• Don’t leave it in a car, whether it’s hot or cold out. (Also a proactive theft preventative.)

• Don’t leave it next to your radiator. Or in your fridge?

• Don’t take it directly into the heat from your ice cold house, condensation can occur. And even though you melted everyone’s face off, it’s not the best idea to take it right outside into a blizzard either – make it the last thing you take off the stage to give the tubes a chance to cool down.

• If you’re blowing tubes continuously, replacing them is not necessarily the answer– there is likely a deeper problem that needs to be addressed.

• Much like a puppy, try to avoid dropping your precious vintage tube amp. And not just off tall buildings– don’t drop it from two inches high, either. Please.

• And on that note: wheels on a combo amp are a dangerous convenience. Unless you’re wheeling your pride and joy on only the smoothest of freshy-Zambonied ice rinks, the slight ripples in the floor result in major quaking (and possible damage) in the upper components.

Don’t get overwhelmed– you and your tube amp can have a long, loving relationship without too much trouble. And once you find that tone you really love, how could you not strive to maintain it?

Any questions? Give us a call! We’re here to help.

See how high you can fly before melting your face with their Icarus boost– we have the last few in this gorgeous gold finish. More words and demo here.

If you crave more fuzz than your momma will allow in the house, you’ve got to get on this Olympia. Clean, simple, fuzzzzzzzzzy. More words and demo here.

And if you’re feeling a little unhinged today and you just wanna get totally wild, the Wave Cannon is for you. Its an overdrive/distortion with four controls and one loose cannon: the Havoc Switch. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. More words and demo here.

Come demo them in store anytime!

Jerry Lee just doin' his thing

That’s right, we have it, and we have the paperwork to prove it.

But as cool as that is, collector-wise, let’s get down to brass tacks: how does it sound?

Ridiculous. This amp has deep, reverberating, warmth, a very interesting tremolo that shifts the tone, and a loud, loud, voice to fill the room. It can get crunchy when you want it and the tone is super moldable.

Hi, I'm cool

Check it out in the shop before it flies away, or get more specs here. We leave you with this great picture of “The Killer” doing what he does best (killin’ it).

get 'em

Like, Bluegrass.

We’ve got your banjo needs covered with this amazing 1925 Weymann or pre-war Kel Kroyden

4.  Add some sparkle to your life

Choose from this glamorous rainbow: a golden Gretch SparkleJet, seafoam Danelectro, or gold on black Silvertone Jupiter. Delicious!

3. Loose some bulk

With a Thinline Tele.

2. Get Motivated

Stay steady with your mantra and boost your dreams into overdrive.

1. Go Green

By buying local, and pre-owned. Less new materials = less landfill! We carry locally made pedals by Blackout Effectors, Endangered Audio Research and Saddest FX, and to take it truly next level, handmade guitar straps from recycled materials by Legalize Potbelly Pigs.

Happy New Year, Asheville and beyond! Keep in touch and let us know what we can do for you in 2013.

Our new 2001 Martin 00-15 is a gorgeous mahogany beast, save for the gnarly gash on its right side. $200

And the Lotus 12 String is a perfect guinea pig for someone who wants to try out a neck reset. The action is way too high and the bridge can’t take much more, but everything else is looking pretty good. Give it a shot! $90

This Hawaiian ukulele will sing sweetly as soon as it gets some cracks repaired. $80

All these items (and many more) are now for sale in our shop and online.

Some of those items look like this:

This should just take a second

If you don’t know about these guys, then you are lucky. You have saved yourself from lusting after a rare, expensive, and unreliable piece of equipment– but we’re going to tell you more so that you can suffer with us.

The Roland RE-201 uses magnetic tape to produce a stellar breed of warm, gritty, analog delay with vintage vibe, and can also be made to self-oscillate and produce a range of wild sounds all on its own. Many contemporary artists use them, including but not limited to Portishead, Throbbing Gristle, Boris, Deerhunter, Thee Oh Sees, Boards of Canada, and Sonic Youth.

When we have one of ours ready, we will be happy to sell it to you.  Until then, get excited.

Do you have an RE-201? How do you use it?

Today, we’d like to introduce you to a few of our weird looking friends. You might not know how to play with them at first, but we are sure that once you develop your relationship it will be rewarding to no end.  You may even wanna go ahead and start working on a couple BFF lanyards.

We present to you: Our misfit toys.

This first little guy is our Reso-Phonic: a mother-of-toilet-seat acoustic geetar that Valco made in the 1960′s. Stop looking for the output jack because there’s no pickup in there. You want controlled reverb, a rich, warm tone and a mesmerizing finish? This is your champ. I think you can also grate cheese with the resonator in a pinch– take it camping! Take it to the beach! Anywhere you need unique tone and fresh Parmesan.

Next up, from wacky bassland, is the Takamine B-10… upright? Downright rad, at any rate, we don’t care what it is.  It’s fretless and 4-stringed, but with a much shorter body than a regular double bass. Its pickup and preamp give it the sonic girth of its upright cognate while its diminutive stature lends it versatility and begs world travel. The long brass bottom pin allows the fretboard to rest at a comfortable height for any standing player, and it comes with a hard(core)case. It is a very gently used piece with excellent resonance and a gorgeous luster. Check it out here!

Last, we would like you to meet a classic weirdo: Dating from 1962, this Silvertone Amp in Case model is best known as the one everyone who was a kid in the 60′s wanted, and now that they’re adults they can buy one and have dessert before dinner.  It can achieve a surprisingly high level of rock all while looking swank as hell. Surprise yourself– and get a cookie.

Clearly, we have far more bizarre looking musical devices than this small selection, but we know how your attention span is, so we’ll wrap up this instalment.  Thanks for tuning in, and remember not to judge a playmate by their wolf shirt.

Brian Jones. haircut not included

Look, here’s a real live one now! What a beauty.

So what’s the deal with these backwards axes?

As Gibson’s popularity began losing out to Fender in the late 50′s and early 60′s, they decided to take an innovative approach (perhaps more tasteful than their prior attempts with the flying v). So they hired a car designer, Mr. Ray Dietrich, to create a new style of guitar body. It looked weird enough that people referred to the style as “reverse”, with its longer right horn and crazy banjo-style tuners. Just to confuse you, Gibson then re-issued the Firebird Non-Reverse from 1965-69, with a double cutaway body. Then they realized this was a dumb idea and went back to the original plan of ass-backwardsness.

Notably, it was also the first solid Gibson with neck-through construction. This design feature contributes to a glorious sustain, unfettered by pesky neck joints.

What does this all mean for you? Just sweet, sweet jams.

Eric Clapton doin' it in reverse