The Mesa for Non-Mesa Guys Before we get into what’s so “special” about this Mesa, Let’s identify it. The Mesa LoneStar Special is a 35 watt, All Tube (quad EL84) vintage inspired amp with 2 channels. Either channel can be knocked down to 15 watts or 5 watts Class A, both of which take advantage […]
Released at NAMM 2014, The 68 Custom Series of amps consist of the Princeton(12 watts), Deluxe(22 watts), Vibrolux(35 watts), and Twin(100 watts). The idea was to marry the hallowed vintage Silverface amps, in terms of tonality and looks, with more modern accoutrements for today’s players. SPEAKERS The Deluxe, Vibrolux, and Twin use a 12” Celestion […]
In the history of guitar amps, one of several names stand out as the pinnacle of pure guitar tone. Today, I’m going to talk about Marshall; in particular, the 50 watt ‘Plexi’ head. Jim Marshall was a drummer by trade, playing casuals, weddings, holiday parties, etc. He opened a drum shop in 1960, in Hanwell, […]
Around 2 years past, Mr. Paul Reed Smith spent a day with the staff of N Stuff Music. Along with his long-time right hand man Michael Deely, it was an incredible experience to have him in the store. At that time, PRS Guitars had just released their S2 line of instruments, meant to sit comfortably […]
Mesa Boogie was founded by Randall Smith during the nascent days of the late 60’s-early 70’s in northern California. Around this time, there was a plethora of guitar players who were looking for something more than what was available. Something more than what Fender, Vox or Marshall was making. Randy came up with the idea […]
To anyone in the guitar-centric world of the late 70’s-80’s LA studio scene, Michael Landau is THE name that continually comes up. I saw him play in 1983, in Joni Mitchell’s band; with Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Larry Klein on bass, and Russell Ferrante on keys. It was Joni’s ‘Refuge of the Roads’ tour; the […]
John Suhr Technologies is based in Lake Elsinore CA and has been producing guitars, amps, pedals and basses since 1997. He has built guitars/basses for Mark Knopfler, Lou Reed, Reb Beach, Steve Stevens, Victor Bailey, Marcus Miller, Peter Frampton, among others. John has a long history, working for Pensa Suhr Guitars in NYC, partnering with […]
Over the past 20 or so years, the 2 most prevalent guitar amp combos in use have been the Fender Hot Rod DeVille and the Vox AC 30. They have graced studios, stages, TV shows, club gigs, among others. Today I’m going to talk about the merits of both of these, having used them extensively. […]