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A Little Love for the Fender Bandmaster Reverb

The Bandmasters, like most of the classic Fender amp models have existed for decades, and have went through several metamorphoses in their lengthy lifespan. From very early tweed models with a single 15 or a trio of 10’s, the short lived (1960 only) brown combo, the fabled blond, brown, and blackface “piggy-back” heads of the 1960’s, and finally the silver-face models that began in 1967 and ran through the early 1970’s. Although these amps run the gamut tone-wise , they all are fairly universally loved. From the super-woody raw no negative feedback sound of the early...

WGS Reaper vs Reaper HP!

Hi gang! This week is a bit of an extension of my earlier blog, where I compare paper to Kapton former materials: Paper or plastic? The Great Kapton vs. Paper Voice-coil Former Question! This one, however, is flat-out hearing-is-believing. I won’t bore you with facts, just a straight comparison video between the WGS 30-watt Reaper, with its paper former, and the 50-watt Reaper HP, which has a Kapton former. Spoiler Alert! It’s a quick little video, but for those of you who want to get right to the answer, well here it is: The Reaper is just a touch brighter and...

The Difference A Speaker Can Make in YOUR Guitar Amp

Okay, lets say ya got a gig, and you want to be heard above the drums. What will serve you best, a 100-watt Marshall or a 40-watt Fender? Yea, that’s a "loaded" question. There is no answer, because I have left out the most important piece of the equation. I didn’t say anything about the Speakers! Let’s start with this stat: a 100-watt Marshall is only about 3dB louder than the same model in a 50-watt version. Twice as loud? Not even close! Truth is, once you get above about 40 watts or so, simply throwing more watts at a speaker cabinet is...

1967 Fender Deluxe Reverb: Quest for the Best Replacement Speaker!

Today I went on one of my most extensive tone quests yet, seeking out a love-mate for my new favorite amp, the ’67 Deluxe Reverb featured in last weeks blog. I want to be able to box and store the original light duty Oxford 12K5 speaker and preserve it’s vintage value, plus maybe find a speaker with a little more oomph, to give the amp good gigeable volume, and clean headroom (ever elusive in 2-6V6 amps). I decided to try ALL the WGS models I suspected may be a good match, plus quite a large variety of vintage models by various makers. Wow, every amp is different! ...

1967 Fender Deluxe Reverb: Mods, Speakers, and More!

By every imaginable yard-stick, the Fender "Deluxe" is one of the most popular musical instrument amplifiers of all time. The Fender Deluxe Amp has been around since 1948, that’s longer than most of you reading this. Even more amazing is the fact that the Deluxe Amp actually pre-dates Rock and Roll itself. Wow. Six generations of guitar players have now been exposed to the Fender Deluxe Amp. Probably no other amps influences are as widespread. From your great-grandpa freshly back from WWII and learning those swingin’ big band chords all the way up to...

The rare and fabled: 1967 drip-edge Fender Deluxe Reverb and Zinky Supro Tremolectric

Life is full of fine lines. Often we are blissfully unaware that the lines even exist, especially when we are young. The job we take as a high school kid, unaware that we have just made a decision that will affect the rest of our life. The girl we kiss, with equally life-altering results. Receiving a guitar for Christmas. For some of us, this was an event that would forever change the direction of our lives. I’m not going to go for exact statistics here, but I imagine the number of 12 year old kids getting guitars for Christmas, birthdays, and so on is...

The Ultimate Poor Man’s Guide to Guitar Shows (10 Reasons Why You Should Go)

Most of you reading this blog probably live within a day’s drive of at least one annual guitar show. You should go. I know what you’re thinking, "those shows are only for folks with big bucks to spend", or maybe "it’s just too long a drive, it’s not worth it". I her ya, in fact, I used to feel the same way. Man was I wrong. I’m blessed to live just outside of Nashville, TN, with several local and regional shows each year. Even still, I always found reasons not to go to one. Until a few years back; and now I’m hooked! Let me tell you...

My Somewhat Unconventional take on Ideal Speaker Cabinet Size

Every now and then I am asked a question that directs my thoughts towards cabinet dimensions. A good one just came in to the WGS Q&A forum. When I get to thinking, I often get to blogging. So ... let’s talk guitar speaker cabinet dimensions! First rule: there are no rules. There are a plethora of "ideal size" cabinet calculators available. Those are fine for some purposes, like for getting the most bass response in a certain frequency range out of a certain sub driver, but I personally don’t believe they have much to offer when we’re talking guitar...

Secret New WGS Speakers for 2013!

Today, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the new models slated to be rolled out in early 2013. This first speaker is near and dear to my heart; we don’t have a for-certain name yet, for now we are simply calling it the low-power 12. Here’s some history: A few months ago, I heard a low-power boutique tube amp with a tome that simply took my breath away. I can’t tell you the exact amp, but I can tell you that it was an exceptionally expensive boutique model that was only produced in extremely small quantities. I can also tell you that...

The Fargen John Lennon Guitar Amp

Yesterday I was preparing my annual January blog on cool new WGS products when I received a commanding "stop the press" shout. Actually, it was a text. The text was from WGS production manager Dean Birdsong, from the floor of the big NAMM convention in California. It contained the image you see here. Okay, so it’s cool to see WGS guys Jason, David & Dean; but man, look at that amp! Let’s talk about that amp. In a nutshell, this is one insanely cool piece of gear. For all the details, I suggest you go to the Fargen Amps site. Mr. Fargen...

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