Site Updates: Additional photos

As part of maintaining this site, I occasionally go through and find typos, update missing or incomplete information, or find things I think could use new photos or details. I’m always learning new bits of historical or technical information and I try to add things like that too.

It’s a pretty time consuming task as it now constitutes a bit over 500 pages - enough to trigger a warning from my host about size - so it’s more of a “rolling” approach, where I update one page at a time with big gaps in between. Occasionally though, I make an effort to make some larger scale updates and today I wanted to mention that I’ve added additional photos for a large number of guitars. Check out the list below for updated photos:

And a few minor updates, mainly the main photos (top of the page, front/back profiles) were poor on these pages so I took new ones:

Here’s a quick example of the old vs new profile pictures. I’m not sure what I was thinking with the red blanket hanging back there… fixed now. The amps make for a much prettier backdrop.

I still have a couple of things on the to-do list…

Thanks for reading!

New Amp: 1999 Brunetti 059

Thanks to a friend of mine located in Europe, I was able to get my hands on one of these amps. Brunetti is fairly unknown here in the US but I’ve been lucky enough to play an XL and own a (still partially broken) XL-REVO II, and both of those have been fantastic amps.

The 059 is a more classic voiced amp, aimed a little more at vintage hard rock tones than the XL or XL REVO which are both fire breathing metal monsters out of the box (not that they can’t do great vintage tones too of course).

The panel looks a little complicated at first glance, but it makes sense once you are up close. The first three knobs on the left near the input are the gain controls - one for each channel, Clean, Crunch, and Solo. Then each channel has a 3-band EQ and a master volume control, and these are cluster together in this “stairstep then drop” pattern - bass, middle treble, then the one towards the bottom is the volume control right next to the push-button channel select switch. Each channel also has some addtional tone shaping options I’ll cover individually.

The clean channel is really fantastic for a high gainer, with a lot of lively character that makes it interesting to listen to - it’s not flat or sterile at all. The gain control has a bright switch attached which has a very strong impact on the tone especially with single coils and adds a lot of sparkle. It’s not a feature heavy channel, but the tone is superb.

The Crunch and Solo channels are similar looking, but they do have a clearly audible difference in their basic structure. The Solo channel is much looser and thicker by default, but not in a metal-amp saturated kind of way, which might put some players off. It’s really aimed more for your thicker, flowing, 70s era solo tones - I hear Highway Star solo tones in it.

The Crunch channel on the other hand has a much more defined low end for rhythm riffing, and still has plenty of gain on tap, but won’t satisfy for the most extreme metal styles without a boost. I do find this channel to be a bit anemic until the yellow “Shift” button is pressed, which adds a ton of low mid chunk to the sound. For my playing style, the Shift stays on all the time but I can see a use case with lower gain tones without it, or especially as a variation on a clean or “edge of breakup” type tone. Basically, you can get that type of sound with the gain turned up on the clean channel, or with the gain turned down on this channel - very nice.

Both channels have a “mellow” switch, and this cuts some of the high end and tapers it off more quickly. It interacts well with the presence control, and you can get some unique tones by arranging them opposite to each other (ex high presence but mellow on, or vice versa). And the last interesting feature is the “crunch/solo tone reverse” which simply swaps the tone stacks between the two channels. This lets you use the Solo channel’s higher gain but with the tone settings (and tighter low end) of the crunch channel. It’s not a perfect channel clone or anything, and it’s not intended to be, it’s just a nice feature for giving some versatility to either channel because you effectively have two different sets of EQ with different circuit values you can use for whatever you need.

Other features include an effects loop with send and return controls, a line out, and has many functions that are MIDI controllable. It also has the very cool feature of a 1U rack space underneath the chassis, something I’ve only seen from Brunetti and is a great home for my Yamaha SPX90.

I did have to rewire this to 120V, but the transformers still had the wires all ready to go and taped off. I sent a quick email to Marco Brunetti (who has been very responsive to my emails!) who confirmed I had the right wires, so it was an easy job.

Of course, this keeps fueling my need to acquire more Brunetti amps. There is a second edition of the 059 with some different features I’d love to compare with, and I’m also really wanting a Pirata 141. The Pirata 141 “valvemix” has a knob that allows the user to adjust the amount of two different power tubes in the circuit - by default a pair of 6L6 and a pair of EL34. This is similar to the Egnater Renegade (which I had, and sold) but I’m interested to hear Brunetti’s take on this idea, especially since the Pirata seems geared a little more towards high gain sounds than the Egnater was.

Either way, I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for more of these great amps!

New Guitar: Kramer Stagemaster Transparent Blue

I’ll spare you all the usual “I should not be buying more guitars” talk here, even if it is true. I am at a point though where I’m starting to focus on only buying and keeping the really good ones - and any Stagemaster to me is one of those good ones. I spotted this one online at GC and missed it… it popped up again and I didn’t wait and bought it immediately. It was well priced but didn’t include the case, so I was very worried it would show up damaged or otherwise mistreated.

While awaiting delivery, a fellow Kramer collector posted about it on the kramerforumz, and he had returned it due to some shipping damage on the lower side of the body. I gave up hope at that point and figured I’d be taking it straight to return, but I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived - yes it has a sizable spot of damage through to the wood which is really regrettable, but this is still in excellent shape and at the price I decided I’d keep it.

The bridge humbucker has been replaced by a Dimarzio, I haven’t pulled it but there are only 3 possible options with this pole + bar arrangement: the D-Sonic, Crunch Lab, and now discontinued MegaDrive. I feel fairly certainly looking at the age and appearance that this is a MegaDrive, which I’ve actually had several of in the past and it is a great pickup. It has lower output but more mids than those more recent pickups… although I may end up swapping it and putting another Seymour Duncan in here just to make it all match up. We’ll see, I’m not in a rush.

It plays great, and has a very flat back of neck feel similar to my champagne colored Stagemaster (interestingly, my other 3 have much more rounded off necks). If the serial number decoder is correct, this guitar was very late, November of 1988, and the champagne one was July. All of the others are earlier in the year (April-June) so perhaps the neck shape was modified at a certain point, or maybe it’s just classic Kramer where the neck shape varied week to week depending on how they felt that day.

The finish is absolutely glorious of course - I love these transparent colors and the wood grain is especially cool on a neck-through instrument like this. All of my Stagemasters are firmly in my “keepers” list so I’m glad to have another.

More photos here

Introducing The Cabinets

Here at Totally Rad Guitars, we talk about Guitars (obviously) and more and more lately amplifiers. However there is an absolutely crucial, key component to any sound - the cabinets and speakers. In fact, as someone sitting in a room with 50+ amps, I’d argue a high quality cab and speakers are at least as important as the amp itself and maybe more so to some degree.

Now despite the huge collection here, I’m very frugal - I always buy used, sometimes damaged goods, and I’m not afraid of a repair. So I’m not saying “Go out and replace the speakers in your cab with some fancy brand new Celestions.” Just wanted to get that out of the way first thing. If you do a little research, there are some incredible cabs out there for amazing prices.

One other thing that is important to mention before we get started: I’m not as familiar with other makers, but Celestion Speakers have a LOT of variations even within the same model. For example, you might look at a speaker like the G12-65 and think there’s just the 4, 8, and 16 ohm variants. Well there’s more - construction differences, dust cap differences, material and glue differences, 55hz or 75hz cones, and more changed over the production run. I’m not an expert in this area but if you are very particular, be sure to find the T#### code and year of the speakers you like to help you find them again. It’s also why it is so difficult to discuss speakers online, because one person who played a 2017 T75 probably thinks it’s a scooped piece of crap while a 1987 T75 sounds like it’s from a different planet in comparison, but has the same model name.

Ok, this is going to be a long article so settle in. Let’s introduce the cabinets I’ve been using, starting with this 1986 Marshall JCM800 1960A 4x12:

Those of you who have watched my videos are probably familiar with this cabinet, and this is the first 4x12 I ever bought for myself so I’ve had it for a pretty long time. This was another Jimmy’s Vintage Music purchase, and it sports its original 1986 year Celestion G12T-75’s. Made in the UK, as all Celestions were at that time, these were originally based on the G12-65 which were used in JCM800 Lead cabinets from ~1981-1985. Very early T75’s have a small vent on the magnet, but the ones in my cabinet are slightly newer than that and lack the vent. Mine have the standard configuration of a 1777 cone, which is a 75Hz cone, and a 35oz “medium” magnet. Unlike a modern T75, these are relatively dark speakers, very thick in the mids and a bit rolled off on the high end. Some of that may be due to breaking in, but it’s true that the construction is a bit different than a modern one so it’s some of both.

As for the cab itself, it’s a birch plywood cabinet with a center support post. Interestingly, the back panel is MDF particle board, and the speakers are rear-loaded and configured to 16ohm Mono with a deep plastic “cup” jack just below the small metal serial number plate. Side handles are plastic and mounted with rivets. It came with casters but I always set my cabs on the floor as I feel that enhances their bass and resonance in the room. This cab is really the gold standard to compare other cabs to, both within my own collection and in the guitar world as a whole really - what is more iconic than a Marshall stack? It measures square at 29.5 inches width and height. It’s 14 inches deep at the base and 11 inches deep at the top.

I have temporarily rewired it so that each pair of speakers in an X pattern has its own jack, which lets me use two heads at once through the cab in 8ohm (easy for AB testing), and I can still use all four speakers with two speaker cables. This is the same as many other cabs, such as slightly later 1960A’s which have the stereo/mono panel on the back which started with JCM900 cabinets.

Next is a very similar cab, a 1992 Marshall 6960LE which is part of a matching set with the polished brass plated 6100LE head.

Marshall released these cabinets to pair alongside the 30th Anniversary edition amplifiers, the 6100. Models with the blue tolex and gold logo were only available in 1992 and in extremely limited number - 800 heads and 500 1x12 combo amps. I can’t find the precise production numbers for cabinets, but I think it’s safe to assume there are roughly 800 of these 6960ALE cabs as well, to match the heads, and a smaller number of non-slant 6960 “B” cabinets as a full stack was available too.

There are also non-limited edition models, signified with a more standard white plastic Marshall logo, and in the case of the head, lacks the polished brass plating. The cabinets in this series are simply called “6960A” and “6960B” without the “LE.” These kept the gold piping and blue tolex of the limited edition models.

Both the limited, standard, and even the JCM900 Lead 1960A/B cabinets all used the same quad of Celestion G12T-75 speakers, and are all built with the same construction materials and dimensions (the same as the above 80s cabinet). That’s a birch ply body with center post, rear loaded, but with an MDF back panel. The most notable departure from the 80s era Marshall cabinets is the speaker jack panel, which instead of a single jack in a plastic “cup,” is a larger black plastic panel with two jacks and a switch in between. This allows these cabinets to be used in “stereo” configuration - which is quite simply, plug into the left and you get the left two speakers, plug into the right and you get the right two speakers. The nice thing about the wiring of these cabinets is that you can use all four speakers in either 4 ohm or 16 ohm configurations, or a pair of speakers in 8 ohm - very nice when you have a lot of amps like me where not every amp has all of the options for impedance.

From a purely practical standpoint, it’s the same as any other Marshall standard cab. These early “black label” T75’s sound much like their earlier white label predecessors so the two cabs are roughly equivalent, which means I use the 80s one the majority of the time since it’s not a fancy limited edition.

This is a 1996 Fender Tone-Master 4x12, which was given to me by my father.

I am sadly missing the matching 90s Tone-Master head at the time of writing, but for now my blonde Super-Sonic 100 will have to do for the photo-op. This cabinet has a quad of 1996 year Celestion Vintage 30’s, which is an “H” magnet speaker (50oz) with a notable high-mid spike. Combined with the relatively smaller size of this cabinet (it measures 27 x 27.5 x 13 inches) it is a bit more cutting with less oomph in the low end than my other cabinets.

I actually inherited this from my dad, who bought it brand new at Portman’s Music in Savannah Georgia. Instead of the Tone-Master head, he picked out a matching blonde/oxblood Deluxe Reverb Reissue and used that for many years, with a Radioshack 33-3005 microphone and a Yamaha QY700 sequencer plugged in to the other inputs of that amp. Definitely not the traditional wisdom when it comes to these things, but I have a lot of fond memories of him playing and singing in the house with that setup.

When I went off to college, I had a Vox AD30VT but when I eventually moved out of the dorms, I wanted something a bit more serious and ended up with a Marshall TSL. My dad temporarily gifted me this cabinet (much to my downstairs neighbor’s disappointment), although I only had it for a short while before I downsized to the Egnater 1x12 (which I still have, more details below).

Jumping ahead many years, I eventually took this cabinet into my collection again, but this time in a house where I could actually play through it. My dad still has the Deluxe Reverb.

On to the 1998 Hughes and Kettner Triamp Cabinet.

This is my most recent cabinet acquisition, and one I’ve been hunting for a while now. It really started with this idea that I was going to flesh out my youtube channel with more comparison videos - between amps, speakers, pickups, pedals, and so on. I realized that I have a lot of T75’s and V30’s, which is great, but especially with my preference for 80s metal tones I really felt like I was missing out by not having some kind of greenback, blackback, or other late 70s/early 80s type speaker. During this time, I picked up a few orphaned singles and pairs of speakers, but after doing some research and discovering that these cabinets came with UK Greenbacks stock, I figured this was my best chance at a bang-for-the-buck cabinet that fit my requirements - even if that meant trashing the wooden box itself. Keep in mind, a quad of 90s UK Greenbacks regularly cost upwards of $600, yet this entire cab only cost me $400… can’t beat that, even if maybe I would’ve picked something else if money were no concern.

The speakers are as expected - excellent, superb even. Maybe the most particular people might prefer real 60s/70s era G12M’s, or maybe modern Scumbacks, but for the cost I really don’t think this can be beaten. The cabinet itself is very conflicting to me - it is entirely constructed of MDF, and as such weighs an absolute ton. It is front loaded, which doesn’t bother me really but it is a bit strange for a cab loaded with such a “traditional” speaker. It has extremely high quality metal handles, recessed from the sides, and glued with soft foam seal around them which is a really nice detail and adds a lot of confidence to moving it around despite the weight. The rear panel has two jacks, which allow each pair of speakers to be used separately at 4 ohms, or all 4 speakers used together at 8 ohms if only the leftmost jack is used. It measures barely smaller than a standard Marshall cab, at 29 x 29 inches tall and wide, 14 inches deep at the base but only 10.5 inches deep at the top.

Next up, a 2003 Mesa Rectifier Traditional cabinet.

This was the second cabinet I purchased for myself to pair with my Marshall JCM800 1960A and give me some more options. This Mesa “traditional” sized rectifier cabinet is extremely high quality, built from birch ply all around with metal handles. It’s about 3 inches shorter in height than the “standard” rectifier cabinet, which most people call “oversized” for comparison’s sake to other manufacturers. The traditional cab however, is essentially the same size as your gold standard Marshall cabinet. It measures 29.5 x 29.5 inches tall and wide, with the base at 14 inches deep and the top around 11 inches deep. I’ll admit, I would’ve preferred to have the oversized cab just for flavor’s sake, but that doesn’t make this any less of a great cab - if I could only have one, this would be it construction-wise. Since I have… 3 other similarly sized cabs though, it’d be nice to have something a little different.

It comes equipped with a quad of 8 ohm Celestion Vintage 30’s, UK made and dating to the year 2003. I’m certainly not as familiar as some when it comes to all of the details of Vintage 30’s, but from what I understand 2003 is considered to be one of the “good years.” Regardless of online opinion, I can say that this is a fantastic sounding cab and the speakers are a huge part of that. At some point, I’ll have to put a pair of the ‘96 V30’s from my Fender into this and compare to see whether I like those or the ‘03 variants more.

Otherwise, there isn’t much more to say - it’s a workhorse, and my second most used cab just behind my JCM800 1960A.

Lastly, I have a 2012 Egnater Tweaker 1x12.

I picked this up used back in 2012 to downsize my apartment rig. This is a partial open-back cab with a removable rear grille, and is completely birch-ply construction. It’s not a true “convertible” cab as some modern ones are, but it’s also very easy to convert to open back or closed back - a few screws and the two small rear panels pop right off for open back, and I used a piece of wood cut to the shape of the grille area with mounting tape that I can simply slot into the rear for a closed back feel (ok, maybe there’s a tiny gap in between the wood panels). Either way, this is a very nice cabinet especially for the price I paid at the time which was basically just the cost of the speaker - a Chinese made Celestion G12H-30 Anniversary. More recent Tweaker 1x12 cabs no longer come with this speaker and instead are equipped with a G12H-50 which is an OEM model produced for Egnater (and likely other manufacturers too). It measures 20 x 14.5 x 10.5 inches.

This is my favorite “test bed” cabinet because it is so easy to quickly swap out speakers, it sounds good with just about anything in it, and since I’ve accumulated quite a few singles it gives me something to use them in. Currently, I have this loaded with a 1982 Celestion G12-80 with the 55Hz 444 cone, and that is by far my favorite single speaker I’ve tried so far. Perhaps the 55Hz cones might have too much low end in a 4x12 setting, but it really rips here and I’d love to get my hands on another if the right deal comes up.

Otherwise, here are the loose speakers I currently have. I also had a (not pictured) Marshall 1931 1x12 cab which I sold rather quickly, and a really unique 1970s Kasino cab (made by Kustom) which I bought super cheap and pulled out the speakers - someone had loaded it with a pair of T75’s and a pair of M70’s which you can see pictured below.

Alright, if you made it, thanks for sticking around! Next time it won’t be so long, since I’ll be updating as I get new speakers and cabs now. Now to get to work on those comparisons…

New Amp: Diezel VH2

I’ve been watching this amp sit at a local shop for a while - one I’ve talked about before, and funnily enough, the same place I got my Diezel Einstein last year: Jimmy’s Vintage Music. If you are ever in the Tampa or Central Florida areas, I’d HIGHLY encourage you to go check out this shop. It’s run by one guy - Jimmy of course - and he maintains one of the best high end vintage guitar stores I’ve ever seen. I feel lucky to live close enough that I can make it out there occasionally, and now that he updates the site pretty often with new gear, it’s really convenient (I remember when he used to list occasional things on craigslist but you never really knew what he had in stock back then!).

Anyway, he’s had this VH2 for a little while. It’s an amp on my list, but I always figured I’d eventually get my hands on a VH4 someday so it was never a huge priority, especially for the prices I was seeing them for elsewhere online. After seeing the price drop on this one locally though, I had to jump on it, so I drove down there last week with a pair of Ibanezes as potential trades. I ended up keeping the guitars… no problem there, and I suspect Jimmy’s clientele are more into the classic Fender/Gibson type stuff. I have to mention that Jimmy is a really great guy to deal with - he was honest about what he could and couldn’t take in trade based on his regulars, and still gave me a really fair price on the amp to buy it outright. Let me put it this way, I’ve been there many times, and I’ve always left very happy.

No surprise, the amp is in pristine shape - original footswitch included. These have only been out for a few years, and this one is quite recent by my standards as a 2021 model. This is a two channel amp designed for a little more mass appeal, sort of your entry point into the Diezel sound for the low low price of $3000 brand new. A quick overview of the model lineup at the time of writing: The VH2 is the least expensive model in the lineup of “full size” heads, alongside the Hagen, Herbert, and VH4, all of which are $4000+. There is also a line of smaller form factor heads - but unlike other manufacturers, the smaller heads are still beasts, with the VHX and D-Moll sporting 100w power sections. The other “small” heads are the 45w Paul and BigMax (with the BigMax being the least expensive in that form factor at $2500 with only a single channel).

In short, if you want to get into the Diezel sound, the VH2 is the go-to amp for a lot of people just based on price and features alone. The VH2’s Channel 1 is based on the Paul’s clean channel, which is well regarded for a high gain amp. The real highlight though, and I suspect the main reason most are interested in this amp, the VH2’s Channel 2 is supposedly the same as the VH4’s famous Channel 3.

I’m not as familiar with the buzz around this myself - I’ve listened to some Tool, like a few tracks, but it’s not the tone I dream about late at night (that’s not to say it isn’t good of course). I also know Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan are big users of the VH4 in general, channel 3 included. I wouldn’t dare call it “overhyped,” but there is definitely a subset of guitarists who are a bit fanatical in their appreciation of the VH4 Channel 3’s sound and whoever uses it.

Okay, hype aside how does it sound? Well, I haven’t played a VH4 yet so I really can’t compare to that yet. I will say it’s a chunky sounding amp, but much brighter than the Herbert Mk1 when I A/B tested them. It also has far less gain than I expected, and a little less low-mid gut punch. I think I had in my mind it was going to be a heavy metal amp, and it can be, but it’s certainly less saturated than the Herbert for example, and it doesn’t get as gainy as my Einstein either. Of course, boosting with a tubescreamer sounds great, a la single channel JCM800, but this is no Marshall clone by any stretch. It’s hard to say really, because I need to spend a little more time with it to really feel out what it can do. It didn’t blow my socks off immediately like I felt the first time I played a Herbert, but I think a lot of that is just my approach to a new amp, where I crank the gain and rip out some heavy riffs. That’s not to say it isn’t an excellent amp for heavier tones, I think I just need to coax it a little bit more and admittedly I’ve been busy, so I’m only a few hours into spending time with it as I write this. It does get a little undefined with the gain too high, so that’s kind of limiting - in order to keep some clarity, I have the gain at about 1-2 O’clock, but that’s not enough saturation for my liking.

As for the clean channel, it’s an acceptable clean channel but it definitely doesn’t wow me. It’s very flat, and probably great for effects or with an EQ to shape your sound to what you want, but on its own it’s a bit plain. It does sound really good with the gain cranked up as a pseudo-crunch channel though, with very natural feel to the overdrive.

Construction, fit and finish, and quality are all absolutely top tier and it shows. The preamp tubes are PCB mounted but that never bothered me, but I know some feel differently especially in this price range. It has absolutely massive transformers, and my understanding is that these are the same ones as the full size VH4. Of course, it still has me thinking about the VH4 and wondering what I can get out of that amp’s Ch2 and Ch4… I guess that’s the point.

More pictures here

New Guitar: 1990 Kramer Proaxe Special in Pearly White

There have been a lot of really appealing guitars posted for sale lately, maybe everyone else like me who accumulated a lot of nice gear during COVID is finally letting go… or maybe this is another “found it in the closet” situation. I came close to pickup up a few but I really need to tighten my belt right now. Either way, someone traded this gorgeous pearl white Proaxe Special into GC and I jumped on it. I probably overpaid a little bit for this one, but this is a pretty exciting one - I’ve always got Proaxe money.

Proaxes were Kramer’s final hurrah just before bankruptcy and are very unique guitars. It’s really a shame they didn’t hold out for another year or two because I really believe these are some of the finest bolt-on neck guitars ever made. It may look like a more standard late 80s Kramer Pacer Imperial, but there are quite a few differences. This is the “Special” model, which has a more standard H-H pickup layout. There is also the “Standard” which is H-S and the “Deluxe” which is H-S-S. The vast majority of these were made in either solid black or black sparkle, which makes any color including this pearl white fairly rare.

The most obvious key difference is that neck - an ebony fretboard, 24 3/4” scale, and an extremely thin R1 nut width. There’s really nothing else like it, aside Nightswans maybe. It’s really a shame that before this guitar, and since, no one has made a really nice thin neck shredder quite like this - yeah I love my Ibanezes, Charvels, and more but they don’t quite have this feel. This particular example has a reversed headstock, just like the catalogs. I have another Proaxe with a non reversed neck so it’s cool to have both. this neck also has an absolutely stunning flame to it which looks amazing in the right light.

Moving on to the body, it’s equipped with a unique bridge as well - the recently discontinued Floyd Rose Pro. This was also the first guitar to have a Floyd Pro, and it’s a truly superb bridge. Adding to firsts, this is also the first guitar to have the Seymour Duncan Parallel Axis humbucker, which at the time of release was simply called “Trembucker,” which is also stamped on the bottom plate of the pickup. I absolutely adore these pickups, and I’ve had all 3 models now (this is equivalent to the original PATB-1, but there is also a PATB-2 and PATB-3 now). There’s something about it that just feels slinky, easy to play, but there’s still a lot of mids and punch so it’s not a scooped pickup either. The body is also unique, both because of its unique contours and shaping as it evolved from the 7/8 soloist body shape, but also its mahogany construction.

It lacks the 3 knob and mini-toggle of its Pacer Imperial predecessor, in trade for a larger standard 3-way switch and a simple volume & tone control layout. I do like those 3-knob Pacers, especially early ones that were configured as two vol one tone, but there’s certainly something to be said for simplicity and easy of use here.

Overall, this is one of the best playing guitars in my entire collection and come to think of it, I’ve never had a Proaxe that wasn’t incredible. I think that holds true for a lot of players, because they only made a few hundred of these at most and almost every one I’ve seen has its share of battle scars and playing marks. I really think almost every Proaxe has been played quite a bit, compared to other models where you occasionally find a pristine example, that’s much harder to find here. That doesn’t stop me from loving these though, and I’m so glad to have a pair of them. Now all I have to do is find one of the 5? 10? maple fretboard Proaxes out there.

One side note, if you have one of these and ever ship it, for goodness sakes, do not allow it to slide around inside the case. These headstocks are extremely fragile, moreso than earlier Kramers it seems, and it really pains me to see such a special neck that will never be produced again destroyed. Remember, it doesn’t matter how much padding you place around the headstock, if the headstock can touch the inside of the case when the body slides around, it’s as good as broken. Think of it like protecting an endangered species!

More pictures here

New Amp: 2005 Brunetti XL R-EVO II

I have been on the lookout for a nice Brunetti amp to try for quite some time, but here in the US they are quite hard to come by - and expensive when they do show up. I wasn’t too particular on the model, I wanted to get to “know the brand” and what makes in unique and sometimes that means casting a wide net, similar to the way I handled ENGL (which started as one amp and now I’ve had 9 of them!).

Brunetti has been making amps officially since 1993, starting with the Mille! preamp. This led to a full-size head version which is probably the best-known Brunetti amp on my side of the pond, the XL “Extra Lead.” The XL was a 3-channel high gain amp available in 2-power tube and 4-power tube configurations for 60w or 120w respectively. This design had a separate EQ for the clean channel, but the “boost” and “xl” channels shared an EQ, though they retained separate gain and volume controls, along with a few voicing switches.

Next in this lineage is the amp I have recently acquired, the XL R-EVO II.

This amp differs from the original XL, with separate EQ’s for all 3 channels, although lacking the front panel switches. Like its predecessor, it also has a unique physical feature; the 1U rack mount slot. I always thought this was a really cool idea, and the head box itself is not much taller than your standard Marshall style shell. It isn’t particularly deep, but my beloved Yamaha SPX90 fits perfectly.

So how does it sound? Pretty good! Cleans are quite scooped, bright and sparkly, but most importantly highly customizable with a lot of range in the EQ. I also love a clean channel with a gain control, so you can get a little bit of hair on it if you prefer a pushed clean tone. It’s very elastic feeling to play, and I have to say this is one of the best clean channels I’ve heard on a high gainer - it almost feels like there is a compressor on all the time and makes spanky rhythms and clean fills a lot of fun to play. The XLead channel really rips - super high gain, and super saturated tone. I don’t have a schematic but it really feels like it’s in between that SLO-5150/6505 territory, and it stays surprisingly together even with the gain near max. The Depth control of the power amp enhances this a lot, and interestingly the depth control all the way maxed (in the “extra” area) doesn’t flub out or overwhelm you, and adds a lot of low-mid punch. That’s not to say the bass is rolled off though, it’s full sounding and depending on your pick attack and/or speakers, it can get a bit squishy. I like this feel when playing, and it makes lead lines stand out really well, but it’s not going to do that ultra-tight Mesa Mark type sound (and I wouldn’t expect it to anyway). My sources tell me that the Mille! and original XL circuit is heavily SLO inspired, so that makes sense, and comparing this amp side by side with my Soldano Avenger I can hear some similarities, but the Brunetti is a bit more polished and polite at neutral EQ settings. I’d love to know the exact differences between the XL and this XL REVO under the hood.

Now the one issue - I bought this amp As-Is, with a non-working Boost channel. I was able to work out a very good deal and it was worth the risk… this won’t be the first amp to come through my hands that I needed to repair. Luckily, it seems like it’ll be an easy fix, as the entire amp sounds fantastic except the boost channel which has a loud buzzing sound (probably open ground from a cracked solder joint). I’ll take a look with my tech team and fix it right up.

Don’t worry, I didn’t let them actually touch the inside of the amp. Safety first!

Great amp to have in the collection, and now I really want to get an original XL, or one of the other cool older Brunetti amps like the 059 or Mille!.

It’s also worth mentioning that Brunetti is still in business and currently producing amps, cabinets, and effects pedals. In fact, there is a current production Mille being offered this year, as well as a flagship boutique head called the “Mercury.” Definitely worth checking out.

More pictures available here

New Guitar: '82 Kramer Pacer Imperial Transparent Blue

I have a real soft spot for these early Kramers, especially lately. I’ve been trying to get my hands on a few more models with Rockingers, Brass/Fulcrum trems, or even an ESP Flicker. This popped up used at GC and I figured I’d roll the dice and see how it turned out.

When it arrived, it came in its original tan leather case, missing the handle. This was common on these cases as the handle is plastic and a little loose at the joint - if it is in the wrong position when you pick it up, it’ll snap the handle off. It also had an old double creme Dimarzio in the bridge position… sadly with a dead coil. Luckily, I had the period correct spare Schaller humbucker, so I fixed it right up. Cavity covers are all missing, but it came with a strap with a nice smoky flavor. The body has a lot of bumps and bruises, along with several cracks in the clearcoat, but the neck is in much better shape on the back where I really care about it. The caked on dirt and grime is evidence this guitar was definitely played and was probably someone’s main gigging guitar for a long time.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve complained a little, but there’s some appeal to this one. It is a very low B serial number, with a rosewood fretboard which is pretty uncommon for the time period (most necks had Maple fretboards). I’m not a heavy whammy bar user, so I actually like the Rockinger “Edward Van Halen Tremolo,” and I also like the dulled brass appearance along with the gold Gotoh tuners. This bridge along with the twin humbucker pickups is what denotes this as an “Imperial” model, as opposed to the “Custom” which at this time was a 2-humbucker brass trem model.

I also love the sound of these old Schaller pickups, in this case a pair of hex-pole 2-in-1’s, which are a bit higher output than the Golden 50’s that were also common on Kramers of this period. Each pickup has its own volume control, which I really like, and a master tone. I actually prefer this setup to later Pacer Imperials which switched to a master volume + two tone controls by 1983.

Playability is excellent, although this is no modern shred guitar. Vintage sized frets and a fairly curved radius mean it has a very classic feel, with low action and a light touch and very spanky for a guitar with two humbuckers. It’s easy to think of the modern super strat as an HH or HSS guitar like this, with a pointy headstock and jumbo frets, but this is where it all started and for the time was probably one of the best playing instruments you could buy.

Minor cosmetic issues aside, another great one to add to the collection (and a serviceable replacement for my old pointy trans blue Pacer Imperial, which I sold back in 2021 and sorely miss).

More pictures available here

New Guitar: 1985 Robin Wedge Custom

This is a guitar I have long lusted after, and it’s been on the “wanted” list of my about page for years. They didn’t make many of these, and I’ve missed a few and regretted it. I finally spotted one online and pulled the trigger.

Robin guitars, based in Houston TX, was originally run out of a more regular guitar shop called “Rockin’ Robin Guitars,” which opened in 1972. By 1982, Robin had built their first guitars through Tokai in Japan (I still want one of these). By the mid 80s, they were having models made by ESP, also in Japan, and shipped to Texas for final touches or upgrades, and that’s where this model comes in.

In 1985, along with a handful of other more well known models such as the Medley and Ranger, came the Wedge. The Wedge had two different types - the Standard, which was a bolt- on neck, and the Custom, as pictured here. The Custom was a set-neck guitar, made from mahogany with custom triangular inlays and a fully bound ebony fretboard and headstock. The Custom could come as mine, with a fixed tune-o-matic style bridge, or could have a Kahler installed at Rockin’ Robin upon arrival to Texas. This model is where the pointy “blade” style reverse headstock first originated - early prototpes had the more rounded style reverse headstock similar to the Tokai models. This headstock of course made it onto future models and became the standard Robin headstock shape on models like the Medley all the way until they were discontinued. According to founder David Wintz, less than 200 Wedges were ever made between both models.

Robin transitioned to USA manufacturing in 1988, and by then the Wedge was long discontinued.

It’s surprisingly comfortable to play sitting down in the “classical” position, but it won’t sit straight across unless you squeeze your legs together. Standing up is much more natural, although on mine there is some neck dive as it’s a bit heavier than the body. Playability is excellent as expected of an ESP-made guitar from this era, and it’s quite similar to my Kramers (also ESP made) from the same time frame - that’s a good thing in my eyes.

This particular Wedge is in very good shape with minimal dings or scratches, but sadly it must’ve been dropped or fell down on the lowest point if the guitar is held vertically because a small piece of wood is missing. Someone sanded this down flat and repainted it, and they did a very good job of it because it’s hardly noticeable, but it is clear on a close inspection.

Still, I’m thrilled to finally have my hands on this rare beast, and especially with its original form-fitting case. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to find a case otherwise! It makes a great pair with my Ibanez XV500 as well - two radically shaped guitars, made in extremely limited quantities, from 1985. I suppose now I need a Kramer Triaxe. I particularly love the detail and beveled edges of the body shape, looking at it closer it has a lot more going on besides the sideways V-shape.

More pictures available here

I think this one definitely qualifies as a “totally rad guitar.”

New Amp: 2004 Soldano Hot Rod 50X Plus signed by Mike Soldano

I’ll admit, I splurged on this one and probably paid a little too much. I had my heart set on an Avenger, and I finally was able to check that one off my list just a few months ago. I thought my Soldano GAS was through, but when I spotted this red tolex, white chassis Hot Rod I decided it was worth a shot.

It has two less power tubes than my 100w Avenger, but gains an extra preamp tube for the effects loop. This amp design is closely related to the budget Jet City models such as the JCA50 or the JCA22 which I am intimately familiar with - I did my first ever amp circuit mods on a JCA22.

The first Hot Rod amps were basically more budget minded SLO’s, lacking the crunch mode and the large DeYoung transformers that made those amps famous, starting production in 1991 with the single channel 50w model. 100w models came later in 1994, and the plus version, like mine, started in 1995. These were made until 2005 before being replaced with an updated version for 2006, which removed the slave out from the rear and added a depth control to the front panel, sort of combining together the Avenger line and the Hot Rod line into one (aptly named the “Hot Rod Avenger”). There is also a Hot Rod 25, introduced in 2012.

The naming can be a bit confusing, but the original Hot Rod amps had two inputs and a very stripped down 6-knob, single channel design. The plus models added the second channel but sacrificed the low input. The Avengers first came out in 2003, and were similar to the single-channel Hot Rods, with the same two inputs and one channel, adding the depth control, and removing the effects loop along with a few tweaks to the voicing for more aggressive tones. This was during the era of ever-more-complicated multichannel amps, and a sizable number of guitar players really wanted that stripped down amp design, thinking even having the effects loop present negatively affected the tone - I’m not sure I believe that myself, but I’m sure that had a part in influencing the Avenger design.

Anyway, back to the Hot Rod. This is a great sounding amp, with the classic Soldano lead tone - bright, punchy, and extremely clear. It sports all Mercury Magnetics transformers. The “normal” channel also sounds quite good, although it shares the EQ with the overdrive channel so it does have some limitations there. Still, it feels quite natural when switching channels, keeping the same core tone with less gain and a hair brighter with the preamp knob set at half or below. The overdrive channel gets quite gainy but can be a little loose on the bottom end without a boost, but its open character means it’ll take that boost very well. I’ve played it a few times boosted with a Klon Clone and it takes the natural tone of the amp and kicks it into high gear, or alternatively using a Boss SD-1 or Tubescreamer and the bottom end tighten up while the mids get more prominent - great for solos or metal rhythms, especially with lower tunings. Truly a staple of high gain tones, and for good reason - and quite different tonally from its estranged family (Rectos and 5150/6505’s).

This particular amp was signed by Mike Soldano at some point, but it isn’t dated. I speculate that it must’ve been pretty recent, perhaps the amp had a health check in Seattle and that’s when it was signed. The amp is in absolutely minty shape so either way, it was very well taken care of.

More photos available here