This is the only brand-name amp I own.  Even still, this amp came to me in heavily-modified form, mostly blackfaced with a multi-tap Bassman OT and a number of circuit changes including a solid-state rectifier and absurdly high B+ on the preamp.  It hummed a lot.  One speaker had a warped coil and the power tubes were microphonic.  The reverb driver 12AT7 had run so hot it was misshapen!  Goodness, it needed some help.

This is by far the most ambitious project I have attempted.  My goal is to build a surround sound home theater system using all tube amps, and to do it without bankrupting myself in the process.  To pull this off I had to set a few guidelines that would keep this project under control:

When it comes to the semi-hollowbody electric, the Gibson ES-335 is the standard by which all others are judged.  When I think Gibson, I think ES-335.  That's because it's awesome.  Unfortunately a proper ES-335 or similar variant is incredibly expensive, starting at over $2,000 and running up to $5,000 for a new one, and the better-made old ones are just as pricy.  So like most people who respect their wallets I went looking for the best clones.  The Epiphones are cheaply built and it really shows.  Plenty of modern semi-hollows are 335-ish but look fu

When it comes to the electric guitar, the Telecaster is the one that started it all.  It's so simple and rudimentary it's almost insulting.