Guitar

It's been a while since I posted here.

I've moved house, travelled around the world a couple of times (which I don't need to bore anyone with), was picked up by a tornado in Kansas (apparently it's a thing there, but, again I don't need to bore anyone with) and... finally... the album I've been co-producing with Bo Menart is finally out! Read on…

If you haven't heard this album yet, you should especially check it out. Dave Brons is one of the great undiscovered guitar talents out there.

Yes. You can fly with your guitar as carry-on. And it's the law. In 2012, President Obama signed into law the ‘‘FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012,’’ which, along with provisions for enhancing runway safety and easing restrictions on transporting lithium batteries, contains the following text:

SEC. 403. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL—Subchapter I of chapter 417 is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘§ 41724. Musical instruments
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL—
‘‘(1) SMALL INSTRUMENTS AS CARRY-ON BAGGAGE.—An air carrier providing air transportation shall permit a passenger to carry a violin, guitar, or other musical instrument in the aircraft cabin, without charging the passenger a fee in addition to any standard fee that carrier may require for comparable carry-on baggage, if—

‘‘(A) the instrument can be stowed safely in a suitable baggage compartment in the aircraft cabin or under a passenger seat, in accordance with the requirements for carriage of carry-on baggage or cargo established by the Administrator; and

‘‘(B) there is space for such stowage at the time the passenger boards the aircraft.

The Wattkins Universal PCB is one of the basic building blocks for building a guitar amplifier with up to four vacuum tubes. It supports most amp designs (it started out life as a Fender 5E3 Tweed Deluxe), including support for Paraphase, Cathodyne and Long Tail Pair phase inverter as well as Cathode or Fixed Bias. As well as the more common 12AX7 & EF86 pre-amp tubes, it also supports Russian pre-amp tubes such as 6N2P & 6J32P with the heaters on pins 4 & 5. Output tubes supported include 6V6, 6L6 and 5881.

"Nashville tuning" is where the high strings from a 12-string guitar are put on a regular 6-string guitar. The tuning is the same as a regular guitar, from low to high, E - A - D - G - B - E, but the E - A - D - G string are tuned an octave higher, requiring a smaller gauge of string. The E - B strings are tuned normally.

This is Dave Brons and his homebrew guitar amp. It's a low cost ThriftyWreck design, which is based around Ken Fisher's Trainwreck design, but uses alternative Russian tubes such as the 6p1p. Find out more from Wattkins Amp Forums' Tone Per Buck Club.