Music Center

Well having been sold on an Genz Benz Black Pearl All Class A Tube amp, I admit I have been hooked on the great sound that comes from nice warm tubes.  I was in the music store one day and found out that Fender had reissued some of its old amps with a new spin. I dearly love my Black Pearl, but she weighs a bit and is  also a bit much for the bedroom studio. That being said I was on the lookout for a smaller amp that I could play in my small studio and also easily bring to small practice/jam sessions. I tried the Super Champ XD and found it was exactly what I was looking for.  At a street price of $299, home it went with me after a test drive at the store.

The basic specs on it are:

15 Watts of power thru a Fender 10″ speaker, Tube and Digital Modeling preamps using 12AX7A tubes, tube power amp  section using two 6V6 tubs (Class AB), and on board digital effects.

The amp has two channels, the first channel tuned to sound like a nice clean Fender Black face amp using the 12AX7A tube for the preamp section and the 6V6’s for the power amp. The second channel using Fenders Digital Amp Modeling for the preamp (bypassing the 12AX7A tube) and uses the 6V6 tubes for the power amp. The two channels then share the same tone controls and effects.

I would have to say that for 95% of my playing the first channel hits the spot. It has great traditional Fender tube sounds, nice and clean and jangly.  There is just a plain old volume knob, no gain, just pure tone. At lower volumes it has that nice clean tone, but crank up the volume and out comes a nice growly tube overdrive. Back off your attack at this volume and it cleans up nice, dig in for the good stuff as needed.

The second channel, with its digital modeling is quite fun to play with. The amp models fall into some basic groups: Fender Tweed, Fender Blackface, British (read Vox AC30 and Marshall), Fender Hot Rod, Metal, Jazz, and Acoustic. Other then the Jazz and Acoustic which just have one setting, the other models have 3 different spins on each, ranging from clean to dirty and in between. This channels input section has a Gain and Volume so you can vary the distortion and grind stuff.

The common tone section has bass and treble controls which work nicely. I like a little bit of boost in the lower ranges so a bass tweak up to 6 and treble left at 5 fills the sound out nicely.  The common digital effects are controlled by an effects selector knob and an effects level knob which controls the mix between effects and dry. The effects give you the basic Delay, Reverb (with one for Reverb and Delay combined), Chorus (different sweeps and also Chorus with Reverb and Chorus with delay) and also two Fender Classics of Vibratone and Tremolo. Preferring clean sounds I tend to just leave it on reverb which I must say is pretty good considering the digital nature of it. I get spoiled by the Genz Benz spring reverb with tube send and return, but the Digital effects do a good job of getting that nice springy Fender reverb sound.

On the back the amp has an input for a channel select and effects off and on foot switch. This is one of the Fender propriety  switch designs so you can’t just use any old footswitch. That is bad in some respects but at least it is reasonably prices at $25. The amp also has a line out jack, which I have just hooked up to use for recording, not tested yet but soon. A nice feature is that the speaker also comes out a 1/4″ jack and is not hardwired (more on how nice this is later….)

So enough specs how does it sound.  Well in a word Nice. The clean channel has great Fender tone, the modeling is nice as well, giving some nice canned amp sounds with the ability to tweak them with the gain setting. I have a Parker Fly Mojo and Hamer Earthen Maple Studio and they both sound great thru the amp. The Parker with its swiss army knife selections of tone (humbucker, single coil, and piezeo) can get a nice spanky clean single coil sound with a mix of acoustic from the piezeo to fill it out. The Hamer with its set neck, Korina/Maple, Seymour Duncan Humbuckers can get smokey jazz tones and screaming leads.  I am still a tube amp noob but this amp does a good job holding its own against my All Tube Black Pearl. (All tube means tube preamp, power amp, reverb send and return buffers, and tube rectifier).

So how does it get better then this….well so I though it sounded good with the stock 10″ Fender speaker but with the 1/4″ output I thought….hmm how would it sound with a nice Eminence Red Fang 12″ Alinco speaker……well……one word again Sweeeeeettttt.  The tone really fills out with the larger better quality speaker, the stock 10″is nice but the 12 really cranks up the tone and the volume. This thing had no trouble pushing the 12″ speaker. So that being said I am currently making a custom cabinet to house a Red Fang and a separate cabinet to turn the Super Champ into a head. I know, there goes the nice one handled combo amp, now two boxes, but two in this case is so much sweeter then one.

What else is planned for this poor little waif, well maybe some better tubes then the stock Electro Harmonix…

Overall a great amp for a great price in a very nice package. Myself not able to leave well enough alone will take it to the next level in tone (hopefully….).

Thanks again for Steve at the Music Center of Norwich for getting the new cool gear and providing a nice friendly atmosphere.

Time to go play.

Fender Musical Instrument Corporation has announced that they are bringing Guild back to the East Coast! Guild Guitars got there start in New York and New Jersey back in the 50’s and 60’s and then moved to Westerly, Rhode Island in 1969. Fender purchased Guild in 1995 and eventually moved the plant to California and then in with Tacoma in Washington. Didn’t turn out so  well from  a marketing perspective and I think that is because Guild players tend to be very traditional and Fender made to many changes to fast. Well, with the purchase of Kaman Music, Fender now has access to some great East Coast production facilities and some very experienced Luthiers.  Between Ovation and Hamer, the combined guitar building experience in Connecticut gives Fender a great way to combine operations.  The old mill in New Hartforf Ct. where Ovations and Hamers are built is only an hour and a half from the old Westerly RI  location and people out here remember when Guild was built close to home.  For folks who have never been there, the factory in CT is in an old 1800’s mill that has been renovated and restored. The combination of old charm and modern technology provides a great enviroment to restore Guild’s traditions and reputation for old world craftsmanship. Time will tell but I believe this is a good move for Fender and the first of what I hope are many positive results of the Fender/Kaman merger.Â

Dear Powers that be at Fender Musical Instruments, 

I am writing as both a musician and as the owner of a store that sells both Fender and Hamer instruments.  Since your purchase of Kaman Music in late October of this year, I have had many customers ask me “what is going to happen to Hamer?”. The concerns these customers have expressed are twofold. They either think you are going to close Hamer outright, or that you will absorb it into the Corporate machine and in some way change it so that it loses it’s identity.  This letter is written to plead the case of Hamer as a long term oppurtunity for Fender and a vital part of contemporary guitar tradition.

Jol Dantzig and his crew up in New Hartford make a damn fine guitar and they have been doing so for a good long time.  While not as visible as Fender or Gibson (there, I used them both in the same sentence, scandalous!), the number of Hamer players who have contributed to contemporary music’s heritage is impressive.  Players like Rick Nielson, Brad Whitford, Prince, Keb Mo and Jimmy Orlander are just a few of the diverse players who have put their indelible mark on contemporary music using Hamers. Fender, you guys are always talking about the history of Rock and Roll, Hamer has played a big part in that history.

Hamer guitars offer a boutique, heirloom quality, hand crafted instrument at a very competitive price to similiar, mass produced guitars. Hamer’s amazing quality and attention to detail have always been their strong point. In style of instrument and sound, Hamer’s are probably most like Gibson (oh God, the “G” word again).  Breaking into that Gibson market has always been a daunting task and if there is one thing Hamer hasn’t done well, it’s getting the typical Gibson players to step outside the box and try the Hamer.  Passionate people tend to like strong tradition and musicians are passionate people. Gibson has done a great job of trading on their tradition. Fender, you have the strength and credibility to market the Hamer line, and with these guitars, you now have a product to go head to head with Gibson in their own market.  Use Fender’s incredible marketing presence to put Hamer out there for the world to see.  Get some of the traditional Fender endorsers to try some Hamers. Eric Clapton with a Newprot Pro for instance, would be a hell of a combination. Put ‘em out there in the hands of some big name players and put your marketing behind them and see what happens.

But Fender, whatever you do, don’t “dumb down’ or substantially change the line. Learn from your own past and from some of Gibson’s recent lessons too. Hamer has the product and the tradition. You have the market clout and recognition. Hmer has kept the instruments price competetive while still hand building their guitars. Grow the line slowly so that quality and attention to detail is maintained. Don’t move them to an existing factory and expect the new workers to achieve the same result.  Part of the unique qualitys of an instrument comes from the vibe where it’s built. Strat builders build great Strats because that’s what they have learned to do. Ask them to build Les Pauls and it ain’t the same. The guys at Hamer know how and why Hamers are built the way they are. They probably don’t understand a bolt neck Strat or Tele anymore than Leo understood why Gibson insisted on a set neck Les Paul.  

I sincerely hope that Fender’s long term goals are to utilize the strengths of the lines they have bought with the Kaman purchase. Kaman Music is far more than a great accessories distribution network. Hamer, Ovation, and Takamine guitars all have played a huge part in contemporary music.

Fender, you have some great new toys to play with, please don’t screw it up!

Sincerely, 1 of many concerned guitarists and Hamer fans.

I was lucky enough to go to the Ovation Factory in New Hartford, CT a few months ago and it was amazing. You would assume with the plastic back, there would be alot of machine work on the Ovations, but I was amazed by the amount of hand work and craftmanship that goes into these guitars. I also had the oppurtunity to see the Hamer factory which is in the same facility. The factorys are a great reuse of an old mill building set on the Farmington river, very cool for the very cool work going on inside. While on the tour I saw what looked like a Hamer that had snuck into the Ovation side, but it turned out it was the soon to be released Ovation VXT.  I was told it was the return of the Ovation electric guitar; a colaboration between Hamer and Ovation on a hybrid part electric, part acoustic instrument.

After a few months passed, the first VXTs arrived at the store and my initial thought was, like thats nice simple and clean but I guess I expected more. I had also seen the new 2007 collector’s Ovations while at the factory and ended up buying one. The 2007 BCS collector’s has the VIP preamp that is in the VXT. The 2007 BCS collector’s VIP pre-amp has 6 different microphone models as well as Ovation’s outstanding piezo pickup. The VIP preamp provides signal processing that can take the piezo signal and turn it into the sound of a great sounding microphone with various different acoustic guitars. So in one guitar you get all these great sounds; killer onstage if you want to get a studio sound.  Well when I heard the VXT was going to have a VIP preamp in it I was psyched, but when I saw the guitar I was a little disappointed since it only had a blend knob for thw VIP and gave the user no access to the other models that my 2007 BCS has.  Also the guitar looked a bit plain Jane for it’s price tag.

Well a few months go by and Steve, the store owner(and my guitar pusher) asks me to write a review on the VXT, and always willing to play guitar I said sure. Well I take it home, and after having to explain to my wife it is on loan and no, I did not buy it (this time), I gave it a whirl.

 Let me just say that my initial impression of the guitar was very wrong. At first I tried it thru my Genz Benz Shenendoah acoustic amp blending the electric and acoustic sounds and it was okay. Then I split the output, sending the acoustic signal thru the Genz Benz and the electric signal thru my Fender GDEC Junior and wow, did it come alive. You still have control with the blend knob to get a good mix and the sound just jumps out at you. On the acoustic side it brings out the Al Di Meola in me (I don’t have his skill but this guitar has his tone) while the electric side with the Hamer playability and Seymour Duncan sound rocks from jazz to rock and everywhere in between. I have to say that even though you only have one acoustic side, it is great, very lively with a nice mix of the Fishman bridge and Ovation microphone image.

For comparison I have a Godin XTS, a guitar which has a similar setup but with Godin pickups and an LR-Baggs bridge. While the Godin pickups are no Seymour Duncan, the LR-Baggs bridge gets a very nice acoustic sound. With that being said the Ovation VXT wins hands down with just great tone and playability. Of course, to be fair to the Godin, it is a $1000 guitar verses a $1700 dollar guitar.  I also tried my Godin Flat Five (think Canadian 335 eh) and after playing that I realized that the VXT, with it’s Seymour Duncans and VIP acoustic sounds, could very easily hang with that guitar..

I then dialed the acoustic side down and cranked the distortion up on the electric side and found the VXT can rock with the best of them. The influence of the Hamer guys on this guitar is very evident in the tone and a neck that plays like butta.  It was also cool to dial in a little bit of the clean acoustic sound with the distorted electic side.

So after spending some time with the VXT I have changed my opinion of the guitar in terms of the sounds coming out of it. It may only have the one acoustic sound, but it’s a classic Ovation sound and that’s nothing to complain about. While the guitar is very subdued cosmeticaly it is still very classy and has a very solid feel to it. I still think it could use a bit more bling, but where it is not flashy in looks, it is solid in function.

Will it make its way back to the store….? Does it need a more in depth long term review at my house…..? Stay tuned for the next gear review.

Submitted by Will Schramm.

Actually, I come from New York originally but I have a son-in-law from Alabama, and the Deering banjos we handle come out of California, but hey, I had to have some sort of title for this post. When Art and I bought the Music Center there was precisely 1 banjo in stock, a Fender model.  While pretty comparable to the other stuff in it’s price range, the Fender banjo really didn’t fit my idea of what I wanted to be able to offer my customers.  When I started doing the research it quickly became eveident that there was only 1 clear choice for us for a banjo line and that was Deering. Deering provided everything from the inexpensive Goodtime line through the traditional Deering stuff, the resurected Vega line, and the uber dollar Tenbrooks banjos.

As a guitarist, I had been familiar with Deering because of their 6 string models. What I found out was that alot of the banjo you hear being played on recordings by bands that don’t typically have a banjo, is being played on a Deering 6 string (listen to Keith Urban, Matchbox 20, Rod Stewart or R.E.M.).  Upon further investigation (inquiring minds want to know right?) I found that a lot of the banjo players I enjoyed listening to (I love the New Grass Revival for instance) were playing a Deering banjo. Players like Bela Fleck, Bernie Leadon (1 of the original Eagles) and John Hartford just to name a few.  It seemed like not only the traditional Bluegrass guys, but alot of players from other genres, were choosing the Deering line.  From a retail perspective, a line that was well accepted by tradional players as well as the most popular choice in other music genres, fit what we needed.  Add to that the fact that Deering builds all their instruments in the USA (Asia has gotten good at guitars these days but the USA built traditional American folk instruments are still the best) and that they build banjos at all price points and I was convinced.

Anyway, the point of this long disertation is that there are not alot of places in the Northeast doing anything with Banjos and we now handle some of the best. For guitarists or bands looking for a new sound, the Deering 6 string opens up a  whole bunch of possibilities, and for traditional banjo players we have 10 or more instruments in stock most of the time that will fit most styles and budget.

Early in November I received word that Fender (Fender Musical Instrument Corp.)  had purchased Kaman Music Corporation. For those of you who don’t know, Kaman (KMC) is the largest independent supplier of musical instruments, accessories, and supplies in the world.  Fender has for several years been trying to grow their accessories division and KMC will put them square in the hunt. What complicates matter is that Kaman also owns Hamer, Ovation, Latin Percussion, Toca, and Gibralter. They are also the US distributors for Sabian and the worldwide distributors for Gretsch drums and Takamine guitars.

Over the last 20 years Fender has been buying up just about any quality instrument line they could. Jackson/Charvel, Guild, Gretsch guitar, Tacoma, and Olympia are all brands that fall under the Fender corporate umbrella.  In some players opinion, this hasn’t always turned out so well . Guild and Tacoma fans in particular seem to have liked things the way they were. Fender moved the Guild factory in Rhode Island and the Tacoma factory in Washington, to California.  Except for the Tacomas built with the offset sound hole,  all the guitars fall under the Guild banner now.  Most of the Tacoma fans I know are less than pleased.  Guild has a great East Coast heritage and the new Guilds seemed to have lost something in the transition as well.  In the past couple of years, Guild in particular seems to be moving past that rough period and is once again building some fine instruments. It remains to be seen how the Tacomas will fare although the Tacoma reputation for spotty quality control should improve (for the Tacoma lovers out there, I admit Tacomas are either wonderful or horrible, and the good tends to outweigh the bad on pre-Fender instruments).  Both line’s popularity suffered, at least initially, as a result of Fender’s purchase. I have people ask me all the time if the used Guilds and Tacomas we have are pre-Fender (remember pre-CBS Fenders?).

Hopefully Fender has learned their lesson from the Tacoma/Guild purchase and they will develop the strengths of the new lines without screwing around with the strong traditions, both in quality and history, those lines represent.

So what does this mean for the guy and gal on the street? I think that with Hamer USA in particular, Fender now has a brand to compete with Gibson in the more traditional, humbucker equipped guitar market. Hamers currently compete head to head with Gibson on similiar instruments as far as price, and absolutely blow Gibson away for performance and build quality (my opinion, hate me if you must but I’m not alone with that thought). Remember that Hamer got it’s start in Chicago by refurbishing older Gibsons until Jol Danzig decided he thought he could do better and started building his own custom guitars. Hamer USA still hand builds only about 3 guitars a day with a staff of 10 (at least it was 10 last time I visited the factory) guys.  With smart marketing,  Hamer guitars will have the oppurtunity to be available to a greater number of players and really get the recognition in the market that they deserve.

Ovation guitars have a very unique sound and playability which Fender should capitalize on. When Charlie Kaman first designed the Ovation roundback, he was looking to develop a very balanced tone acoustic guitar for playing Jazz. Those guitars, especially with the addition of electronics, turned out to be very effective for a wide variety of players. Ovations don’t sound different by accident, they sound different by design. These are the kind of strengths Fender needs to take advantage of with their new lines.

When I spoke to both my Kaman and Fender reps after I got news of the merger, they both told me Fender expects to keep it business as usual with Kaman.  The music jugernaught that is Fender Musical Instrument Corporation has a lot of strength to bring to Kaman. They also have a history of screwing around a bit with the brands they aquire which hasn’t always been a good thing.  For the brands they will be distributing (as oppossed to owning), I think there will be nothing but positives (they better not screw around with my Takamines!).  I am cautiously optimistic as a dealer for both Fender and Kaman products that this is a good thing; only time will tell.

So I’m at the store one day and a guy walks in who I’m pretty sure I recognize but don’t remember from where.  Turns out it’s Roger Hart, a guy I sold a motorcycle to in a previous life and one of the development guys at Kaman Music. Last time I had seen Roger he had been working with the Hamer folks and had been involved in the development of Hamer’s Newport series of guitars (a story for a different post).  Well, it turns out these days Roger is the Kaman Product Specialist with Genz Benz (Roger is a bit of a mensch) and was involved in the development of the new Black Pearl, all class A circuit amp. 

Now I’m not an amp head and the technical stuff is not in my vocabulary (just keep repeating to myself, 12AX7 is a pre-amp tube,   EL 84 is output side),  I’m more concerned with what’s coming out the front and how to play with it.  Anyway, Roger saw the blank look on my face when he started talking about tone stacks and signal path and sag and decided to keep it simple for a ludite like me. Suffice it to say, he told me that the Pearl is all class A circuitry with 5 12AX7 pre-amp tubes and 4 EL 84 power amp tubes and was designed to have a very vintage Vox AC30  vibe when all the tone settings are in the 12 oclock position and the voicing control is on normal. The back panel allows you to choose between Pentode and Triode settings and 2 or 4 tube power output effectively giving you a choice between 8, 15, 0r 30 watt output. The lower the output, the more of a “vintage” tone you get, although this will never be thought of as a modern Metalheads amp(Genz Benz makes the EL Diablo series for those guys). Add to that a tube boost position with 5 different voicings and a very cool and organic sounding reverb unit  and you have alot of versatility. In actual performance this sucker actually lives up to it’s specs.  In deference to Roger’s background, I put a Hamer Newport through it and found that it was plenty clean and crisp without having that faintly muddy tone that I often find in humbucker equipped guitars, even on the boost settings. Since I play primarily acoustic these days, I’m always impressed when I find an electric rig that sounds good with me playing it. After Roger had left I grabbed a Strat and a Tele and gave those a run. When I do play electric I usually play the Ratocaster, a highly modified Mexican Strat  that spent a night in a lake once and has since been resurected with Seymour Duncan alnico pick-ups and a lot of hamfisted abuse (note for future post, Fender’s Mexican stuff doesn’t get the respect it deserves). With an electric guitar, this is as good as I get (not saying much) but through the Pearl I had it happenin’ and was actually inspired to pick up the electric more oftenin the future. That sweet natural, nasally Fender tone was pure and really musical and there was absolutely no mud. On the Boost settings I could get great vintage Rock and Blues tones and the Normal setting was great for clean crisp rhythm. My buddy Will, who is a great player, stepped in to play a little Jazz for me so I could listen and the amp absolutely was singing. With a Tele the results were just what I had hoped for. Similiar in performance to the Strat but because of the transparency of the amp, letting the character and personality of the guitar be heard.  You want Tele snap and spank, you got it. Will is an engineer by trade (I know, I know, but he’s the kind that actually blends his intellect with real soul) and is huge picky about his gear.  He ended up picking up a Pearl  1X12 combo for himself. 

Downsides? Some of the early models have a buzz in the chassis at low to moderate volume while playing up around the 7th fret on the D string. It’s been identified as a rattle in the rectifier tube and Genz Benz has been replacing them under warranty. If you are a fan of the new breed of smaller lighter amps, this ain’t it. While not heavy for it’s class and specs, it’s definitely not a lightweight; just more amp to love.

The Black Pearl is available as a 1X12 or 2X12 combo and a seperate head. I have both those combos at the store and have tried them both. I’ve never played through the seperate head but imagine with the right cabinet it won’t dissapoint. There’s a new 3X10 combo out which I can’t wait to get my hands on. I love the tone of multiple 10″ speakers and expect that set up may be the perfect amp for me. 

For someone looking for a great recording amp or small to medium venue amp, this one is a winner. I’ve had occaision to chat with Jeff Genzler of Genz Benz a couple of times when we were trying to figure out the chassis rattle thing and he is very passionate about the stuff with his name on it. These amps live up to that passion and are very competetively priced for Pro Performance, top quality gear.�

So what is a guy who is dead set on having a “Brick and Mortar” Music Store doing writing a blog on his store’s web site?  Well, a little history first so you have some idea where I am coming from.  My name is Steve Marquardt and I bought the Music Center of Norwich in March of 2005 with my business partner, Art Wallace.  Both of us have played music all our lifes, both have a professional business background (me in retail, selling motorcycles, Art in IT services for various companies), and both of us were tired of working for other people.  The way the story is told, I came home one day and told my wife Kristen I was going out to buy a guitar and she threw up her hands in exasperation and said “another guitar, for crying out loud, why don’t you just buy the whole store?”.  At that point the light bulb went on over my head and I thought Hmmmmm, what a great idea (I’m sure she was serious, she’s a great wife.).  A week later I told her we had a meeting about the music store we were buying and of course she said “what music store?”.   

I had played professionally back through the 90’s ending up as the bass player and one of the primary songwriters for the Country-Rock band Wildcard.  Wildcard was the classic band scenario; a bunch of really talented folks who made it to the very brink of success and then collapsed from within. We even had a record deal with  Sweetheart Records (I still have the recording contract somewhere, should probably use it to line the kitty box or something).  Like all musicians I was a gear junkie, and while playing professionally I found plenty of oppurtunities to indulge my equipment addiction. I always enjoyed going into the small to medium size music stores where you could take your time and look around, maybe shoot the bull about the latest gear, and just enjoy the musical atmosphere in a low pressure enviroment.  I found the big box Music Stores (you know who you are) too loud and high pressure. Unfortunately, those stores were frequently the only option in some areas.  Buying on-line always felt very remote and impersonal and it was tough to know what you were getting.

What Art and I are striving to do is to create a music store that offers the warmth and friendlieness of the old Mom and Pop stores while offering the variety and quality of instruments that modern musicians are looking for.  The type of store that has instruments that are current,  exciting, and accessible, while offering a low pressure and peaceful atmosphere to make your choices.  All this and maintain a competetive price structure. Not an easy task.

So what does this have to do with the internet? Man, the world has changed in the last 20 years and the internet is central to alot of that change.  I graduated College with a science degree and never touched a computer. Today kids are learning to use computers in Kindergarten.

The Music Center of Norwich website and this blog will hopefully offer me the oppurtunity to reach out beyond just the local area and interact with musicians worldwide.  In the short couple of years we have owned the Music Center, we have developed customer relationships with people all over the world.  Europe, the UK, Canada, Asia, and Australia are just a few of the places we have had the pleasure of meeting new customers.  Through our Ebay store and now through this web site, we hope to be able to develop the kind of relationships we develop at the store everyday. Internet buying is a reality. Hopefully we can make it a reality where our friends and customers can feel secure and welcome without the uncertainties that often exist in the more impersonal parts (again, you know who you are) of cyber-space.

So if you are in Southern New England, stop in and just  say “Hi” (well, if you want to buy something that would be ok too, I do gotta eat). We are only minutes from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos and half way between New York city and Boston.  And if you’re not in the area, get to know us through the internet, even if you’re not looking to purchase something. Hopefully in time many others will add to this blog and we can develop a great musicians community.

Over the next several weeks, as I figure this blogging thing out, I hope to share some of the cool things we either hear about or that come through our door (I saw Ovation VXT’s at the factory 6 months before they were announced to the public, this job has great perks.).  If there is something you’re looking at, have a question about, or need help with, let me know. If there is something you want to share, post it up. 

And oh yeah, this internet thing is cool and all but let’s not get so lost here that we forget to take time to make music.

Steve