An interesting beginning... - It all started with a Swiss guy named Enrico. Enrico is the representive for TOSI (Trade Office of Swiss Industries) in Taiwan, and he also likes audio equipment. He told me about a little speaker shop he discovered walking near....
Basic Specs - First it's a good idea to know what you are dealing with. (I found these photos of the original from a dealer in Australia.) The Fender Amp Field Guide is a terrific resource for all amps Fender. I got the....
So where do you start? - First you find your desired amp's schematic and chassis layout. Then you figure out how to read a schematic diagram. Then you put together a parts list for the electronics and the hardware needed to build your amp. Here's a....
What does that mean? - Once I had an idea of what it was I was going to build, I had to first learn what all of the various parts actually did. I'm just that kind of person. So I took my curiousity on a....
Transformers - It became apparent after knowing what everything did, that the transformers in an amp had a huge influence on it's "sound." I always wondered why some amps weighed a ton, while others didn't. Most of it has to do with....
The whole shebang - Here's what it all looks like when you begin.....
Grounding - Grounding turned out to be the most nebulous aspect of this project, as there are so many right and wrong ways to go about getting a signal grounded. Fender amps had a brass plate which mounts between the pots/inputs and....
Time to put it together - My amp parts ended up sitting in a box for 4 months while I did things like running a business, leading a life, and all those other things that you end up doing that needs to get done first before....
The Look - When I first got all the parts together, I didn't order the standard reissue tweed cabinet. I didn't see any use in copying an original. Plus I was cheap. I didn't want to fork up another $100 in shipping fees....
Troubleshooting - That night, Gary called and asked if I wanted to meet him to hear Lanny play at a club. Lanny and I had played together in a band called Vitasoul, so I knew Lanny's playing, and his appreciation of the....
Purple Shag - Now this pretty little amp which started as a conversation months ago sits proudly on the Living Room stage.....
The Mods - After a few different players played the amp, with different bands, I got a chance to better understand it's characteristics, and it became apparent that I would need to fiddle with it some more to get it exactly like I....