Vacuum Tubes Today and NOS

Vacuum tubes continue to be used today in high end audiophile equipment in the recording industry, home and in music instrument amplification.  Guitar amplification utilizes the highest percentage of current vacuum tube production.

I have been publishing test report results on the subject of vacuum tubes since 2002.  The news is not good news.  The trend is not a good trend.

If you click on the above image it will enlarge to a more readable size.  I will refer to this image later in this piece.

For more just click on "read more" below

Tube Test - 12AX7 Tung Sol Reissue

This was the last run in January 2012 of the Tung Sol Reissue that I performed at the request of Dan Boul over at www.65amps.com

This is the current "Tung Sol" tube from New Sensor.  This is the tube which was tested

To see the full story click on "read more" below

Tube Test - JJ ECC803S

Test results of the JJ ECC803S Long Plate vacuum tube.

Today I spent a bit of time working with Mike Franceschini over at 65 Amps.  Mike wanted a bit of data on some of the tubes used in the new Producer from the folks at 65 Amps.

In one of the positions of the design they use a JJ 803S.  There were some anomalies that were thought to be tube related.  I was asked to investigate.

Click on "read more" for the full report.

Etymotic Earphone problem?

This piece is less about the actual product and more about Etymotic's customer service.  There was a problem and I contacted Etymotic in two different ways, twitter and direct email.  I was hoping to be contacted to discuss the problem.  Unfortunately all I received were links to their website. Bottom line, their customer service would be just as effective if it were outsourced somewhere across a major ocean.  Even though this company is based in the USA it seems we were not speaking the same language.

My son has had a set of these earphones for 14 months.  The cord is deteriorating.

In my quest to point out the best in products, the worst, the fairly priced, the overpriced, good customer service and bad customer service I thought this would be a good subject for my next blog piece.

My son knows high end audio.  He knows how to take care of things.  He is careful with his equipment.

I would like to say that my son is happy with the sonic quality of the product.

The MC5 may be a good value for the money from some design points but their lackluster customer service and materials they use in their construction leave much to be desired.  If you want another one of those throw away products that die about the time the warranty expires consider yourself informed.   

If you wish to read the details just click on the "read more" link below.

A few photos over the last few days

Here are a few photos from President's Day weekend, 2-18-12 to 2-20-12

Cell phone shots, not what anybody would call high quality but it does say something ... what is says I don't know.

Lemon Scallops from Frontier Wok in Burbank

A few photos - 2-18-12 evening

It has been said the a picture is worth 1,000 words.

Thank you Gabriela Maria Gutierrez for the use of your cellphone which has flash so I could augment some of my own cell shots.

Ask Mike Franceschini

Ask Mike Franceschini your guitar amp questions.  Just contact him on facebook at http://facebook.com/mike.franceschini1 or from his email noted at the end of this piece.

Who the heck is Mike Franceschini?

Classic Amp is Mike Franceschini. When I count the top amp techs on the planet on one hand Mike is one of those folks.  Mike Franceshini is the guy at the top of my list.  

If I were to list a fraction of the players rigs he takes care of this page would be way too long to display unless you have a 6mb internet connection.  A few of the amp companies Mike has been with are; GT (Groove Tubes), Rivera, VHT, Bogner, Diezel / Salwender,  CAE (Custom Audio Electronics) and is currently the head tech brain trust over at 65amps.

Mike does the repair work for folks like SIR, The Amp Shop, Vintage Gear in Hollywood, Lon Cohen, History For Hire (check out their Vox Book, Mike was deeply involved in the technical aspects of the book), and this is another list that would also go on and on and on.

Mike does repair work, mods, consulting, tour support and just about anything else you can think of when it comes to guitar and bass amps.  (Did I mention that he is THE SVT master?)

You can contact Mike at ampservice@yahoo.com

The slide show below are a few of the shots I have taken over at the shop of some of the amps I found interesting that Mike was working on.  This slide show will be updated on a regular basis.  Click on "more" for the show.

A day at the shop

Many of my friends know that my own shop is in the complex that is known as 65 Amps.  I am one of the folks that are in this tone haven that is not only where 65 Amps produces their amps but is also the home of Colossal Cable ( http://www.colossalcable.com/ ) and a development home for folks like Simon Higgs (pretty amazing pedals and designs).  Mike Franceschini is the head tech over at 65 Amps during the day and his own shop, Classic Amp is within walking distance down the street.  As a side note, Mike has worked for more amp companies than I can begin to list ... Rivera, VHT, Bogner .... the list goes on and on.  He is a personal tech to many big names, a player himself and maintains the classic collections of folks like Lon Cohen Studio Rentals, History for Hire, SIR, Center Staging and others.  Yeah ... he is my favorite tech.

The complex changes for the most part every day.  Different folks come in and out and the compliment of equipment is always in flux.  There are always some great classic amps and guitars around as Dan Boul brings pieces from his personal vintage collection into the shop on a rotating basis.  I think his newest amp is from 1971 as a side note.

Having my own shop in the 65 Amps complex and acting as a consultant for them allows me to see what is going on and watch the development of new products.  From time to time I take a few minutes and take some snapshots of the activities over at the shop.  These shots are generally sent in real time to facebook, twitter, google buzz, diggit, stumble upon and about 30 other places as one touch of the send button on my phone is all it takes.

So .... here are some of the shots that I took today that I have in their own flickr album so I could have this little slideshow below.  It all started today when I was pleased to see the sound booth where amps go through their final QA testing back in place after the booth spent time at 2012 Winter NAMM.

Click on "read more" for the show.

Things we said (did) today

For some reason, when I started to think about the subject of this post a song that was always a favorite of mine by The Beatles became the title of this post.  The text below is from one of my flickr albums:

My friend Kerri is a professional product photographer. Kerri photographs things like furniture, light fixtures, and shoots food photos for some food publications. She has a studio in Toluca Lake California. She is also one heck of a chef. Kerri and I share a number of friends and some of the folks reading this are friends and colleagues with her on various social media sites or work with her. 

Kerri has an office manager / assistant, Gabriela. Gabriela is also a photographer, graphic artist and is involved a bit in the fashion industry (yet does not complain about my lack of fashion sense). 

We share some activities at times and since I typically write about or photograph via my cell many activities I was asked by Gabriela to put some of this in one place. I guess this will be the place. I will also have this set up as an ongoing and updated slide show in a blog post as I already have a lot of info there. 

The order of this may initially be out of sequence but I will try to arrange things properly with the most recent activity first when time permits.


Click on "read more" for the slideshow.

Tamales to Microphones. Legal Antics to Art

The day in photos and commentary.

From tamales to classic microphones. From legal antics to art. Thanks to Clyde Beswick at CB1 gallery, Kerri Cambell, my son Jack, the folks at Mezz, Gabriela, Keith, the folks in all the bands during the evening and everybody in the sessions last night.

The day started early as I had to have my son at jury duty at 8:30am.  I planned to only spend part of the day with him but as my interest grew in the antics of the court system I deceided to stay the remainder of the day.

About 9:30am there was a break so we had something for breakfast.  This photo is deceptive.  These tamales are about a foot long.

Many more photos below with a bit of dialogue