Gear

Carvin Amplifiers: Going Out of Business

Carvin Audio is shutting down.

Wow. As of now, they've already sold out of their most popular model amps...

...The competitive pressures in the amplifier business are enormous right now - and they don't show that they're going to be abating anytime soon. Despite massively increased competition domestically, the relatively-new advent of tube amps from China and other low-wage nations, it still seems like more people are getting into the "I'm gonna build tube amps" business...

X100B.  Carvin Audio is Going Out of Business.  No More USA-Made Carvin Amps.

We're Gonna Rescue This Old Girl, Part II

So when we last left off, we were talking about a 5-watt Natural Music Guild / Massie Amplifier called "The Vibe". Truth be told we've been working on another few projects (first was straightening the house, the other is a... another business idea and we'll leave it at that...). However, we do expect that now we should be able to update with increased regularity.

So as previously discussed, we've come to the conclusion that our "Natural Music Guild"-labeled amp is a 1959 Ray Massie creation. Here are some interesting things that we've found along the way...

1946 Fender Pro Schematic showing three inputs. Ray Massie's influence?
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We're Gonna Rescue This Old Girl, Part I

We bring you the Natural Music Guild of Santa Ana / Massie Amplifiers "The Vibe" 5 watt amp.

Yes, there's been a hiatus in posting. We're pretty sure that for the most part, you don't care about the story why. Maybe we'll get to that in the coming days. It's a sad tale of a tragically flawed leader. Bye-bye KLBP.

So let's pick up at any old random spot... Actually this isn't a random spot, but it may seem that way to you... We've picked up a lot of tube amps in the past few months that we haven't shared yet. We picked up a few Marshalls. We picked up a VHT gone bad (and sold cheap!) that was going to start life as an 18-watter, but that we're going to turn into a 50-watt beast. And there are more still...

1959 5-Watt Natural Music Guild "The Vibe"
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Peavey: Undercover Boss and Catastrophe

So I've spent a little bit of time trying to find this episode of Undercover Boss for you to see. CBS makes you sign up for some membership. But then so does Hulu. Hulu seems to be the least objectionable from what I found. The best solution is if you have Tivo, or a DVR from your Internet/Cable/whatever company and can manage to record it on re-run.

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Smithsonian Channel: Rock 'N' Roll Inventions

So the Smithsonian Channel has this show called "Rock 'N' Roll Inventions". Of course, Thermionic-Studios.com is a site where we talk about gear (mostly tube amps, and the heavy bands that play them) it seemed like something I (and you) would very much want to watch. I actually found it over the New Year's Eve / New Years Day break. As I recall, I was watching Smithsonian Channel, probably something about American History. I imagine it was either something interesting like the Civil War, or something...

Dave Davies Smithsonian Channel Rock 'N' Roll Inventions Vinyl Cassettes Walkmans CDs Digital
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1971 Traynor YBA-1 arrives at Thermionic Studios

It's been a while since we've posted here. Unfortunately, the sad truth of the matter is that we've gotten involved in a community radio project. The hope of which is to give ourselves a radio presence locally here in Long Beach, California, and also with the audio stream that will be flowing online from the station. Unfortunately, there's been some legal developments, which naturally are taking our time instead of working on actually building new content and building the business here for Thermionic Studios.

Thermionic Studios taking receipt of 1971 Traynor YBA-1 Image 1
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History of the ProCo Rat

Everybody seems to know about the KitRae Big Muff Pi Page, which, admittedly, is probably the most authoritative page on the internet about the history of the Electro Harmonix Big Muff distortion pedal .

It includes all the different versions, and each of the permutations of parts within each version.

What we didn't think there was an equivalent for, as the title of this article makes clear, was the same kind of page exulting the ProCo Rat... But there is!

1984 Whiteface ProCo Rat Pedal
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Do It Yourself Online Pedal Merchants

Hello Team.

Once again, I made the trek to Santa Monica - and this time the $30 Dunlop GCB-95 I bought arrived. Unlike the last time I made the trek to Santa Monica, I wasn't listening to any KCRW or being thrown into horrendous confusion with southbound 405 traffic to Long Beach backing up for miles. No, today was different; and the traffic was surprisingly easy.

But, it did give me a chance to muse on some pedal things...

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Interesting Gear Page Thread on Phase Inversion

So there's a really interesting thread that was started on The Gear Page that we happened upon a few days ago and it really got us thinking - not just about guitarists, but about bass players, keyboardists, and singers too. Yes, yes, we know that drummers get no love - but drummers don't seem to use, or even need a lot of effects in their repertoire and so, perhaps, this isn't as germane.

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