AM'er Musicians

[Vortex Joe - N3IBX]

Did you ever play in a gay six meter band?

No fella, but I did operate 40 and 75 Meters in the presence of a few "rumpwranglers" and "tailgunners" a few pavillions away from where we were.

Hey boy, therez jest two kindza men round here: queerz and steerz. AMerz are definitely the steerz!

[W5AMI]

Bassoon and Bari Sax.  I played Bassoon in the symphony and baritone sax in a jazz band.  Been a long time... Played Contra Bassoon twice as it was needed, but could not afford to buy one.  Seems like they were nearly 10K for a good one at the time.

[Steve W8TOW]

I play the guitar and harmonica, mostly blues and RR....
Everything from Clapton to REM, but then back to T-BONE Walker
and Sonny Boy Williamson...I started playing when I was 10, but
recently here in Michigan, I started takiing guitar lessons from
a instructor who is Chuck Berry's rhythm guitarist...I've learned more in
4 years from him about music than the previous 30 + years!

Main axe is a 1971 Kzoo made Les Paul Custom, then a '97 ES-135...
recently got a Taylor 214, acoustic...
Amps are 1962 Tremulux and a newer Fender HotRod Deville with 4 x 10" in it...
Rock-N-Roll man!
73 steve
8tow

[W1RKW]

Been playin' the guitar since my teen years. Took a few lessons but pretty much self-taught and learned by ear. In my 20's took up the piano.  Again, same thing, took a few lessons and did the rest on my own.  Played in a few R+R and punk bands in my late 20's and early 30's.  The last band we put some tunes on vinyl, that was back in the early 90's. Played different instruments in the various bands, played the guitar, bass and drums.   Loved the bass but not to good with the drums.  Today, it's just guitar (my main instrument) and the electronic keyboard.  Don't play much of others music these days.  I'm writing my own tunes these days, nothing published but just for my own fun and satisfaction, kind of like painting pictures. Enjoy the creative aspect of it.  Which leads me up to this question: Does anyone write their own music too?

Current instruments:
1957 Gibson Les Paul
Late model Yamaha acoustic
Roland Juno 106

[Dave KA2J]

Music is a big part of my life.  I've played a trumpet since grade four.  I play lead trumpet, manage, and direct an 18 piece Big Band that's been around since the mid 50's.  I book a couple of concerts a month for our all volunteer group.  We play for adult homes, senior centers, schools, and community events.  Most of the members in our group are very seasoned and excellent musicians!  Most are in their 80's and played in the Big Band era!  We play many original arrangements as well as plenty of old standards.

[W3SLK]

My dad used to play steel guitar when he was playing and singing with Jumpin Joe and the Haystack Jumpers No really he did play with a pretty good country band many years ago. The harmonic wails on the sax and manages pretty good on the baritone sax along with his Fender P-Bass. Because he started on the bass, I picked up the Strat which I play on an old Polytonics Baby Brute, (you jazz masters lookout).

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Tom:

As anyone who has read my bio on QRZ.com will know, I regularly play the zither. That Jimmy Buffet is a musical genius. But my busy schedule keeps me from playing as much as I would like.

http://www.qrz.com/wb3huz



Vortex Joe:

I didn't see any horns on you!


Don and the theremin crew:

Besides being used on tons of 50's horror movies, the theremin was also used in the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations." Which makes for an interesting trivia question: What do the Beach Boys and the KGB have in common?

Answer: Theremin.

For more on the life and times of Leon Theremin track down a copy of "THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY" video or catch it on the Discover or History channel. There's also a good on Theremin by Albert Glinsky. Or you can read the short version and get the scoop on the KGB connection here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Theremin

[W3SLK]

Steve, do you get that stuff fresh from market or does it come out of a can?

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Fresh, just like my sushi!

Steve, do you get that stuff fresh from market or does it come out of a can?

[Ed W1XAW]

What do you guitar players think of the Roland JC 90?  I picked one up cheap and not knowing too much about amps my quest for a tube amp is stalled.  Some days I love the sound after you muddy it up a bit with a blues driver but other days I can't stand it.  I also have a Marshall Master Lead Combo which is a a late sixties 30 W solid state thing that I play through quite a bit because it seems easiest to tame at night.  The JC 90 wakes the wife up no matter how low I turn it down.  The Marshall belonged to W1VZR, another AMer who messes around with music.  I've been eyeing the Hot Rod Deluxe.

Ed

[Glenn NY4NC]

Hi Ed;

The "JC" in JC90 stands for "Jazz Chours". To answer your question.... it depends on what type of guitar sound you want. If you're only going to play totally clean, absolutely no distortion, as in traditional jazz and country, then the JC90 will be fine. On the other hand, if you're going to play Rock with some level of distortion, get a tube amp. I won't go into a lengthy qualification, but trust me on this one... this is an area where I have mucho first hand experience. Distortion pedals are ok, (just ok at best) but aint nuthin like the sound of a good tube amp.

Thom KA1ZGC recently created a new website called "audiophools" where some of us have been discussing the finer points of tube vs transistor distortion. It's located in the "Live performance" section on;

http://audiophools.net/phpBB/

Here's one of the all time best, small, tube amps ever made. It's a Marshall Studio 15. Extremely simple design, three 12AX7's and a pair of 6V6's driving a single 12" Celestion speaker... that's it! They only produced them for a few years... grab one if you can find it! Only 15 watts but can sound like 100w when you crank it up. I've had mine for about 20 years now and I'd love to find another one!..

What do you guitar players think of the Roland JC 90?  I picked one up cheap and not knowing too much about amps my quest for a tube amp is stalled.  Some days I love the sound after you muddy it up a bit with a blues driver but other days I can't stand it.  I also have a Marshall Master Lead Combo which is a a late sixties 30 W solid state thing that I play through quite a bit because it seems easiest to tame at night.  The JC 90 wakes the wife up no matter how low I turn it down.  The Marshall belonged to W1VZR, another AMer who messes around with music.  I've been eyeing the Hot Rod Deluxe.

Ed

[K1KFI]

I believe that Anyone who has had musical training or talent might  be  attracted to ham radio.....being a musician is being a mathematician...
and that skill would translate to CW, which is a music unto itself... I studdied woodwinds and piano as a kid and actually made some college dough playing rock and roll...these days I play for fun and with my kids and do an occassional stint in the pit of our local community theatre. Too bad we can't jam on the air...hi hi!

[KA1ZGC]

Hi Ed;

The "JC" in JC90 stands for "Jazz Chours". To answer your question.... it depends on what type of guitar sound you want. If you're only going to play totally clean, absolutely no distortion, as in traditional jazz and country, then the JC90 will be fine. On the other hand, if you're going to play Rock with some level of distortion, get a tube amp. I won't go into a lengthy qualification, but trust me on this one... this is an area where I have mucho first hand experience. Distortion pedals are ok, (just ok at best) but aint nuthin like the sound of a good tube amp.

Hey Ed, I've got a Roland BC-60 which is all solid-state. I am very pleased with the sound. Roland doesn't build junk for the most part.

Don't know about the JC-90, but the BC-60 has a switchable distortion characteristic which does a fair job mimicking the "tube sound" that Glenn and I both went into lengthy discussion of on my site. Like anything audio, it all depends on what you're trying to get out of it. There aren't too many quality issues with the Roland line. Hell, mine survived getting soaked in a thunderstorm on the way to Hosstraders a couple of years ago!

Thom KA1ZGC recently created a new website called "audiophools" where some of us have been discussing the finer points of tube vs transistor distortion. It's located in the "Live performance" section on;

http://audiophools.net/phpBB/

TNX fer the unsolicited plug, Glenn! Sadly, I've been slacking since I fired it up, and I'm actually glad the traffic has been slow. I'll get into the marketing blitz after I sort out a few other life issues.

Here's one of the all time best, small, tube amps ever made. It's a Marshall Studio 15. Extremely simple design, three 12AX7's and a pair of 6V6's driving a single 12" Celestion speaker... that's it! They only produced them for a few years... grab one if you can find it! Only 15 watts but can sound like 100w when you crank it up. I've had mine for about 20 years now and I'd love to find another one!..

There are a number of knockoffs these days that use that same basic arrangement. If you find one, Ed, I would recommend buying up some spare bottles at your friendly local hamfester. 6V6s, 6L6s, and even 12AX7s are going for stupid amounts of money online.

Or, for that matter, you could homebrew one out of your own 12AX7s and 6L-or-V6s. Just gotta find the right outpoot iron and speaker. Everything else is junkbox parts for us hams.

Slightly off-topic: when do you think you'll be firing up from NC, Glenn?

--Thom
Kilowatt Amplifier One Zero Grid Current

[Glenn NY4NC]

And this from a guy who drives a PT Cruiser... 

Did you ever play in a gay six meter band?

[Glenn NY4NC]

Hey Thom,

Cool.., maybe we can stir up some activity on you new site when you're ready for incoming  ... there must be quite a few folks here who would become active based on the interest in this thread. 

Regarding my move to NC, we're in contract on our house in NY (thank God!) so assuming our buyers don't have any major problems with their mortgage, we're good to go. Closing has been set for Oct 20-24th so we'll be living high on the hog in Winston Salem by the end of Oct. (which I jokingly call "the cigarette town") Gotta build the hamshack in the basement, so hope to be spewing RF by Christmas.

.....and to keep it on topic, I'm seriously thinking about buying a Telecaster and joining a country band when I get down there! 


Glenn NY4NC

Nothern Yokel 4  Nervous Cracker

Slightly off-topic: when do you think you'll be firing up from NC, Glenn?

--Thom
Kilowatt Amplifier One Zero Grid Current

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Jealousy is a terrible thing. 

And this from a guy who drives a PT Cruiser... 

Did you ever play in a gay six meter band?

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

http://audiophools.net/phpBB/

Interesting start over there. I noticed this posted there.

Let's pretend you know absolutely nothing about tubes, and nothing about transistors. Both essentially function as voltage-controlled current valves. Over most of their operating range, a given change in input voltage results in a given change in current flowing through the device, and that proportion remains mostly constant. This portion of the device's range is known as the "linear" range, because in this range the ratio of input voltage change to output current change is constant.

I don't think this is correct. A bipolar transistor is a current-controlled amplifier. That is a very small amount of current flowing from emitter to base controls a very large current flowing emitter-to-collector (in the PNP case). Or looking at it another way, it's the transfer of an input signal current from a low resistance circuit to a high resistance circuit (a.k.a. trans-resistor). How much difference this makes in the rest of the discussion is probably little or none.

I've seen a lot of claims regarding the differences in the sonic qualities between tube and solid state amps, but little scientific data to back it up.

[K3ZS]

I started on the accoordion in the early 50's (argh!!)  Taught myself the electric guitar with some help from some good players.  Went to Penn State and organized rock bands.  Played lead guitar and singer, earned my way thorough Penn State.  Had one of the Sears Silvertone amplifiers with four 6L6s, two independent push-pull stages feeding two 12 inch speakers.  Still have that and it still works.  In later years I got a keyboard and started playing that with a few local fun groups, using a Crate keyboard amp.  Started playing with a fun folk and celtic group that my brother was a part of.  Started playing keyboard and my old 120 bass accordion with them.  A few years ago I found a used 12 bass accordion but with musette reeds, the type used in Cajun and Irish music.  It was much lighter and sounded better that the dry tuned monster 120 bass.  So what goes around comes around.  I am using the same type of beginners accordion I learned on.  I play it every year at a St. Patricks day party.  It sounds pretty good after having a few tumblers of Jamison on the rocks.

[Glenn NY4NC]

Don't need no stinkin scientific data when there is an obvious audible difference in a side by side comparison.  I'm talkin guitar distortion, not hi-fi amps...

I've seen a lot of claims regarding the differences in the sonic qualities between tube and solid state amps, but little scientific data to back it up.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

That's exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Unless those side-by-side listening tests were double-blind, they were bogus. You keep this up and you'll make the audiophool hall of fame!

[Glenn NY4NC]

In this case, the "audio fool" is the one who believes there is no difference between tube and solid state guitar distortion. Of course, you can believe what you like, but it sounds like you're speaking strict theory, not experience. ...I've personally done these side by side comparisons regarding solid state vs tube guitar distortion, many times over the years... as I said, the difference is obvious. I'll clarify again... I'm speaking about intentional guitar distortion..not the subtle differences between tube and solid state hi-fi amps... A while back, I ran my own business, electronic repair service for several high volume NY NJ music stores. I also provided warranty repair services for several major manufacturers. At any given week, I had an average of 20 to 30 guitar amplifiers in for repair or modifications. This afforded me the opportunity to do a regular direct comparison between solid state and tube distortion. Rock guitar distortion, present on just about every Rock recording since the early days of Rock music. If you sat me down blindfolded in front of  Hi-Fi solid state and tube amps and played a Bach CD, I'm sure I could be "fooled" but that's an entirely different situation.

That's exactly the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Unless those side-by-side listening tests were double-blind, they were bogus. You keep this up and you'll make the audiophool hall of fame!

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

You used the term believe, thus making my point. I'm not looking for belief, but some scientific data. I never said I believed or thought one way or the other on the tube vs solid-state topic. That was your assumption.

You might be surprised how many times you'd be fooled doing double blind tests on guitar amps. It's too easy to let your preconceived notions, previous experience and what you see/know, let you "hear" certain things. Then again, with your finely tuned ear, maybe you would pick out tube from solid state. But without such a test, it's all supposition.

Direct, side-by-side comparisons, unless done in double blind fashion, not scientifically legitimate. That's not me saying it, that's people way smarter than me. And that's the whole point of making fun of audiophools and the non-scientific claims they make. And that was my original point. It was not a comment on your experience and the depth of your background. Please don't take it personally.

This is all provable scientific theory and has nothing to do with audiofoolery. Studies as long ago as WWII done by the military showed solders thought they saw tanks in low light situations when exposed to just the sounds/noises from tanks.

That said, I don't discount there are differences between tube and solid state amps, in many cases. It would be somewhat surprising if there weren't, given the differences in design, construction, transfer characteristics, output impedances, etc.

[W2VW]

That said, I don't discount there are differences between tube and solid state amps, in many cases. It would be somewhat surprising if there weren't, given the differences in design, construction, transfer characteristics, output impedances, etc.

2 words: Matti Otala.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Yep, and the associated debates on TIM and negative feedback. It's somewhat ironic that one of the most famous of the amps designed on his theories used a fair amount of negative feedback because the designers decided it "sounded better" with the added feedback.

Bob Sickler also did a lot of work looking at the interaction between the amp and the speaker, specifically the variation in load presented by the speaker over frequency.

[W3SLK]

When you get right down to it, tubes, transistors, pills . Its whatever satisfies the performers ear. Most musicians gravitate to amps with tubes. Now-a-days, you can program a solid MOSFET amp like a Line 6 to sound like a 58 Fender Tweed! I challenge anyone to tell the difference, (if there are those who remember what a Tweed sounds like) Its all about how gritty you want your sound.