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American Welterweight Match: Vintage Jensen C12Q vs, WGS G12C !

Last year I sold my early 1965 (pre CBS) Deluxe Reverb. My amp had a factory Jensen C12Q in it, and it totally kicked butt on the vintage DR’s with the factory Oxfords. On several occasions I’ve wished I had kept that amp long enough to compare it’s Jensen to the WGS G12C. I actually have both a vintage P12Q (Alnico) and C12Q, but both are blown, and alas, their inch and a quarter voice coils have rendered them tough to recone. That’s a problem with the old Jensen’s, they were never very high-wattage speakers to begin with, and after 30-50 years of service, many...

Those Rose Colored Glasses of Yore

There is an old saying that goes like this: "youth is wasted on the young". And seriously, it would be awesome to have that uber-responsive 18 year old body that could be used and abused and bounce right back ... matched to a seasoned brain capable of rational thought and not subject to whims of fancy. Or would it? We’re going to take a trip back to my world, as it existed about 30 or so years ago, when I was a bright-faced teen just starting to chart my musical path. Please, join me for this little trip... So, if you have read this blog from its inception...

(Another) Ultimate 2-Minute Guitar Lesson

Howdy folks! I received some pretty nice emails from folks who enjoyed last weeks little quickie-lesson. You have spoken, and I have heard you! So, back by popular demand, is my buddy and well known Nashville Guitar Slinger Brad Sample with another installment of "two minutes to a cooler you". This week he's talkin' about getting all them fingers on your right hand in the game, and sounding like a Nashville player. enjoy! email vaughn About Vaughn Skow

Andy Rooney 1919-2011

Friends, you probably remember that a few weeks ago on this blog I paid homage to my writing mentor, Andy Rooney. It is with a heavy heart that I add my voice to the many who are expressing condolences upon the Death of Mr Rooney. When Walter Cronkite died last year, Rooney stood alone as a living example of the great journalists of the WWII era; now there are none. Please take the time to travel over to youtube and WATCH THIS VIDEO (CBS dose not want it embedded). Farewell Andy.

The Ultimate 2-minute Guitar Lesson

Howdy fellow tone affectionados! If you caught yesterday’s blog where I whined like a little girl about my current crop of audio students, consider it similar to the Beatles butcher cover. If you got to see it, good for you! If not ... well, tough luck ... it ain’t coming back. I decided to yank it because it might have left the false impression that ALL of my students were terrible, and that isn’t the case. So, instead, I’m going to feature a clip from one of my favorite former students, a young man who was a blast to have as a student for three semesters: Brad Sample....

Amp Rx Part 2 - The Gibson GA-20RVT

Howdy do tone brothers and sisters. This week has been really fun for me. I recently acquired a Gibson GA20RVT amp. Gibson has made amps with this model designation several times over the past 40 years or so; I’m talking about the latest incarnation ... from around 2001-2007. These quality hand-built amps can be had cheap, so they qualify as a "sleeper" amp. This model sports 12ax7’s in the pre amp and a pair of 6V6 tubes in the power section and is (very conservatively) rated at 20 watts. She’s a real looker, and her beauty ain’t just skin-deep;...

Amp Rx Part 1 - The Peavey Windsor Studio

Hey tone brothers and sisters! I promised a guy a while back that I would do a little research and see what WGS model most improves a Peavey Windsor Studio amp. Well wait no longer! Vaughn’s Rx for a small, sterile and lifeless Peavey Windsor Studio: 1. Switch the EL34 to a 6L6 and 2. Install a WGS ET65. The result: more useable headroom and bottom end, and a much more three-dimensional sounding amp. Here is the video, next week, we tackle another tone-challenged tube amp, the Gibson GA20-RVT (reissue). Oh, and one update, since I did the video, I...

Pic Wars - The Pics Strike Back (quest for the ultimate plectrum part 2)

If you have not yet ... go back and read Part one of this blog. This time around, I'm gonna shut up and let the pics do the talking ... okay, truth be told, I still do way too much talking ... but this week I'm doing it via video; take a look:See ya next week fellow tone junkies!

Congrats Noah Hormann!

It's official - Noah Hormann has won a WGS speaker - courtesy of WGS, The WGS Facebook page, and THIS BLOG! Awesome pics, dude! So, shall we send you an Invader or a Liberator ... oh, and at what impedance? Check out all of Noah's pics on our FB page - man, WGS folks are a cool and creative lot.

Andy Rooney

If you have liked even one single thing that I have written in the past year and a half of this blog, I almost certainly stole it from Andy Rooney. Andy has been my writing mentor for decades now; not officially of course; Mr. Rooney doesn’t do that type of thing. His take on the whole idea would be something to the effect of "I’d never mentor any one so ignorant as to want me as a mentor". Rooney has taught by example. I, like generations of Americans, grew up mesmerized by his ability to distill big concepts down to a few flawlessly chosen words ... small...

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