Leaderboard

In the late '60s/early '70s, there were yet to be 'classic' guitars that would become reissues, really. Maybe a few people 'at the top' knew how to identify the good'uns; the rest of us scouted around seedy music shops or second-hand shops, trying out whatever we could find. I've already described previously the Hampton Hill 'Mrs Nichols' front parlour (that's where I came across the Hofner President...), or the dimly-lit shop down the station alley in Staines, selling mostly Cathedral strings and kazoos. The Japanese, at the time, were more known for their 'plastic metal' motorbikes; it was the fiefdom of Triumph and Norton, or the Ariel Arrow. My group van was a Thames 15cwt, rescued from a scrap yard, my younger brother's fuzz box was a valve tape recorder, bigger than his (Linear Conchord, all of 15w ...) amp. John Mac, for whom I bought a Shaftsbury Les Paul copy so that he could play lead with us, brought his parent's radiogram to venues (mostly village church halls, or youth clubs...), which took up more space in the van than my Edgeware drums. I was making my own amps, back then, from the newly-published circuits using 4 2N3055 power transistors, for a whole 100w..! I didn't know about speaker cab dimensions, so my 4x12 (with cheap Fanes...) were cut from cheap chipboard, with a face panel 3ft square. That's 3ft by 3 ft; try it, you'll see just how big that really is..! The amps and cabs got covered in the cheapest vinyl I could find, which was quite thick, and turquoise. No wonder that the van was full..! We couldn't afford the 'quality' WEM PA stuff, so hired Simms-Watts, with their weedy little mics. Shades of 'we wuz poor but we wuz 'appy' in there somewhere. It's quite remarkable the difference to be found these days, and the griping and, sometimes, snobbism, that this opulence seems to have generated. Home-made guitars were common, back then, and folk were proud of 'em. Just sayin'.

Does this count as a new Amp? Given that it’s advertised as a “0 watt amplifier” then I’m going to say yes. This is the DSM & Humboldt Simplifier Classic which is an amp and cab sim “pedal” (it’s not really a pedal as there’s no on/off button but it’s sized to fit on a pedal board and so…..pedal). I mainly play through my guitar synth which is plugged into the PA but I also wanted the ability to play the guitar “straight” and have that through the PA rather than lug an amp around with me. I initially started looking at things like the Headrush and Helix Stomp but I have a pedal board with all the pedals I need and the multi fx-style solutions are overkill (and expensive) for what I need. Having gone down the YouTube rabbit hole, I came across this little chap. DSM & Humboldt are, apparently, two Chilean companies who have produced this as a joint venture and I have to say that first impressions are very, very good. The pedal is very well made. It looks and feels like a lot of standard parts were used but they’re good quality and the whole thing seems well put together. Its also tiny. I have no idea how they’ve got everything inside, especially as this is an all-analogue product. Be aware that there is no PSU supplied with it so you’ll need to buy one separately (or use one of the millions we all accumulate and have lying around the place). It doesn’t run on batteries, only mains power so do t forget that PSU… I only received it yesterday so I’ve not had too much time with it yet. Switching it on, I’m impressed with the low noise floor and by how solid all the switches and knobs feel to operate. There are three amps simulated; A Fender blackface), Vox AC30 and a Marshall. Cab choices are 1x12, 2x12 and 4x12. You can switch between three different types of valve and you can alter the positioning of the virtual mics. Alongside gain, volume, presence and resonance, there are bass, mid and treble controls. The great thing is that each of these makes a noticeable difference to the tone. The amp models sound pretty close to the real thing but the tweaking options let you dial in exactly the sound you’re after. It took me all of ten seconds to find a beautiful clean tone to work with the drive pedals on my board and I could, if I wanted, just use that and never twiddle again. I probably will though. So, first impressions positive - here are some pictures of it on my board (not yet fully positioned or plugged in). I’ll update once I’ve had chance to gig with it.

I'm a bass player not a guitarist, so I don't want to spend silly £££ on a six-string. But my favourite guitarist is probably Neil Young Unfortunately I'm not a big fan of Les Pauls and semi-acoustics like his signature Gretsch White Falcon or a 335 are a bit steep. The Artcore* AS53 only cost £220, and when I tried it out in a shop it felt really nice so my agonising ended there. That's pretty cheap for a semi-acoustic with a set neck. A very nice, playable neck with edge binding and a satin finish (shared with the rest of the guitar). One of the ways the price is achieved is simplified electrics, vol, tone and a 3-way selector switch. I bought from a small shop (River Music, Ross on Wye) and the guitar was well set up, I don't know if it had been given any extra attention but I got the impression the owner fettles all the guitars that come through his shop. It was a delight to play and sounded great. He threw in a basic gig bag. I pimped my ride by adding a scratchplate. My brother added icing to the cake by giving me a Gretsch bridge pickup, a set of Kluson tuners and some contemporary Gibson knobs he had changed for vintage ones I gave him some time before! I also swapped in a DiMarzio neck pickup he gave me decades ago, but fitted a brass cover to hide the green colour! Naturally it now sounds fantastic. I top-wrapped the tailpiece too *There was some debate over whether or not these AS guitars are actually part of the respected 'Artcore' series, but the Ibanez website counts them in and specifically mentions them having an AS Artcore neck.

since buying the Vox I've not really made much use of it, i wasn't surprised that the floor controllers were scarce as i assumed the same as you (that they didn't sell many) but i was surprised at how expensive they were on the used market, i was expecting maybe 50 to 80 quid. Matt

The guys who founded the PMT chain of guitar / instrument shops apparently were looking for a new project after they sold that business, and having done retail thought it would be fun to try the manufacturing end. The business plan from the outside doesn't seem to differ hugely from what went before (cheaper, far-Eastern models made in Korea or China and pitched at the Epiphone / Squier / lower end of the Fender MIM price band, custom instruments built in London). Rumour has it that the previous owners were very knowledgeable about guitars but struggled with the business side of things - I have no knowledge as to whether that is fair or not. The interesting thing about Marvin I only discovered recently was that he moved from the Fender to the Burns, not the other way around. The main innovation the Burns seemed to have (aside from the Trisonic pickups being somewhere closer a humbucker in SC form than a true SC in their sound) was the vibrato system, which I believe was touted as more stable than the Fender-style. It certainly looks different - it's one of the visual things that appeals about Burns, though inevitably the more affordable Marquee series has something much more conventional on it.

Only yesterday I was playing a Washburn Rover, OK it's acoustic but just like an SS bass it's incredibly fun to play because you don't have to work as hard. Ditto with the Gretsch Jim Dandy (they've just brought out a new version the 'Gin Rickey' which has a delightful pre-war style pickup across the soundhole.

No, that was the end of that saga, but plenty of others came and went all around. They will be related in great detail in DrumChat.co.uk and PAChat.co.uk in due course. Cars, truck, bikes and more will be dealt with in VariousTransportChat.co.uk, and the first season of 'Maj-Jong For Beginners' will appear in 'ParlourGamesChat.co.uk. Watch this space....

I didn't keep my Burns Bison for long, back in the day. I'd very foolishly swapped my Hofner President Thinline Florentine for it (I'd love to find another of those...). A skinny neck, 'quirky' electrics (that's being generous...) and not really suited, at all, to the style I was playing. I traded it for a Vox double-keyboard organ (my then Good Lady wanted to learn keys; both didn't last either...), and finally opted for a Hohner Pianet, which ended up at my parent's house for my father to learn on, which he did until it started to go out of tune, and we found that there's no real way to tune 'em. Oh well...

Never player one, although I like the look of the Hank-tastic Marquee in white. I remember hearing a demo of the Bison, many years ago and being very impressed by the sound. I had no idea that they'd be bought out.

Some of these companies source their stock from other company's reject bins.