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Looks like I may have to buy a new amp - dammit!


NeoConMan

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That's cool that you're sticking to the deal. My best friend was kicked out of five (FIVE) highschools and even got arrested a couple of times for minor stuff, then got his GED, took one semester of college then dropped out. After that, he started selling shoes as Thom McCann, got promoted to store manager, then regional manager. After that, he moved into the car biz where he ended up as finance manager for a Poreche/Acura dealership then after that some sort of position selling commercial loans at Wachovia bank. After that, he ended up being recruited to be the director of small business incubator which he turned around from a real pit to a smoothly running and successful service for the local community. After that, he left for the local chamber of commerce where his job started out as selling memberships to local businesses but quickly expanded to representing the chamber at all local and even national functions where he rubbed elbows with freeholders and governors. A couple of months ago, he decided he wanted to be in business for himself and he's quickly taking off by taking advantage of all those contacts he made over the years.

 

My point here is that just because someone screwed up a bit, there's no limit to a person's potential if they're motivated and driven. My buddy is a guy who went from a highschool dropout and mall rat who sold pretzels in the food court to a successful family man with three kids and a nice home in a great area. Your boy might have messed up so far, but who knows how far he might go in life? It often times seems that it's the scrappy ones who get the farthest in life, much farther than a guy like me who got a four year college degree, then took a computer training course and now slings code in a cubicle (not a bad gig, actually, but not anywhere that I thought I'd ever be).

 

So, kudos to you! [-X

 

As for the amp, is it something just for home or to jam with other musicians or gigging? If for home and it ends up being fairly powerful, will you use an attenuator or do your family and neighbors not mind you cranking it up? In any case, it sounds like you really want another Fender amp.

 

If you're gigging, I'd look at the Supersonic; they seem to be pretty underrated and have power and channel switching. The Vibrolux looks great too but you'll probably need a pedal to dirty it up. Twins are VERY heavy so be thankful they have wheels if you go with one of those.

 

Dr. Z makes some really sexy amps and, personally, I'd be looking at those but for no practical reason.

 

Oilpit suggested the Lonestar Special and I've heard only great things about those amps so they're probably worth looking into.

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Get the new amp, keep your promise to your son regardless of the outcome. He needs to know that you will always do for him what you say that you will and that includes negative things as well as positive ones. If he doesn't have a guitar offer up one to use until he can get his own. Keep giving that son your positive support and he will do as best he can to meet your expectations. Don't set them so high that he is destined to fail.

 

Spend some time playing together just to chill out together. Good luck on both the amp and the son.

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I would keep my promise but I would also tell him that you would buy the amp back from him if he wants to sell it, he would get more money from you than he would from a pawn shop.

 

If your amp is Made in the U.S.A. I'd try to hold on to it if your son wants to sell it back to you. Mexican made Fenders are just fine but American made re-sell better just for that simple fact.

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Since he currently doesn't have a guitar, I'd tell him that giving him the amp is useless untill he can get a guitar. You could tell him that the amp is his, but untill he gets a guitar it will stay where it is. That's more than fair. If he gets all pissed off then you know for a fact that he wants it just to pawn/sell it.

 

That way you still can justify getting a new amp to play with!!

 

I know what a f@*ked up thought process addicts have. Until he gets away from the sh*t, it will always be the same story. You or noone else is gonna make him see the light. He will have to hit HIS rock bottom before he can get better.

All you can do is let him know that when he decides to get his head out of his ***, there are people around that care for him.

I've been there, done that.. My rock bottom just wasn't as low as some but was just as bad all the same..

 

Good luck in your gear quest Neo!

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I know how important your word is to you, and I only wish it was that way for more people. Some of the "bad boy does good" stories are certainly inspirational, but I know you see that and just shake your head. Perhaps you can add one caveat to the deal that will still enable you to keep your side of the bargain, but also put some of the responsibility into his hands. Once he has completed the GED, he gets the amp, but has to be able to put it someplace. After all, he can't very well strap it to the handlebars of his bike. And not at Grandmas or a buddies, a place of his own. So until he shows you a signed lease, just move the amp into his old bedroom and not let it leave the NeoCon Compound until you are satisfied it's going someplace safe.

Just another 2 cents. Nobody understands your situation better than you. But new amp shopping is fun, make sure you take one of your guitars though.

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small tube amp recommendations.

 

1) Fender Deluxe Reverb 65 Reissue- excellent amp and unbeatable for the price. not as big as a Twin but still plenty loud enough for most rooms.

LPruby003.jpg

2) Dr. Z Maz Junior 18-watt combo (available with or without reverb) a great boutique amp at a reasonable price.

DAampeg.jpg

3) Mack Heatseeker 18 watt mini stack (also available as a combo) tried one recently and was very impressed. everything from clean tones to face-melting shred. very reasonable for the quality of amp.

Mack_guitar_amplifier_Heatseeker_HS.jpg

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I know this guy who builds amps and for somebody on the Gibby forum would probably sell it for just a little over the cost of parts ~ like around $400 over the cost of parts.

 

I know one amp he built is basically a modded Tweed Fender Princeton ~ it has two boost switches.

 

I know the one he plays has

One 6L6 ~ around 10 watts

One 12AX7

One 5Y3 recitifer tube.

One 12" Eminence Wizard speaker.

 

However, it could be altered to have

Two 6L6 tubes

One 12AX7

One 5Y3

One 12" speaker

One 10" speaker - yes both because of the texture of sounds.

 

I'm just sayin'

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http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0213205000

 

IMO, the best combo amp for under a grandish' throw a pedal in front richCI style, and you have clean, to stones, to iron madien amounts of gain, all in a cute, small, package

 

 

not to be confused with the massive amounts of my package..................

just sayin

 

 

LOL

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Not until now....

Don't need the 100 watts the Lone Star can make' date='.[/quote']

 

The Lonestar Special runs on EL84s and makes a mere 30 watts

 

However that Egnator is also very sweet, you can have a 65 watt 6L6 powered clean channel and an 18 watt EL34 powered dirty channel

THAT is cool!

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http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0213205000

 

IMO' date=' the best combo amp for under a grandish' throw a pedal in front richCI style, and you have clean, to stones, to iron madien amounts of gain, all in a cute, small, package[/quote']

 

Funny enough, that the one amp I own that just doesn't seem to like boost pedals very much or, at least, is limited in what sounds good in front of it. With my band and Mesa Stiletto, I'm all about boost pedals but the BJ seems to work well with only either a Fulltone Fatboost and occasionally a Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso (clean boost) or, at least, that's all I've found out of the all the stuff I have. It hates all of my favorites like: Analogman King of Tone, Proco Rat, MXR Distortion +, Analogman Beano Boost and any kind of fuzz.

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First of all, you should give him the amp. You never know when someone's going to make the decision to turn their life around. You can only help him by showing him kindness and keeping your word.

 

As for other amps, I strongly recommend getting the 4x10 version of the Deville. I have it and love it, and I prefer it over the 2x12.

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Funny enough' date=' that the one amp I own that just doesn't seem to like boost pedals very much or, at least, is limited in what sounds good in front of it. With my band and Mesa Stiletto, I'm all about boost pedals but the BJ seems to work well with only either a Fulltone Fatboost and occasionally a Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso (clean boost) or, at least, that's all I've found out of the all the stuff I have. It hates all of my favorites like: Analogman King of Tone, Proco Rat, MXR Distortion +, Analogman Beano Boost and any kind of fuzz.

[/quote']

 

 

with a couple boss pedals, (BD-2, OS-2, DS-1) all fairly mild OD pedals, it really sounds like the best of UFO/Thin Lizzy/Foghat hardrock fuzzy muddy gain

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Well, Mrs. Neo is doing the negotiating over the deal as it comes up in discussions.

The amp may indeed stay here, or go over to her parent's place where at least it will be noticed when it's gone.

 

The relationship between the three of us is pretty 'dynamic' to borrow a science term.

She has to be careful what she offers him to avoid enabling - and pissing me off because he HAS to find his own bottom as was stated before. Going back on my word is something I've decided I simply cannot do because he would do anything to get some tiny sliver of moral high ground and say "You LIED to me!"

 

That's a large part of the problem already;

It's easy to tell when he's lying to you because his mouth is open and his lips are moving.

It's everybody's fault but his, nobody will 'help' him, nobody likes him - it's deeply seated and emotional.

The meth, pot and other sh!t is just a symptom.

Funny, he's proud that he's not a drinker because alcohol is BAD and people who drink are stupid....

(For the record, nobody in our family drinks more than the odd social occassion)

 

I had long ago cut off any support to him and his mother finally had no choice but to do the same.

The last straw was when he would call her needing a ride.

No, he wasn't at Grandma's or his buddy's house.

He would call and expect his mother to drive into Phoenix to pick him up God knows where and then drop him off at a friend's house - then leave and not ask what he was doing.

 

Yeah right.

 

After a couple times of this she finally realized what everybody was telling her was true.

She's probably a drug courier service, he's likely dealing with armed and 'loaded' people.

If he HAD any friends, he could get a ride from THEM!

 

It was pretty devastating for her to realize that he would go to such lengths to manipulate her too.

 

 

The $400 or so that the amp is worth?

If he pawns it, he'll get what - 50 bucks?

 

That money will be smoked up in two days if that's what he does.

I've honored my final commitment to him and I'm DONE.

In talking to him, she knows he realizes this....

 

Maybe the GED is a step in the right direction as Rich posted.

That's what's so heartbreaking about the whole thing.

He's a smart kid, tall, handsome, engaging, the ladies think he's dreamy....

And he uses that only to drift around and piss all over everybody.

 

If he ever regains a focus and finds something he can excel at, he may be unstoppable.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the amp input everybody!

 

COC, the 2x12 HRD is what I have now and if I replace it in kind I will get the 4x10 for damned sure.

 

Jesse, I already have a Fender Blues Jr!

Great little amp, but it just ain't big enough and only has one speaker.

I have no neighbors close enough to create an issue, so loud as I want is a requirement.

 

:)/

 

50 watts or so is plenty, especially if I get a bigger cabinet like a 4x10 or 4x12.

2x12 is the smallest I want.

 

I'm gonna have to do some research with all the pointers you guys offered.

I've wanted a Fender (Evil!) Twin for 20 years so that may be a front runner - new or used.

As mentioned previously, there are LOTS of cool Fenders out there - especially the old stuff.

 

The Mesa stuff is a winner, you can't go wrong with their products if I can Keep It Simple enough.

I'm torn between the 30 watt Class 'A' yumminess of the Special or the regular killer Lone Star I've played thru.

The Express is tempting at 50 watts. Probably skip the combo and get a separate head/cab if it's Mesa.

 

Still toying with buying a used Matchless, most boutique amps are very well cared for by their doting owners.

 

Learning about the amps you guys mentioned that I have no experience with will be fun.

Lotsa looking and thinking to be done - I'm in no hurry.

 

If I make a BIG purchase this year, it will hopefully be a LP Black Beauty '57 RI I've had my eye on first.

The amp will come second.

Depends on year-end taxes and other financial variables.

 

 

Keep the amp info coming!

I confess I really don't know much about the market and what all is available.

That's why I own only Marshall and Fender tube amps, just went with the basics and it's worked fine.

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Yeah, I played thru lotsa little Marshall combo's and I've never liked 'em.

Hooked to a external cabinet - that's much better.

 

Still not the kind of cleans I like though, that's why I made a right turn and went to Fender tube amps years ago.

 

Of course, there's always the old Fender Bassman too - inspiration FOR the Marshall head....

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Hey Neo...

 

Uwanna deal on an Aims Dual 12? It's like a Twin on steroids. Darned near unused in spite of being over 30 years old. Long story why besides the weight.

 

Holler backchannel. <grin>

 

Seriously, back when I had a cupla extra bucks 30 years ago, I got the thing and I think as a combo, it's the best "Fender type" I've seen and I chose it over the twin. But it's too darned heavy for a poor worn out old guy. <chortle>

 

I think it takes some guts to talk about a deal like you're going through. I hope some of the young guys are listening - and I think they probably are - to recognize the "parent side" of a lotta stories from a fellow guitar player who just happens to be a little older.

 

m

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Yep Milod, once again you've been able to see thru the smoke and mirrors to ID the ulterior motive.

Never know who might be reading this stuff on the World Wide Web, eh?

 

Aims?

I know nothing of it.

 

Do tell...

 

<back channel if need be>

 

:-)

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