guitarcapo

I had a 1990 Gretsch White Falcon I bought new that played nice but sounded like crap. It was one of the thinner ones with a double cutaway. Anyway back in those days there was no TV Jones so I sold it. I got a good price for it (the same $2400 I paid for it 8 years earlier) but now I just wish I hung onto it and replaced the pickups. Anyway I might buy one again if I can find that same model used and less than 2 grand.

If it has to be tube...and you want awesome cleans, no way around it...you are going to need WATTS. And watts in a tube amp is going to make WEIGHT. Mainly because watts is going to demand beefier transformers and speakers to handle that power. I suggest a 100 watt head with a separate cab for weight purposes. But if it has to be a combo...and you want it cheap. Maybe something like an early 1980's Fender Concert can be had for $600. They have lots of features, are PTP wired, and are 60 watts.

The whole idea behind preferring tubes to solid state happened in the 60's and early 70's when guitar players didn't like the overdrive sounds that solid state amps delivered. When you are talking about cleans and reliability...solid state is definitely better. Less noise like tube hiss. Especially ridiculous is the idea of a tube "bedroom amp"...people spending well into 4 figures for a 5 watt tube amp that's hand wired etc....Give me a Roland cube 30 for that situation any day.

If you have an amp that's really biased hot that uses EL84 tubes (like your typical Blues Junior right out of the factory) What you really want to buy are EL84M (the "M" stands for military grade) Russian tubes. They are also sometimes called 6P14P tubes. https://www.ebay.com/itm/6P14P-EV-EL...s/331813686890

Nice. What did you pay for it if you remember?

Walnut isn't so rare that they need to use pieces with sapwood like that....and if they do decide to do it for artsy effect, they should use it on the back to match the sides and bookmatch it better.

Step 1: Buy THIS on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sodium-Silicate-Solution-Waterglass-41-4-Oz-SHIPS-FAST-from-USA/191968947391 Step 2: Dilute it a bit with distilled water Step 3:Brush it on the spruce sound board you plan to use. Wait a few days and check out the awesomeness. Just use the wood as you normally would,,,

Amp looks like a Magnatone Maestro. They're O.K. but they have Ultralinear output transformers to increase headroom and I'm not a fan compared to their later 213, 250, 280 and 260 models

Could be an easy way to make a buck. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-OF-FOUR-4-MAGNATONE-REPLACEMENT-KNOBS-FOR-VINTAGE-250-260-280-AMPLIFIERS/283336877829

I would think that since they are so fine, just wiping the fingerboard with walnut oil would be enough to rehydrate and make them disappear. If they still were an issue at that point I would wick in a drop of super thin cyanoacrylate glue over them. Then immediately sand over the wet crack with 600 grit sandpaper. Any fine ebony dust falls into the crack and combines with the CA glue making the crack vanish. Maybe then go over the area with 0000 steel wool and buff it. This trick works better with ebony because the crack becomes a solid dark vein. With ebony this is black but with rosewood you get a dark looking vein line.

I've been on here since the late 90's But I kind of left after Trump won the election. Too depressing.

The problem with any heating process is that it destroys the cell walls of the wood. Nothing beats time. Basically what is left behind is a honeycomb of cellulose and lignin. Very strong. Very light weight. Very low damping. Torrefied tops might look old with the yellowing. They might be light weight from being dried out. But the damping factor is higher and the strength isn't there.

Heat the bridge. Pull it off. Clean the footprint down to bare wood. Clean the bottom of all the glue and crap. Glue it back with clamps. It's not rocket science. Wood putty and bolts are just wrong.