Freitag, 30. Dezember 2022

MESA/Boogie Founder – Randall Smith Interview

Mein Kommentar dazu auf Youtube:

"My very first amp was a LABSeries L7. The second one was the Roland JC120. The third one was a Boogie MKII B 60W. That was back in the 80s and it was something to own a Boogie at that time here in Germany. I felt like a super pro. So I bought this amp and went straight to our basement where we used to practise. The bandmembers were already waiting in anticipation. I turned on that thing and everybody was stunned! Now here's the thing: the singer had a Kittyhawk 60W Amp, which basicly was a copy of the Boogie MKII B. He suggested a comparison of the two. So we put them up side by side. To make a long story short: they sounded identical! Believe it or not, there was no difference at all! The main difference was the price tag: 600 DM for the Kittyhawk and 2.200 DM for the Boogie! The funny thing was, everybody realised it, even I did, but my friends didn't want to mention it. They didn't want to embarrass me because I was so happy. As the years went on I had several MKIII's and even an early MKI. I loved them all. But after a while I switched to more traditional amps like Fender, Marshall and Vox. It was a musical journey I will never forget. I loved it! Today I don't have an amp anymore. Sold the last one a few years ago. But everytime I see a Boogie MKIII with a solid natural wood chasis, caning and that EQ on the front panel, it brings back those memories because those were the days."

Mittwoch, 30. März 2022

Pawn Stars: Jimi Hendrix's HOLY GRAIL of Guitars (Season 9)



It was back in 1982 when I was in school in Germany, a friend of mine came up to me totally excited and said: "Come on! I have to show you something!" So we went downtown to a pawn shop (which by the way was right beside a music shop) and there she was in the front shop window: an old Fender Stratocaster, which looked very much like the one here in the video. We went in and asked for the price. The owner, an old guy from Romania said 150 DM (Deutsch Marks), which would be like 150 Euros or 150 Dollars (more or less) today. We were dumbfounded, to say at least! So my friend pulled the money out of his pocket and the guitar was his! No paperwork, receit or anything. On top of it: it was my friends birthday and he got the money from his parents! Back home we took off the neck to figure out the production date of the guitar: November 1962! Through the years my friend got many offers to sell the guitar, but he never did. He still owns the guitar to this day. I think this is a story worth mentioning ...