Phil O'Keefe

I don't own one now, but I've owned several different Ovations over the years, and I never had a problem with them sliding off my lap, even without the pad. YMMV.

IIRC that amp is the same basic circuit as the Riviera era Champ II's (not the Super Champ) - the main difference being the 15" speaker vs the 10" speaker in the Champ II.

Semi and hollowbody guitars are a PITB to work on. So much so that I'll usually just take them to someone else to deal with.

If you want to go with hardware, it's pretty hard to beat those inexpensive Behringer boxes. I already had a Roland TB-03, so I didn't get one of their Bassline clones, but I did pick up their Model D Minimoog clone and their Pro 1 (Sequential Pro One clone) and both are spot-on in terms of nailing the sound and basic functions of the synths they're based on. Both are monosynths, with no presets, so you'll need to create your own patches from scratch (and use photos or patch sheets if you want to "store" them for later "recall") but both are great deals on real analog synths. I also purchased a pair of the Roland JX-3P reproductions - the Roland Boutique series JX-03's. They're only 4 voice each (although you can cascade them for 8 voice operation), but otherwise quite nice recreations (via digital modeling) of early Roland polysynths. For drums I'm using Spark on my iPad and a Spark LE controller from Arturia. I like that it gives me all the classic drum machine sounds from the 808 to the 909, as well as digital (DMX) type sounds too. Lots of variety. They make Spark for the Mac too.

How long have they been in San Marcos?

I love Tonebenders. I have about three different takes on them - all clones. A Del Ray Custom Shop Pro Mk1+, a Monsterpiece MkII (which is really a Mk1.5), and a Park Fuzz Sound from Earthquaker, which is basically a Mk3. I also have a Mojo Hand FX Crosstown Fuzz, which is a hybrid Fuzz Face variant, which is of course not too dissimilar from a Mk1.5, as well as a DIY Fuzz Face clone I built. I typically use them with guitar and not bass. I really need to get a good MkII to round out the collection.

Bumping a classic thread... has anyone talked to Richard lately?

Our favorite local restaurant isn't even open for take-out. Early on in the stay at home order period I tried to call them to set up a to-go order because I wanted to support them... no dice. I hope they eventually come back after all of this is over...

We used to run ads in the past too... I always said they’d probably be coming back eventually.

If I found a tonewheel spinet (M-3, M-100, etc.) available locally for under $300 in decent condition, I'd buy it.

Nice! That was a fairly common complaint about some MIJ guitars of the era - very nicely built, but not always the best electronics. Fortunately, that's fairly easy to rectify.

Welcome to HC! Can you post some pics of your Yamaha? I'd love to see it.

First of all, welcome to Harmony Central! You're responding to an ad from 2014, so there's a good chance the seller no longer has the cabinet for sale, and that they won't see your post... but even if they did, it's best to connect via our private message system on the forums (hover your mouse over his user name, and when the pop-up box appears, click on "Message" in the lower-left corner of the box) instead of posting your name and phone number in the clear like you did - unfortunately, posting personal info like that in the open is just an invitation for spam and scam calls, etc. so I took the liberty of editing your post to remove that.

That really is sad - there's a definite difference between the sound of an ash and a alder Strat IMHO. I've owned and like both... but I sold my ash-bodied '57 AVRI to the original owner a few years back because he really regretted selling it and I felt bad for him, and now I'm going to have a really hard time trying to get another one.

I'm not sure I understand your question... are you asking if your guitar is made of alder? If it's made in the USA, it's probably alder. Fender USA usually only uses ash on the semi-opaque white finishes, and most of those are 50s reissues and not 62 reissues.