ANT-RECORDS/ANTECH VINTAGE PEDALS AMP RESTORATION

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Vintage Marshall Plexi Knobs

Why are bakelite knobs so cool? West German knobs even cooler?? '60's over the top!!!

Marshall Plexi knobs have a certain genuine look and feel, and in general have had many incarnations over the years.

Early, mid, late, reissue, PA, non-Marshall

'60s, '70's, '80's. Some have pointer tabs. Some solid, some hollow. Some '70s are taller. Vintage/bakelite usually contain text.

'60s, '70's, 80's

Marshall PA vintage knobs!

Clockwise, Reissue, Non-Marshall, Non-Marshall, Reissue (which are plastic)

Marshall PA knobs, vintage, plain but cool too.

'60s!

I don't know, knobs are just cool. I collect vintage radios and such. Back in the day, companies would color coordinate the knobs and power cords, and contrast them with the faceplates and grilles. Pretty damn cool.

Save that broken Dog Bone Fender handle!

What is a 50 year old piece of rubber worth? I searched Ebay for a Fender Handle (dogbone, vintage, '60s) and turned none up. Originals can not be had in 2011, though a reissue will set you back about $20.

Point being, one of mine is broken. Like a dummy, I set an Echoplex on my '62 Bassman head, and forgot to remove it after practice. The "50 year old rubber" permanently collapsed, and upon resurrecting it by hand it cracked in two. Ouch.

So what's a person to do? I put on a reissue handle for a short while (about a week), but it just didn't look right.
Time to fix the old one.

I've tried to approach this like a luggage repair, what would they do? I tried liquid nailing it together once, bad idea. Though there might be a way to spline it together I've decided against that, and will simply laminate leather on the underside. The original '50s amp handles were leather, so it can't be a terrible idea can it?

Let's walk through the the job:

Ahh, dogbone! New vs. Old. I just love the bold, dark look of the original.

Here's the break, did try liquid nails (foolishly, I might add).

Grab some leather?

Two screws.

Pilot hold drilled.

Try it out first.

Looks like it might work.

Hot glue gun will hold the leather to the rubber.

It takes a while, gotta flip the LP.

Heat up the glue, do the break.

Not terrible?

Screw the screws.

Reissue looks so...new!

Vintage handle, up close you can sniff the repair.

On stage it looks great! Don't use the handle (the leather will flex and it will break), just let it "be".

While waiting for glue to heat, fixed up some original knobs on the '50s Harman Kardon Commander!

Echoplex on Plexi=OK! Echoplex on Fender=bad idea!!!

The album's done, time for bed.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Masterclass Recordings

I've finally uploaded many recordings from masterclass, sessions, lessons, etc. This is a work in progress, and will be updated on a regular basis. Anyone not included can/will be included as soon as time/ability permits, certainly a nice goal to work towards.

The files can be downloaded/streamed here:

http://www.last.fm/music/Masterclass/D-Rocks+School+of+Music

Bookmark this page...

Song titles are purely "functional" at this point, I welcome any suggestions! I encourage students to listen to as many songs as possible, there's some really neat stuff & a wide variety of musical styles, etc. Some students actually perform every instrument, where other songs I cover the rhythm tracks. Also, it's only fair that I share as well so I'll upload my own demos once in a while. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Marshall Super PA pt. 2 (Distortion in Tube Amps)

Sometimes the distortion is less than desirable. Sorry, this is sort of a technical one, I'll elaborate more when I get some time (if you understand, you understand).