Mountainview Publishing, LLC

INSIDE the
The Reluctant Messiah...
Roy Buchanan

Rediscovering
the quintessential
dark horse
among
The Player’s Guide to Ultimate Tone
$10.00 US, March 2007/VOL.8 NO.5 Report TM

the greatest
guitarists of all time

4
“Roy made me do it...”
Roy Buchanan
Jim Weider’s
quest “I think probably the reason I never made it big is because
for a blackguard I never cared whether I made it big. I didn’t really give a damn.
Telecaster All I wanted to do was learn to play the guitar for myself.
I didn’t care about anyone else.
7
Review –
The new JW40
signature amp
by Fargen,
plus interviews
with
Benjamin Fargen
&
Mike Piera (Analogman)

9
Review –
Celestion Heritage
G12-65

15
Review –
2006
Fender ‘51 Nocaster
tweaked for
tone!

Nocaster pickups...
#154 frets
Callaham compensated
brass saddles,
4-way reversed wiring
&
aged Gotoh vintage-style
tuners

18
Inside
Peter Frampton’s
Grammy-winning album
“Fingerprints...” I’ve had dreams in this place – not dreams that most people would understand.
with Dreams to do something I wanted to do. And I did what I wanted to do.
co-producer I played like what I felt this place was. It became me. There was a closeness.
Gordon Kennedy... Used to be so quiet, you could almost find God within your own self.
Our pick for the best You can get some real strange feelings out here. You can learn yourself.”
“guitar recording” – Roy Buchanan, Pixley, California, 1971
released in decades
www.tonequest.com
 cover story

Despite the efforts of many music writers over the years, no Again.” Listen...
better glimpse into the enigmatic life of Roy Buchanan has “There was a
ever been offered than the preceding words, pried from town – a strange
Buchanan himself by John Adams and Eliot Tozer as they little town they
filmed Roy in his hometown of Pixley, California for a docu- called the world.
mentary broadcast by WNET in 1971. “You can learn your- It was a lonely,
self...” Yes, Roy, and we could all stand to find such a place. lonely little town...
But like so many great artists, Roy’s talent and vision came ‘Til one day a
with a heavy price – a price that required payment to be stranger appeared
made in very dark places. and their hearts
rejoiced, and the
Phil Carson’s excellent book on Roy Buchanan titled sad little town was
American Axe not withstanding, much of the indulgent happy again. But
hoohah written about Roy Buchanan fails to capture the there were some that doubted – they disbelieved, so they
essence of his greatness, or the pathos behind his wry smile. mocked him, and that stranger went away. Now that sad little
“How do you do this, Roy? How did you, become you?” town that was sad yesterday, it’s a lot sadder today. I’ve walked
Unless you yourself had dreamed of bright lights beyond the in a lot of places I never should have been, but I do know that
dusty horizon of Pixley with the sound of Roy Nichols’ the Messiah, He will come again.” This eery dirge in A minor
Telecaster searing your brain, or you had paid your dues found on Buchanan’s first Polydor album begins with a
working a thousand one-nighters under the tutelage of a road Hammond B3 backing Roy’s plaintive Telecaster as he works
dog with the pedigree of Dale Hawkins, only to soldier on in the neck pickup. His playing is clear, sweet and soulful in the
anonymity as a sideman for a singer named Sammy Gowans beginning – until the microphonic ‘click’ of the bridge pickup is
(aka Danny Denver) at the Crossroads Restaurant and heard, and then true to Roy’s nature, the wheels come off. It is a
Supper Club in Bladensburg, Maryland... only then could you curious, disturbing song that begins with the tenderness of a
possibly understand what inspired Roy Buchanan to burn romantic slow dance that suddenly erupts into a furtive, desper-
down a stage so completely, and only then might you compre- ate hand job before melting to a melancholy fade.
hend the hard irony of a life sentence served on the road –
obligatory penance for an extraordinary gift.
The Last Upper
Did the jolting
The Reluctant Messiah contrasts
Roy between mind-
Buchanan numbing years
lived his pur- of endless
pose in life, travel and the
no doubt – he adrenaline
was given no rush of per-
other choice – forming for
but it would adoring fans
be too easy to anxious to
attribute his party hard
lack of suc- every night
cess and an take their toll
untimely on Roy? No doubt. You’ve got six kids and a wife you rarely
death merely see (although he must have seen her some), and a gig playing
to problems bar room revivals with a Telecaster and a few road-hardened
with drugs disciples backing you up. Imagine serving a different rogue
and alcohol, congregation every night in which many of your most ardent
or “not giving acolytes are drunk, stoned or jacked up on blow and dying to
a damn.” Roy share a buzz in ritual communion. Hailed as a visionary, you
was working cannot afford a house, a vacation, health insurance or a retire-
from within a ment plan. For the itinerant Messiah, there will be no end of
world of his own, and he left some vivid clues to its makeup the road. It is little wonder that Roy often seemed as if he had
in the spoken words that open “The Messiah Will Come something on his mind... We love to shower love on our heroes,
-continued-

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

2
 cover story

but it’s a one night stand. Their burdens are not our burdens, “successful” guitarists such as Jeff Beck, and like Roy, he
and deep down inside, we don’t really want to know how truly doesn’t give a damn, either. There are no mistakes.
tough it may be making music for a living, or how tough it
may be simply being them. We just want to be entertained. Yes, Roy’s ‘53
When Roy Buchanan was coming up in the ‘50s, ‘60s and Telecaster was
‘70s, the road was a rougher, wilder place than we can imag- integral to his
ine, and a man capable of playing with such sensitivity and sound, as was the
emotion was no less needful of the comforts of home as any blackface
of us. But he had chosen a path that would deny him what Vibrolux Reverb
most of us take for granted, and in the end, one way or the amp he would
other, it denied him his life. turn to face the
back of the stage,
Roy Buchanan went but can Roy
to glory nearly nine- Buchanan’s tone
teen years ago, and really be acquired
today there are peo- as easily as throw-
ple in this business ing down the cash
selling all kinds of required to
“tone” – even some approximate his
that would sell you rig? The very idea
Roy Buchanan’s is laughable – a
“tone.” Imagine mockery of the
that. Buy this, and years Buchanan
you too can sound toiled on the road
like Roy – working for
Buchanan... the nothing and
soulful, mournful everything – before finally being recognized by the music
Roy... the slick press in 1971. Sixteen years, people... barely the number of
country steel picker years young ‘Leroy’ had lived before he got the hell out of
Roy... the warm, Pixley, chased out of town by his dream.
sweet and jazzy Roy... and Roy, the blues incinerator... “I
can be all that?”Really... For the record, there was also more than one version of Roy’s
“tone.” For a time he actually played a Les Paul, and in the
If you take the time to listen intently to Roy Buchanan, and ‘80s, he switched to current production Telecasters with a
especially his first two Polydor recordings – before Atlantic’s rosewood fingerboard, swapped the pickups for those made
misguided attempts to thrust him into the commercial main- by Bill Lawrence, and his blackface Vibrolux Reverb amps
stream – it is clear enough where Roy was coming from, and were eventually replaced on stage by Roland JC120’s provid-
precisely where he had been. Often an unprepared and reluc- ed by promoters at each venue. He also sporadically played a
tant studio player, Roy Buchanan was content to simply show custom “Roy Buchanan” model Telecaster copy built by
up for recording sessions with his current bar band and cut a Roger Fritz and
familiar set list honed to a sharp edge in the bars of equipped with
Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. And the results EMG’s. His
were brilliant all right, infused with potent extremes of emo- Alligator studio
tion, drama, and a musical range of unimaginable depth – recordings from
from mournful pedal steel pulls and rippin’ chicken pickin’ the ‘80s are gen-
licks, to jumpin’ jazz stylings working out of nameless chords erally plagued by
and scales that Roy had mastered cold so long ago, to simple, an over-
good time Saturday night rock & roll and molten rockin’ blues processed drum
that left crowds (and other guitarists) stupefied. Buchanan’s sound typical of
first two Polydor albums (now available on one CD) remain the times, and his
among his best work, every track progressively revealing guitar is pushed
another aspect of his remarkable imagination, depth, and total back into the mix
mastery of the Telecaster. It didn’t earn him much money, but with too much delay, effectively neutering the intensity of his
it certainly did earn the respect and admiration of far more early records and live performances. That’s the way records
-continued-

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

3
 interview

were often made in 1985, and you won’t find many tones from Roy Buchanan’s career. For a catalog, contact Bob at 19
worth emulating in them. Atlantic Rd., #14G, Gloucester, MA 01930,email:bdavis@gis.net
And last but never least... the hombré that got the ball rolling
It was Buchanan’s early, raw, stripped down sound that put him with a Pony Express box – Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate.
on the map, and why is there is no Roy Buchanan signature
Telecaster? No signature Vibrolux Reverb? No signature noth-
ing bearing Buchanan’s name aside from his recordings? There

TQR: When and how did you first hear of Roy Buchanan,
Jim?

The first time I

heard Roy
Buchanan was
on his first
album, and I
should be, if for no other reason than to expose younger play- think I found out
ers to Roy’s complete grasp of one of the greatest guitars ever about that from
conceived, and the lost art of setting up an audience for the seeing the PBS
kill. Roy learned how to work up an audience by watching documentary. I
preachers on Sunday, and it would seem that many hotshot gui- was really into
tar players billed as such these days haven’t spent much time Telecaster play-
in church. There may be no shortage of technically proficient ers in the ‘60s,
players around today, but there seems to be a dearth of imagi- and it was more
nation when you consider what Roy was putting down. But popular than the
let’s not be foolish enough to believe that Roy Buchanan was a Strat back then
“tone freak” when it comes to gear... He discovered his voice because of play-
in a ‘53 Telecaster played through a Vibrolux Reverb, some- ers like James
times run through a 4x12 cabinet with the 2x10’s bypassed. Burton and Jeff
Like everyone else in the ‘70s and ‘80s, he also used tone- Beck in The
altering 15 foot coil cords, and when asked in an interview Yardbirds. Some
how often he changed his strings he replied, “When they really killer players would come out to Woodstock (well
break...” The interviewer went on to ask, “Doesn’t that affect before the Woodstock) for these concerts that were called
your sound?” “Probably,” Roy laconically observed. Sound Outs – bands like the Big Apple Blues Band and
Bunky & Jake. There were great Tele players in those bands,
We’ll do our part here to delve deep into inspirational tools as well as a psychedelic band called Fear Itself with Chris
that can set you on the path of discovery – even to the point Zallom, and Chris’ Telecaster had come from Roy. Chris used
of exploring an exceptional Telecaster rig, but if you want to to go down to the Crossroads club in Maryland and see him
cop Roy’s “tone,” you’d best be prepared to do some heavy play, and he told me about Roy very early on. Once I heard
lifting (and don’t leave out the Lemon Pledge...) With Roy Buchanan, there was no other Tele player for me...
patience and time, you may even “learn yourself” a little bit. Hearing that first record – his harmonics, the tone on “Sweet
We wish you well in your Quest... TQ Dreams” – cranking an amp up with no effects and working
the volume swells... the way he muted with his hands, and
Resources & Acknowledgments: getting such tone out of the instrument... this beautiful, warm,
Our sincere thanks to everyone who shares our enthusiasm human, singing tone. It was bright, but it had so much charac-
for the music of Roy Buchanan... ter and depth. The emotion was deep, and I was totally addict-
John Peden, New York for exclusive and rare images of Roy ed to his style – the country bends, his screaming leads, and
Buchanan and “Nancy” taken in his NYC studio over 20 he could play Elmore James bottleneck stuff without using a
years past... “You captured the soul of a man, John.” slide. Bending two or three notes up a half or a whole step...
Bob Davis for a treasure chest of video and memorabilia Like I said, once I heard him, that was it.
-continued-

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

4
 interview

In the ‘70s in Alanta –

1975 I think, at the
Great Southeast Music
Hall. He was so on back
then – just killin’ me.
There were no babies
around, either... no
soundmen or club own-
ers telling you to turn
Roy’s ‘53 Tele down. He was playing
through two Vibrolux
Roy Buchanan, Polydor The Definitive Collection
TQR: And then you went on a search for a ‘50s Reverb amps just
Telecaster... cranked, and it was all about the music back then. That’s the
way he played. When I moved back to Woodstock to work
Because of Roy, yes. I drove across the country to California. with The Band, I would see him play in New York a lot – I
Along the way I almost bought a Tele in Oklahoma that had even saw him play an old Strat one time, and he still sounded
“Conway Twitty” inlaid in the fingerboard, but I passed on it. just like Roy.
Then I found another one somewhere else out west, but when
I found out that it was a late ‘50s Tele, I sold it to Jim TQR: We saw a short film interview with him where he
Messina in New Mexico for $300. When I finally got to demonstrated how he would do those super-fast
California, I saw an ad in the paper in L.A. for a ‘50s runs up and down the neck, and he was using a
Telecaster and a Precision bass. I went to this guy’s apartment, Flamenco-style picking technique with his index and
who turned out to be Norm of Norm’s Rare Guitars, but at this middle finger – fluttering his fingertips over the strings
point he was just getting started. It was a ‘52 in really good with his wrist arched over the bridge pickup. And who
shape with big cowboy strings on it and I bought it for $340 – bent strings behind the nut back then?
all the money I had – and I have played it all my life.
When I was
TQR: What have you done to it over time? in The Band,
I actually
Well, when I heard played some
that Roy used big shows where
frets, I had those Roy opened
put on, and I for us, and I
designed a little got to hang
more powerful out with him
rhythm pickup Roy , bending behind the nut
a little. I
with Dominic remember talking about Danny Gatton with him and he said
Ramos, who has something like, “Danny is a great guitar player, but he has no
always worked on style.” I think those two may have been a little competitive,
my guitars. I but I do believe that Roy Buchanan had a deeper blues soul
change the tuners in his playing than Danny. You know, Robbie Robertson was
about every two playing Roy’s pinch harmonics on The Band records, and I
years because I play it so much, and I recently installed those asked him if he had showed Robbie how to do that and he
great pots from RS Guitarworks. said, “Yeah, I showed him the wrong way.” He was pretty
secretive about a lot of the things he did, and he would turn
TQR: Because the original tuners and pots had worn out? his back to the audience sometimes. He was also really good
at that “dead thumb” blues style.
Oh, yeah. The bridge pickup is all original, and the really
good ‘50s pickups have this sticky compression to them. TQR: It seems as if so much of what he could do was rooted
They’re not thin and brittle – the note is full and it sings. I in his right hand technique. How do you otherwise
think the old magnets mellow out a little bit, and it sounds pluck two or more strings at once? You couldn’t play
really good played loud (laughing). half of what you do without finger picking...

TQR: When did you finally see Roy live? That’s very true.
-continued-

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

5
 amps
TQR: Roy played blackface Vibrolux Reverb amps for a
very long time, and you played your blackface
Deluxe forever, although beefed up and modified,
and now you have a new signature amp built by
Ben Fargen...
Yes, and it was two years
in the making. I wanted a
channel switching head,
and one with more power
than my old Deluxe,
which I ran with 6L6’s
and a Bandmaster output
transformer. It was at
least 30 watts, but it still
didn’t have enough head-
room. I found a really
great 50W Marshall,
which I used a lot on
Percolator, but live, the
Marshall was just too
loud to crank. I wanted
to get a channel switch-
ing head that had more power and a beautiful clean tone, and
Ben offered to build an amp that we would make a signature
model. Two years later and five or six times shipping it back
and forth (laughing), we finally got it really, really right. I
wanted to improve on the Fender blackface sound, which is
very hard to do, and I wanted it richer, with a little more
warmth, and just a bigger note – not brittley thin, and with
headroom. So, after repeatedly going back and forth changing
different caps and resistors as well as testing different types
and making comparisons to my blackface Deluxe and
Vibrolux over and over and over again, we got it.
TQR: A channel switching amp that gives you a warm
Fender clean tone and a more Marshally overdriven
tone?
We tried channel switching inside the amp, and I thought it
took the tone away, so you switch both channels with an
external A/B box. The Rhythm channel has a fixed midrange
like a blackface amp, and bass and treble controls, and Ben
used this Slope switch that makes the notes even fatter – kind
of like a Marshall/tweed
Bassman. On the Lead
channel it has an actual
midrange control and a
distortion circuit that I
designed with
Analogman that is
hugely fat. Analogman
(Mike Piera) will also
be coming out with a
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
6
pedal version of the distortion circuit we designed for the
amp. I’ve been using it since May 2006 and I love it. I’ve
been running Celestion Heritage 65’s in it, and it looks like I
may be endorsing those speakers. They’re warm, and they
sound great with Fender guitars. TQ
www.jimweider.com
We asked Benjamin Fargen and Mike Piera to comment sepa-
rately on the development of the Weider Signature amp. Our
review follows their interviews...
TQR: Briefly describe the process that was involved dial
ing in the tone of the amp – how you achieved the
higher threshold of clean headroom and power in
Channel One, and the Distortion Channel.
Fargen: I built the origi-
nal JW-40 prototype
amp for Jim in late
2004 and it was
tweaked over the course
of two years as Jim
played shows to support
his album Percolator. I
flew back to New York
three times during the
Jim Weider, Ben Fargen
process for long three
day weekends of tone tweaking, listening and catching Jim at
some live performances. Our job was to outperform Jim’s
favorite, modified blackface Deluxe Reverb, which had been
his main amp for many years – not an easy task since the
amp has some very special qualities that were essential to
capture while retaining Jim’s signature sound. We also
matched it up to many other vintage Fenders and other high
end amps that were in the same league, and when we finally
surpassed all of them in tone and clean sustain, we knew we
had a good design.
The original prototype amp had less headroom, so we decided
to go with a slighter
higher B+ voltage to
squeeze a tad more
headroom out of the
amp for larger rooms
and outdoor shows. We
sorted through many
different power trans-
formers, output trans-
-continued-
 amps

formers and chokes from Mercury Magnetics before we found be found, so this
the correct match, and the feel and sound we were looking for. project really
forced me to think
TQR: The reverb seems to ‘sit’ very nicely in the mix - outside the box
not too splashy or pingy, and it doesn't add any and develop many
unwanted overtones. Did you do anything unusual new techniques
in designing it? rather than just
deliver one of my
It’s similar to a classic Fender-style reverb with some tweaks stock amplifiers
to the overall EQ and the amount of return level reverb. I feel to Jim with his name on it. It takes partnerships like this to
that the stock Fender design places too many mid and low shake up your normal routine so that you can push the enve-
mid frequencies in the mix, and I prefer more of a high end lope and continue to grow as a designer/builder. Because, as
sparkle for the reverb to stand out. But the biggest problem we all know – if you feel you have nothing left to learn, you
with a stock Fender-style reverb is the way it can sometimes should just quit now. TQ
walk all over the note rather than work with it. The overall
amount of reverb you allow to return to the recovery circuit is
very critical to obtain a great sound.

TQR: Describe the Slope feature.

The slope feature changes the overall frequency response of the

EQ circuit to achieve greater flexibility when matching up differ-
ent guitars and pickups with the JW-40. Jim and I felt it was nice
to have other tonal options that changed the overall “wide or nar-
row” character of the EQ structure. This came in really handy
when switching between single coils and humbucking pickups.
TQR: Can you briefly summarize the effect the O rings
on the power tubes seem to have on the sound of
the amp?
The power/preamp tube
dampening rings not only
help to suppress micro-
phonics and tube rattle,
but they seem to produce
a tighter sound with a
very extended low end
range. I find they are
very useful for thicken-
ing up your amp tone at lower volumes, but some players may
want to remove them for higher volume levels since the low
end can become excessive with darker guitars or humbuckers.
TQR: What you have learned from the experience design
ing, tweaking and dialing in this amp?
Working on the JW-40 project with Jim has been a great
experience – he’s a great player with an amazing ear for tone.
We worked very hard to achieve an amplifier design that not
only exceeded Jim’s needs and expectations from a signature
amp, but would be well received by other players. We set out
to deliver a classic guitar amplifier that offers a tone and feel
that extends beyond even the best vintage examples that can
TQR: What were you and Jim were aiming for in terms of
tone and dynamics with the distortion circuit?
I turned Jim on to David
Gilmour in early 2006.
Having worked with David on
some pedals for his On An
Island tour, we were invited to
his Radio City show to deliver
a pedal. Jim really enjoyed his
tone and playing, the distor-
tion was thick but the tone
was still clear – you could
hear the note (as Jim calls it,
the roundness of the note). We
Mike Piera found some pedals that get
that sort of distortion and I came up with a circuit to try to
get that fat, round, clear distortion – more distortion than an
overdrive like the King of Tone.
TQR: How did the R&D process evolve specifically?
The first prototype pedal I built, the “smart bull V1” (a smart
bull is better than a...) came out amazingly well. I jammed a
ton of components into an existing pedal and Jim played it all
night at a show as soon as I gave it to him, which is very rare,
as he usually hates everything new. After that, we made a few
more, but most of our changes did not make it sound better.
Finally, after about ten trips to Woodstock, we found that a
few randomly chosen capacitors and values from the first
pedal really sounded nice. Even though they were doing
things I don’t like to see for clarity, it was making the notes
huge and fat, and when Jim is happy, I’m happy.
-continued-

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

7
 amps
TQR: What makes the circuit sound so organic and
3-dimensional?
I tried to keep the circuit as simple as possible, for purity of
tone, and to make them easy to build reliably and consistently
great sounding. We also had to order 1000 special pots for
the drive control. I wanted it to be able to get a little cleaner
(less drive), but Jim really preferred the ease of control that
the chosen pot has. With the drive turned down all the way,
it’s an amazing clean boost – really fat and warm.
It makes your amp sing. We compared it to all the other clean
boost type pedals and it just sounds great to us, although
most people will use it with the distortion knob turned up
high.
TQR: What abut the evolution of the ‘floating wire’ for
the diodes?
The first board I
built into the amp
was not working
out for Jim... he
said it was dull and
flabby sounding,
and I could not fig-
ure out why
because it was the
same circuit as the pedal. Finally, I began wondering if the
heat in the amp could make a difference, like it does in ger-
manium transistors. We are using germanium diodes, which
certainly do work differently at higher temperatures. I tested
with a heat gun and sure enough, the sound was as lousy as
Jim said when it got hot. So we decided to put the circuit in a
small box down below the chassis, but that required several
wires to go up to the front panel for controls and input and
output, and all those wires would certainly suck away some
of the tone. We used a George L’s cable for the input to the
little box, which helped, but it was still not perfect, and the
design was becoming too expensive due to DIN cables,
George L’s cable, the box, etc.
Finally, I thought of moving just the diodes out of the hot
chassis by attaching them to the end of a George L’s cable
that hangs down below and terminates at the vent hole. This
keeps the diodes cool while allowing the board to be close to
the controls to keep all the connecting wires short.
TQR: Are there similarities between the finished design
and any of your previous designs for pedals or for
vintage effects?
It is not similar to any of my previous pedals or mods. After I
completed it, I found a schematic for a discontinued pedal
that has a similar schematic, but I have not tried one yet to
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
8
see if it sounds similar (of course it does not have the
“magic pot” we use for distortion, but the layout is similar).
TQR: When will the new pedal that is based on the amp
distortion circuit be available?
It should be available soon, and I think it will be called the
BIG FOOT pedal (named after an earlier Weider album ) and
it will be priced quite nicely as there are no really expensive
parts needed except the custom pots we had made up.TQ
www.analogman.com, 203-778-6658
It was clear the
moment we played
the first notes
through the Fargen
JW40 that someone
with an extraordi-
nary ear and deep
experience had
influenced the way
this amp is voiced. The Rhythm channel pours out more
clean, Fendery headroom than one of our favorite, more
powerful black face amps – the Pro Reverb – and the clean
tones are richer, fuller, more detailed, lively and deeper.
With the Slope switch engaged in the Rhythm channel, the
tone becomes even thicker in the upper mids, creating more
of an EQ bump rather than a ‘boost’ that ignites some kind
of overdrive feature. We did notice some boominess in the
low frequencies using a 4x12 cabinet loaded with Celestions
Gold Alnico G12s and G12H30s, and in our Balls 2x12 cab-
inet with an oval “football” open back design and British
G12H30s, which left us with the impression that this amp is
optimally voiced for an open back cabinet. There may also
be some bias on our part at work here, because we have
never cared much for the sound of a Fender amp with a
closed back cabinet.
As noted in our discussion with Ben Fargen, the reverb in
the JW 40 is unique in the way it remains in the back-
ground, enhancing, but not overwhelming or washing over
the notes. This is undoubtedly the best reverb sound in a
combo amp we have ever heard for an understated effect,
and even players that normally don’t use reverb may find it
difficult to resist.
The Lead Channel controls function much like an overdrive
-continued-
 speakers
pedal, with
Drive, Level and
Tone controls
and a toggled
Boost switch. A
Midrange control
is also included.
You couldn’t ask
for a clearer,
more intelligently designed control panel, and the controls
themselves are simple and intuitive. As with many overdrive
or boost pedals, mixing variable settings for Drive and Level
produce a wide range of intensity, from a fat clean boost to
rippin’ overdrive, but unlike a typical pedal, higher Level set-
tings do not push the volume of the amp up to extremes as
the Level is increased. In practical terms, this means that you
can switch between the Rhythm and Lead channels without
having to make dramatic adjustments to the volume on your
guitar. We also discovered some incredibly tasty overdriven
tones at very low volumes with the Level down and Drive up
– kind of like a ‘50s Gibson GA20 with more fidelity and no
noise, and that’s a trick you can’t pull off with many distor-
tion pedals. The Tone control helps shape and color the dis-
tortion EQ to suit different guitars and moods, and it can also
be used to subtly focus on specific harmonic overtones. But
the most remarkable feature of the boost circuit is the “clean”
character of the overdriven tone. Mike Piera’s mention of
David Gilmore is instructive in this regard. Gilmore’s fat,
overdriven guitar tones on his solos are indicative of the rich
fidelity produced by the JW40. Chords are clear with distinct
note separation, sustain and decay are natural rather than
sounding forced or artificially contrived, and the overall
sound is round, rich and warm with a sweet, clear top end.
Our best description of the overdriven voice of the Fargen is
“majestic,” and who can’t live with that?
For our
money, a
simpler,
better
sounding
or more
versatile
amp has
yet to be
built, pro-
vided that you can use the power. Fargen uses Mercury
Magnetics transformers and the JW40 is entirely handwired
on an aluminum chassis. Note the 0-rings on the tubes... they
are used to decrease microphonics, and as Ben observed, they
also seem to impart an added measure of warmth to the tone
of the amp. Those of you aching to lighten the load in your
rig will also appreciate the fact that the Fargen head weighs
just 36 lbs.
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
The cost of the JW40 head alone is $3,250. Add $650 for a
1 x 12" cabinet with a Naylor SD-50 speaker, or $850.00
with a Celestion Heritage G12-65. TQ
www.fargenamps.com, 916-971-4992
We’ve had more than
one conversation with
Jim Weider in the past
about speakers, and
we found out very
quickly that he places
a premium on “fat”
tone. Coming from a
Tele player, you can
well imagine what
this means – round
and full treble tones
over cold and brittle, good midrange presence, and a solid bot-
tom that doesn’t give it up at stage volume. So when Jim men-
tioned the Celestion Heritage 65, we contacted John Paice at
Celestion and arranged to have them sent to us for review.
This is our fourth exploration into the Heritage Series speakers
made in England, and we were already well aware of the repu-
tation of the original Celestion G12-65 speaker. It is a sound
that has definitely attracted a loyal following, and those in the
know have been happily snapping up vintage G12-65s while
they remained somewhat overshadowed by vintage Celestion
G12 Alnico speakers, Greenbacks and Vintage 30s.
Within the landscape of the present Heritage Series, the
G12-65 is unique and easily distinguished from other
Celestion models. It isn’t a “dark” speaker by any means, but
high frequencies are balanced to achieve a very round, warm
voice void of any harsh or strident overtones. The G12-65 is
the smoothest and silkiest sounding Celestion model we have
evaluated; its overall tone is less aggressive than Greenbacks,
lacking their classic midrange “growl,” and less bright and
chimey than both the Alnico G12 and the G12H 30. Treble
tones are clear, yet round rather than sharp or biting... smooth
and pleasing, but never dominating. Played with the Fargen
JW 40 through a 1x12 open back cabinet, we also heard none
of the boomy bass frequencies we had heard through the
4x12 and 2x12 cabinets during our review sessions with the
amp. True to form, the G12-65 is also an extremely dynamic
speaker. Even new, out of the box and far from broken-in, we
noted how these speakers respond so well to pick attack, and
-continued-
9
 interview
again, the response was always very smooth with a bit of sag
rather than hard and “in your face” like a JBL or EV. Played
through our brown ‘62 Fender Vibrolux, the Fargen, vintage
Vox AC30 and a vintage Matchless DC30, the G12-65 was
rich, complex and multi-dimensional, but in a style that is
more musical than assertive.
Celestion describes the
G12-65 as “a forerun-
ner to Celestion’s
G12T-75, the G12-65
was created as a higher-
powered version of the
legendary G12M
Greenback and designed specifically for use with advanced
amplifier technology. Its tone is described somewhere
between a Greenback and a Classic Lead 80 — plenty of def-
inition for high gain, yet not too bright or aggressive.” TQ
http://professional.celestion.com
www.avatarspeakers.com
Sometime in the early
‘90s, a trip to San
Francisco terminated on
a cool summer night
wandering up Grant
Street, through
Chinatown and on
toward North Beach and
Columbus Avenue. With
no particular place in
mind, we came to a
funky, neighborhood bar named for the corner of Grant &
Green, where live blues could be heard pumping inside. In
those days you could hear Tommy Castro burn through two
or three sets well into the morning, and we returned to Grant
and Green every time we visited San Francisco. During one
trip we stopped by the bar, and when we learned that there
would be no band that night, we crossed Grant and headed
back downtown. Two blocks later we heard the unmistakable
sound of a Telecaster being played by someone that knew
what they were doing with it, and we had to stop. Although
we never caught his name, inside was Jinx Jones playing an
ancient blackguard Tele through a Super Reverb, ably assist-
ed by a drummer and a stand-up bass player, and nearly
everyone in the bar was dressed in ‘50s outfits – Levis with
four inch cuffs, black romper stompers and white t-shirts with
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
10
rolled up sleeves for the men,
poodle skirts, bangs and ponytails
for the girls. And as these zoned-
out time travelers feverishly jitter-
bugged in the small space in front
of the “stage,” Jinx and his band
completely tore it up. We never
forgot that brief encounter in The
Saloon, or how the sound of an
old Telecaster and a blackface
Super Reverb had drawn us in
from the street like moths to a
flame. When Phil Brown suggest-
ed that we interview a guy named
Jinx Jones, we had no idea who
he was until we started talking
about his past... “Did you ever
play in a bar on Grant Street?”
“Yes...” “A retro, ‘50s joint...
stand up bass, an old Tele and a Super Reverb?” “Yes...”
Same guy, ten years after. So now it is our pleasure to intro-
duce you to Jinx Jones... Enjoy, Daddy-o.
TQR: Who were your early influences, Jinx?
When I was a kid, popular music (rock & roll) hit me like a
ton of bricks at about age 8 or 9. Scotty Moore’s work on the
Elvis early RCA stuff reached out and grabbed me, and that’s
probably the first electric guitar I was drawn to. I remember
hearing “Got a Lotta Livin to Do” by Elvis and of my first
thoughts of that mysterious electric guitar and how cool it
sounded. I also was exposed to Chet Atkins and was amazed at
the sparkling, twangy tones and layers of melodies he used.
Right around this same time I listened to Johnny Horton quite
a bit and his records always had great guitar work on them.
Later on I saw my first live band at a shopping center parking
lot, the Titan 5 who were essentially a surf music band.
I also was blown away by Hilton
Valentine’s guitar solo on Eric
Burdon and the Animals’ “See See
Ryder.” Actually the first note of his
solo, man, what a great opener! I also
loved surf music and there was a
Boulder, Colorado band called the
Astronauts that used copious amounts
of Fender reverb with their
Jazzmasters and Jaguars, making it
sound like you were underwater!
When I was growing up, the electric
Hilton Valentine guitar seemed magical and the tones
that I heard on KIMN radio in Denver (which was on darn near
24/7) were all incredible. I’d hear everything from Lonnie Mack
to Steve Cropper, to the Chantays, and I absorbed it all.
-continued-
 interview
In my mid-teen years I
heard jazz guitar for
the first time. I had lis-
tened to what Wes
Montgomery was
doing on his more
commercially popular
records, and liked it,
but wasn’t nearly as
blown away as I would
be later on when I got
my hands on “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes
Montgomery.” I do recall hearing Kenny Burrell for the first
time though, on the album he did with John Coltrane that fea-
tured the song “Freighttrane.” I’ve been a huge fan of his ever
since, and have had the pleasure of seeing him perform live
several times in the past few years. I really fell in love with
his live trio album (recorded in 1959), which became the
model for my own approach to playing jazz.
Later on when I started
playing R&B and Soul
music, I was really drawn
to the “one-note funk”
parts on James Brown’s
records and then later to
the marvelous rhythm
work of Tony Maiden in
Rufus. During the late
1970’s and early ‘80s I
was also re-discovering
rockabilly and country
music. Players like Don
Rich, Roy Nichols and James Burton had always caught my
attention. I also discovered Phil Baugh, Jimmy Bryant, and
Joe Maphis during that time. Of course, Cliff Gallup and
Johnny Meeks (in Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps) were great as
well as Frank Beecher in Bill Haley’s Comets. I’m still quite
inspired by the articulation and finesse of these guitarists.
TQR: When did you begin playing and what was your
first instrument? Did you take lessons, or were
there any significant mentors or teachers in your life?
My first instrument was piano, and I received some introducto-
ry lessons, but I honestly had no interest in it until one summer
my neighborhood friend and I discovered some old boogie-
woogie piano records in his garage. I really was captivated by
that sound and started trying to emulate it on the piano in my
parents’ house. I grew up in Denver, Colorado and having
always loved the sound of electric guitar, I was much more
interested in that instrument than piano. One day a junior high
school friend and I decided to check out this concert at the
Regis College Field House, (about an 800-seat venue) with
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
some new band from England that we hadn’t really heard
before, but they were supposed to be good, (and their album
cover looked cool). They were called the Jimi Hendrix
Experience. We watched the first band, the Soft Machine, who
were very experimental (and the organist bent notes by turning
the Hammond organ off and then on again), but when Jimi,
Noel, and Mitch came on, I think our jaws were gaping from
the first note on. I can’t describe what it was like hearing them
for the first time, seeing a style of guitar that is now an integral
part of our musical culture, but was then miles ahead of any-
thing that had preceded it. Even though I really had no concept
of what they were doing theoretically, or technically. I immedi-
ately decided that I could never do on piano or organ what this
guy was doing with guitar. I remember watching Jimi and
thinking that the guitar’s possibilities were limitless. From that
night on, I decided to become a guitarist.
TQR: When did you begin forming and playing in bands,
and what kinds of music were you playing?
I began cutting my teeth as a
guitarist in the Denver rock
club circuit with bands like
“Waves” and “MacBeth,”
doing covers of songs by Bad
Company, Deep Purple, Free,
and the like. One day I decid-
ed I wanted to stop playing
rock – in order to play funk
and R&B music, so I joined a
group called Distinctive
Movement and got couple of
years’ worth of education playing after-hours bars and a few
opening act slots for groups like Harold Melvin and the Blue
Notes, Natalie Cole, and Johnny Taylor. An important aspect
of joining up with these guys was that their level of musician-
ship was far beyond what I’d previously experienced, and that
was a very important part of my own musical development. I
got to back up Solomon Burke around this time at a club
called “Smitty’s Playroom and Lounge.” I spent a couple of
years with a ‘50s do-wop show band and then joined up with
jazz/cabaret singer Lannie Garrett. The variety of musical
styles I had to learn really broadened my view of guitar and
expanded my vocabulary. During these years, I got to play in
Chuck Berry’s backing group nearly once a year, which I did
for about nine years. Playing behind Chuck Berry is quite an
experience, and the old legend about him extending his leg
and stomping it with the explicit directions that “if you’re
playing – stop – and if you’re not playing – start” are true.
TQR: How did your gear evolve specifically?
The first guitar sounds I really fell in love with were from the
surf music hey-day, and I think I began my guitarist life
-continued-
11
 interview
secretly wanting to be in a band with matching blazers and
matching Fender guitars like the Pyramids or the Surfaris. Of
course, that was way out of style at the time. When I began
playing professionally, it was the 1970’s and I was seeking
the marvelous tones I heard from the legendary guitarists like
Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, (and Tommy Bolin and
Phil Brown). That being said, it was much different back
then, as you couldn’t just plug in guitars and amps in a music
store and get these rich overdriven tones. I finally bought a
Marshall Super Lead 100 half stack, but it was always blow-
ing up in some manner. I went out and bought an Ampeg VT
40 after seeing Phil Brown get amazing tones out of one with
his 1961 SG (Les Paul)
Standard guitar. I think I was
playing an early 70s’ Les Paul
at the time. Needless to say, I
never made it sound as good as
Phil’s amp. I started using 50-
watt mid 1970’s Marshalls
until I decided to play R&B
and funk music. I tried out a
few Fender amps and settled
on a Super Reverb. The Fender
combo amps have been a part
Phil Brown
of my life ever since.
I have always loved vintage guitars and played many of them
over the years. Early on, I had a few cool Les Pauls,
Firebirds, Flying V’s, SG’s, and Stratocasters (I remember
having a candy-apple red 1963 Stratocaster back then that all
my musician friends thought was lame because it looked like
a surf guitar). My love of vintage guitars become such an
obsession that I even opened a vintage guitar shop in Denver
in the mid-1980s’ called Cadillac Guitars. I had the opportu-
nity to have a lot of great vintage instruments pass though my
hands during those times, and I really came to appreciate the
unique feel and tone of these classic instruments. To this day
I believe that there is nothing quite like the real thing...
After my playing
evolved, my
choice of signature
tones evolved also
(or should I say
devolved – as I’m
now back to hav-
ing a lot of guitars
that would be
appropriate in a 1960’s surf band). Although I love Gibson solid
bodies and Fender Stratocasters, I’ve moved toward a cleaner
and twangier tone. My instruments of choice are Telecasters,
Gretschs, Jazzmasters, and Guild or Gibson guitars with single
coil pickups. On the album project I finished last year I used
many of the same instruments I did on the “License to Twang”
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
12
CD – a 1957 Gretsch Country Club with DeArmond pickups, a
1951 Fender Telecaster, and a 1964 Fender Jazzmaster. I’ve also
had some great luck with a G&L ASAT Special.
My favorite
amps are
mid 1960’s
Fender
combo
amps. I use
Vibroluxes,
Supers, and I have a ’68 Fender Pro-Reverb that’s my main
workhorse amp. These are stock and I’ve taken great care to
make sure that any repairs done (by my buddy Hal at
Guitronix in San Francisco) maintain the authenticity of the
original amp design. I’ve tried some boutique amps, and
played a Mesa Boogie F-50 for most of last year. I really am
not a channel switching guy though, and I prefer an amp with
one beautiful signature tone, as opposed to a variety of tones,
many of which aren’t “me.”
TQR: What have been some of the highlights in your
career to date?
I formed a sort of Fusion-Surf-New Wave band called Jinx
Jones and the Jaguars in the early ‘80s and we moved to
Hollywood to become big rock stars (which didn’t quite hap-
pen as we’d hoped). Out there I teamed up with some guys
who wanted to play rockabilly and we put together a group
called the Tel Rays. This was what eventually led to my play-
ing with Roy Buchanan...
A promoter asked us to serve as
Roy’s backing group back in
1984. As you can imagine, I was
quite nervous at the thought of
playing with a virtuoso like Roy.
I had seen him perform live on
another occasion, where I just
stared at his incredible right
hand technique, which seemed
to include an endless variety of
unorthodox approaches to play-
ing his Telecaster. When the day
arrived that we were to do our
first gig with Roy, I remember being in the dressing room
and hearing that he would be late arriving at the venue. I had
imagined that we’d have a few minutes to discuss and possi-
bly go over some of his material, but obviously that was not
going to happen. When he walked in holding his guitar,
(without a case) I timidly walked up and said, “Umm, Mr.
Buchanan, could you tell me which of these songs you’ll be
playing?” He just looked at me and very calmly and said,
“We’ll just go out there and play, and everything will be all
-continued-
 interview
right.” Somehow his manner just made me feel that we really
would do just that, and when we went on it locked in like
magic. Playing with Roy Buchanan was a big turning point in
my playing. There are so many things to this day that I reflect
on – things I learned from him and that guide my playing all
the time. He was by far the nicest “big name” person I’ve
ever met, and even though I was just backing him up, he
always encouraged me to get out there and shine when my
time came. Roy’s approach to playing was much different
than what I’d previously encountered. He was into shaping
each note, much like you hear Jeff Beck doing nowadays. I
remember Roy doing a song intro where he’d lead off with a
couple of minutes of him playing without accompaniment.
This was a regular thing he did every show and his way of
doing it was unlike what I’d seen other guitarists do, in that it
was not flashy nor did it use fast playing – in fact, it was
deliberately very slow. I remember looking out in the audi-
ence while Roy was doing this and watching the women react
to it. It looked like they were all having orgasms! Totally
incredible! Roy explained circle picking to me and had a
knack for describing intricate guitar techniques in simple
terms. I came away from that experience a completely differ-
ent player.
Roy used to coat
his guitar neck
with Lemon
Pledge right
before he’d go
on. On the final
night of one of
the mini-tours
we did, I asked
him about it and he told me how much it helped him get his
sound and move around the neck the way he did. So I said,
“Hey, shoot some of that stuff on my guitar neck.” We then
went out to play and I couldn’t believe he could play the
guitar with all that furniture polish on the neck... My guitar
had been rendered nearly unplayable by that coating of
Lemon Pledge.
I ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early ‘90s
and was fortunate to hook up with producers Denny Foster
and Tom McElroy through my friend and engineer Steve
Counter. I got to play on an album called the Nation
Funktasia and then with En Vogue on their Funky Divas
recording. I played all the bass and guitar parts on their big
hit “Free Your Mind.” This was before the industry conver-
sion to digital audio recording happened, and we still stacked
a lot of identical takes on top of each other to make the guitar
tone bigger and badder.
I began playing rockabilly again during this time and joined a
band called the Bachelors who still play every Monday night
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
in San Francisco’s
North Beach, where
we are sort of an insti-
tution. I also formed
my own group around
this time and eventual-
ly recorded the License
to Twang CD with
bassist Joe Kyle and
drummer Jamie Lease.
I was fortunate to work
with a great team on
this project, producer Jeff Bright, tracking engineer Kevin
Ink, and mixing engineer, Steve Counter. We recorded at a
studio in San Francisco called The Studio that Time Forgot,
which is in a pretty “colorful” section of the Mission District.
The studio is set up for an old-school approach to recording
and we all played in the same room with deliberate bleed of
guitar bass and drums into each other’s microphones. The
recording was all analog using vintage recording gear and
microphones. On that record I used my 1966 Fender Super
Reverb amp exclusively, and primarily my 1957 Gretsch
Country Club guitar. I brought several guitars to the sessions,
but the Gretsch had the magic tone, and that’s what ended up
on the recording. I’ve also recorded with the alternative coun-
try group Ruff Stock and with Fusion/Funk/Rock trio
Scatterbrain in the past couple of years.
TQR: How has your musical education and broad use of
chord voicings developed? Do you have any tips for
fellow guitarists to become better grounded and more
versatile players based on your own experiences?
As I mentioned earlier, I really resonated with the jazz gui-
tarists who came out of the hard bop era like Kenny Burrell,
Tal Farlow, Wes Montgomery, and Barney Kessell. I also
have really come to appreciate many of the guitarists who
came after them and still approached guitar in the same way,
like Pat Martino, Emily Remler, and Russell Malone. One of
the things that is unique about these players is the way they
create chords and integrate them with single notes.
My approach to playing chords began as many guitarists do,
by memorizing hundreds of individual chord patterns from a
Mel Bay or Ted Greene (Chord Chemistry) book. After a
while I began to understand the theory behind the chords and
created them more from that standpoint than pattern memo-
rization. I think that a guitarist can derive a great deal of
chord ideas from keyboard players, and I’ll again recommend
the guys who came from the hard-bop (and post-hard-bop)
school like Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, and Richard
“Groove” Holmes. One thing about Jimmy Smith that’s inter-
esting is he used very close voicings and an economy of
notes in his chord construction. Chords can be very individ-
-continued-
13
 interview

ual, and that’s why when you hear John McLaughlin’s chords Fender Vibrolux Reverb amp for contrast. One of the things
they are unique and a part of his signature style. that I found to work well is placing microphones (SM 57 and
Neumann U-87) in front of the speakers and then using a rib-
Now, you may be asking why I am referring to jazz music so bon microphone in the back of the Fender amp. For my gui-
much here, especially since my style and approach are more tar tones I used the 1957 Gretsch Country Club guitar with
in the twang guitar style. I firmly believe that no matter what the stock DeArmond pickups and a Bigsby tailpiece added,
style of guitar you like or wish to play, you’ll play it better by and Fender Telecasters – my 1951 Fender Telecaster, a ’51
learning jazz. Jazz guitar seems to explore chord voicings and Custom Shop relic “No-Caster” and a Japanese re-issue of
extensions that go beyond what is typically associated with the 1978 Fender Antigua Telecaster that I’ve added Seymour
other styles of music. Duncan Alnico II pickups to and replaced the electronics in.
That guitar was originally bought as a backup instrument, but
Another arena of it has proven to be an outstanding Telecaster. I also used my
“all things guitar” 1964 Fender Jazzmaster on the sessions for specific sections
where I find a lot that needed that particular tone.
of chord innovation
is in country music. My current stage rig
When you listen to varies a bit depending
guitarists like on whom I am playing
Johnny Hiland, with and what style of
Brent Mason, guitar is appropriate. My
Albert Lee, Jerry amp of choice for most
Donahue, and Danny Gatton, you’ll hear amazing things done live performances is a
with
Johnnychords
Hiland and bending notes (moving both higher and lower in 1968 Fender Pro Reverb
pitch) that move within tightly voiced chords. Even if you don’t – the one with the alu-
plan to play country music, I would suggest you listen to what minum strip around the
these great guitarists are doing and get some ideas from their grille cloth, probably the
innovative approach. first year of the silver
face control plate. I also
TQR: What’s happening with your career now? use an Ibanez analog
delay pedal (as I have found Maestro Echoplexes to be a bit
I enjoy having my own rockabilly group that covers everything difficult to keep running consistently in live performance). I
from jazz to surf to country and all things twangy. I also enjoy have discovered the Robert Keeley compressor pedal and am
playing with other groups that cover a wide spectrum of styles using that in my signal path. I’ve previously used the old
like Ruff Stock, who play contemporary country, Scatterbrain script logo MXR Dyna-Comp pedals, but the Keeley is really
who play fusion/funk, a jazz trio that plays standards, and I’m outstanding. Other than that, I keep things pretty natural
also still holding down Monday nights with the Bachelors at the sounding, as I love the sound of electric guitar in its pure
Saloon in North Beach in San Francisco. form. I use the onboard Fender tremolo and reverb when
appropriate and that’s about all I need.
The new CD project
covers a lot of the musi- I have a few choice Telecasters, and one I mentioned earlier
cal landscape that I con- that my buddy Harry Warman found for me in Arizona that is
sider my essential roots, an “original owner” 1951 model. The guitar still has the dirt
combining rockabilly on it from its original owner, and I’m not changing a thing on
with jazz, country and it. I also have a 1968 Telecaster with Bigsby, but the re-issue
surf guitar. I’m playing 1978 Antigua Tele has been getting a lot of use in my live per-
with the same rhythm formances of late. I seem to keep coming back to the
section that I played with Telecaster for its simplicity and its pure guitar tone. One thing
on License to Twang – that I find marvelous about the Telecaster is that it seems to
Joe Kyle (on bass) and sound very different depending upon whose playing it. I’ve
Jamie Lease (on drums). really come to respect the importance of how a player’s fin-
gers and touch can affect tone, and the Fender Telecaster
My recording rig was not much different than it was on the exemplifies that theory more than any other instrument.TQ
License to Twang sessions. I used a stock 1966 Fender Super
Reverb amplifier with a bit of Maestro Echoplex and a 1966 www.jinxjones.com

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

14
 guitars
For those of you paying close
attention, this is our third con-
jugal visit with a ‘51 Nocaster
Relic in seven years. Now, if we
were to have reviewed the very
same guitar three times, that
would be a waste of your time,
unless of course, all the reviews
were different... and then you
might surmise that we were just
making all this up. Maybe they
forgot they had already done
done this one? But that’s not
what’s happening here. As you
might recall, we planted a Charlie Christian neck pickup in a
previous Nocaster, along with a Joe Glaser (by Floyd!) fret,
nut and Plek job, and the outcome was stunning. Prior to
that, we reviewed our first Nocaster and a ‘63 Relic
Telecaster in the December 2002 issue featuring Jim Weider,
titled The King of Tone. We luv Telecasters, and we gushed all
over our earlier Nocasters. This time, however, the story is a
little more complicated.
When we began thinking about Roy Buchanan, it was bound to
lead to a Telecaster – quite possibly the most perfect form ever
conceived for a guitar. Even if you are one of those that strug-
gles with ‘em, while some guitars whisper “play me,” a good
Telecaster demands... no, commands your attention as if it
were wearing a badge of authoritative legitimacy that requires
you to pull over in the emergency lane and git yer wallet out.
And once again, that’s pretty much what happened to us.
Atlanta, a Friday morning at Midtown Music – We had a bor-
rowed amp to return to Midtown, and since it was early and
the store was empty, we pulled up a stool in the middle of,
oh, 60 guitars and non-chalantly reached for the guitar closest
to the stool as we chatted with Dave Tiller, the owner.
Talking and strumming, strumming and talking, we slowly
began to notice an extraordinary ringing vibration that
extended down the left arm from the neck of the guitar, and
even stronger harmonic tremors pulsing through the guitar
body, into the chest, abdomen, right arm and thigh. And this
was happening with the guitar played unplugged at a mere
whisper while we talked. We tried to ignore the rumbling
tremors... the urge to peek at the price tag hanging from the
peghead... and we might as well have been trying to ignore
an erection.
There are warning signs for lots of bad things in life, but no
one seems to talk much about “good” warning signs so much.
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
You have your basic warning signs of a
heart attack, cheatin,’ IRS audits, tor-
nadoes, substance abuse, and identity
theft (“all my money is gone” may not
be an actual sign), but we could use a
warning sign for impending, unplanned
purchases of guitars – something like
the onset of “loud, uncontrolled vibra-
tions,” or “LUV” for short. Well, the
LUV emanating from the Nocaster was
such that we bought it and took it
home to be offered for your considera-
tion. In many ways it embodies both
the very, very best and a little of the
worst you can hope for from a guitar
César Diaz as the Tele Gnome
buying experience in 2007.
Once we gathered our wits and began to study the Nocaster
for clues to its extraordinarily resonant voice, we found fea-
tures worth noting. To what extent they conclusively con-
tribute to the acoustic wallop of the Nocaster we can’t say,
but they are notable, nonetheless.
We haven’t seen many quarter sawn maple necks with a tight,
straight, vertical grain except when we’ve ordered them from
USA Custom, and the big Nocaster neck is, in that regard,
unusual if not rare. And while the neck fits the typical
Nocaster U shape, this one seemed slightly less chunky in the
shoulders than others we have owned or played, but still big
enough, measuring 1" thick with just a slight taper near the
heel. We chose to refret the guitar with Stewart McDonald
#154 medium jumbo fret wire measuring .100" wide by .050"
tall while leaving the fingerboard finish and 7.25" radius
unaltered. String bending is a little tougher with the 7.25"
radius, but the larger fret wire always seems to compensate
for the curve of the fingerboard by allowing the action to be
set higher, reducing friction with the wood.
Despite our efforts to
locate any signs to the
contrary, the ash body of
the Nocaster appears to
be a 1-piece, and the
entire guitar weighs just
6.65 pounds. The aged
and cracked nitro finish is thin enough to reveal grain that
can easily be felt just beneath the top coat of lacquer, and
that undoubtedly contributes to the woody tones that jump
from the Nocaster in spades. Nice work Fender. The combi-
nation of a big, quarter sawn neck with a lightweight ash
-continued-
15
 guitars
body and extremely thin finish are all features we would
order in a custom guitar. Finding them “off the rack” is a
bonus, and a rare one in our experience.
The Nocaster is wired in true vintage fashion with position 1
engaging the bridge pickup, which can be blended with the
neck pickup via what is normally the second “tone” pot; the
neck
pickup
alone is
avail-
able in
position
2, and the neck pickup with a dull, preset tone and no tone
control is accessed from position 3. We chucked all of that
and installed a pre-wired 4-way switch kit from Bill
Callaham, reversed with the switch located at the bottom of
the control plate for easier access to the volume control. The
switch tip on the Nocaster is an authentic misfit, by the way –
no where close to fitting tight and it will fall off. Our solution
was to cut a small piece of electrical tape to wrap around the
shaft. The Callaham kit also included 250K CTS pots with
actual measurements of 240K/volume and 255K/tone, versus
the original pots that measured 222K/volume and 238K/tone.
Once we had the Nocaster wired with the 4-way switch, we
could fully appreciate the tone of the Fender Custom Shop
Nocaster pickups, and it was all good.
The pick-
ups in our
guitar
would be
crowd
pleasers
for most
Tele players, being neither too sharp, strident, thin, linear or
monochromatic, and they don’t sound particularly over-
wound, underwound, or clanky. The Alnico 3 bridge pickup
(7.13K) is proud, bright and rich with lots of shimmering har-
monic overtones, and there is roundness and musicality in the
notes with enough output to sound alternately pissed off and
orgiastic. A good Tele bridge pickup can soar like no other
pickup that has ever been screwed onto a guitar, and the
Nocaster pickup delivers a truly classic, rich Telecaster
sound. But... if we were playing through a bright amp... say,
an early Matchless DC30 perhaps, we might prefer a Tele
bridge pickup with even more upper mids (and we do). We
could get by with the Nocaster, but a pickup with bigger
midrange sounds oh-so-much-better in that particular amp.
Through our AC30, we’d go back to the Nocaster. And if we
had only one guitar and one amp, we would simply do the
best we could using the tone controls.
The Nocaster neck pickup (6.98K) is remarkably clear while
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
16
never sounding weak or wanting. Played alone, it’s great for
wonderful, warm, old school Tele tone that can sound so much
like a big acoustic jazz box in the right hands. Combined with
the bridge in standard parallel mode, you get a gorgeous mix
of sparkly acoustic pop and chime with fat midrange underpin-
nings, and the 4-way switch adds both pickups in series mode
– a deep, older-than-dirt, bluesy growl that slams the front end
of an amp much like a powerful old DeArmond neck pickup.
We’ve said this before – if we could only own one guitar, it
would be a Telecaster with a 4-way switch. The Nocaster pick-
ups in this guitar have earned the highest possible, no excuses
rating. Given the wide range of tone and output found in actual
vintage Telecaster pickups, it would seem that someone at
Fender shrewdly chose to nail the sound of exceptional exam-
ples. And no, we did not reach this conclusion in a vacuum…
While we had the
Nocaster on the
bench, we also tried
a Seymour Duncan
Broadcaster pickup
(8.13K) that Delta
Moon guitarist Mark
Johnson dropped
off, commenting that “This is getting a lot of buzz on the
Net.” We couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t in Mark’s
Telecaster, but OK... let’s fire it up! We did, and for all of five
minutes we were subjected to some of the brassiest, annoying
metallic sounds we have ever heard. We have the utmost
respect for Seymour Duncan (and he knows as much about
Roy Buchanan first-hand as anyone), but this pickup left us
cold, cold, cold. We tried to interview Seymour about the
Jazzmaster this year (he owns 30), and we’ll keep trying... In
stark contrast to the Duncan, we had also just evaluated a
Lindy Fralin Telecaster set in preparation for an upcoming
cover story, and it shared many of the qualities we found in
the Nocaster pickups – extreme clarity and presence in the
neck pickup with output that matches the bridge, and stinging
treble tones from the bridge pickup, tempered and enhanced
by musical upper midrange content and lush harmonics.
However... as we were changing pickups, we did notice that
the heavy, black twine wrapped around the coil on the
Nocaster pickup was loose, leaving a few gaps where the coil
could be seen. Was this the ultimate replica of a vintage pick-
up complete with a
sloppy wrap? Surely
not, and it left us
wondering how it
could have been
overlooked by the
employee in final
assembly that
installed it.
-continued-
 guitars
We chose to replace the original Nocaster brass bridge sad-
dles with a set from Callaham that allows more precise into-
nation on all three pairs of strings. You can get kinda close
with the original saddles, but virtually dead on with the com-
pensated saddles from Callaham. They also seem to add a lit-
tle more zing and ring, if that’s what you like. We like.
Rust really does never sleep...
As cranked up as the Nocaster pickups left us, nothing is per-
fect, and while we bought the Nocaster fully aware that we
would be changing the wiring, saddles and frets, the perform-
ance of the “aged” Gotoh tuners was absolutely unacceptable.
Two of them could be turned a full twist before the gears
engaged, and dropping down to pitch with any of them was a
cruel joke. You might get all six strings in tune within a
minute at best. Making slight tuning adjustments on the fly
was also dicey, as the sloppy tuners would often cause the
strings to go sharp just as you approached each note with a
tuner, forcing the string to be dropped down again and pulled
back up for a repeated attempt. A poorly cut nut can also
cause similar problems, but we can point to the tuners with
confidence, having replaced the original nut with a boner.
Tuning a $2,000 guitar should be easier than performing a
full instrument landing in a 20 knot crosswind.
What to do? For true,
vintage style tuners,
Gotohs are really the
only game in town, so
we called Bill
Callaham and asked if
he could age a new set
of tuners without rust-
ing them from the
inside out as had clear-
ly been the fate of the
original Gotohs on the Nocaster. He could, he did, and he will
soon be offering nicely burnished, aged hardware that remains
fully functional rather than being encrusted in rust. Installing
the replacement tuners was a snap, and all but one functioned
perfectly. Were the original tuners bad because of the aging
process, or sloppy straight from the Gotoh factory? Why
should we even have to ask? Who “inspected” this guitar?
An extraordinary amount of hand work is still involved in
making many “production” guitars, but all the hands that
touch a guitar in production are on the clock, and production
quotas are inviolate. They may call them “shops,” but these
guitars are truly built in factories. Where are we going here?
Look, Fender clearly possesses the resources, know-how and
the people to make exceptional products. There is no hidden
agenda motivating us to point out the good and bad found in
the Nocaster, nor do we believe that Fender is operating from
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
some evil business
model rooted in
exploiting the con-
sumer. You can buy
a playable, decent-
sounding $200
Telecaster today if
that’s what you want, and only a company like Fender can
pull that off as well as they do. The most disturbing aspect of
our experience with the Nocaster is that an instrument so
extraordinary on one level can be so flawed in its capacity to
fulfill such a simple and essential function as tuning. Is it the
responsibility of an employee in the tuning and testing
department to determine when tuners don’t work properly? Is
“aged” hardware being compromised by the aging process
(rust), or were these tuners bad from the start? Many, if not
most of the senior employees at Fender are experienced and
very competent (or better) guitarists, and they wouldn’t play a
guitar that couldn’t be tuned or set up. Unfortunately, this is
nothing new... We previously reviewed a ‘63 Relic Telecaster
with aged (rusted) steel saddles that could not be height-
adjusted because the set screws were so badly corroded in the
aging process. We’ve had to replace rusted (aged) saddles on
a Nash as well. The point is, for what these instruments cost,
they should be fully functional when shipped – “aged” or not,
and remain so for decades with reasonable maintenance.
On a more positive note, we are grateful to Fender for arbi-
trarily pairing this particular neck and body and shipping it as
a Nocaster rather than setting them both aside for a limited
edition Masterblaster that might cost twice as much. Thanks
for not spotting this one, guys. The really good news is that
in spite of all our bitchin’ and moanin,’ we once again stum-
bled on a phenomenal Telecaster – the best we have ever
owned (including our original ‘54), and as always, we
enjoyed every minute spent tweaking it up to its full and con-
siderable potential. Just lose the rust, please – trust us – no
one will miss it. Now, where is Roy’s Tele? TQ
www.fender.com
www.callahamguitars.com
17
 TQR: Talent and imagination are a rare and potent mix.
This recording surpasses the usual “guitar hero”
albums so convincingly, and on so many levels.
When and how did this project begin to germinate?
We’re not going to pull
any punches here... If The next
you enjoy listening to thing
truly extraordinary songs Peter
and music played on the wanted to
guitar, Peter Frampton’s do after
2006 instrumental the Now
release titled album
Fingerprints is essential. was an
Not merely recommend- instru-
ed... essential. mental –
Peter with Mike McCready
the record
Co-produced by Grammy award winning songwriter and he had wanted to make all his life – and we began writing as
guitarist Gordon Kennedy, Fingerprints won a 2007 Grammy early as February 2005. He and I wrote the first batch of
for Best Pop Instrumental Album and features Hank Marvin, songs, and over the course of the next year he worked with
members of Pearl Jam, Warren Haynes, John Jorgensen, Paul the Pearl Jam guys, Bill and Charlie, and Hank Marvin,
Franklin, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, among other stellar which was an all-time dream for him. So he just began to
musicians. The result is one of the most original and flaw- think about people he wanted to work with and perhaps had
lessly conceived excursions into rock, blues, jazz and country crossed paths with in the past.
music we have ever heard – and for guitarists – an inspiring
collection of 13 original songs and a Soundgarden cut that TQR: How did you and Peter write together?
capture tones that can only be described as unforgettable –
the kind of tones you hear in your head but otherwise seem I went to Cincinnati where his home
so elusive. Here’s how the album came together, as told by studio is located and we actually used
Gordon Kennedy... the Garage Band program on a laptop.
We would just set up some mics with
TQR: Congratulations to you and Peter for another acoustic guitars and write together.
Grammy. As I said when I first heard the album, it Some of the tracks we actually used in
is the best “guitar record” I’ve heard in a very long the finished recording after transferring
time, with such a remarkable range of material, them from Garage Band to Nuendo.
influences, great songs and arrangements, and bril- Peter would have some bits he had
liant playing. recorded in hotel rooms or at home,
and I had some, and as often happens
Peter really deserves this. when we write together, his “intro”
He works very hard, and would be a perfect transition into
this album reminds me of something I had that would become a
Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow verse or chorus. I call them intro, verse
in some ways, which I or chorus even though there are no
love. Peter is probably a lyrics, because they are still songs, and
little under-respected even when I write songs with lyrics, I
Gordon’s ‘57 Esquire
because he let people try would do this first. That’s the way I
to fashion him as a pop write. So for example, he would play me something, like this
idol in the past, but he is intro pattern for “Float,” and he had played it through the same
truly a ferocious musi- delay that we used on the record, and it made me think of the title
cian. This album in par- of the song because of the way it sounded. And when it hits the
Gordon playing ToneQuest KingDaddy
ticular is really special, first F minor chord, that was something I had, so those two riffs
and if people don’t get it now, they never will. You know, the came together. Once we had established the two ideas that
thing about Blow by Blow was that the songs were really great launched the song, we let it more or less lead us, and the rest of
songs. Otherwise, it’s just a ton of licks... an exercise. Jerry the song pretty much fell into place. When we ultimately record-
McPherson and I call them “NAMM chops” (laughing). ed the song, we played it together in the control room as a per-
-continued-

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

18
 review

formance. The only thing we swapped on that song was our two
amplifiers. I played his little Ampeg Jet with my ‘57 Esquire and
he played my tweed Deluxe with his Les Paul. We were liking it
so much that we almost considered trading, but decided we just
couldn’t do it. Peter did go out and buy a tweed Deluxe after that
session, though.
TQR: Were you present as co-producer when all the other
songs were recorded?
els were produced I bought #4, and it’s a great guitar.
TQR: It was really interesting to read how many different
guitars Peter played – a ‘63 Gibson Firebird, ‘63
Fender Jaguar, ‘61 Gibson SG, a reissue Goldtop,
‘67 ES335, and a ‘57 ES175. Seeing all those old
instruments being brought out makes the great
music on the album all the more interesting. No
information on amps, however...

No. When he A lot of stuff he did was either using his old tweed Twin or
went to London, his Marshall stage rig with the rack – or he might use a pedal
Seattle or New straight into a Marshall with a 4x12. He has a Marshall head
York he would with the Jose Arredondo mod (of Eddie Van Halen fame) that
send MP3 files to is his main stage amp, an AC15 that’s nice, and he had one of
me. According to the new 20W Marshall amps in his studio.
Peter, that was
the first time Bill TQR: Did you put him on the trail for a tweed Twin?
and Charlie had played together since Bill left the Stones.
There were also certain things that happened in Nashville that Yes, we played together here in Nashville at the Bluebird and
Peter wasn’t present for... Paul Franklin’s steel parts, or when he heard my Twin and had to have one, but by then he had to
Mark Harris put the B3 on “Smoky.” Some of what we did was pay twice what mine cost.
via the Internet, but for the most part we worked together in
the studio. TQR: If this is the recording that Peter wanted to do his
entire life, where does it fit in yours?
TQR: You used a Studer 24 at Peter’s studio...
(Laughing) First of all... from a kid in high school who was
Yes, where running up and down the halls yelling, “Thank you!” and try-
the computer ing to mimic Peter on his live record... From being that kid to
excels is on somebody that gets to work with this guy and stand on stage
vocals and next to him as he plays “Do You Feel Like I Do”...
overdubs, but
we still like TQR: And at his peak, today...
the sound of
a kick drum Yeah, he strikes me as someone
on two inch that gets better, like Jeff Beck.
tape. The He is diligent and works hard at
“wooly” things you record sound better on tape, and we discov- his craft... He also enjoys the
ered that the guitar sounds in Peter’s room were just incredible. fruits of what he’s done and
We’d put a Marshall 4x12 in there and close mic it as usual, but he’s a good family guy. But for
also hang some mics in the corner of the room and we got some me... I told him that it’s one
of the best guitar sounds I have ever heard. thing to get nominated for a
Grammy, but the truly great
TQR: And you were micing the acoustic guitars? thing has already happened in
that I got to work with him. I’m
Yes, all the acoustic guitars were miced. always checking to see if this is
really happening and I’m enjoy-
TQR: I noticed that the list of instruments on the CD liner ing every minute of it. If my
notes mentioned you playing a Fender Custom dad taught me anything, in addition to what to play in a song,
Shop Tele and a Martin D42... there is what not to play. My dad would say to me, “When in
doubt, lay out.” At the time in my life when I was working
Yes, I didn’t have my guitars with me when I was in hard trying to figure out what to play, his answer was,
Cincinnati, so the Tele was Peter’s. The D42s were prototypes “Sometimes... it’s nothing.” TQ
of Peter’s signature Martin model. When the first official mod- www.frampton.com

TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007

19

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TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
20
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different output tubes (KT77, EL34, 6L6 or 6V6) and
the complete line of Eminence Patriot and Redcoat
speakers. Five different voicings are available, as
well: Super Clean; Clean; Standard; Overdrive and
Super Overdrive.
Once configured, each amp is built start-to-finish in
the true guru tradition. For the entire week that it
takes to make these jewels, Smitty listens to a CD
provided by the customer that has all their favorite
tones. He says, “If it inspires me to change even one
component and the amp fits the player better, then
the whole deal is worth it.”
Construction quality is on par with Leo’s mid sixties
battle wagons, with some improvements. The hand-
wired, vintage-style eyelet board is loaded with mil-
itary surplus components: Paper-oil-signal caps;
metal film resistors; solid tantalum bypass caps and
for a special treat take a peak under the capacitor
cover (amp designers not allowed). The cabinet
joints are the same as Leos, but Smitty prefers 13-
ply, no-void, Baltic Birch for increased durability.
Topped off with a three-piece, welded-steel chassis
these amps will outlast anything on the market
today.
You can’t buy a Blueverb at a music store because
the owners don’t want you talking to their suppliers.
It makes them nervous. Check out the low-hype,
information-rich web site, and then call Smitty on his
cell phone for more information about which
Blueverb model is best for you.
Bluetron Amplifiers, Nashville, TN
(615) 944-1545
www.bluetron.com
Callaham Vintage Guitars & Amps Bill
Callaham is a builder of exceptional electric gui-
tars that exceed the original quality, tone, and
beauty of the vintage models that inspire his work.
“ Better than vintage” is an apt description for the
Callaham “ S” and “ T” model electric guitars that
feature premium lightweight ash and alder bodies,
custom hand–shaped rock maple necks, and cryo-
genically treated Lindy Fralin pickups specially
wound to Callaham’s specifications for true vin-
tage tone. Bill also offers cryogenically treated,
pre–wired vintage pick guards for Strat style gui-
tars, and his exclusive formula for cold–rolled steel
alloy tremolo blocks continue to delight players
around the world with improved resonance and
sustain. Callaham vintage saddles also improve
sustain while minimizing string fatigue and breaks.
Additional Strat parts include stainless steel trem
arms, string ferrules, bridge plates and mounting
screws, and string retainers. Attention Tele Players!
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
Resource Directory
Callaham now offers a complete line of custom
Tele parts. Please visit their web site for informa-
tion on pre–wired control plates with premium
pots, capacitors, and cloth–covered wire, specially
wound and cryogenically treated Fralin vintage
Tele pickups, compensated brass bridge saddles,
bridge plates, knobs, jacks, tuners and string trees!
The only thing better than Callaham parts is a
Callaham guitar. We said that, and you can take it
to the bank.
Callaham Guitars, Winchester, VA
www.callahamguitars.com 540–955–0294
Carr Amplifiers Check out the ALL NEW Carr
Mercury! As we said in our recent review, “ the
Mercury is destined for greatness.” No surprise…
Since our review of the entire line of amplifiers
built by Steve Carr and his merry band of tonef-
reaks in Pittsboro, NC, Carr amplifiers have con-
tinued to receive high praise from reviewers and
players throughout the country. Plug into any Carr
amp and you’ll immediately understand why we
said, “ Finally, somebody got it right.” Right, as in
the perfect marriage of classic Fender balance,
clarity, and headroom, with innovative overdrive
features that produce natural and oh–so sweet tube
distortion, but never at the expense of the tone
you’ve worked so hard to capture in your instru-
ments. Lots of small–batch amp builders use pre-
mium components and labor–intensive,
point–to–point construction, and Carr is no excep-
tion. The Solen filter caps used in Carr amps alone
cost more than the sum of the parts in many bou-
tique circuits! But in the end, it’s the design that
counts, combined with quality parts and consistent
craftsmanship. We’ve been to Carr, we’ve played
every amplifier they build, and one year and
dozens of reviews later, our opinion hasn’t
changed. Carr amps are professional tools and
works of art that will inspire you for a lifetime.
Check out the many stellar reviews and dealer
locations for Carr amps at their web site, and con-
tact the boys at Carr for more information about
which Carr model is best for you.
Carr Amplifiers, Pittsboro,NC
www.carramps.com 919–545–0747
Celestion Ltd. Nobody knows more than
Celestion about guitar loudspeaker design and
manufacture. Think of your all-time favourite gui-
tar riffs and solos, chances are, they were played
through Celestion guitar loudspeakers. For the last
fifty years - since the birth of the Celestion Blue
(the first ever purpose-built guitar loudspeaker) -
our magical mix of metal paper and magnets has
formed an essential part of the sound of guitar
music.
Some of the greatest speakers available today are
part of the Celestion Classic Series. Over the years,
we’ve applied our design expertise to build a range
of speakers that will give you classic Celestion
tone, no matter what style you play. The Alnico
Series and the Heritage Series, both hand-built in
Ipswich, England, are the result of meticulous
attention to detail, created for those who are
absolutely dedicated to the pursuit of true Vintage
tone.
For high-volume OEMs, Celestion Originals repre-
sent outstanding value for money. We have the spe-
cialist experience coupled with the most advanced,
high-volume manufacturing techniques to deliver
Celestion tone, quality and brand appeal at
extremely competitive prices.
Celestion International Ltd www.celestion.com
For OEM Enquiries, contact Andy Farrow at
Celestion America, 732-683-2356
For retail and distribution enquiries, contact
Group One Ltd 516-249-1399 www.g1limited.com
The Chicago Bluesbox by Butler Custom
Sound is a series of amplifiers built with the blues
player in mind, but is also compatible with virtual-
ly any style of music — from traditional to pro-
gressive blues rock. The Chicago Blues Box deliv-
ers clear, clean, harmonic complexity with head-
room to spare, to thick, authentic, in–your–face
crunch.
The flagship of the Chicago Blues Box series is
the Roadhouse model, an all–tube, point–to–point,
hand–wired, single–channel 50–watt tone machine
hand–built in the USA right in Chicago. The
straight–forward design makes this a favorite
among players seeking authentic, full–sounding
tone across the entire sound spectrum.
Over 60 hours of hand–built assembly goes into
every Chicago Blues Box. Butler Custom Sound
starts with a sheet of rubber impregnated fiber
board, drills and tapes over 150 solder eyelets. The
board is then assembled with electronic compo-
nents and soldered from the bottom side for a reli-
able connection. The custom–wound, paper bobbin
transformers, pots and switches are installed into
the 16–gauge steel chassis which provides
road–worthy strength. BCS then installs their pro-
prietary Magic Wand ground bar system and the
final wiring process begins. Before any tube is
installed, each undergoes a stringent hand–selec-
tion process. The boards are vibration–tested for
intermittent connections, lock–tight is applied to
hardware, and wires are twisted and bundled.
Before any amp leaves the Butler Custom Sound
factory, each undergoes 60 hours of sound and
quality testing. “ We’re players, not only engineers
and technicians, so part of our job is to plug in to
each amp and test for output noise levels, vibration
and most importantly, tone,” says BCS president,
Dan Butler. The Chicago Blues Box has captured
the elusive 3–dimensional, harmonic rich tone that
is missing from so many of today’s new amplifier
designs. This amp is alive and ready to help inspire
any player’s art form.
Chicago Bluesbox,
Butler Custom Sound
chicagobluesbox.com.630–832–1983
Dave’s Guitar Shop offers Fender, PRS,
National, Taylor, Gretsch, Guild, Hamer, Vinetto,
Ernie Ball, Rickenbacker, Martin, Santa Cruz, and
many other fine new and used instruments, plus
new and used amplifiers such as Fender, Marshall,
Line 6, Carr, Matchless, Victoria, Bad Cat, Dr.Z,
Savage Audio, Ampeg, plus hundreds of guitar
effects, aftermarket pickups from Joe Barden,
Seymour Duncan, and more. Due to their inventory
of over 1,000 guitars, amps, and accessories,
Dave’s is an excellent resource for top of the line
Custom Shop and Historic reissues, to intermediate
new and used gear. Unlike some dealers’ out of
date stock lists on the web and in print, Dave’s
inventory is updated daily. The selection of new
and used instruments is truly exceptional, and you
can often select among several models of the same
new guitars to find that special instrument that was
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21

meant for you. Dave’s staff is friendly and
extremely knowledgeable about the instruments
and gear they sell, because they’re players, too.
Please check the web site for current inventory,
and you are welcome to call for more information
or an accurate, in–hand description.
Dave’s Guitar Shop, LaCrosse, WI
www.davesguitar.com 608–785–7704
Doug's Tubes Doug Preston founded Doug's
Tubes in 2002. It became an evolution originating
from his passion for music, guitars, and tone. We
are now serving thousands of satisfied guitar players
and audiophiles internationally. It has been my
intention from the beginning to seek out the most
reliable and great sounding current production
tubes, and to help influence manufacturers into
reproducing many NOS tubes to keep our vintage
amps going, such as the JJ 7591. We offer the most
common choice NOS, currently manufactured, and
hand selected used tubes at a fair price. If you need
help in selecting tubes for your particular applica-
tion, call Doug at Doug's Tubes, your one stop tube
shop. Making music sound better, one amp at a
time.
Doug's Tubes, Levittown, NY 516-314-0357,
www.dougstubes.com
Eastwood - Since 2001, Eastwood has been cre-
ating some of the most exciting Electric Guitars
the world has ever seen. Our RADICAL VIN-
TAGE REMAKE series feature a variety of models
based on popular sixties designs - from the classic
Mosrites to our top-selling AIRLINE - they cap-
ture the excitement and style of the originals. Each
year the prices of the originals skyrocket - getting
harder to find and harder to play! Eastwood's focus
is to make top quality replicas - that cost less and
play better - so the average musician can experi-
ence the excitement of playing one of these beauti-
ful vintage guitars as their every day player.
TONE & STYLE - All Eastwood Guitars are fitted
with high-quality modern components that offer an
optimal playing experience that far exceeds their
1960's original counterparts. It is hard to find a
guitar these days that oozes more vintage style
than an Eastwood! All Eastwood Guitars are setup
professionally before shipping to our customers.
VALUE - All Eastwood Models are subjected to
extensive research and development to continually
raise the level of performance. At the same time,
we are very careful to maintain an affordability
level that our customers expect. These elements
combine to deliver peak performance and higher
quality than the originals at a much lower price.
SERVICE - A product is only as good as the peo-
ple who stand behind it. Eastwood Guitars service
is second to none in the industry because we sim-
ply treat customers the same way we would expect
to be treated. All guitars come with a 3 Year limit-
ed Warranty. Guitars purchased directly from us
receive a no-questions-asked return policy. Or, if
you are located near an Eastwood Dealer, you can
buy from them at the same direct price we offer
online.
THE FUTURE - We continue to bring new models
to the Eastwood line-up. Our goal is to introduce
3-5 new models each year, available in a wide vari-
ety of colors and of course, including left-hand
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
22
Resource Directory
versions. Please feel free to email us directly if you
have some suggestions for models that we should
consider developing in the future!
Eastwood Guitars, Toronto, Canada
www.eastwoodguitars.com, 416-294-6165
Eminence Eminence is proud to present the
Patriot and Redcoat series of guitar speakers.
Incorporating both British and American cone
technology into speakers that we manufacture in
the USA gives us the ability to provide you with
virtually any tone you desire. Be it British or
American, clean or dirty, big bass or screaming
highs, we have a speaker that will allow you to “
Pick Your Sound.” Choose from one of seventeen
new models! Eminence has been building speakers
to custom specifications for nearly every major
manufacturer of guitar amplifier and sound rein-
forcement products since 1967. Their new Legend
Series of guitar speakers captures the essence of
the vintage American and British speaker designs
that are held in such high regard today by so many
discerning players. The Legend Series includes
classic British and American designs for 6,” 8,”
10,” 12,” and 15” speakers utilizing ceramic and
AlNiCo magnets, British or American cones, and
Kapton polyamide voice coils for superior heat dis-
sipation and durability. Best of all, because
Eminence has been successfully competing for
years with other speaker manufacturers as an OEM
supplier, the Legend Series speakers are priced far
below those of many other popular manufacturers
of “ reissue” and custom speakers. The Eminence
Legend Series delivers all of the tone and durabili-
ty you need, at a lower price, with no compromises
in quality. To locate genuine Eminence dealers in
your area, please visit their web site or call
Eminence Speakers.
Eminence Speaker LLC, Eminence, KY
www.eminence.com 502–845–5622
Contact: Chris Rose
Evidence Audio was founded in 1997 by Tony
Farinella to supply the MI and Studio community
with performance–based cables at reasonable
prices. The most well–known cable is the Lyric
HG (High Gain) guitar cable. Readers of Guitar
Player Magazine voted the Lyric HG as “ Best
Accessory of 2004” supporting the opinion drawn
by editors of magazines from around the world.
In simple terms, cables from Evidence Audio are
built different; as a result, they sound different.
The Lyric HG features two solid core high grade
IGL copper conductors and a braided shield that is
grounded at the amp end only. This is the correct
way to “ drain” spurious noise. By using solid core
conductors strand interference is eliminated as
well. Designed to be neutral and honest, the cables
don’t actually “ improve” your tone, they simply
replace a cable in your signal path which was like-
ly destroying it. What you hear is a tighter more
muscular bottom end, a clearer more complex
mid–range and a sweeter more detailed high end.
Dynamics and harmonics are improved and sustain
is no longer masked. Overall the guitar becomes
more three–dimensional sounding, cuts through
clearer and at the same time takes up less space in
the mix.
The Siren Speaker Cable and The Source AC
Power Cable compliment the Lyric HG. They offer
a solution to distortions cause by cables in other
areas of the signal path and power supply. The
effects of the speaker and power cable are consis-
tent with that of the Lyric HG: you hear the guitar
and amplifier, not the cables.
While not inexpensive, cables from Evidence
Audio are still one of the most cost effective ways
of improving your tone. It’s like changing pickups
or a bridge – a small detail with big results. Please
visit the Evidence Audio website to locate a dealer
near you and demand a demo!
Audionova Inc., http://www.audionova.ca/
514–631–5787 ext. 22
Fargen Amplification Inc was founded by
Benjamin Fargen in 1997 to accommodate the
needs of working guitarists that want pure vintage
hand crafted tube tone, quality, modern features,
reliability and value. Fargen Amplification started
out from day one building custom one of a kind
amps that filled a void in the market for those
looking for a “tone match”…some of those early
one-of-a-kind amps have become staples in the
Fargen Amplification product line such as the
“Blackbird” and “Bordeaux” amplifiers. We still
offer full custom “one of a kind” builds from our
Fargen Custom Shop.
“Rather than just building nice vintage clones…I
set out to improve upon what I thought were the
best tube amp designs ever built and then put a sig-
nature spin on them. The signature elements that
have been added were drawn from years of gigging
around town with my own vintage gear as well as
vintage tube amp service work. I kept notes on all
the mods, tweaks, adjustments and repairs that I
made over the years while also noting the com-
ments and overall wants of working guitarists.
Because I also consider myself a “working gui-
tarist” I find it very easy to relate to people on a
“player to player” level rather than just a “techni-
cian to player” level. This goes a long way in get-
ting people the tone they want and are looking
for.”
Check out our full hand wired tube amp product
line @ www.fargenamps.com and find the tube
amp sound you have been looking for!
Fargen Amplification, Sacramento, CA
916-971-4992, www.fargenamps.com
Fishman Widely recognized as the premier
designer and manufacturer of acoustic amplifica-
tion products, Fishman is committed to making
acoustic musicians heard while faithfully maintain-
ing their own natural tone, for the best possible
sound.
The Fishman product line began with the BP-
100(tm) acoustic bass pickup, originally developed
to meet founder and president Larry Fishman’s
own jazz performance needs. With a track record
of quality engineering, reliability, functional sim-
plicity and - most importantly - the natural tone it
enables, Fishman firmly established a reputation of
excellence that consumers have come to expect
from the brand.
For acoustic guitar, Fishman offers the flagship
Acoustic Matrix(tm) Series active pickup system,
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the Rare Earth(tm) Series active magnetic soundhole
pickups, and the Neo-D(tm) magnetic soundhole
pickup, as well as passive undersaddle, classical,
archtop, and resophonic guitar pickups. Fishman’s
new Ellipse(tm) series combines the Acoustic
Matrix(tm) pickup with our industry leading preamp
design. Designed to fit in the guitar’s soundhole, the
Ellipse(tm) system provides volume and tone con-
trol at your fingertips and easily installs without any
modification to your instrument.
Fishman pickups are also available for banjo,
mandolin, harp/piano, violin, viola, cello and
acoustic bass. In addition, the Concertmaster(tm)
amplification system for violin and the Full
Circle(tm) upright bass pickup offer two elegant
and cutting-edge string amplification solutions.
Utilizing cutting-edge Acoustic Sound
Imaging(tm) technology, Aura(tm) features the
most innovative acoustic amplification technology
available today. This stompbox-sized unit captures
your instrument’s true acoustic sound with stun-
ning, studio microphone quality. Anytime, any-
where. Aura(tm) eliminates the boundaries of con-
ventional acoustic amplification and gives the most
natural, realistic amplified acoustic instrument
sound available - both on stage and in the studio.
Joining the award-winning Loudbox(tm) and
Loudbox Pro(tm) acoustic instrument amplifiers,
the new Loudbox Performer(tm) completes
Fishman’s popular, highly-acclaimed family of
acoustic amplifiers and represents the size, power
and features that musicians demand. Setting a new
standard in acoustic amplifiers, the Loudbox(tm)
series feature a powerful tri-amped system that
delivers sweet highs and undistorted lows-even at
tremendous volumes.
As Fishman celebrates its 25th year as the leader
in acoustic amplification, the company continues
to redefine the benchmark of acoustic sound. For
more information, please visit www.fishman.com.
Fishman Transducers Inc.
Wilmington, MA
www.fishman.com 978–988–9199
GHS – The String Specialists Who plays GHS
strings? Artists as diverse as Eric Johnson, Martin
Barre, Charlie Sexton, Will Ray, Warren Haynes,
Tom Morello, Ritchie Sambora, Steve Howe, Brent
Mason, Junior Brown, Zakk Wylde, Tommy Castro,
Rene’ Martinez and TQR advisory board member
and AC30/Telecaster stud Mr. James Pennebaker, to
name just a few! GHS has been manufacturing gui-
tar strings since 1964, and whatever your musical
tastes, GHS has the right string for you. You’re
invited to try a set of GHS classic Boomers, brilliant
Nickel Rockers, Burnished Nickel strings for a
warm, vintage tone, Compound Nickel strings for
electric arch tops, and the recently introduced
Infinity Bronze coated acoustic strings for extended
tone and brilliance. All GHS strings are available in
a wide range of gauges to appeal to every player.
Refer to the GHS “ Brightness Bar” found on select
packages of strings and at our web site. It’s your
guide to determining which strings will produce the
specific range of tone you’re seeking.
Please check out the all new GHS web site at
www.ghsstrings.com for expert information about
GHS strings, including technical documentation on
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
Resource Directory
the entire GHS line of strings for fretted instru-
ments, tech tips, string tension calculations, the “
Brightness Bar,” and a comprehensive list of the
top artists who play GHS strings. All GHS strings
are manufactured to continually exceed your
expectations.
GHS String Corporation
Battle Creek, MI
www.ghsstrings.com
1–800–388–4447
Gibson Gibson Repair & Restoration
World Class Repair of Stringed Instruments
Over the years, Gibson has received countless
requests from players needing work on their gui-
tars, mandolins, etc. These players all say the same
thing: “I don't trust anyone but Gibson to work on
my instrument!” Until recently, these folks had to
rely on whoever was available in their local area
and hope they had the skills and experience to do
the required work.
All that has changed now. Gibson has opened the
doors of its in-house repair facility and is accept-
ing stringed instruments of all types and all brands
for repair or restoration. Offering a state of the art,
temperature and humidity controlled environment,
as well as a full staff of highly skilled and experi-
enced luthiers, Gibson is fully equipped to perform
any and all operations required in all phases of
repair and restoration.
Among the services offered are:
Pro Set Up – Acoustic or Electric
Fretwork – Fret Dress to Plane & Refret
Custom Wiring/Pickup Installation
Structural Repairs – Body Cracks, Bracing, Broken
Headstocks
Neck Resets
Custom Paint/Finish Repair/Relics
Total Restorations
So whether it’s an acoustic or electric guitar, man-
dolin, banjo, ukulele or oud, if it has strings and it
needs attention, we can help. It doesn’t even have
to be a Gibson – we’re an equal opportunity Repair
Shop! Call, write or email. We’ll guide you
through the process and we’ll help with shipping
and insurance information so your instrument gets
here and back quickly and safely. We’ll tell you
upfront what your costs will be and no work is
begun before what is to be done has been
explained and approved by you.
Gibson Repair & Restoration
Nashville, TN
615-244-0252
www.gibson.com/Products/Places/Repair/
Just Strings.com Now more than ever, guitarists
are reaping the benefits of technical innovations in
string making that have led to the widest selection
of guitar strings ever available. JustStrings.com is
dedicated to providing guitarists with the largest
selection of acoustic, roundwound, and flatwound
strings, complimented by exceptional personalized
service and outstanding value. Trying different
types of strings often results in amazing new dis-
coveries that not only improve the sound of your
instrument, but dramatically enhance your playing
enjoyment. From traditional hand–crafted strings
to high–tech exotics, JustStrings.com exists to help
you get the most out of your instrument. Try a new
set today, or order your favorite acoustic or electric
sets and SAVE!
Juststrings.com offers the best prices on all of the
major and specialty brands, promptly delivered to
your door. Shop online at JustStrings.com, or place
your order by fax at 603–889–7026 or telephone at
603–889–2664..
JustStrings.com, Nashua, NH
www.juststrings.com info@juststrings.com
KCA NOS TUBES Mike Kropotkin’s KCA NOS
Tubes offers a wide selection of hard-to-find and
rare new old stock (NOS) American and European
tubes for guitar amplifiers and tube hi-fi, including
American 6L6 and 6V6, 12AX7, 12AT7 tubes,
tube rectifiers, European 6V6, EL84 and EL34
power tubes, and other hard-to-find NOS tubes for
guitar amplifiers and audio equipment. KCA has
expanded it’s offerings to new production tubes
including SED (Svetlana), Electro Harmonix and
Sovtek tubes. Due to the growing demand for NOS
tubes, KCA’s stock is constantly changing, and
inventory is regularly updated on the web, or you
may call for more information. Ordering is simple
through a secure online shopping cart . If you’re
not sure which tubes will sound best in your equip-
ment, contact Mike for unbiased advice via e-mail.
KCA’s web site also provides reliable information
on tube substitutions and general advice on tube
selection, and Mike services and restores new and
vintage point-to-point amplifiers.
KCA NOS Tubes, Sterling, VA 703-430-3645
www.kcanostubes.com
Klon Since its inception in 1994, Klon has been a
one–product company, and given the overwhelm-
ing success of that product, the Centaur
Professional Overdrive, it’s not hard to see why.
Designer Bill Finnegan, assisted by two
circuit–design specialists, set out in 1990 to create
an interactive and ultra–transparent overdrive, one
that doesn’t put its own stamp on your sound, but
rather brings out in a very organic way more of
what your rig was already giving you. Bill’s prem-
ise was that there were many players who, like
himself, had great guitars and amps, and who, as
he likes to put it, “ were not looking to reinvent the
wheel,” and the fact that he has sold some four
thousand Centaur units (as of November 2002)
attests to his intuition, as well as to the perfection-
ism that led him to spend over four years develop-
ing a single product. That perfectionism, of course,
is also evident in the production unit: Bill builds
every Centaur himself, by hand, using only the
finest components and assembling them with
meticulous care. Each unit undergoes a series of
rigorous tests before shipment, and each is backed
by a comprehensive ten–year warranty. Given the
ongoing demand for the Centaur and Bill’s disin-
clination to let anyone but himself build them,
expect a wait of several months for delivery, but
also expect your Centaur, when you receive it, to
manifest a sonic superiority, a construction quality,
a physical beauty, and a conceptual rightness
beyond your expectations.
Klon, Boston, MA 617 666–1551
www.klon–siberia.com info@klon–siberia.com
Keeley Electronics – Check out the new Keeley
Katana Preamp! ToneQuest subscribers receive 10%
off on all pedal mods and the Keeley Comp, Java
Boost and Time Machine boost! Keeley Electronics
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23

recently won a Guitar Player Reader’s Choice
Award and Keeley is now the exclusive distributor
for Framptone! Robert Keeley’s Time Machine
Boost, Keeley Compressor, and his custom,
state–of–the–art modifications for vintage pedals
continue to receive rave reviews from guitarists
around the world. Keeley pedals are used by
Aerosmith, Abbey Road Studios, Steve Vai, leg-
endary producer Bob Rock, George Lynch, Peter
Frampton, James Burton, and many, many more
guitarists and music pros around the world. The
Time Machine Boost is a versatile 2 channel, 3
mode pre–amplifier designed to drive your ampli-
fiers into overdrive or saturation. The two channels
are labeled “ Vintage,” and “ Modern,” with the “
Vintage” side inspired by rare germanium boosts
like the Dallas Rangemaster. The “ Modern” chan-
nel is a new +23dB gain, dual JFET transparent sig-
nal amplifier. The Keeley Compressor is a superb
audiophile and studio grade compressor with true
bypass switching and premium metal film resistors
and capacitors for the cleanest Ross clone compres-
sor ever available. Available with a standard
Ibanez/Boss style adapter jack and/or battery power,
you can say goodbye to that old red Dyna Comp!
Robert Keeley pedal mods include 2 versions for
TS9’s – the TS808 mod, and the “ Baked TS9” for
searing hot Tube Screamer tone. Keeley uses the
original TI RC4558P chip that appeared in the early
TS808’s, while increasing the bass response and
overdrive range. The result is a perfectly voiced 808
that’s cleaner when turned down and produces twice
the drive/gain when turned up, with all of the stock
808 character in the middle. The Keeley modded
BD–2 is not a fuzz pedal but has the best character-
istics of a fuzz pedal, and it’s much smoother and
more realistic sounding. Other exclusive Keeley
modifications include the Boss Blues Driver BD–2
Tube Mod, the PHAT Switch BD–2 Mod, Rat
Mods, Boss DS–1 Seeing Eye Mod, Boss SD–1,
and Boss Chorus CE–2. For detailed specs, user
comments, dealer information, sound clips, and
ordering information, please visit the Keeley
Electronics website.
Keeley Electronics, Edmond, OK
405–260–1385, www.robertkeeley.com
K&M Analog Designs — Two Rock
K&M Analog Designs, LLC, was formed in north-
ern California in1998 by Bill Krinard and Joe
Mloganoski. The company brings a combined 65 +
years of experience in tube amplification and gui-
tar tone to the boutique amp market. As talented
designer/engineer and seasoned guitarist (respec-
tively), Bill and Joe have developed a uniquely
toneful, dynamic and affordable line of hand built
vacuum tube amplifiers that are instruments
designed to completely complement your individ-
ual playing style. Each amp is equipped with pro-
prietary custom transformers and coupling caps,
the best available new and NOS tubes, and each
model has unique build architecture and layout not
found in other modern hand built designs. Early
K&M customers such as Carlos Santana helped
launch the company to the forefront in its earliest
days. Current K&M and Two–Rock devotees
include John Mayer, Steve Kimock, Mitch Stein,
Barney Doyle, Mark Karan, Michael Kang, and
Volker Strifler, among others.The company
launched its line of Two–Rock amps in the sum-
mer of 1999. Past models include the Amethyst
Special Indoor Storm Model, Emerald 50,
Sapphire 100, Emerald Pro and Topaz. Current
models include the Custom and Custom Reverb,
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
24
Resource Directory
Onyx, Opal, and Ruby and LTD recording amplifi-
er. Recently Two–Rock introduced their Signature
series of amplifiers, by far the most popular of any
Two–Rock series to date. Future models will
include a single channel clean amp in various
power levels. A number of customized versions of
the aforementioned have also been built for players
seeking the ultimate personalized tone machine.
K&M Analog Designs,LLC.
www.Two–Rock.com
707–584–TONE(8663)
In Japan: www.Two–Rock–jp.com
Koch Guitar Amplification was founded in
1988 by Dolf Koch in the Netherlands and are
known worldwide as a manufacturer if high end
boutique guitar amplifiers. They have many mod-
els for all styles of music from the new 20W Class
“ A” Studiotone combo to the 120W Powertone II
head.
All amps are channel switching with two or three
extremely versatile channels. They are recognized
for having both sparkling clean channels and wide
ranging drive/gain channels. They were the first to
utilize trim pots on their heavy duty circuit boards
enabling anyone to adjust bias with only a screw-
driver and voltmeter. Speaker damping switches
which when toggled from high to low alter the
tone to a more scooped sound. Rhythm volume
switch on the footswitch (included) which when
engaged drops the level to a pre–determined “
Rhythm” level. It’s the opposite of a boost and
does not alter the lead tone as a result. It so useful
guitar players tell us that they’re surprised that no
has done this before. All amps have Accutronics
reverbs and Koch designed speakers that have a
sweeter more extended high end. These speakers
also handle more power and have a better bass
response than almost any guitar speakers available.
They are an integral component to the KOCH
sound.
Other products include the Loadbox which attenu-
ates a tube amplifiers output without destroying its
tone, i.e. no huge loss of high frequencies. The
Pedaltone is a semi–four channel, foot operated
preamp which has four 12AX7 preamps tubes. One
of these tubes acts as a .5W power tube! It has
many patch points and output options for almost
any application.
Some famous people that use Koch are: Paul Reed
Smith, Al Di Meola, Randy Bachman, Buzz
Feiten, and Jimmy Bruno to name a few. KOCH
also manufacturers the 300W EDEN VT300 all
bass head and the 200W Sadowsky SA200 bass
head on an OEM basis.
Audionova Inc.
www.audionova.ca/
514–631–5787 ext. 22
Lollar Custom Guitars & Pickups
According to Jason, he never really set out to
become a custom pickup designer and builder.
Jason Lollar is a guitar builder on Vashon Island,
Washington (near Seattle) who originally began
building pickups for his own guitars and a few
friends when he couldn’t find the tone he was after.
The word spread, and now Jason custom builds
over 30 different pickups, including Strat, Tele,
humbuckers, P90’s, custom steels and Charlie
Christian–style pickups, all persoanlly designed
and wound by Jason. He is especially well known
for his P90, Imperial Humbucker and Tele replace-
ment pickups, but he has also designed pickups for
many unusual applications…
Recently, Jason was acknowledged by gonzo pedal
steel player Robert Randolph for having wound the
pickups in his two custom Fessenden pedal steels.
And the list doesn’t end there – Jason has wound
pickups for guitar greats such as Billy F Gibbons,
Peter Stroud, Kevin Russel, Rick Vito, Elliot
Easton, Duke Robillard, and the Beasty Boys,
among others.
Jason is always happy to personally consult with
his clients via phone and e–mail to determine the
pickups that are right for each player, and TQR
recommends Lollar pickups without exception. His
Lollar Special Strat pickups are standard equip-
ment in our custom built ToneQuest guitars.
Call Jason or check out all the options available on
his web site.
www.lollarguitars.com, 206–463–9838
Mercury Magnetics The basis of every tube
amp’s characteristic sound is the unique design
of its transformers. Mercury transformers are
legendary for their stunning tonal superiority,
build quality, consistency, and reliability. We
believe in old-world customer service and sin-
gle-minded focus. Transformers are our only
business, allowing us to concentrate on provid-
ing you with the best-sounding guitar amplifier
trannies in the world.
If your amp is suffering from bland and unexcit-
ing tone, then it’s time for a transformer upgrade
or repair. Here are your options:
ToneClone™ Best-of-Breed Series
Transformers: Behind every great-sounding vin-
tage guitar amp is a piece of transformer history.
Within any amp line there are usually a large
number of transformer variations, inconsisten-
cies and just plain ol’ building errors that affect
their sound (good or bad). At Mercury, we seek
out, study, blueprint and replicate only the best-
of-breed transformer designs (including their all-
important anomalies) and add these discoveries
to our catalog. And we make these incredible
tonal selections available to you through our
ToneClone™ line.
Axiom® Series Next-Gen Transformers: Next-
generation guitar amplifier transformers. The
Axiom series are in a class by themselves.
We’ve taken our advanced knowledge of modern
transformer design and mated it with historically
best-sounding designs of the past. Axiom tran-
nys are hybrids that take vintage tone to the next
level! More bloom, more overtone color, and
awesome tonal depth. If you ever needed con-
vincing as to how outstanding transformers
affect your sound, Axiom trannys will astonish
you.
Mercury Vintage™ Transformer Service: Most
vintage transformers have already outlived or are
nearing the end of their life expectancies. That’s
the bad news – now for the good... Mercury will
restore, rebuild or rewind your valuable original
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transformers. Or, we can clone your originals so
that you can continue to play your old amp with-
out fear of further “wear and tear.”
FREE TRANSFORMER TESTING AND
EVALUATION SERVICE: Do you think there
might be something wrong with your trans-
former? Send it to us. We’ll test it in our lab and
report back to you. Our evaluation procedures
are thorough, complete and reliable, and always
free. The only transformers that come with a 10-
year Manufacturer’s Warrantee and a Money-
Back Tonal Guarantee. Made entirely in the
U.S.A.
Mercury Magnetics
www.MercuryMagnetics.com
Sales@MercuryMagnetics.com
818-998-7791
Midtown Music, Atlanta, GA is one of our very
favorite sources for guitars, amplifiers, effects, and
accessories. Midtown opened in 1988 as a small
vintage instrument store, and they now offer a lot of
new items in addition to high end used gear. They
have a large selection of new custom shop instru-
ments by Gibson and Fender, and they also stock
other fine instruments by Martin, Guild, PRS,
Larrivee, and Gretsch. The back room is lined with
hand wired tube amplifiers by Carr, 65, Dr. Z,
Victoria, Fender, Savage, Two Rock, and HiWatt.
The staff is experienced and helpful, and they’re all
players, too! Midtown Music is highly recommend-
ed and definitely ToneQuest approved! View a sam-
ple of their inventory online or call the store for
prices and availability.
www.midtownmusic.com
404–325–0515
Nash Guitars Have you ever thought, “ If they
would just make a Tele with….” , “ I love my Strat
but it just doesn’t….” “ Why don’t they make a
Jaguar that could….” Well, you’ve come to the
right place. From exotic woods, custom paint,
unlimited neck types, custom designed logos, pick-
up selections, Timewarp aging, or any other feature
imaginable – Esquires with hidden neck pickups,
Strats with interchangeable pickup assemblies,
Custom Shapes — whatever… If you can dream it,
we can build it.
Each guitar is a unique work of art, handcrafted by
me. The use of 100% nitrocellulose lacquer, high
quality vintage hardware, superior woods and a
wide variety of pickups and options produce magi-
cal instruments that have thus far not been avail-
able “ off the rack” . The level of aging on our
Timewarp guitars can be adjusted from “ played it
once a month at church” to “ used to break open a
window during a fire in a Louisiana roadhouse.”
Offered only at Nashguitars!! A dedicated client
webpage that lets you watch and approve all work
as it goes. This is truly a unique and enjoyable way
to become involved in the exciting process of
building a custom guitar. Please visit our web site
for inspiring examples of client pages past and
present.
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
Resource Directory
To get a quote or discuss options and time frames,
please email or call Bill Nash.
Nashguitars
Olympia,WA
www.nashguitars.com
1–877–484–8276
Mojo Musical Supply is the all–inclusive
amplifier parts supply house. ToneQuest readers
receive an exclusive 10% discount on all Mojo
products! Just reference the “ MojoQuest304” dis-
count code when placing your order. Mojo special-
izes in pre–1980 amplifier parts, including a wide
range of custom and vintage reproduction cabinets,
a line of exact reproduction transformers, and
hard–to–find electrical components. Mojo contin-
ues to supply a full range of speakers for the guitar
market, including Jensen, Celestion, and of course,
their own custom Mojotone speakers. The
in–house cabinet shop at Mojo specializes in mak-
ing authentic Fender and Marshall reproduction
amplifier cabinets, custom cabinets from your own
design, as well as cabinet repair and re–covering.
Mojo stocks over fifty different amp coverings and
grill cloths to insure that vintage enthusiasts and
custom amp creators have a large palette to choose
from. Within the last two years, Mojo has become
one of the largest vacuum tube importers in the
world, stocking over 20,000 tubes. Because they
buy tubes in large volumes, their prices remain
very competitive. For completed electronics, Mojo
is the east coast distributor for Belov amplification
and also the home of Mojotone Custom electron-
ics. Mojo manufactures and markets the Tone
Machine amplifier, a powerful and eclectic tube
guitar combo. They are also able to offer turnkey
and partial component electronics and cabinets for
OEM’s and builders of all sizes. The future of
Mojo lies in their ability to work directly with
manufacturers, or bring the manufacturing in
house. Our plans for the coming months and years
are focused on making quality vintage parts avail-
able at even better prices, while assuring that all of
their products are of the highest quality.
Mojo Musical Supply
Winston–Salem, NC
www.mojotone.com
1–800–927–MOJO
PLEK The brand name PLEK stands for a technol-
ogy which allows the best fret dress and setup work,
based on a computer controlled scan.
The Plek is a computerized tool that scans an
instrument strung to pitch, generating graphic
views of the fret plane, fret heights, fret shape and
placement, fingerboard relief radius, humps and
bumps — basically everything that luthiers and
repair pros have wanted to see well but couldn’t,
until now. Besides having measurement and dress-
ing capabilities many times more accurate than the
human eye allows, the PLEK has two particularly
great advantages over manual fretwork.
First, it scans and dresses a guitar while it is tuned
to pitch. This is a major breakthrough, since necks
are subjected to approximately 100 pounds of
string tension. This string tension invariably affects
the shape of the fret plane, creating curves and
humps that change when the strings are removed
for a fret dress. The PLEK identifies precisely
what needs to be done for perfect results when the
instrument is re-strung, whereas even the most
skilled luthier or repair professional must guess
about how to compensate for the effect of string
tension when dressing the neck with the tension
released.
Secondly, the PLEK applies very sophisticated for-
mulas for optimum neck curve or relief, adjusting
the calculations for the actual string height and
individual string gauge from the treble side of the
fingerboard to the bass. Achieving these same
results by hand would be lucky and extremely rare
at best!
The Plek is now in use by some of the top repair
and restoration experts worldwide. We invite you
to contact the Plek repair shop nearest you, or
learn more about Plek technology at
www.plek.com
Plek, Berlin/Germany
+49 30 5369–6339, custom@plek.com
Joe Glaser, Nashville/TN
(615) 298–1139, glaserjoetoo@aol.com
Gary Brawer, San Francisco/CA
(415) 621–3904, gary@brawer.com
FretTek, Los Angeles/CA
(310) 474–2238, plek@frettek.com
Philtone, Baltimore/MD
(410) 783–0260, philtone@erols.com
Peekamoose Guitars, New York, NY
(212) 869-2396, www.peekamoose.com
Suhr Guitars, Lake Elsinore/CA
(951) 471–2334, johnsuhr@suhrguitars.com
Charlie Chandler’s Guitar Experience
London, UK +44 20 8973–1441
sales@guitarexperience.co.uk
GuitarLabs Scandinavia, Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 644–9480, info@guitarlabs.se
Rothstein Guitars – Serious Tone for the Serious
Player… Made in the USA
Simply put, Rothstein Guitars specializes in Tone.
The cornerstone of our business is our highly
regarded prewired electronic assemblies for guitars
and basses. Not only are our prewired assemblies
loaded with only the best components money can
buy, but we offer a wide variety of both passive
and active custom configurations that will add a
tremendous amount of versatility to your tone arse-
nal. Most notable is our VoodooTone Monster
prewired Strat assembly, which includes nine pick-
up combinations as well as a passive midrange
control. For those who wish to do the soldering
themselves, we offer the highest quality and fully
customizable electronic upgrade kits on the market
today. Many of the components available in both
our kits and assemblies are offered exclusively by
Rothstein Guitars, including our very own FT375
and FT800 Fat Tuesday Active Midrange Presence
controls, as well as our RG500D custom taper pas-
sive midrange control with center detent.
In addition to top of the line electronics, we build
some pretty slick one-of-a-kind custom guitars and
basses including our latest creation the
“Andromeda” 12 String Bass.
Please stop by and check out the Rothstein Guitars
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website at guitar-mod.com. You will find many
useful resources including a wealth of wiring dia-
grams and technical tips, as well as pickups from
vendors including Lindy Fralin, Dave Stephens
and Rio Grande.
Rothstein Guitars, Woodbridge, NJ
908-565-1022, www.guitar-mod.com
RS Guitarworks
RS Guitarworks is the your one-stop source for
expert finishing, refinishing and aging, complete
guitar assembly and repair, custom electronic
upgrade kits, pickups, hard-to-find hardware, and
more!
Located in Winchester, Kentucky, RS Guitarworks
began as a small repair and refinishing shop in
1994. As the word spread among guitarists, our
business rapidly grew and today we receive expen-
sive guitars from around the world for aging and
refinishing. We offer many hard-to-find vintage
replica parts and other specialty items related to
vintage Fender and Gibson guitars, and we also
custom build complete guitars, including our “Old
Friend” Series, “Step-Side” and “Artist Replica”
models.
RS Guitarworks Premium Wiring Kits offer a dra-
matic and immediate improvement over the factory
electronics found in even the most expensive gui-
tars. During a year of research and development
we tested over 20 different tone capacitors and
nearly every type of potentiometer made before
developing our upgrade kits, which feature meas-
ured CTS pots within 10% of their specified value,
and RS Guitarcaps in .022uf and .047uf values
made expressly for us by Hovland. Our customers
tell us that our wiring upgrade kits impart a fuller,
clearer tone than standard factory components,
with a smoother, more even and responsive taper
from each pot. Additionally, each potentiometer is
tested on a digital meter, checked for the proper
sweep pattern and sorted and labeled as a neck/vol-
ume, neck/tone, bridge/volume or bridge/tone con-
trol.
Wiring Upgrade Kits are available in 5 different
styles for various Les Paul type guitars, as well as
Telecaster, Stratocaster, and PRS guitars, and
Explorer and Flying V types. Nearly any other
configuration can also be built with a call to our
shop. RS Guitarworks is also an authorized Fender,
Jackson, Charvel, Guild and Gretsch Service
Center.
Please call or visit our web site for complete
information on finishing, refinishing and aging of
new and used guitars, custom wiring kits, vintage
repro parts and repairs.
RS Guitarworks
859-737-5300, www.rsguitarworks.com
Stewart MacDonald Stewart-MacDonald offers a
complete line of hard–to–find tools, parts, acces-
sories, instructional videos and books for building,
repairing, setting up, and optimizing the playability
and tone of stringed instruments. Whether you are
just getting started or you’re a seasoned luthier,
you’ll find everything you need in the Stew–Mac
catalog, including: fret wire, finishing supplies,
glues and adhesives, wood, bodies, necks, binding,
tuners, nuts and saddles, inlay, bridges, tailpieces,
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
26
Resource Directory
electronics, pickups, and free information sheets
and professional advice! Their friendly customer
service and technical support staff are trained to
help you make the best product choices, and they
also offer an Unconditional Return Guarantee. If
you’re not satisfied with an item for any reason,
simply return it.
Stew-Mac is the leading supplier of innovative
products for guitarists and repair pros, and every
thing they make is guaranteed to work well,
because every product is tested by the professional
luthiers at Stewart MacDonald first! The master
builders and repairmen on staff include Dan
Erlewine – well–known author of guitar repair
books and magazine articles, member of the
ToneQuest Report advisory board, and a regular
contributor to TQR. Dan and all of the experienced
luthiers at Stew–Mac personally develop and test
every product the company offers, and they are
also dedicated to education. The Stewart
MacDonald catalog is packed with helpful tips,
and the company produces an extensive series of
training videos at their facility in Athens, Ohio.
For more information on the entire range of prod-
ucts available, please visit the Stewart MacDonald
web site. In addition to their free online help serv-
ice, your telephone call is also always welcome.
Stewart MacDonald
www.stewmac.com,
1–800–848–2273
Talos Amplifiers makes custom, hand-crafted
amplifiers based on our fundamental conviction
that an amplifier is as much an instrument as the
guitar connected to it.
The Talos Basic was conceived in response to the
proliferation of overly complex amps with a bewil-
dering array of controls, switches and modeling
options. The Basic, with only two controls and
four switches, covers a wide range of subtle tonal
variations, with most of the sound control trans-
ferred to the guitar itself, where it belongs.
Construction: The short signal path is highly
sophisticated, using audiophile grade components
(1% metal film resistors, high quality polypropy-
lene capacitors, silver plated/Teflon hookup wire),
full power supply regulation and careful attention
to the mechanical layout to minimize noise and
crosstalk. The three position mode tri-mode switch
enables the output stage to run in triode mode
(low, 20 Watts), partial triode mode (medium, 30
Watts), or pentode mode (high, 40 Watts). Each
mode has a unique sonic signature – almost like
having three different amps in one box
Chassis are made from heliarc welded aluminum
instead of cheaper steel to provide a quieter, more
predictable performance. Our output transformer is
special. Instead of using an off-the-shelf unit, we
designed a custom transformer to utilize high
induction laminations instead of the more usual
steel. This results in tight base response and
smooth extended highs.
The Basic is available in either Head or Combo
configuration. For the touring musician, the Basic
Combo was sized to ATA baggage spec to allow
the unit to travel by air. Cabinets come in three
distinctive tonewoods: birch ply, pine and red-
wood. Each provides a beautiful, distinctive voic-
ing ranging from crystal clear highs, to piano-like
fullness, to more more aggressive tones. With
uncompromised quality and unparalleled tone,
Talos amplifiers are like no others in the world.
Talos Instruments
www.talosinstruments.com 703-764-7005
Toneman Veteran working guitarist Don Butler is
an experienced tech who specializes in servicing
and restoring JMI–era Vox tube/valve amps as well
as many other vintage British amps including
Marshall, Selmer, Hiwatt, Sound City and Orange
amps. Don also services and restores vintage
tweed, blonde, brown and blackface era Fender
amplifiers. Don’s modifications and upgrades to
vintage reissue Vox, Marshall, and Fender amps
have earned him a solid reputation among players
throughout the country for achieving dramatically
improved, authentic vintage tone from reissue
amplifiers. Don uses hand–made Mercury
Magnetics Axiom Tone Clone transformers, along
with the correct, premium signal path components
to bring reissues to vintage specs. He also modifies
reissue Vox wahs to vintage specs, and he offers
upgrades to Vox Valve Tone pedals and reissue
Ibanez TS9’s. For the past 6 years, Don has been
building the famous Rangemaster Treble Booster,
which is an exact replica of the original Dallas
Rangemaster unit from the early 60’s. In addition
to the original treble model, Don builds a full
range model and a switchable model combining
the features of both Rangemaster units. Don was
also the very first dealer for Pyramid strings, and
you can count on him to maintain a full inventory
of Pyramids at all times.
Don Butler, Newhall, CA
www.tone–man.com
661–259–4544
10–6 PST, Tuesday–Saturday only
TonePros Sound Labs All TQR subscribers
will receive an exclusive 10% discount when
ordering TonePros components - just mention the "
TQGPD" discount code when ordering by phone
or online at www.guitarpartsdepot.com.
Since our first published review article, The
ToneQuest Report has enthusiastically recom-
mended the patented TonePros system of guitar
components. You deserve to discover why
TonePros works for companies like Hamer USA
and the Gibson Custom Shop!
TonePros tailpieces feature a patented locking
design. For years, guitars with stop tailpieces and
wrap-around bridges have been cursed by " lean"
or tilt on their stud mounts. Since string tension
was all that held tailpieces on, the only contact
area was just a bit of the edge of the bottom
flange, just a bit of the lip of the stud top, and
often just as little contact with the intonation
screws. TonePros® Locking Studs provide 100%
of the contact area of the bottom flange, 100% of
the contact area of the stud top, no lean, and dra-
matically improved sustain, resonance and tone.
TonePros bridge and saddle components feature
the " patented pinch" - the lateral pressure that is
applied from the strategically placed " tone
screws" that greatly reduce the play or wiggle of
the bridge posts in their inserts. The posts are
frozen in place, resulting in a solid connection
between the strings, bridge, and guitar top, trans-
ferring more string vibration and resonance to the
guitar body, resulting in an audibly stronger,
sweeter, woodier type of resonance and sustain.
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And once your guitar is set up, it's locked. Bridge
height and intonation settings remain intact and
exact, even after re-stringing. TonePros® System II
Components are found on the worlds best guitars,
played by the world's best artists.
TonePros Sound Labs International,
www.tonepros.com
www.guitarpartsdepot.com
818–735–7944
Victoria Amplifier From our first Victoria to the
one we build for you, every Victoria amplifier is
meticulously crafted for real musicians and built to
be played for a lifetime. We utilize components
and manufacturing techniques that are chosen for
their proven ability to meet both the sonic and real
world gigging demands that musicians depend on.
From the real Allen Bradley resistors (new manu-
facture, not surplus) to the finger jointed pine cabi-
nets, every aspect of a Victoria Amplifier is
designed to provide years and years of faithful
service and superior tone. With the addition of our
new Victorilux and Sovereign amplifiers, Victoria
now offers amplifiers with features like reverb,
tremolo and high gain circuits that will surpass
anything currently available and define the word “
tone” for years to come. But manufacturing new
amplifiers is not all we offer! Our restoration and
repair department is equipped to turn the most
heinous, hacked up old amp into an inspiring gem.
Our obsession with period correct components and
our real world expertise are your assurance that an
investment piece or an old road hawg will leave
the shop with all of its tonal potential maximized.
The job gets done right at Victoria Amplifier. You
can be sure that we at Victoria Amplifier Co. will
continue to provide the finest guitar amplifiers
available anywhere, at any price. New from
Victoria — the Victorilux and Victoriette — the
ultimate club amps, plus, the Sovereign — our
answer for players seeking true vintage British
tone with master volume and reverb at a
stage–friendly 35 watts!
Victoria Amplifier, Naperville, IL
www.victoriaamp.com 630–820–6400
Visual Sound Founded in 1995 by guitarist Bob
Weil, Visual Sound is excited to announce that it has
expanded its ‘stable’ of products with the Workhorse
amplifiers: the 60W 212 Stallion and the 30W 112
Pony.
Both models have revolutionary easy user-biasing,
as well as 100% clean tube amplification, Celestion
speakers, hand-wired controls and jacks, carbon
comp resistors (where they count), a tordial power
transformer, a 9VDC output and cable for powering
the free Jekyll & Hyde pedal which comes with
every amp, and a padded amp cover with pockets on
the sides. Protection circuitry throughout each amp
prevents failure of all critical components. Housed
in an all-wood cabinet, each amp features a Hubcap
sound dispersion speaker grill (patent pending),
making it sound great from anywhere on stage.
In addition to the Workhorse amps – and back by
popular demand -- Visual Sound has re-introduced
the flagship Visual Volume pedal. This 10th
Anniversary edition features a new design, with die-
cast aluminum housing, blue and red LED’s, two
inputs and outputs for mono or stereo use, a Tuner
Out jack for silent tuning, as well as both active and
TONEQUEST REPORT V8. N5. March 2007
Resource Directory
passive modes with a pre-amp available for clean
boost in active mode.
Sales continue to climb for each of Visual Sound’s
pedals -- the Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive,
Route 66 American Overdrive and the H2O Liquid
Chorus and Echo -- as well as for the 1 SPOT
space-saving adapter, Multi-Plug 5 Cable and other
accessories.
Visual Sound will be exhibiting again at
Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Germany from March 28-
31, 2007 at Booth E-20, Hall 4.0. They will be pre-
viewing an all-new line of single effect and dual
effect pedals, dubbed the V2 Series. These pedals
are due to come out this summer and already were
wowing visitors to their booth at the Winter NAMM
in Anaheim in January.
For more information about Visual Sound, mp3
downloads and product information,
please visit the Visual Sound web site, or contact
Bob Weil personally.
Visual Sound
www.visualsound.net
www.myspace.com/visualsoundusa
931-487-9001
VOX and Brian May Rock You
With the New Limited Edition
AC30BM Combo
Queen’s Brian May, known for his wall of VOX
AC30s, is lauded for having one of the most recog-
nizable guitar tones in the history of rock. In fact,
May’s signature tone has been sought for many
years by guitarists the world over. Now VOX
announces the Brian May Limited Edition AC30
Combo (AC30BM). It’s a recreation of his famed
stage amplifier and boost pedal set-up, with a 500
unit limited worldwide run.
The ultimate design was a collaborative effort
between Brian and VOX. Brian insisted that the fea-
tures were minimal like his personal setup and the
sound recreated the tone of his current rig. And by
minimal, we mean minimal. The only control on the
top panel is Volume! As Brian explains, “You, like
me, are unimpressed by dozens of controls on a gui-
tar amplifier. You want ONE knob, and IT
SOUNDS PERFECT – right? Well, this is it. To the
best of our capability and belief, here is an amp you
will never have to mess with. If it sounds great for
you today, it will always sound great. Power up,
plug in, turn up the ONE volume knob, and play.
We hope you love it – the concept and the Amp.”
The 30 Watt AC30BM was designed to sound
identical to Brian’s legendary, signature live/stage
setup plus we’ve added a few things to make it
slightly more versatile The amp starts out as the
Normal channel of an AC30. It also has a built-in
foot-switchable, single transistor mid/treble boost
circuit (rather than Brian’s separate treble/mid
boost pedal) and a back panel half power (15
watts) switch that performs a true power reduction
by changing the number of tubes, biasing values
and output transformer impedance–– all allow
users to achieve Brian’s tone at lower volume.
Valve compliment is 2 x 12AX7/ECC83, 4 x EL84
and 1 x GZ34.
Predominantly hand-wired, the AC30BM stays true
to the original with components mounted on turret
tags; however some modern printed circuit board
construction was used for adding more performance
stability with no loss of the original tone. Other fea-
tures include back panel switches for gain and
bypass for the built-in boost circuit, two
Celestion/VOX Alnico Blue 12" 15 Watt loudspeak-
ers and a supplied footswitch. The amp features
Brian May’s signature logo on the control panel, and
comes with a durable padded vinyl cover embroi-
dered with Brian’s signature, as well as a product
introduction from Brian with the user manual.
Please visit our website to learn more about this
new amplifier.
www.voxamps.co.uk
Warther Carving Museum
The Warther Carving Museum of Sugarcreek,
Ohio is a unique art exhibit located in Ohio's
Amish community. David Warther II, a fifth gen-
eration carver of Swiss heritage is continuing his
family’s carving legacy in the heart of Ohio’s
Amish country. Carving can be traced in the
Warther family to David’s Great-Great-
Grandfather, who was an accomplished wood
carver and cabinetmaker in Switzerland in the
early 1800’s. David’s grandfather, Ernest
“Mooney” Warther, was known for his wood and
ivory carvings of “The History of Steam
Engines.” As a fifth generation artist, David
Warhter is actively carving his own niche in the
family tradition.
David also makes hand-crafted bridge saddle
blanks, nut blanks, bridge pins and strap buttons
from bone, pre-historic fossilized Wooly
Mammoth ivory, and legal, pre-ban elephant
ivory. For details on ordering, please visit the
Warther Carving Museum website or call to
place your order.
www.ivorybuyer.com/sales, 330-343-1865
e-mail: instrumentparts@roadrunner.com
Willcutt Guitar Shoppe Located in Lexington,
KY, Willcutt Guitar Shoppe is one of the world's
premier boutique guitar and amp dealers. Customers
may select from guitar lines such as PRS, Hamer
USA, Fender, Gibson, McInturff, Gretsch,
McNaught, Nik Huber and Taylor. With a vast
inventory of over 1500 guitars always on hand,
Willcutt's staff of experienced guitarists can reliably
assist you with the purchase of your next dream gui-
tar or amplifier.
Recognizing that a superb electric guitar requires
an amp of equal quality, Willcutt offers a tremen-
dous selection of handbuilt amplifiers, including Dr.
Z, Victoria, Carr, Bad Cat, Bogner, Mesa, Fuchs,
Rivera, and Koch.
Willcutt's staff of veteran, working guitarists has the
hands-on product knowledge necessary to assist
players at every level in finding just the right guitar
or amp the first time. The store's website features
high quality digital photos of nearly every item in
stock, and 99% of all high end instruments are kept
in their cases – not on display – insuring that every
instrument remains in the best possible condition
prior to sale. Pictures and detailed, in-hand descrip-
tions are always available on request.
Willcutt Guitar Shoppe, Lexington, KY
www.willcuttguitars.com
859-276-0675
27
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FEATURES: Finding, Acquiring & Restoring CF Martin & Co.
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DST Neil Young

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American Guitar Center
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Fishman Transducers Laurence Wexer
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Buzz Feiten Fine Fretted Instruments
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Klon Centaur Adrian Legg John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

Ritchie Fliegler Dave Malone Zachary Vex

Fender Musical Instruments Corp. The Radiators Z Vex Effects

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