannot put this thing down; it'll be 3am and I'm still finding voices on it), I will likely keep it stock except for the tuners, knobs, and switch tip. Fit and finish are spot on.

Number 3 is the Spalted Maple Tele- the guitar itself is fantastic, extremely well-made and very high-quality all around. Reminds me a bit of a PRS; and yes, it is a bit like a Les Paul in Tele clothing with the mahogany neck-through body and humbuckers. This is a great workhorse guitar- can cover a lot of ground and does it well. The pickups sound fine, particularly in coil-split mode in the middle position, but there is a bit of a lack of character here. My Les Paul is actually a bit brighter than this Tele- very surprising but again the quality of anything on the Paul can't be topped. I will probably pull the PUPs and install a set of custom-made pickups from The Creamery in Britain- he will hand-wind pickups to your specs. That should set things right. I'm actually probably going to make this my main guitar simply because my Les Paul is almost 50 years old and I'm iffy about it leaving the house.

Last is the Ibanez- these are very generic guitars. Nothing at all wrong with it- the neck is astoundingly good (if you like fast, low, and thin). The basswood body is a bit dead, the Floyd Rose rip-off bridge is second-tier in materials, and the pickups although quite hot are flat and lifeless with no character. Plays amazing though- it's built for speed and it definitely excels at that. What my plan here is that when I get my pickups from The Creamery, I'll put the Duncans from the FMT into the Ibanez along with a different single-coil in the middle, and custom-wire it in some crazy configuration just for grins. I'm certain it will come to life then.

Not shown are my top-of-the-line mid-80's Jackson Soloist with active EMGs, my 1970's Takamine "Lawsuit" Martin D28 clone, my Vantage busking acoustic that I bought on my first backpacking trip in Europe 22 years ago ( it was being used as a sign holder with a piece of paper in the strings that said 'more guitars upstairs' in a pawn shop in London- great guitar and he didn't know it), my Washburn bass and my generic mandolin.

I sold about eight guitars and all my amps, effects, and recording gear 12 years go when I moved to the Cayman Islands- keeping only my Les Paul, Jackson, and my two acoustics. 

Now that I'm back in Canada I'm starting to build up my gear again after far too long. 

Playing through a Fender Super Champ X2- it's pretty ok but... next I go amp shopping...


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## Jim9guitars (May 5, 2012)

indexxx said:


> View attachment 436
> 
> 
> 
> Playing through a Fender Super Champ X2- it's pretty ok but... next I go amp shopping...


Nice collection. I picked up a brand new Fender Mustang I amp last year and will probably never need another amp. It takes some time to get used to all the controls but when you connect it to the computer via USB and use the "Fuse" software it is incredible. You can dial in any amp sound and any effect. Highly recommended.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Cheers Jim- yes, my X2 can do this also. I really like the deep effects editing- it's quite extraordinary. If you like tweaking this kind of modelling stuff, check out Peavey Revalver, there's a free trial download. The extent of editing is unreal- like changing the tone stacks and component values- really insane stuff. Great tones- probably the best modeller I've tried. Most modellers can do a few things well, but they miss on that elusive 'feel' and the warm dynamic grit of hot tubes but the Peavey gets it better than anything except maybe the Fractal units, which are hideously expensive. I think Revalver is $200 or so.

Review here:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may09/articles/revalver.htm


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

indexxx said:


> Cheers Jim- yes, my X2 can do this also. I really like the deep effects editing- it's quite extraordinary. If you like tweaking this kind of modelling stuff, check out Peavey Revalver, there's a free trial download. The extent of editing is unreal- like changing the tone stacks and component values- really insane stuff. Great tones- probably the best modeller I've tried. Most modellers can do a few things well, but they miss on that elusive 'feel' and the warm dynamic grit of hot tubes but the Peavey gets it better than anything except maybe the Fractal units, which are hideously expensive. I think Revalver is $200 or so.
> 
> Review here:
> 
> http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may09/articles/revalver.htm


Nice, I have a Peavey Valveking with a upgraded Celestion 12 Neodymium magnet for a more classic sound, 








but for fooling around I have a Line6 PODXt. It's not rack mount mind you, but you can do a lot of things with it, including amp modelling,
EFX/Stomp and on top of that download various user tones from the Line 6 user tone library. Haven't used it much in about a year now.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Hey! That's awesome because I scored a Pod XT off Craigslist two months ago for $125. It's pretty great for what it is; I remember when the original Pod came out I hated it- I've been a tube snob forever but now processing power and impulses have levelled the field a lot. If one is careful with the tweaking the XT can sound pretty realistic (and supposedly the HDs are even better- used by a ton of people now instead of amps for pro recording). Once you get away from the presets and start building you own patches the XT rocks pretty good for sure. But I always think that factory presets on anything are way over the top- too much delay etc. The one stock patch I like is 'Eruption'- it's pretty damn close to the real thing I must say. I've found with the Pod that for what my ears hear, I need to go into the 'Cab/AIR' settings and vastly dial down the AIR to about 8 on every patch. Really helps get rid of the perceived digital artifacting that I hear in most modellers.

We have similar gear!


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

indexxx said:


> We have similar gear!


Yes, I suppose we do, (except for the guitars).


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

For all guitar players 'round these parts... satisfied my amplifier GAS last night- hand-built boutique Kingsley combo. Link to website here, the sound clips are incredible; that's Simon the builder playing:

http://kingsleyamplifiers.com

My amp- has some additional features that were custom ordered by the original owner:

http://kingsleyamplifiers.com/products/amps/8/

After a lifetime of owning many different amps including two different Boogie stacks, and trying dozens and dozens more in music stores etc, that this is without question the most flexible, unbelievable sounding amp I have ever played. Astonishing cleans to incredible gain in any flavour imaginable, seems impossible to find a bad sound even if you try. Anyone looking for a new amp is strongly suggested to check out a Kingsley.


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## hystat (Jun 18, 2010)

nice! I love tube amps. 
I recently picked up two of these old tube heads made by Pine (Montreal) in the 60's. Typical 2X6V6 rock stuff. One sounds unbelievable. and it coincidentally sits perfect on my 1X15 cab.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Great score!! These old Canadian amp companies are starting to get some attention from collectors, particularly the Traynor YBA1. Garnets too. Happy playing!


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