Happy New Gear

I wish I had something clever to say, but I don't.

Brotherly Fuzz

Buying gifts for other adults is hard, but fortunately buying gifts for my brother can be pretty easy.  Despite our differences, I think there is one way in which we're pretty similar: Buy either of us a video game or a pedal and you'll have done well.

Well, I did the former, and decided that he needed a fuzz.  After reviewing a number of the YouTube comparisons of the various Big Muff incarnations, I opted for the Triangle Muff Reissue.

Apparently it's good, and combined with the Mystery Brain 301 his significant other bought him, his board has gone from ho-hum to hum-dinger (groan).  I'm happy to report that I contributed the first two gain stages of this board.


Us and Them

Buying a fuzz for someone else drew into sharp relief the fact that I didn't have one myself, and I decided I was going to pick up another Triangle Muff for myself, until Kijiji decided it had other ideas:


The price was reasonable, and although I had to drive 45 minutes round trip to get it, I'm happy to report that it hasn't disappointed me so far.  The fuzz is fairly tame compared to some of the more modern fuzzes I had my eye on, but compared to the more subtle drives I tend to lean on, this in combination with the multi-head delay lends a pretty great sound for those Gilmour-ish lead lines.

Having said all that, multi-head delay is finicky, and the fuzz without it sounds bleh. Not necessarily a keeper at $300. $200 of that came from the sale of the Wampler Plexi-Drive Deluxe (which was $60 more than I paid two years ago).


 DeArmond Jet Star - $450

With Guild recently having reintroduced this model under their own brand, it's cool to see one of their older far-east versions in such great condition.

 As far as interesting looks go, this thing has it in spades - Its body looks like it was designed by some kind of Scandinavian table-design collective. 

 My only beef is with the price.  $450 seems kind of steep.



 Ampeg J12-T - $450, $500, $550...?

I have no problem with someone deciding, after the initial posting, that demand for the item was much higher than they had anticipated and as such adjust the price upwards.

Adjusting the price every day the post has been live, both up and down?  

Sheesh.

On to the amp... It looks great, doesn't it?


I had a one of these amps about a decade ago, without the tremolo (bass and treble eq controls instead).  I sold it for a song ($350?) on account of having a Blues Junior, and very much regret it these days. 

Not that I need another amp.

At $400 this would be a no brainer, and $450 isn't unreasonable.  At $500 though, and yes this is splitting hairs, I'm not sure that there aren't things out there that I'd rather have...


Fender Blues Junior Limited Edition - $500

Is it funny that the thing I might rather have is basically the amp that I kept instead of the Ampeg?

Well, I think it's funny.



You see, I had installed a Celestion V30 in my Blues Junior, which made it much louder to my ears and decidedly better sounding.  I think I ended up selling for $450, so many years later getting that amp back for effectively the same money, but in a special edition green, seems like a pretty good buy.

Sadly, I don't need another amp so, but if you're in the market I think this is a great buy.




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