When I started playing the guitar what I really wanted was to play the electric. Something loud. Something purely rock and roll. But when mom picks up the tab for the lessons, she gets a lot of say in the matter. That meant it was a good year or so before I actually moved from studying the classical guitar to the electric. I was still in junior high when I got my first electric guitar. It was a Cort knock-off of a Les Paul. Not pretty. Barely functional. I still remember hearing voices and drums through the pickups. Not that it mattered. The thing weighed a ton and took a lot of abuse. It was also $99. The perfect price point.
At first, I played it through our old 70s vintage Pioneer receiver. It worked well for a time. I could really overdrive that bad boy when no one was around. But it wasn’t portable and I couldn’t really jam with other people. So I bought an amp. At $129 the Peavey practice amp was the best thing going. It had a pretty crunchy sound and could keep up with a drum kit. I saved my pennies and dimes (allowance, lunch money, and anything I made by mowing lawns or shoveling driveways) and eventually had the funds to take it home. To say I was excited doesn’t really cover it.
I used it for practicing in my room late at night. It travelled to college with me. Then on to New York City when I went to grad school. I drug it to the harsh winters of Minnesota and it kept me busy on long, boring nights in the corn fields of Iowa. And when I moved to Texas, it was in the back of the truck bopping down the road. But something changed. It always does.
It’s never a question of if a piece of gear will fail but rather when and how badly. When the end came for my old Peavey, it was serious. One channel was all gone and the other barely held on to its voice. So it is now ready for its final journey to the end of the road. The list of components that are salvageable is zero items long. Stuff like that wasn’t made for stripping for parts. And so a solid piece of gear passes into the night after about 22 years of loyal service. So long, old friend. You were truly the real deal.
And don’t you worry, the amp that replaced it pushes a lot more air and will more than do the job.
fish tank! fish tank!
fish tank! fish tank!