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Gear
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Confessions of a gear-head
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Okay, I'll admit it. I, Verne Andru, am a certified gear-head. There, I said it. My first attack with a phenomenon known in musical circles as GAS [Gear Acquisition Syndrome] was caused by the annual Sears Christmas Catalog. The Silvertone Amp-in-Case model 1457, offered circa 1964 and 1966, a particular favorite. I admit to finally satiating that gas in 2013 when I purchased a used Danelectro re-issue of that guitar. Truth-be-told, with modern manufacturing techniques the re-issues are far better instruments than the originals they're based on IMHO, so the wait was well worth it.
I also admit to being fortunate to get a solid grounding in practical electronics in high school and later at college, in spite of my focus on less academic pursuits. After a adolescent period where I was usually found under wires and other electronics I was disassembling in my bedroom, I spent a number of years in my teens working at a local high-end TV and stereo retailer doing car stereo instals and as bench tech fixing all sorts of electronics, with tube gear still being very prevalent at that time. | |||||
My second bout of GAS struck with the introduction of Yamaha's then-new YBA-100. Dubbed as the "Ampeg killer" [Ampeg was then maker of the top amplifier for bass guitar] I fondly remember drooling at Yamaha's showroom window. [The Yamaha showroom was just down the street from my job as a bench-tech so it wasn't really my fault - I had to walk by that window to get to work.] Not only was the visual design striking, its electronic design was brilliant in it's simplicity consisting of a powered preamplifier feeding multiple powered speaker cabinets. Each speaker cab contains a 100 watt RMS transistor power amp driving 3 x 8 0hm 12" bass speakers wired to produce 350 watts RMS. If you needed more, simply daisy-chain more 350 watt speaker cabinets. Yamaha even designed the cabinets so they can be stacked, allowing you to easily build a wall of 350 watt speaker modules. Awesome!
And, yes, this bout of GAS was vanquished when I purchase a used YBA-100 many years later. I'm nothing if not patient in my GAS attacks! It was a bit worse for wear when I got it, and suffered from a "hi-fi" tone they had been derided for. I replaced the particle board baffle with void-free plywood [everything else is ply, so they must have gone out of their way to use MDF] and the 3x12" speakers were replaced with a vintage 15" JBL K-140 and 2 x 400 watt neodymium 10's. The blue pinstriped grill cloth was pretty ratty, so I replaced it with some Marshal cloth. It's now one of the best sounding bass rig you'll ever find.
Humble beginnings in early garage bands brought me to electric guitar. During the '60's and '70's neighborhoods held local "sock-hops" on a weekend night at community centres as a general happening. It was at one such sock-hop that I found my first electric guitar - a Tiesco-made Silvertone being played by the guitarist for local band Windy City Syndicate. When the guitar later became available for sale, I eagerly anted up the $35 and took it home.
| That Silvertone did a number of things. Typical to Tiesco instruments of the day, it was a horrible playing and sounding thing. But through it I quickly discovered a soldering iron and a screw-driver were all I needed to start changing parts around, with a number of franken-guitars as the end product. To this day, I still tinker and modify guitars, amps, pedals, etc. in my on-going quest to find new and exciting tones, and to quell whatever GAS ails me at that moment. I typically prefer cheap gear I can hot-rod - that's were the fun is!
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While I was able to keep my GAS containted, the 21st century brought about a resurgence. The chance meeting over a parking spot lead to a long term collaboration with David Koltai and Brian Bethke of Absara Audio/Pigtronix/Supro. Dave was just out of college and interested in perusing his idea of creating a guitar effects company. He convinced me to use my decades of marketing/design experience to help him and Brian create their flagship product, company branding and launch materials. Ten years and counting later, Pigtronix is a leading innovator in the guitar effects market and Dave and Brian have purchased and re-launched the Supro line of instrument amplifiers from the 1960's.
Another musical collaboration occurred with my quest for the perfect bass guitar tone. That lead me to the Netherlands where Erno and team are making the finest neodymium-based guitar pickups on the planet. After installing a pair in my Yamaha bass, I became involved with Q-Tuner on a professional basis, helping them rewrite their website copy to better communicate their offerings to their English-speaking customers.
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The pursuit of my ideal guitar amplifier brought me to the Palomino V8. Apartment living meant I needed a tube amp that sounds great at low volume for recording and practicing as well as cranked into a mic for playing live. I generally prefer the sound of a 10" speaker. Effects loop, 3-band EQ and spring reverb were also on the list as well as ease of interconnecting with other devices.
With no single manufacturer making what I was after, I opted to get as close as I could and mod the rest. The Palomino V8, made in the US by Crate/St. Louis Music, was the only 5 watt, class A amp with a 10" speaker at the time. It was also the only one with an effects send/receive [labeled Line Out], making electronics mods significantly easier. It took some time, but I succeeded in turning my V8 into a fabulous sounding and versatile recording and practicing tool.
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I've also put my energies toward guitar design along the way. My love for early Silvertone guitars [blame Sears] brought me to some Longhorn archtop bodies abandoned after Danelectro [makers of the Silvertone Amp-In-Case] was dissolved in bankruptcy. Coupling these uber-cool bodies with modern necks, electronics with a Robert Benedetto infused design brought about the Danedetto. Three have been made to date: the original 6-string, a second 6-string owned by Dave Koltai and a 7-string that is one of my most played guitars.
And there's more! Here are a few pages with details on music gear related projects I've been involved with in my on-going GAS madness. Enjoy.
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