The ToneQuest Report

INSIDE
Mountainview Publishing, LLC
the
Yes, you can
go home again…
Tommy Malone
is back in NOLA
with a new band,
new guitar,
new record
and more great music
5
Tommy’s
modified
Fender Blacktop
Jaguar recreated
6
Achieving a
tonal erection
with the
Z Vex SHO
8
The Grammatico
LaGrange
10
Still one of the best
amps we have ever
heard…
The Cornell
Plexi 18/20
12
Message in
a bottle…
13
Chris Hersey,
the Bard of B+
The ELEMENT
Copperhead
17
The
Country Girl…
Why we unloaded
one of the best
Historic ‘59s we have
ever owned…
The Player’s Guide to Ultimate Tone
$15.00 US, October 2013/Vol.14 NO.12
Report
TM
Tommy Malone
“Madame Lily Devalier always asked “Where are you?” in a way that insinuated that there were
only two places on earth one could be: New Orleans and somewhere ridiculous.”
—Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume
There is no place on earth
that can compare to New
Orleans. We know this well,
because we have a bit of
history there, having finally
gotten marriage right in the
penthouse of the Ponchatrain
Hotel, the late “marrying
judge’ of the First City Court
of New Orleans, Dominic
Grieshaber presiding. There
are ancient spirits resting above ground in New
Orleans, the water table
demands it, yet the entire city
is also cloaked in the spirits
of the living and those who
have passed, and music stirs
the potent drink that is New
Orleans. The warm humid air
carries the sounds of music
throughout the city, from
street buskers to packed clubs
in the Quarter where sidewalk
greeters urge timid tourists to
“come on in and party, ya’ll”,
and secret little neighborhood places where the locals
go. The Rockin’ Bowl is still
rockin’, Tipitinas carries on,
Photo: Jerry Moran
and the spirit of New Orleans
remains as resilient as the mighty Mississippi, fully recovered from the dark memories of Katrina.
Like many in New Orleans in the aftermath of the hurricane, Tommy Malone held on tight for
awhile, but he finally had to let go and head for higher ground. We remember calling him and
hearing the sound of hammers in the background as he described what he had lost and what had
been mercifully saved from his flooded home. A few years in Nashville couldn’t break his bonds
www.tonequest.com
cover story
with NOLA, and home he went in 2010, back to the place
where he and his brothers had played music for decades. With
a new band, new songs and a new record, Tommy is truly
back where he belongs, and he has never sounded better.
We spoke to him from his new old home in Metairie, happy
with his new band, his new guitar, and life rejoined in New
Orleans. Enjoy…
TQR:
Well, Tommy, it’s been awhile… You moved to
Nashville after Katrina and now you’re back where
you belong in NOLA.
Yeah, we left New
Orleans in the
summer of 2006,
spent three years
in Nashville and
we came back
in 2010 I guess,
although it sure
doesn’t seem like
it’s been that long.
TQR:
Did you go back to your old neighborhood?
I did, fairly close to the old neighborhood. I had some
help from Johnny Allen, the original bass player from the
Subdudes. He helped us get back and he put us up in half of
a big double house in mid city until we could shop around
a little, and now we’re in Metairie. We found an old lady’s
house that we renovated.
years ago that’s on
the new album called
“Distance.” Then the
owner of introduced
me to two guys that
have made a big
difference in my life,
the first being John
Porter, the British
producer. He told me
that he had wanted
to work with me for
years, so I was thinking OK, how do we do this? There is a
way that you can do it on the Web where you raise the money
online, sort of groveling for cash for poor artists (laughing),
but I didn’t want to go there. The next part of the puzzle was
another guy in the picture – a gruff lookin’ dude who wore a
little hat and sat in the back of the club, and that was Ruben
Williams who has turned out to be my manager. He has
been working with the Royal Southern Brotherhood, Devon
Allman, Tab Benoit, Voice of the Wetlands… all that stuff
that is coming out of Louisiana now. We had a coffee and a
conversation and I asked him if he thought I could get a deal
anywhere, and he said, “Yeah, I do.” He booked me into a
little uptown studio and I started demo’ing songs – just guitar
and vocal, very simple stuff. He booked some gigs, and he
got Mark Carpentieri who runs MC Records to come down
to a show, we met the next day for breakfast and agreed to a
deal. John Porter was in as producer, and we made the record
– Natural Born Days.
TQR:
TQR:
And you played with your brother Dave for awhile
last year…
Yeah,
at first I
played with
Johnny and
some other
local guys,
I wrote a
little bit,
and then
Dave and I
got together and toured for about a year. The new band I have
now came about from a bunch of happy accidents. I started
playing on Tuesday nights at this little club on Canal Street
called Chickie Wah Wah. An old friend of mine, Jim Scheurich from the Dust Woofie days who played with me and
David and my other brother John and sister-in-law Susie back
when I was 17 kind of re-entered my life. Jim kept showing
up on Tuesday nights and we got our friendship back on track
and started writing together. We had written one song ten
It sounds as if that project happened because everybody involved really wanted to do it. Imagine that.
How did the band on the record come together?
Yeah, everybody really did
want it to happen (laughing).
I met David Hyde, the bass
player, the first day in the
studio. I had known Shane
Theriot because he was the
guitarist for the Nevilles
and he had been in a band
with me last year. Vince
Barranco the drummer is
from Jackson, Mississippi
John Cleary
and has lived in Nashville
for 20 years or so, and he’s great – also an excellent singer,
and I was looking for more vocals in the band. John Cleary
is on keys, and I think I met him when he first moved here
from England in the late ‘70s. John Porter put it all together,
and this is one of those cases where I just got out of the way
for once and didn’t try to control everything. John made the
calls, and I just showed up. I have never done things that
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2
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
cover story
way, and I have probably made it way harder than it needed
to be at times. I told John that there were a lot of harmonies
that needed to be on the record, and I could have done a lot of
them it myself, but I thought we needed a female voice. So we
got Susan Cowsill and she came to the studio in John’s house
and just nailed it. Susan was the little girl that played the tambourine in the Cowsills and she’s all grown up now and lives
with her husband in New Orleans.
TQR:
It would seem listening to you that the music scene
in New Orleans is completely back.
Oh, hell yeah.
There is a lot of
stuff going on.
It’s real diverse,
too with the funk,
jazz, R&B and
Dixieland music
we do in New Orleans, but there is
a resurgence of the
roots stuff, and a renaissance going on at the back side of the
Quarter off Esplanade on Frenchman Street. There has been
an influx of Bohemian musicians in New Orleans that are very
good – I don’t know if they are from the east or west coast,
but it is a cool scene.
TQR:
Let’s turn to tone now. I always remember you
playing that gold Strat with the finish all off of it…
Your slide playing and the tone you got in the studio on the new CD are really exceptional.
Thank you. I used that
gold Strat you mentioned
through… a buddy of
mine in Denver gave me
a ‘49 tweed Deluxe that I
used on those sessions.
TQR: That’s one I’ve
never played through, but
it sounds incredibly good
on your record. Real rough and tumble old school
– the kind of greasy sound you could never get out
of a new amp. Have you kept the original pickups
in the Strat?
No, I changed them about 15 years ago to a Lindy Fralin
blues set and they have been in ever since. I also blocked the
tremolo off with a piece of wood.
TQR:
OK, so let’s talk about the candy apple red Fender
you’re wearing on the cover of the new CD…
Is that some
wacky shit, man?
I luuuuuv it! What
happened was I
had an old reissue
double cut Les
Paul Special and
the headstock was
Photo: Jerry Moran
cracked on the
road. I wanted something different with a new sound and
a new look, and I had put Lollar mini-humbuckers in that
guitar because I really liked the sound of them. Then it gets
broken… This is why Fenders travel so well, because you
don’t have a pitched headstock. They don’t break, but there
are times when I want something with a little more meat. So
I found this Blacktop Jaguar and bought it at Guitar Center.
It’s a $500 guitar. Just a candy apple red Blacktop with a
small scale that I like just fine. I ripped the whole thing apart,
took out the soap bar P90 pickups, the bridge, the tuners
and the nut, I put a Schaller roller bridge on it, Planet Waves
locking tuners, the Bigsby, a Nirvana nut and Lollar minihumbuckers. I did all that and it’s just a screamer man. I love
it. Unbelievably good.
TQR:
Did the Schaller drop right in? We just modified a
Jazzmaster for a Mastery bridge that required drilling and dowels… It would have been nice to have
had a drill press.
No, it required
some drilling and
dowels. My brother
John who was a
bass player was
here visiting for
a week just when
I got the guitar.
Photo: Jerry Moran
He is really good
with tools and electronics so we went in and figured out what
needed to be done. We should have used a drill press, but we
just got on top of that sucker and did our best to keep a right
angle and drill it out. There were these big holes left from
the stop tailpiece when I put the Bigbsy one that I had to fill.
The radius seemed to be close enough with the Schaller, and
I got one of those Vibramate claws that allows you to string
up without the ball ends of the strings popping off the Bigsby.
That’s a fine invention.
TQR:
Did you consider using a Vibramate to mount the
Bigsby?
I did that first. It wasn’t coupling and transferring energy
as much as I would have liked, and I had a string that kept
popping off because the angle wasn’t the same as it would be
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TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
3
cover story
with the Bigsby sitting flat on the body. So then I was stuck
with these big holes from the tailpiece, so I went to Walgreen’s with a photo of the guitar and I matched some candy
apple red sparkling red nail polish and painted the top of the
dowels (laughing). It was definitely commando but I had a lot
of fun. The neck feels good, and I love the fact that the guitar
has this funky shape… I guess I’m the only one that has one.
TQR:
For now… And you definitely used Lollar minihumbuckers with the screw polepieces… I ask
because people get them confused with the Firebird
pickups that don’t have polepieces. Some people
seem to think they are the same thing.
It’s interesting that you should say that because I originally
tried a Lollar Firebird in the neck, and in a way I preferred it,
but I couldn’t match the output of the mini in the bridge.
TQR:
Were you able to use the original pickup rings?
Yeah, I ordered the rings from Lollar and we may have had to
tweak the edges of the routs a little but not much.
TQR:
Did you mess with the wiring harness at all?
No, I may need to at some point. The 3-way switch may be a
little suspect and I might need to change the jack.
TQR:
What else did you use on the record?
My ‘61 J45 on the acoustic
stuff, and an old Silvertone with
those gold foil pickups in open
G through the TV front Deluxe.
In fact, that’s what I used on
“Mississippi Bootlegger.”
John Porter also let me use a
‘53 blackguard Tele through a
blackface Deluxe. He told me
that guitar had been played by
both Beck and Clapton on some
record John was involved with.
TQR:
What are you using live?
It depends if we’re backlining, and most of the backline stuff
is shit as you well know. When I’m able to bring my own stuff
I have really found some interesting things. I’ve been using a
late ‘60s or early ‘70s Japanese-made Univox tube amp with
a single 12 – maybe 15 or 20 watts. It’s another thing that was
given to me 20 years ago and I never thought it sounded right
– it just sucked. I left it in the closet for years and then Todd
Sharp in Nashville went through it and I put a Pyle Driver 12
in it. I fired it up when I got it back from Todd and I loved
it! When I paired it up
with the Jag I was like,
“What’s that? Wow, listen to that… Holy shit! I
just love it. Then I’m using an L.R. Baggs Venue
high fidelity preamp with
all the stuff and I really
dig it. I still have the
Pendulum rack preamp
but this one is really good for traveling.
TQR:
Have you kept the same pickup in your J45?
Yeah, a Baggs Copperhead
under-saddle with an on/
off switch wired into it, and
I use the My-Si system – a
super capacitor that stores
energy. You plug it into a
wall wart for about 60 seconds and it stores enough
power to run my acoustic
guitar rig for 4 hours. It
works like a champ. I’m
usually sending an XLR
signal to a house system, and if I can, I will still bring my old
Trace Elliott TA-100 acoustic amp. I just hate the tone of an
acoustic guitar through a regular wedge – it’s never right. I’ll
put the Trace Elliott off to the side to control feedback and
I like it to sound like it’s coming from somewhere else for a
more ambient sound. The Trace sounds very good.
TQR:
Are you using any pedals with your electric rig?
Yeah, the ever-changing nerd rig…
What am I using this week? I use
a Boss tuner, a T Rex Mud Honey,
and I’ve been using a Nobels vintage
tremolo. I found it on eBay and I
think it’s made in Germany. It’s all
circuit board electronics, and Shane
Theriot had one that I tried last year.
I found one and it’s the shit. I’ve got
three or four tremolos – a Keeley
modified Boss, a Demeter, a Caitlin
Bread that is nice but not as easy to use on the fly. I use a Z
Vex Super Hard On, still one of my all-time favorite pedals,
and a Boss DD-5 with the tap tempo. Finally after all these
years I’m learning how to use a delay pedal (laughing). There
is one little concept that I’ve been thinking about… There is
a local tech here who is also a big fan of the Super Hard On,
and we have wondered about mounting the circuit in the guitar so that it’s always on at unity gain, and the fidelity would
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4
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
guitars
be unbelievable.
You could have a
mini switch to kick
it up at some preset
level at maybe 5
or 8 dB, and that
might give me that
elusive tone in the
Photo: Jerry Moran
neck pickup that I
was almost getting with the Firebird neck pickup.
TQR:
We just happen to have a Lollar bridge Firebird
pickup and a neck mini-humbucker left over from
some other projects, so I think we’ll try that combination in the Blacktop we buy for this issue.
Well, let me know how it works, because that might be another combination to consider.
TQR:
So what’s coming up? You cut the tracks for the
new CD with your studio band and…
I must have auditioned 15 drummers and two or three
keyboard players, and I finally have a band that I really like.
It’s David Hyde on bass from the record, Poco’s drummer
George Lawrence from Nashville, and from Jackson, Mississippi, Sam Brady on keyboards, who was a real find and
a gem. So that’s my band now, I’m real happy with it and
we’ll be out there playing. The new CD is selling well and I
couldn’t be happier. TQ
www.tommymalone.net
It seems to us
that any lingering resistance to
buying guitars
online has been
overshadowed
by the convenience and
selection offered
on the Internet, and especially when retailers offer very generous 30-day return policies. Where’s the risk? At most, you’ll
pay return shipping, and we have absolutely no fear in buying
guitars and amplifiers – new and old, online. We couldn’t do
what we do in these pages otherwise.
This is the first time we have bought a new guitar that was
modified prior to receipt, and thanks to Carl’s capable care,
this project couldn’t have been any easier or more rewarding.
The work was completed over several weeks and when the
Jaguar arrived here in Atlanta it was set up perfectly, ready to
play. The workmanship involved – drilling and filling the body
to mount the Bigsby and Mastery bridge was such that the guitar appeared to be factory original. Still, we really had no idea
how it would sound and play prior to its arrival. We asked Carl
to describe the process involved in modifying the Jag…
TQR: On a scale of difficulty
from 1-5 with 5 being the most
difficult, how would you rate this
project overall, Carl?
Ha! I’d give it a two. If I didn’t
have to worry about getting the
Bigsby to line up straight, it
would have been a one.
FENDER
Blacktop Jaguar
As soon as we spied Tommy with his modified candy apple red
Jaguar on the cover of his new CD Natural Born Days, we
knew we would recreate it for your consideration. The Blacktop Jags are made in Ensenada, and you can choose between
the 90 model equipped with P90s in candy apple red or 2-tone
burst, or the HH in black or silver with humbucking pickups. We
bought our 90 model online from Dave’s Guitar Shop inventory
in LaCrosse, WI for $499, purchased the nickel Bigsby B5 from
Dave’s for $110.00, and the Mastery bridge direct from Mastery
online for $175.00. We had the ‘07 Lollar mini humbucker,
Firebird pickup and black pickup rings on hand from a previous project, so we sent them to Carl Meine, tech at Dave’s for
installation in Lacrosse. Our thanks to Dave Rogers for offering
Carl’s expertise in creating what must be only the second version
(for now) of Tommy Malone’s unofficial ‘signature’ Jaguar.
TQR: How did you go about
positioning the Bigsby properly
before actually mounting it?
Seems as if that would be an easy thing to get a
little wrong without a template of some kind...
Funny that you ask… It’s a two man job. My favorite way to do
it is to hold the Bigsby down manually, put two 10 gauge strings
on the E’s and hold the balls in place. Then I’ll ask Phil (who also
works in the shop) to pull the strings tight. It’s a matter of just
eyeing it up. You need to make sure the string comes up straight
over the top of the post and that each string comes off at the same
angle relative to the bridge. You could certainly measure it all out,
but the complex shape of the Bigsby makes it awkward.
TQR:
I guess the Mastery installation was the most complex... Please describe the steps involved in modifying the guitar for the Mastery bridge.
-continued-
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
5
effects
Putting the bridge inserts in wasn’t all that hard, just tedious
with lots of double and triple checking your measurements. I
pulled the old threaded inserts out, recessed a wooden dowel
about 1 mm under the surface of the finish and then laid dyed
epoxy over the top. After some scraping and leveling, I had a
flat shinny surface. From there it’s just a matter of establishing a center line and taking careful measurements. Because
the tolerances on the Mastery bridge are so tight, you have to
make sure the holes are in exactly the right spot and drilled
90 degrees to the surface. If you’re off at all the bridge posts
won’t slide in.
The Blacktop Jaguar features an
alder offset body, polyurethane
finish, full C-shaped maple neck
with skunk stripe, rosewood fingerboard, medium jumbo frets and
a 24” scale. Equipped with the B5
Bigsby our guitar weighs 8.8 lbs.
Subtract the 10.1 oz. weight of
the Bigsby and the actual weight
of the Jaguar was 8.2 lbs. Before
you groan, keep in mind that the
Fender offset body comfortably
disperses the weight of the guitar
in a way that makes even a ‘heavy’ guitar feel much lighter.
The Jag with the Bigsby produced intense resonant vibrations
along the length of the neck and throughout the body with
excellent audible sustain. We were also very pleased with
the easy and precise travel of the Bigsby, and tuning stability is outstanding. Credit the timeless Bigsby design and the
exceptional funkshun of the Mastery bridge. Overall, our
modifications coupled with the fine fretwork on the Jaguar and
Carl’s expert set up rendered an extraordinarily playable guitar
– reassuring and comfortable in its classic styling.
Tone
We first opened up the
Jaguar on the Lollar
Firebird bridge pickup
through our ‘65 Tremolux
in Larry Rodger’s blonde
2x10 cabinet. Intensely
bright and jangly, the Firebird is a true chameleon
among guitar pickups… It
doesn’t sound like a Tele
or a Strat, but it sounds
damn good, rich with
character and attitude,
percussive, direct, confident and proud, measuring 7.17K. Kick in an
overdrive pedal like the Lazy J Deuce Cruiser and the Firebird
thickens with sustain and harmonic overtones. The tone of
the wound strings remains strong and solid, and the Firebird’s
sharp treble tones are balanced with full upper mids and excellent clarity from string-to-string. Trebly but hardly thin, the
Lollar Firebird bridge is a high-fidelity pickup that presents a
vivid soundstage played clean, and a thick and raunchy overdriven tone that remains clear, brilliant and complex.
The Lollar mini humbucking
neck pickup measures 6.39K
and in terms of output seemed
well-matched to the Firebird
bridge. However, it seemed to lack
definition and clarity in the Jaguar,
producing a muffled and indistinct,
woofy tone. We contacted Jason
Lollar about acquiring a Firebird
neck pickup, and he commented
that the combination we had used
was the reverse of what he might
have recommended, suggesting that a Firebird neck and mini
bridge would have been a better choice. We received a Lollar
Firebird neck pickup and it was a huge improvement, clear and
defined with depth and a spirited, woody tone that cuts as well
as any rhythm pickup we have ever heard, perfectly matched to
the Firebird bridge. Outstanding and recommended. TQ
davesguitar.com, 608-785-7704
www.lollarguitars.com, 206-463-9838
the Z Vex Super Hard-On…
Still Hard To Beat
This is hardly the first
time we’ve featured
a Super Hard-On
in these pages, but
Tommy’s endorsement
got us thinking that 11
years is long enough to
justify another visit…
Zachary Vex was on a
steady roll with eight
different pedal effects
when we first interviewed him in May 2002, and he’s still rolling strong today.
We asked him to describe the SHO in ‘02 and the ‘use by’ date
for his pithy and informative explanation is still good because
the circuit and components have remain unchanged as we
confirmed with Vex this month. Listen…
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6
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
effects
The Super Hard-On is a very high headroom booster. The
volume knob re-adjusts internal bias and gain simultaneously,
resulting in a little noise as it’s turned, but it’s really
the most innovative approach to handling low-to-high gain
settings that has ever been offered in a booster. It’s adjustable
from unity gain to a dangerous 60X boost that can melt output
transformers. No louder pedal has ever been offered with
a 9V battery. The input impedance is insanely high... most
manufacturers are afraid of offering 5 million Ω as an input
impedance, because it can highlight noisy cables and bad
connections (Snap! Crackle! Pop!) but I’m simply not afraid
of offering the best money can buy. I wanted guitarists to
have a chance at preserving the real detail of their guitars,
magnified to astronomical proportions if need be, in a studio
setting as well as live. I now offer an LED version of this
pedal after many years of production. I don’t know that there’s
a really perfect pedal order. I think each musician has to
determine that empirically. I’d always suggest this for Super
Hard-Ons and Super Dupers: put them first for lower-gain
applications so you can enjoy their high input impedance in
keeping your guitar shiny, and put them last for high-gain applications so they don’t blow the hell out of your other effects.
Otherwise, keep pulling a switcheroo until you get what you
want out of your gear.
Just about every
guitarist has
surely heard of
the SHO, but have
you really experienced one through
your gear? Using
an obvious analogy, ‘hearing’ a
Super Hard-On through sound files online versus feeling and
hearing what it can do in your hands is not unlike having guitar
sex with a tone condom versus going all-in, bareback. Well, if
you get off on sound files and that’s good enough for you, that’s
fine – there are plenty on the Z Vex web site, but of course we
can’t just listen to a digital file or watch a video and write a
credible review, can we? No, we can’t. So we trolled eBay and
found an original 2003 SHO hand-painted by Jason Myrold
and signed by Zachary Vex in December ‘03. Price: $140.00
shipped. That was the starting price, but since no one seemed
to want it, that’s what we paid. Meanwhile, obscene amounts of
money were being squandered on whatever pedals may have attained cult status among the illuminati that dictate and promote
such stupidity. Our battery-only Hard-On has the added LED,
and while these older, hand-painted Hard-Ons lack a 9 volt
power jack, we didn’t care because we wanted the original art,
the SHO has an extremely low rate of power consumption, and
the battery-only versions tend to be overlooked and undervalued. Here are a few more revealing comments from Zachary
Vex regarding the unique design of the SHO:
Like all Z. Vex
designs, current
flow is low in this
circuit (less than
2mA), enhancing
battery life. The
circuit board is
hand-cut and soldered with the critical component, a BS-170 mosfet transistor, placed in a socket for easy user replacement should it be
necessary. Your dealer can provide you with a free replacement transistor upon request. The box is hand-drilled using
no petro lubricants, and hand painted so that every box is
unique. Knobs are Harry Davies, made with the same molds
they’ve used since the fifties. Each effect is hand dated and
signed by Zachary Vex.
WARNING: The very high input impedance of this pedal can
cause strange reactions (sometimes mildly pleasant and/
or arousing) when used with a vintage ‘junk’ (read ‘cool’)
guitar. The solution is to simply lower the ‘crackle okay’
gain knob a little or leave the guitar volume wide open. Each
Super Hard-On is unique in it’s reaction... you may have
to try a few till you find one that perfectly matches a really
strange guitar. They are optimized for the major brands. Any
problems will only occur at the highest gain settings with an
unusual guitar...
Our Hard-On arrived in a couple of days from a seller in
L.A. and it was in used but original condition with a fat strip
of Velcro stuck to the bottom. We broke out the Goo Gone,
rubbed out the spoodge and cleaned it up for pictures.
We’ll begin our
review by stating
that we just luv the
old Myrold-painted
pedals with their
metallic gold base,
clear lacquer top
coat, multi-colored
flower petals, the
bee buzzing from
the footswitch and the tiny guitar and speaker images that
identify the jacks. This is whimsical high art within the
universe of guitar swag, and seeing the SHO again (we gave
our original to Billy Gibbons in ‘02) just made us feel happy,
wise and well-equipped, kinda like those horny jokers on the
TV leering at their wives in the Cialis commercials… “Foxy
Lady, I’m comin’ to gitcha…” Surveying our ever-changing
Pedal Train pedal board, we decided to put the Hard-On last
in the chain since we power our effects with a Visual Sound
1-Spot, and the idea of placing the Hard-On in front of an
irreplaceable Fox Rox AquaVibe, Analogman-modded Boss
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TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
7
amps
DD3 delay and the venerable (not venereal you idiot) Lazy J
Deuce Cruiser seemed unwise. First or last also makes it a lot
easier to pull the Hard-On out of the signal chain to conserve
power when you’re not using it. Stand down, soldier!
Controls are
prehistoric – one
footswitch and
a single knob
labeled (not
labium you idiot)
‘Crackle Okay.’
According to Vex, the “Crackle Okay” volume knob is a
negative-feedback control styled after classic ‘60s recording console inputs. It does indeed crackle when you turn it,
among other things…
As Tommy Malone observed, you could use the Hard-On as
a fuller, subtle clean boost and leave it on at lower settings all
night long with no changes in the fundamental tone of your rig
except that it might sound better. The ‘clean’ effect is that good,
adding just enough to make your guitar sound bigger without
adding distortion. Gradually advancing the control beyond 9
o’clock adds distortion and an overdriven sound that retains the
natural unaffected tone of your guitar and amp with increasing
intensity and sustain as you turn the knob. For us, the usable
range of the
SHO falls
within the 8
o’clock to 12
o’clock range.
We’re not
suggesting
that settings
beyond 12 are
unusable – far
from it. The
level of burn
enters the realm of a cranked Boogie and metal tones that we
were able to push through our blackface Tremolux set on a clean
‘6’ on the volume control. We should also mention that despite
the power of the SHO, high frequencies emanating from the B
and E strings never sound sharp, razory or brittle. The SHO produces smooth and musical distortion throughout its considerable
range, and across all six strings. In other words, you get no big
midrange bump, no tunnel tone where your guitar is compressed
into specific frequencies, no jagged or sharp edges, no mud or
undesirable distortion artifacts – just fat, rich cleans and fully
engorged overdriven tones that leave you feeling cocky and
satisfied. The Z Vex Super Hard-On may not be the pedal you
would comfortably take to your church gig, but for all other locations it remains among the most toneful and useful overdrive
pedals ever built, yesterday or today. TQ
www.zvex.com
LaGrange
If you have been paying attention and your mind ain’t gone,
you’ll remember Texan John Grammatico and his reverent
take on the narrow panel tweed Bassman presented here a few
years back. He named it the Kingsville, it sounded fine, and
Jimmie Vaughan became one of the Kingsville’s biggest fans.
Grammatico has built a new little 1x12 in deference to those
who can’t really tote a 40 watt 4x10 combo, and he had the
balls to name it the LaGrange. Well, why not? John sent us an
amp for review, and we asked him to describe the inspiration
for his latest creation. Enjoy…
TQR:
The last time we spoke you had completed the
Kingsville – your take on the 4x10 Bassman that
was embraced by Jimmie Vaughan. What inspired
the 1x12 La Grange?
Thanks to Jimmie, the Kingsville has gotten some good
live exposure. I’ve received a
significant amount of e-mails
from people who said that they
love the tone of the Kingsville,
but were concerned that it
would be too much amp for
them and they asked if I was
making anything smaller. After
a few years it was time to bring
new models to the brand. I
was commissioned to build several amps of a tweed Deluxe
style which made the R&D possible, so I decided to make
it the next model. The LaGrange is a logical continuance of
my experience and knowledge of tweed tone but in a smaller
package while providing a dirtier rocking tone at a more
reasonable volume level.
TQR:
Lots of 20 watt amps are being built today with
variable similarities to the original tweed 5E3
Deluxe circuit. What can you tell us about your
new amp in terms
of unique design
characteristics,
components, and
the specific goals
you had in mind in
terms of tone?
I’ve had the
privilege of hearing many vintage
amplifiers, some
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8
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
amps
of them pristine, untouched examples, and I have found that
they never seem to sound as good as the great classic recordings
I know so well. I came to the conclusion that in addition to the
great amps used, at least some of the magic happened in the studio with great microphones, preamps, boards, compressors, analog tape, etc. contributing to those great recorded tones. So rather
than attempting to copy any specific amplifier exactly, I use them
as a starting platform and recordings become the reference.
tion components. It would be much easier to get the results
with old parts, but another important design feature is the
reliability and consistency of building with fresh new parts.
Above all, I set out to make an amp that’s musically engaging
and inspiring to play.
The goal for the sound
of the LaGrange was
to capture the tones of
many of the great blues
and rock records. Such
artists as Billy Gibbons, Keith Richards,
Neil Young, Tom Petty,
Elmore James, Peter
Green, Kenny Burrell
and many others. I set
out to make it sound
organic, woody and
creamy with just enough metallic spank and sparkle to give it
some bite, bringing out the natural sounds of the guitar. Many
players have several guitars and can have quite a bit invested
in them, so ideally you want to hear the subtle differences that
makes them special and unique. I don’t want to mask those
organic subtleties with a dominant synthetic plastic and veiled
sound imposed by the amp. I wanted a dense, thick sound that
stayed focused when turned up with a slightly rounded off
top end, putting the energy mainly in the mids where it would
sound fat in the mix. It should also maintain clarity and articulation while singing really well with lots of natural sustain
and harmonics, with no raspy, grainy brittleness. I also wanted
the amp to have a usable, interesting clean tone with decent
headroom that can fill a room and sound big, round, warm and
liquid, punchy and touch sensitive.
I tried out many
speakers before
choosing the
Jensen P12Q.
When used in the
LaGrange it has a
wonderful smoky
quality, sweet
rounded highs,
nice low end bark, throaty mids and the right mix of grind
and chunk when pushed. Other speakers I would consider
offering are the Celestion Blue and the Alnico Gold, an alnico
Fane and the Eminence Eric Johnson speaker. Different tolex
options are also available. The stock model is $1850 and is
built to order. It can be purchased with PayPal through the
Grammatico website at www.grammaticoamps.com.
I wasn’t able to
achieve these
qualities with
standard off the
shelf parts. Some
of the things that
affect the tone
of the amp are
the lengths and
layout of the custom cloth wire, the design of the transformers using the right steel grades, the turns on the windings and
the insulation material and the varnish formulation used to
impregnate the paper layers. The Jupiter capacitors though
expensive, have an authentic tone and break up characteristics
that fit the amp. The most demanding aspect in developing an
authentically vintage sounding amp is using all new produc-
TQR:
Are you offering any options in regard to speakers
or optional features?
Uh, Something’s Burning…
Formerly home to the infamous brothel
known as the “Chicken Ranch,”
LaGrange remains a charming little
town of roughly 5,000 soulful souls
located half way between Austin
and Houston on Highway 71. The
brothel was closed down in 1973,
but immortalized in song by ZZ Top,
of course. LaGrange was originally
settled by Czech and German immigrants, and that heritage
remains evident at Hruska’s Store & Bakery where traditional
kolaches are served, the Prause Meat Market (sausages and
barbecue), Weikel’s Bakery and the Rohan Meadery. Na zdraví!
John Grammatico’s LaGrange impresses us as a basic,
custom-built booteek 1x12 amplifier that sits squarely in
the wheelhouse of many players today, and especially those
who aren’t looking
for an amp to use
in cavernous arena
gigs, although we’re
not suggesting you
couldn’t mic it for
those, too. As for
Grammatico, he
builds amplifiers that
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TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
9
amps
are based on his own personal gestalt, and you are likely to
find some unique if not obscure component choices under the
hood. He isn’t the best known custom amp builder when one
considers the meteoric rise of builders like Michael Swart, but
past experience leads us to believe that Grammatico is happy
doing things his way while not being too concerned about
becoming a commercial phenomenon. If it happens, fine, but
he isn’t going to pander to the flavor of the month crowd.
Cosmetically, the
oxblood version
of the LaGrange
we received
presents an image
more in common
with a vintage
Gibson than a
Fender amp. The
4-input chrome control panel with single tone control and dual
input Normal and Bright channels follows the familiar 5E3
Deluxe layout, as does the presence of dual 12AX7s and 6V6s
with a 5Y3 rectifier. The cabinet is constructed of solid pine
with a painted plywood baffle, and Grammatico has chosen
to use the alnico Jensen P12Q speaker – in our opinion one of
the very best among all Jensen speakers being made today.
Whether you play guitars with single coil or more powerful humbucking pickups, the LaGrange offers limited clean
headroom above ‘4’ on either volume control, the #2 inputs
being slightly
cleaner than the
first. In this regard
it seems to share
the character of
many tweed Deluxe replicas, and
while you can play
somewhat clean
(especially with single coils) at low volume levels, Grammatico’s amp seems best suited for mild to harder rockin’
overdriven tones that intensify as the volume and treble
controls are advanced. We prefer the Bright channel, noting
that the LaGrange remains very well-balanced with a full and
even frequency response that you don’t always hear in 15-20
watt dual 6V6 amps. Treble tones are bright without sounding
thin, midrange is robust, and the low end remains surprisingly stout, solid and unyielding, even at high volume levels
or when using overdrive effects. The LaGrange sounds like a
booteek amp should – rich and musical, dynamically pleasing in the ‘feel’ department with smooth sustain and deeply
complex overtones. Cranked, it is fully capable of producing
modern levels of intense distortion and sustain that were unimaginable in 1959 – distortion fully worthy of your favorite
burningest rock tones, pedals not required. In this regard,
like a pert and demure young math teacher we once met who
turned into an insatiable she-devil rapist behind closed doors,
looks are completely deceiving.
If you think you could
use a featherweight
and uncomplicated
little amp with a comfy
leather handle that
is equally capable of
swampy slide tones,
jangly rhythms, bluesy
leads, and the mighty
siren roar of the impending apocalypse, that would indeed be
the Grammatico LaGrange. Hitch up yer pants, cowboy, hide
the wimmen and chillun and Quest forth…TQ
www.grammaticoamps.com, 512-535-3985
REVIEW
Cornell Plexi
Ten years ago we
noted that Denis
Cornell’s Plexi
was one of the
best-sounding
amplifiers we had
ever heard. In that
respect, nothing has changed. We may have been the first to
feature an in-depth interview with Denis in 2003, and at that
time his distribution in America was not fully developed.
Having played one of Jeff Bakos’ ‘69 Marshall PA20 heads
and acquired one of our own for $900 in 2001, our sights
were set high when the Cornell Plexi arrived. The market for
18 and 20 watt Marshall-style amps had yet to fully ignite in
2001, and the compact little PA20 covered in vintage green
tolex remained a real sleeper as vintage amps go.
Today the popularity of the Marshall 18 and 20 watt amps
seems to have surged, crested and perhaps resided slightly
since the days when
so many small
builders were mining these simple
circuits and interest
was white hot in the
18 watt Club on the
web. Even Marshall
eventually succumbed to building
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10
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
amps
their own hand-wired versions of the 2061X Lead & Bass
head and 1974X 18 watt combo. When we were offered the
opportunity to review a new and enhanced Cornell Plexi 18/20
head we were anxious to experience this new amplifier with a
fresh perspective. Ten years and hundreds of amplifier reviews
have passed, and we looked forward to hearing the Cornell
with fresh ears after having frankly grown a little tired of the
18 watt phenomenon. Perhaps Denis Cornell felt it was time
to make the basic Plexi design more versatile, too, because
the new Plexi 18/20 head is loaded with practical new features
while retaining the simplicity of the original baby Marshalls,
and specifically the vintage PA20…
Cornell doesn’t run full page ads in magazines or lurk on guitar
forums humping his products, so you may not know as much as
you should about Denis Cornell, but as you are about to discover, he is an experienced veteran in the amplifier wars. Enjoy…
When I left
school, I
started an
apprenticeship
in electronics. The first
years were
very hard,
because I lost my mum to cancer, and she was bedridden
for a long time. I have bad memories of coming home from
school and having to look after myself. I carried this grief
throughout my apprenticeship, and I felt that the world owed
me a favour. One of the line managers knew of my plight and
took me under his wing, and we often played guitar together.
He would play the vocal line of the song and I would play the
rhythm. I did not know this at the time, but thanks to Brian
Lawrence, I could have easily become a different person than
I am today. I therefore consider Brian to have been my first
mentor. My second mentor was Brian Hucker, who I worked
with designing Sound City Amplification. Brian was a typical
RAF-trained engineer, and we designed all the later range of
the Sound City amplifiers. I did not know it then, but we were
carrying on the work that Dave Reeves had done on his own
amplification called Hiwatt. Tom Jennings (founder of Vox)
was to become the last man that I can say I have looked up
to – not in a technical sense – but as a man that had the knack
of knowing what was a good product and how to sell it. He insisted that the re-launch of Vox have nothing to do with Sound
City in any way, and I was to become his technical manager
only to work on Vox amplification. Certain things left an
impression in my mind, since Tom and I came from different
professional backgrounds, and therefore, had different views. I
was concerned with technical aspects of the Vox range, and he
more concerned with the aesthetics. For example, one of those
things was when I wanted to use better quality resistors...
Tom was under pressure from the company to keep the cost of
the amplifier low
to make it more
competitive. He
stated that if I had
come to him with a
unique feature that
improved the look
and potential of the
amplifier, it would
be worthy of
investment! He would have no qualms in spending £1.00 on
the look, but would argue to save a penny on a resistor. As an
engineer, we tend to get lost in components and forget that the
thing that sells a product often is the first impression. Another
of his famous lines which I will never forget was, “an inch up
and an inch in.” This was in reference to the position of the
Vox logo on the AC30 cabinet. Tom’s attention to detail and
perfectionism relating to his proud range of Vox amplifiers
was to leave me with the awareness that technical knowledge
was only a part of a successful product.
TQR: Among all of the vintage amplifiers you have come
to know so well as a technician and a player, which are your favorites?
Soundwise,
early
Vox,
Marshall,
and
Fender
were
the best
sounding amplifiers. They all sounded different, but fitted the
job perfectly. It’s like owning a Fender Strat and a Gibson
Les Paul guitar — if you have one of each, you have a vast
range of tones to feed your imagination and create many
types of music. A good amplifier built today can perhaps take
us part of the way in producing a range of tones that cover
the old Vox, Marshall, and Fender amplifiers, but the design
and tones are too different for any one amp to sound like
those three together. Construction wise, Hiwatt led the field,
and there has never been anyone to touch Harry Joyce as a
wireman. Anyone who knew Harry will smile when I say I
spent many an hour on the telephone with him! I think that if
I had to choose the best amplifier of all time, it would have to
be the AC30, which produced a classic tone, it was well constructed, and it was built to stand the test of time. I know just
how much Tom put into them, so I may be a bit biased. It was
sad to see the poor examples that were on the market following Tom’s death. I have made a fewAC 30’s myself, but there
-continued-
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
11
amps
is so much in them that unless you build a large quantity, the
cost is ridiculous and just not worthwhile.
My ideal work is creating a
sound for an individual —
creating the ultimate amplifier. I feel that I can be
likened to a tailor making a
“made to measure suit,” as
opposed to buying
one off the peg. I get the
most satisfaction when
someone comes to me with
an idea to enhance their
sound, or someone
needs advice and inspiraDenis Cornell
tion on achieving that
special tone. Together, we produce their own individual tone,
and what I hope is the customer’s ultimate amplifier. There
are several major components and lots of minor ones in an
amplifier that go to make up the tone. The typical example
we all know of is the Fender Bassman and the Marshall Plexi.
There is not a world of difference in the circuit, but we have a
big difference in the tone. The major differences are down to
a few components, like the middle response in the tone stack,
the speaker, and the different output valves and the way they
are biased. The tone is shaped with just a few major components, and the next step is to build on how these components
work in different hands. Some of the results of my custom
work go into my amplifiers that I market on our web site. My
only interest is in producing top quality amplifiers. I do not
have any marketing regime, and I do very little advertising.
The amplifiers tend to cost more than the average Englishman
will pay, but I will not go down the mass-produced road.TQ
Ten Years After
Plexi Tone
Cornell has kept the compact size of the original PA20 head,
and inside you’ll find dual EL84s, 12AX7s and a GZ34
rectifier. The Hi inputs deliver 6db more gain than the Lo
inputs unless used simultaneously, and the tone of Channel
2 is brighter than Channel 1. The 18/20 switch changes from
a diode at 20 watts to a GZ34 at 18 watts, and the Lo/High
switch changes power from 5W to 20W. Speaker impedance is
switchable from 8-4 ohms.
Tone
The reason we originally tired of the 18 watt frenzy was boredom and fatigue. How many different builders can assemble
their interpretation of a design that is by nature rather limited
and get a
significantly
different
result?
You
might
say the
same
thing
about the 5E3 tweed Deluxe. The low or no headroom character of the typical little Marshall circuit is such that most of
us will set the volume on 6-8, tone on 7 and there they will
stay. The tone control really doesn’t offer much usable range,
and these amps have always been coveted for essentially one
thing – smooth and pleasing sustain and distortion. In the
booteek amp world distortion has always driven the market,
and today low-powered, low-volume distortion rules. Here’s
what you really need to know about the Cornell… it still
delivers a classic low-powered Marshall tone, it just sounds
far better than nearly every other amplifier we’ve heard in the
same class – a fact that will be vividly apparent to you after
a mere handful of chords. The only other compact head that
comes close in its own unique way is the BC Audio No. 7
previously reviewed here.
Why
does the
Cornell
Plexi
sound
better?
Is it
because
the Plexi is built in Southend on Sea, Essex UK? Probably
not, but the British Majestic power and Danbury output transformers have something to do with it… Denis Cornell offers
his own explanation:
“The Cornell-Plexi 18/20 is made to the basic circuit of the
PA20 Plexi panel which was produced in the ‘60s. Additional
Cornell design features like the switchable valve rectification
and power reducer are fitted as standard. Complementary
push-pull class “A” output has been used in many renowned
amplifiers throughout the history of guitar amplification. The
problem with this basic circuit, which has remained common
to all manufacturers with some minor differences, was one of
unequal current flow through each output valve and unacceptable crossover distortion. At high output levels the problem is
accentuated and results in a fuzzy sound. We have corrected
the design and resolved the problem by balancing the output
and reducing the crossover distortion. This results in a much
smoother sound at high output levels, the output having very
little crossover distortion. The difference can be seen and mea-continued-
12
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
amps
sured on an oscilloscope. We have encapsulated the components and called it the Cornell-Cream Box which describes the
output tone. We now use this circuit in all of our complementary Class “A” push-pull output designed amplifiers.”
Chris Hersey
OK, so
Denis has
eliminated nasty
crossover
distortion…
Bingo! We’ll
also add
that a visual
inspection of the Plexi’s internals reveals a very tidy job of knitting
together an elegantly handwired amplifier. The steel chassis is
a work of art in itself, and the entire chassis simply impresses
us as having been assembled with a level of care and attention
to detail that is not always evident in other booteek amps…
Reminds us of one of those old McIntosh hi-fi amps. Clearly,
Cornell believes that his amplifiers should look as good as
they sound.
More than one person has suggested that we must have the
best job in the world. While actual work is involved, it’s the
interaction with people that makes our job of putting together
TQR most interesting and rewarding, and a lot of hilarious
and bizarre things have happened over the past 14 years.
In August we stopped by the Decatur post office to pick
up the mail and check to see if they were holding anything
that wouldn’t fit in the p.o. box. They were, but nothing we
expected… A postal worker emerged from behind the big steel
door with a very large box. We didn’t recognize the name on
the return address, but we figured it had to be an amplifier, so
home it went. This has never happened before, but how bad
could it be? The box was way too big for anthrax or a pipe
bomb… Opening the box and carefully peeling away layers of
meticulously applied protective film (is it ticking?) revealed
the work of an obsessive/compulsive mind. We would have
used more bubble wrap, but the packing job was nonetheless an exercise in intriguing detail and obvious forethought
that piqued our curiosity. This guy must make one hell of a
sandwich. Eventually an amplifier head emerged like nothing we have ever seen. To be honest, we took one look at the
lacquered copper and black paint job boldly emblazoned with
ELEMENT in solid steel letters, and we thought, “This must
be what it was like when Howard or Alexander or whatever
Dumble prefers to be called handed an amp off to his first
customer.” Whoever built the Copperhead had envisioned
some serious visual mojo, and they had succeeded.
The Plexi sounds beefy, rich and muscular like a vintage 1969
metal panel Marshall 50 watt in either channel, and we really
like the option of switching rectifiers for the harder attack of
a silicon diode or the gentler sag of the GZ-34. The Lo power
5 watt setting also sounds every bit as good as full power,
with none of the weenie tone we often hear in amps with “low
power” switches. In all respects the Plexi is just that – your
18W-20W little Marshall with the tone and feel of the bigger
amps, and a very vintage ‘60s character with absolutely no
compromises. Played through our heirloom pine Bob Burt
1x12 cab the Plexi is plenty loud enough for recording, small
rooms and arena rock with a good mic, and it sounds incredibly groovy and lush with our 4x12 cab loaded with Made in
England 25 watt Greenbacks and pinstripe grill cloth. Simply
put, for those who crave the classic sound of a ‘60s Marshall
amp at friendly volume levels, the Cornell Plexi remains the
alpha dog, the leader of the pack, the onliest one, the big howlin’ wolf. Awoooooooo! Quest forth, mate.TQ
www.dc-developments.com
USA Distributor: Timothy Penn, Boutiquetronics
Eden Prairie, MN www.boutiquetronics.com
214-808-9392
The Bard of B+
We were jammed up with getting the next issue out, so we
parked the Copperhead in the
music room and within a few
days we received an e-mail
from the builder, Chris Hersey.
It turned out that his amp had
been sitting at the post office
for a while, and naturally he
wanted to be sure we received
it. Satisfied, we thanked him
for sending it (frankly wondering if we would be thankful when we turned it on), and he
graciously advised us to take our time, enjoy the amp and let
us know if we had any questions. We had one big question
that would not be posed quite yet… “What the f is this?” Time
passed, the Copperhead sat like an imposing museum piece
circa 1967 lifted from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and
when we had some breathing room between issues we opened
an envelope that had been enclosed with the amp that read,
“Optional read after trying out the goods…” Well, no, we’ll
-continued-
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
13
amps
open it now, thank
you very much. Inside
was a 3-page letter
that served to fill in
the blanks on who
Chris Hersey was.
Not where he lived,
worked or went to
school, no names of
his children, spouse
or his dog, but why
and how he built this
lacquered head that sat in our music room on top of the Super
Reverb like a bold as luv totem to arena rock. As we read
Hersey’s letter, it became obvious that he had not been sleeping through English class wherever he went to school. In fact,
this was one of the most interesting pieces of correspondence
we had ever received, written by either a very talented writer
posing as an amp builder, or an amp builder with the instinctive communication skills of a savant. You are now about to
meet Chris Hersey through the very same letter. Like his amp
that appeared with no warning, his letter read like a mysterious message found in a quart bottle of Mickey’s Malt Liquor
bobbing in the dirty water of the River Charles. Our review
follows. Drink deeply and Enjoy…
There is a perfect
simplicity in an old
vintage motorcycle.
You can’t find a better
mechanical antithesis
than a modern car and
the old rusty CB750
sitting in my driveway. Nothing gets
under my skin more than not being able to wrench on a piece of
precision-made machinery with infinite possibilities of imagination. What kind of backyard mechanic would rather a computer
science degree and a plug-in decoder over a socket set and a
14” crescent wrench? Who wants a computer to tell you what’s
going on with something that should be so visceral and real?
“The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There
isn’t any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it’s
right. If it disturbs you it’s wrong until either the machine or
your mind is changed.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
I can remember like yesterday thumbing my way through my
parents’ record collection from the sixties and seventies. If
you can recall a time when someone, anyone, wasn’t telling you what was great or not so great or the next coming of
Jesus, it was like that in every way. Pure unadulterated discovery, no strings attached. All those Beatles albums were so
distinct and inspiring and edgy in their unique way. Disraeli
Gears was the most muscular and tangible sound I had ever
heard. What a phenomenal thing for a kid to discover without
someone rolling up all of their own judgments into a meal and
serving it with stale bread. How many times have you figured out what was great on your own without someone telling
you what to believe? I was a kid skate boarding around the
suburban neighborhood with a ratty pair of Vans and a Steve
Caballero short board that some punk sharked off of my front
yard. I still miss that board. That’s My Generation. Sure, my
first tape was Licensed to Ill. And I can seriously remember
like yesterday ghost riding my silly banana seater bike down
the biggest neighborhood hill and crossing my fingers that the
damage would get me that BMX Predator. It did.
My first guitar was my dad’s
old no-name acoustic flame red
thing with action like a suspension bridge. Barring chords was
like tackling a blue fish off of
Plumb Island. I hacked away at
that piece of hollow wood for a
few years in college and I can
assure you I got no chicks from
my playing. But I got hooked.
I bought a Les Paul a few years
later and I made some noise
through it on a practice amp. Back then, I remember hearing
Wes Montgomery thumb picking his chord melodies and emotive melodic lines that would literally stop me in my tracks.
It was like eating the perfect appetizer pared with a glass of
wine – that first half hour when life feels relaxed and perfect.
Ideas are salient and easy to grasp, and you wonder why it’s
not always like this. I am a fanatic for building pretty much
anything that I can. Call it the builder’s Bucket List, which is
always growing. So when that honeyburst Les Paul just wasn’t
sounding like I wanted it to, I put in new pickups. I liked it
better, but then I had to go for new pots. And I couldn’t leave
well enough alone so in went PIO caps. It was like the first
taste, turning into the worst and best kind of OCD.
A little Peavey amp and then a VOX were fine, but I had this
niggling feeling that I had to make an amp cabinet. Queue
in the dovetailed mahogany, birds eye maple and a couple of
G12H30’s. Add a Marshall 1974 18 watt demon and I was
getting it, but man, did I have to scratch another itch with
a Fuzz and a Rangemaster. In my book these are standbys.
The Rangemaster… how did I miss Rory Gallagher all these
years? What a genuine and original rock god. I could listen to
“Bad Penny” and “Million Miles Away” looped over and over
all day. Add Free, Mountain, Derek Trucks, Sean Costello,
Gary Clark Jr., Danny Gatton, Roy Buchannan and a hundred
-continued-
14
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
amps
other rock and blues acts I listened to, mind open. The more I
scratched, the more I had this need to build my own amplifier
from the ground up. I had this sound in mind, and even a feel.
I built a Tweed Deluxe first.
Before that I might have had
trouble telling you which
were preamp tubes and which
were power tubes, let alone a
rectifier. I was a solder monkey
connecting A to B with a
little cerebral input, but not
too much. I might have had a
few beers along the way, too.
That amp was a little dirty
animal – like when you scratch
Sean Costello a cat’s stomach too much and
the teeth and claws come out at the same time and latch onto
your arm with a death grip. And when the Deluxe cleaned up
you still knew that under that composed façade there was still
something untamed. I really liked that control, and finding the
edge of out of control. It’s electronics, but analog type stuff
that Ohm’s Law, some ancient tube charts and the RCA Radio
Designer’s Handbook could unravel. There is also a band of
unbelievably educated designers and builders that dispense
knowledge and design information without hesitation. They
have rolled in the ivy, too.
Probably
everyone
that aims
to design
an amp
from
scratch
has aspirations
of reinventing pretty much every circuit in a guitar amp. How
many ways can you design an amp? Take a stab at it because it
is more than one and less than infinity. As much as anything,
I see an amplifier as the sum of its parts, the efficiency of its
design, the filtered distribution of power, and the shaping of
the signal. Transformers are no afterthought either… One of
the greatest freedoms in the world is discovering something
for yourself. Rest assured I am no electrical engineer, so I
probably attacked it differently than some would, which in
this case may have been an asset and a liability at the same
time. But when I got the concept that AC and DC could travel
on the same piece of copper at the same time, it was really a
bit of a revelation on how the pieces of an amp go together
and why. So much of an amp design is shaping the tone, most
would spend their hours tweaking it at the preamp stage, but I
attacked it from the output in.
I have an old house, built in the early 1900’s, with an electrical system that just passes muster but spits out wall voltages
between 110 and 117 volts like a geriatric variac, passing
whatever voltage it wants. With my 5E3, I could tell there
were huge differences in sound from day to day. I came to
realize that it had a lot to do with wall voltage du jour, and it
gave me a different amp each day. The differences were not
tone oriented, they were rooted in the over-arching character
of the amplifier. I spent a great deal of time pouring over the
great amps of
yesteryear and
some new ones,
and what made
power sections
just right. In my
mind, it’s about
getting the exact filtered voltage you want to each stage.
Plotting those forsaken load lines for the power tubes was a
chore, with an incredible wealth of information where theory
meets practice. Seeing dry theory segue into useful knowledge was one of my favorite parts of it all. Most importantly,
I could never reconcile using electrolytic capacitors anywhere
in the amplifier. Having to repair worn out capacitors in an
amplifier rubs me the wrong way when there is better technology around. As a result, I packed in polypropylene caps at
the power section and elsewhere. They are bigger than Little
Debbie Rolls but their performance, ESR and life span are
worth it.
At a certain point you have to
design around the known and dive
into the unknowns. I reminded
myself that half the battle was field
testing and tweaking until I found
the sweet spot. I picked some
well-respected iron for the OT, PT
and choke. Transformers are the
heart of an amplifier; and you can
get totally caught up in the type
of iron used, the interleaving, the
wire and winding characteristics.
Some day I will wind one, but I was humble enough to call
Mercury Magnetics and get their take on what I was trying
to do. And they made a few suggestions in line with amp I
envisaged, and I agreed with them entirely.
Onward through a hundred steps and a thousand decisions
with the subtleties of the Long Tailed Pair and the Cathode
Follower in the middle. I love those terms. At the front end
of the tone, a Baxandall tone stack has the right impedance
matching, simplicity and low insertion loss I was looking for.
Coupled with a High Cut control and a mid shift switch, the
versatility of the stack is just what I envisioned. I have a personal hang-up on mid controls and their enigmatic interaction
-continued-
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
15
amps
in tone stacks. I built in a few other tone shaping tweaks, and
a Negative Feedback Loop and Presence control. I am working my way backwards through the path of the signal, and at
that very first stage, V1A, I debated on how to bias it. I went
cooler and I loved the sparkle I got after finding the right point
(at times, ‘too cool’ could create some ice pick feel especially
with a Telecaster bridge). Bias this stage too warm and some
of the definition is lost. The parallel partner to the bias resistor
on V1A was my other project. Here is where the boost switch
comes in and gives some options to pick your poison. Most
amplifiers have large capacitors values here, and I found that a
middle to low value really is the right range.
When I fired up the amp for the first time, it worked and I
can attest that my family did not appreciate it late that night,
but I did. It was by no means perfect from day one. In fact, I
changed a lot of the lead dress and hammered away at small
things until I was happy. The amplifier started out on the edge
of stability and I tweaked it until it was there full time. An
amplifier is a pretty simple machine. What’s compelling, is the
art of mixing the components together with an antediluvian
technology (tubes) to distort a signal into something with texture and a singular voice. But the proof is in the playing. What
really matters is making something that sounds good enough
to inspire. Every amplifier I have made so far has been a oneoff, pretty much by word of mouth. From a business perspective, I can be reached at Copperheadamplification@gmail.
com. I am the one answering everything there, and while this
is not a business model so far that Warren Buffet would stake
a claim on, it is a nice place to be from a creative perspective.
I would much rather communicate with someone looking for
something in particular than have them put it in their “cart”.
The build time for amps is around 4-8 weeks. A custom
lacquer cabinet is closer to 8 weeks and an upcharge (this is a
huge endeavor, but can look phenomenal and can and should
be customized). I would gladly build a custom hardwood cab
as well (likely oil finish). Custom orders are all entertained,
because I love challenges, and this is why I do this. Pricing for
the CopperHead depends largely on the components selected;
Base $2950 for the head (as described above with standard
cabinet and premium components).
16
He’ll resort to tolex to keep the price down, but the concept
of finishing a cabinet in nitro lacquer over wood (Fender
Pro Junior Relics) has always appealed to us. We also find
Hersey’s use of copper front and back panels with imperfect
hand-stamped graphics uniquely appealing. Debatable are the
lack of any numbers on the front panel controls, although the
set screws appear to be aligned at 12 o’clock. You are left to
your own devices when setting the heavy knurled Tele knobs.
The top of the chassis reveals notes in pencil from Hersey’s
experimentation, but we found his lead glyphs perfectly appropriate for a true one-off prototype. The Copperhead is a
34 watt, dual 6L6GC amp with GZ34 rectifier and 12AX7
preamp tubes, shipped with an NOS Sylvania rectifier. The
front and back panel controls are simple enough, but highly
effective in altering the character of the amp in ways that are
varied, significant and real.
Control layout:
Boost Hi/Lo switch attenuates the input signal
Bright Switch – Low – Off – High.
Bass and Treble – the tone stack is a modded Baxandall.
Mid Shift Switch – bumps mid-range signal higher or lower.
Presence – This knob is only in use when the Negative Feedback Switch on the back of the amp is engaged to either low
or high.
High Cut switch
Back panel:
Bias Points 1mv = 1ma on multi-meter. Bias pot inside the
amp.
High/Off/Low Negative Feedback (NFB) Switch.
B+ 300 V / 260V switch – changes the primary voltage applied to the power section of the amp.
4/8/16 ohm speaker taps
The Element Copperhead
Tone
Chris
Hersey’s
amplifier
may be a
one-off
prototype,
but
he has
created a
visual and
sonic impression that suggests far more historical significance.
The Copperhead is an amp for hard rockin’ guitar players.
Unlike some pricey dual channel booteek amplifiers that boast
a ‘clean’ channel (usually the weak spot) and a high gain
channel with afterburners, the Copperhead makes no attempt
to produce anything close to our idea of ‘clean,’ as in the
Fender kind of clean you get with a Super Reverb on 6, or a
Twin Reverb or Showman on 2-8. You’re not gonna get that
here. In terms of feel and character, Hersey’s amp does remind
us of a vintage Hiwatt. Both share an unmistakably bold voice
and unique character, but the Hiwatt offers a fundamentally
cleaner, more midrangey tone, while the Copperhead produces
-continued-
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
guitars
mild to
intense
underlying distortion and
a wider
frequency
range
with the
controls set appropriately. If you need an example of famous
guitar tones that can be compared to the Copperhead, we immediately thought of ZZ Top and Deep Purple as we became
more familiar with the amp. Put another way, the Copperhead
is neither a touring sedan or a bluesy little commuter… It’s a
finely-tuned yet tweakable race car that pretends to be nothing
else. Come to think of it, it also shares a bit of sonic DNA
with the unmistakable sound of a Harley echoing through the
concrete canyons of Lower Manhattan – a sound we know
well from our time spent on Mercer Street overlooking 4th
and Broadway.
The
variable
distortion
oozing
from
this amp
is fairly threatening no matter where you set it. We started out
with the Boost, Treble Boost, Mid Boost, Treble Cut, Presence
and Negative Feedback all off and the B+ at 300V. Playing
one of our Historic Les Pauls with Ellis pickups, the tone is
fat, smooth, rich and bright with natural overdrive and sustain
with the volume at 2 o’clock that sounds nothing like a typical
preamp boost circuit. It’s just bigger, very 3D, and hopped
up on fat output tube distortion. The LO/High Boost switch
jacks up the RPMs by preset degrees, and combined with the
tone controls and Treble and Mid Boost switches, it doesn’t
take much time to comprehend just how interactive and useful
these controls really are. Experimenting with different settings produces an extremely wide and useful range of tones,
distortion and sustain, and the effect can be heard in the way
different harmonic overtones are augmented and diminished
as tone and boost settings are adjusted. Very cool.
useful in precisely
managing high frequencies, shaping
tone with different
guitars and when
engaging the Treble
boost switch. We
prefer the ‘High’
and ‘Off’ Negative
Depp Purple Feedback settings on the back panel. The Lo setting just seemed to make
this big sounding amp seem smaller, which may be fine for
some players, especially in close quarters – we just liked the
‘bigger’ tones better. With the amp set on the 300V B+ setting
the sound is massive with huge low end and a room-filling
presence that remains stout, firm, and lush. The 260V setting
sounds narrower and subdued by comparison. Still good, just
different. Most of the time we played the Copperhead through
a 1x12 cabinet made from 100 year-old pine loaded with an
Eminence Alnico Red Fang, and it proved to be a fine combination. At 38 watts Hersey’s amp can move some air, but it
isn’t hurtful, even at high volume levels. If we were asked to
compare this amplifier with anything we have reviewed in the
past, only two come to mind – a Harry Joyce-wired mid ‘70s
Hiwatt DR504, and a very early Two Rock Emerald 50. In an
age where we have more choices among custom-built amplifiers than at any time in the history of the electric guitar, Chris
Hersey’s Copperhead is entirely unique, yet mysteriously
reminiscent of a voice from the past. “Hush, hush… I thought
I heard her calling my name now…” Mmmm. What to do with
that? Quest forth.TQ
Chris Hersey – Copperheadamplification@gmail.com
The Country Girl
We found the
Presence control
to be the least
appealing, its
effect obscured
by the power and
voice of the amp.
The Cut control,
however, is very
We have very deliberately
acquired a lot of Les Pauls
over the past 14 years. When
Midtown Music was stocking
dozens of Custom Shop guitars
we would often walk in to find
a new shipment of unopened
boxes from Nashville stacked
against the counter, fresh off
the truck and still warm. Dave
Tiller always encouraged us
to open them, spread the cases
out on the floor and cherry
pick whatever we wished for
-continued-
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
17
guitars
review, purchase, or just to play in the shop. We found and
bought over 30 Historic Les Pauls from Dave, Dave Rogers in LaCrosse, and online – ‘54s, ‘57s, ‘58s, ‘59s and the
somewhat obscure ‘68. We have described all of them in these
pages over the years, usually accompanied by pickup swaps,
and sometimes hardware and wiring changes, all in the quest
to make these guitars as good as they can possibly be. That
concept has been taken even further by a few shops that specialize in refinishing contemporary (usually Gibson Historic
Les Pauls) guitars
using ‘real’ nitro
formulations that
are supposedly harder (and
thereby more
toneful). They
will also replace
the rosewood
fingerboard with Brazilian, remove the plastic truss rod ‘condom’ and re-seat it in bees wax, and reset the neck using hide
glue instead of Titebond. The Gibson Custom Shop has also
recently begun using hide glue for neck joints, the theory being that an adhesive like Titebond creates a barrier that stops
the transmission of string vibration, while hide glue crystallizes to a hard surface that allows such vibrations to more freely
pass between two pieces of wood. We don’t presume to be an
‘expert’ in these matters. We don’t have a graduate degree in
chemistry or physics, but we have bought, played and studied
a lot of guitars over the years, and in doing so we have formed
opinions based on observation that we will share here for your
consideration.
owned often lacked
depth and felt as if
some essential timbre
was missing. The
average weight of the
‘59 Les Pauls listed in
the back of the Beauty of the Burst book
is 8.8 lbs, Jim Weider’s blackguard Tele is no lightweight, and
focusing solely on weight seems to us to be a loser’s game. In
our world, a little extra on the hips is better than a waif. We
have also noted that neck pitch, or the angle of the neck to
the body can dramatically affect the extent to which a guitar
responds to string vibration. Steeper angles beyond 3 degrees
that require you to raise the height of an ABR-1 bridge farther
off the top seem to dampen resonance and sustain, creating
a harder, stiffer sound and feel. The specification for most
Historic Les Pauls is 3 degrees, but we have observed a lot of
variation when directly comparing otherwise identical models.
Our experience with
Historic Les Pauls in
particular has been
rewarding and revealing, and we feel better
equipped to pass judgment on them having
now owned over 30
and played many more. As we have said before, there is wood
that makes exceptional guitars, and wood that doesn’t. Mediocre instruments can be made with the most beautiful wood
imaginable, but physical appearance doesn’t always leave
clues as to how that wood will behave in imparting stunning
tone in an instrument. We can’t recall having picked up a
Martin Golden Era anything and not been treated to an exceptional acoustic experience, but it seems to us that solidbody
guitars are harder to get right. Chicken shit bingo.
Our most recent find was a
NOS 2010 ‘59 Historic Les Paul
that we found among the large
inventory of a seller/collector
who is also an anesthesiologist.
He must have had 20 pricey
new Historics in his eBay store,
and the 2010 had remained in
the case unplayed, stored in
the original box. The pictures
revealed one of the coolest understated and uniquely figured
maple tops we had ever seen,
and we are a sucker for tobacco bursts, so we negotiated a
price of $4,300 and spent the entire proceeds from the gear
we had recently sold and did the deal. It did not disappoint.
Weighing 8.8 lbs. it felt right – a real stunner without appearing gaudy, the cherry stain was deep and real, and once we
had it set up with new Pyramids the ‘59 did indeed succumb
to the vibrating strings with a strong and willing response
from head to toe. Having not been played and still smelling
of nitro, we knew it would only get better. All in all, another
Weight remains a big issue with a lot of players in respect to
solidbody guitars. Not many of us would want a 9 lb. Fender,
but we wouldn’t necessarily want a 6 lb. Strat or Tele, either.
When it comes to Les Pauls specifically, the lightest we have
You might wonder why, after having written a glowing review
about a recently acquired Historic ‘58 or ‘59, we would unload it, which we have obviously done to arrive at the number
we have owned. Well, that was the point – to acquire, experience, consider and play as many guitars as we possibly could
as a means of understanding the difference between a guitar
that is utterly inspiring and those that just don’t have ‘it.’ You
gotta be willing to play the field, understanding that no matter
how good a guitar may be, you’ll never know if there is something better unless you keep looking. Thanks to you, we have
a pretty good excuse to do just that.
-continued-
18
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
guitars
great find, online, even. An expensive gamble, but one that
paid.
We still have our ‘57 goldtop
– an extraordinary guitar that
we have become attached to
as a benchmark, and it wasn’t
going anywhere. We contnued
to play both Les Pauls as we
swapped pickups for review
– our ‘60s Gibson patent numbers, the LRPs, Rolph ‘58s,
and Slider’s humbuckers. The
‘59 was among the best of the
best we have found, but we
expected that, since we have
a theory that in late 2009 and
2010 Gibson was into some extraordinary mahogany. We still
believe it, and if we were to buy another Les Paul, we would
begin by looking for an ‘09 or 2010. 2007 seems to have been
a good year, too, if less consistent. Ask Riverhorse… At his
request we cherry picked his ‘07 ‘59 at Midtown.
As the summer passed we
were busy with a lot of guitars
you have read about here.
From spending $4,300 we
began buying $400 Squiers
and the Epiphone Dot 335.
While these guitars don’t quite
embody the vintage details of
Custom Shop instruments, we
were shocked by how resonant
and alive they were – all of
them. Every time we pick up
the Epiphone, the Squier Tele
Custom or the J Mascis we
just shake our head in disbelief that a $400 guitar can be this
good, but they are. Better than you can imagine. And that got
us thinking, conflicted again. There sat our latest squeeze, the
gorgeous ‘59, with an extra two grand invested more or less in
that pretty maple top, and the goldtop still sounded every bit
as good or better…
Ron Ellis sent us his ‘Bette’ humbuckers, and we occupied
our time trying to get our mind around the difference between
them and the Ellis LRPs. Upping the challenge, he also sent
us a set of ‘MHW’ Bette’s, meaning ‘manual hand wound’
which is a specific pattern and tension he uses to handwind
the coils in a ‘machine’ fashion. Well, they all sound so good,
different by degrees, and it’s gonna take a few weeks for us to
fully absorb the nuanced tones in each and clearly describe
them here. Evaluating pickups with words forces a brain
cramp that cannot be eased or rushed if you mean to do it
properly. Stay tuned…
Meanwhile, we were relating our story about the ‘59
to a friend and reader with
whom we have traded gear
in the past, and he asked
if we were keeping it. We
had previously sold him a
2009 Historic ‘58 that we
plucked new from a music
store in Eastern Tennessee.
If you have been to Eastern
Tennessee, right up against
West Virginia, you know
that they ain’t many Les
Paul players in them hills
– it’s Bluegrass Nascar country and nuthin else. Whoo-hoo
do they run fast and tight in Bristol… The plaintop tobacco
burst ‘58 had been sittin’, and they let it go at a fair price –
shitfar, mebbe a hunnerd over cost knocked down by 10%
more when Bing was offering rebates on eBay Buy It Now
sales. My friend suggested that he didn’t need two bursts,
but he was interested in the ‘59, and the memory of the ‘58
from Appalachia began to burrow its way back into focus. A
quick check of the pictures we had taken of the ‘58 on our
hard drive awakened vivid memories of its easy, reassuring
feel and incredibly deep tone. “Baby, I don’t know what I did
to hurt you, but I’m sorry if I did. Cain’t you leave that fancy
girl and take me back? You marked me the deepest.” Mmmm,
country girls are cheaper to keep and easier to live with, less
fuss and worry all around. We knew that, and we knew this to
be a fine one.
Reunited, we traded the ‘59 for
the Appalachian ‘58 and cash
with absolutely no regrets. We
had found the ‘59, danced with
it, admired its sophisticated
natural beauty and moved on
with a new old squeeze and
enough cash for a week at the
beach. Or a new amp… The
‘58 is a magnificent guitar, 9
lbs. exactly with a bodacious
neck and a generous and willin’ heart. The honest grain in
the plain maple top peeking
out from the dark molasses edges of the golden sunburst
reminds us of a charred white oak whiskey barrel, and when
you see this guitar you want to play it, squeeze it and let
the good times roll. If for just one dance, country girls will
snuggle tight as if to say, “I’m not yours, but you can pretend
I am ‘til the music stops.” Laissez les bons temps rouler…TQ
TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
19
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Analogman
Tom Anderson
Tom Anderson GuitarWorks
Mark Baier
Victoria Amplifiers
Jeff Bakos
Dan Erlewine
Robert Keeley
Todd Money
Larry Fishman
Gordon Kennedy
Justin Norvell
Stewart-MacDonald
Fishman Transducers
Bill Finnegan
Klon Centaur
Bakos AmpWorks
Lindy Fralin
Dick Boak
Peter Frampton
CF Martin & Co.
Joe Bonamassa
Phil Brown
Dan Butler
Butler Custom Sound
Robert Keeley Electronics
Ernest King
Gibson Custom Shop
Chris Kinman
Manager Gibson Repair & Restoration
Sr. Mktg Mgr, Fender Guitars
James Pennebaker
Artist Relations, Fender Musical Instruments, Nashville
Kinman AVn Pickups
Riverhorse
Mike Kropotkin
Tommy Shannon
Germino Amplification
Sonny Landreth
Todd Sharp
Billy F. Gibbons
Albert Lee
Greg Germino
ZZ Top
Joe Glaser
KCA NOS Tubes
Adrian Legg
Double Trouble
Nashville Amp Service
Tim Shaw
Fender Musical Instruments Corp.
Dave Malone
Randall C. Smith
Mambo Sons
Jimbo Mathus
John Sprung
Carr Amplifiers
Johnny Hiland
Shane Nicholas
Erick Coleman
Gregg Hopkins
Stewart-McacDonald
Vintage Amp Restoration
Larry Cragg
Mark Johnson
Neil Young
Delta Moon
Jol Dantzig
Phil Jones
Jol Dantzig Guitar Design
Gruhn Guitars
Ronnie Earl
Mark Karan
Don Butler
The Toneman
Steve Carr
Glaser Instruments
Tom Guerra
Bob Weir & Ratdog
The Radiators
Designer & President, Mesa/Boogie Ltd.
American Guitar Center
Sr. Mktg Mgr, Fender Guitar Amplifers
Peter Stroud
René Martinez
Buddy Whittington
Greg Martin
Greg V
Richard McDonald
Lou Vito
The Guitar Whiz
The Kentucky Headhunters
VP Mktg, Fender Musical Instruments
Joe Mloganoski
Co-Founder K&M Anaslog Designs
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
Los Angeles
Mike Voltz
R&D / Product Development, Gibson Memphis
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TONEQUEST REPORT V.14 N.12 October 2013
20