Any guitar players on TW?

Don't know where you are in WA but in Bellevue there was a good repair shop right behind Mike Lull's guitar shop, not sure it's still there. If you call Mike they can tell you where a decent shop is.

 

LOL. I was wondering if your avatar pic had something to do with a Van Halen's cd cover.

 

I appreciate that, I'm closer to Portland so I'll have to try and find someone either there or in Vancouver.

 

Maybe call Centaur in Portland, they should know of a decent repair shop as well.

 

cool thanks, just saw them as I was searching

 

Having said all that, I ditched the AC30 and got an AC15. Mucho better for what I do, rhythm and occasional lead. Much easier to hump around. We're miked anyway so I don't need a shitload of source volume, but it's there if I do.

 

So here's a couple of mine. Both American made. Not the best pics... I wish the LP had trapezoid inlays, but it doesn't. It's not that bad tho.

The LP is a 2017 Faded Brown... The Strat is I believe made in 2001, it's a LONE STAR.




And the Blues JR.

 

Its interesting you say this. I was just thinking.. I should fix the one AC30, sell it and the newer working one I have, and go with something smaller like an AC15...might be enough for a handwired one if I so desired. The wife is not happy with two AC30's sitting in the living room... and damn are the AC30's big and heavy. How much smaller is the 15? I play a Gibson ES 339 and love the AC30 for its cleans, reverb and awesome drive tones you can achieve... Is the tone/circuitry pretty much the same as the 30? I'm thinking that the 15 would be plenty loud to be heard during practice, and of course would be miked anyway on stage.

 

Classic setup! Always liked the blues Jr.

 

Little Martin LX1E & MiM aged cherry burst HHS Strat are my mains.

Pictures are in my sig (Instagram). Nothing special but I do love the color of my Stratocaster.

Also have a few others that were inherited but those aren't played often as I am preserving them for sentimental reasons.

Really love banging on my buddy's Gretsch drum kit though.

 

My dad made this guitar out of some very beautiful wood when I was in probably 5th grade. I didn't play at the time yet, so he had built it for my older brother.

Many years later, my brother quit playing, it got stolen, he tracked it down, got it back, and now as of this past weeekend it's been handed off to me.

 

All of that, yes yes yes. 15 is about half the physical size and weight (go figure ) but it more than accomplishes whatever the 30 did. IMO (I've been using these amps for 20 years now) there's zero reason to stick with the 30 unless you want to blast extreme on stage, which is kinda bush league if you have a decent FOH and monitor system and decent soundman. I do love it loud on stage, and it is, but the 15 is every bit as loud as the 30 IF I want it to be.

One very good thing about making the switch... I was constantly fiddling with the 30's volume because it is just too damn hot for any smaller venue. If even the wind blew it would be WAY too hot, and then I'd have to adjust it back down again and it wasn't hot enough. The 15 is great because it takes a low level input (just guitar, I don't have a bunch of pedals to jack the signal) and allows you to open up the throttle a bit so you get some actual front-end overdrive, just a bit, so it sounds ballsy as hell. Never could really do that with the 30 unless I wanted to blow everybody out of the room.

 

That's awesome, your dad is quite a craftsman.. Too bad it ever got stolen, good you got it back tho.

 

Also got this guy last week.



It's 8 string sister will be in next month.

 

If I remember, I need to take some up close photos when I get home. One of his many careers was remodeling homes in the old-money uppity areas of the Florida Panhandle. Every bit of crown molding, trim, etc. was all handmade and custom to each house. It never really hit me how incredible it all was as a kid. But yeah, he definitely was (and still is if he wants to, I'm sure) a top tier woodworker.

 

With that guitar's background story, it needs to be enshrined. I would never hump it around as my main rig. It would stay locked up somewhere climate controlled. Great back story, one of a kind especially to you and your family.

 

Cool

I agree

 

With these PCB board amps, there's no telling unless you take it into a local tech. Check facebook for local gear groups, as they can point you in the right direction of a good tech. By all means DO NOT take it to your local Guitar Center as the turn-around will most likely be horrendous and they just outsource the job to local techs anyway. If it's the transformer be prepared to pay out your ass. If you love the amp and it is the transformer, swap it out and keep the thing. Unfortunately, even modern tube amps are designed with planned obsolescence in mind I've had my eye out for an AC15 for awhile. I have no need for 30 tube watts these days.

 

That all sounds good! sounds like it fits the bill. I know what you mean about the 30's volume though. I went from a little laney 10" amp and decided I didn't ever want to have volume issues again lol. Is your 15 just the regular version? I'm looking at the handwired series and it looks like they don't have built in reverb or tremolo... instead they have a hot switch, master volume bypass, and a bright switch. No reverb is kind of a deal breaker for me. I will admit though.. having the one AC30 quit working after not much use does make me a little scared that these amps are fragile or temperamental. The only real reason I would go to a handwired is to reduce the risk of it burning up. Any thoughts on that? However the handwireds are significantly more... like twice the cost so maybe its not worth it anyways.

 

Agreed with all of that. Definitely don't take it to a big box guitar store, find a reputable small shop. Better yet, off it as is for $200 and get that AC15!