When is a Clone Not a Clone?

I had been hunting around for a 5E3 type amp to feature on line at the cyber store and also at the repair shop. For those readers that are not familiar with the numerical reference, 5E3 is the schematic number identifying the low wattage “Deluxe” model combo amp designed and manufactured by Leo Fender through the years 1948-1960. According to Vintage Guitar Magazine[1] it was covered in tweed tolex during this period and that is how most of the clones and replicas are offered today. This is a solid, simple no frills amp with a distinctive tone ideal for blues and old school, classic rock, heard on many seminal albums. Originals in good condition are beyond most of us regular folks and are disappearing rapidly to the vaults of collectors internationally and in the U.S.

There are many builders manufacturing this little guy: from scratch, from parts of their own design and from a large choice of D.I.Y. kits currently available. The price points, components and build quality vary greatly and selecting one was a huge challenge.

I wanted the cab to be real wood, sturdy and solidly built. I wanted the components to be top quality and reflect the modern, positive innovations made since the 50’s. I wanted clean, neat wire runs, good connections and relialable pots, jacks and switches. Lastly I wanted a killer output transformer since there has been a real quality leap in this area.

How, I wonder could I find an amp that met these criteria yet could pass through the merciless high shipping costs that have keep many wonderful products from getting to the folks in the islands at a fair price point.

It was right around this point that I caught the buzz and found myself hooked up with Tungsten Amplification a manufacturing company based in

Grand Island, Florida. Their mission and work ethic is to reproduce the work originally begun by Leo Fender in Fullerton, California but with care, and historical insight, while incorporating the many technological innovations and improvements available to today’s builder and designer. Speaking with Tungsten Amplification’s Adam Palow, he and I talked business and then we talked amps. I had some Island themed and retro cosmetic ideas and he was actually open to experimentation. The result is a little two tone honey. It’s the same circuit and cab as the Cortez with optional tolex and grill cloth; no tweed! This is a limited run which Adam created for the launch of his first Hawaii dealership at Kauai Guitars.

I’m totally stoked to be representing the Tungsten TwoTone Cortez as well as the entire line: The Mosaic, The Cortez and The Blue Point. Guitars Kauai’s retail price will include shipping to the Islands, and applicable sales tax. As sales volume increases, shipping will come down a bit and we will pass that on to our customers.

Here are the specs and models available along with some eye candy. A local photo layout is in the works for The Two Tone LTD model. Email info@guitarskauai.com for pricing and to place an order.

The Tungsten Cortez amplifier is based on the classic 5E3 design, putting
out twelve watts with a pair of 6V6 tubes and eighteen watts with a pair of
6L6 power tubes. It has a single Tone knob, Bright Volume and Normal Volume controls, four inputs and comes standard with a custom designed 12" Weber T12Q Alnico speaker. Because this amp is cathode biased, swapping power tubes is just a matter of plugging them in. No rebiasing is ever necessary. Likewise, the preamp section will accept 12AU7, 12AY7, and 5751 tubes in addition to the provided 12AX7. This allows a great deal of control over your individual tone. The Tungsten Cortez includes a pair of 12AX7 preamp tubes, two 6V6, one 5Y3, 12" Weber T12Q Alnico speaker and Mercury Magnetics transformers. This amp excels at blues and distorted classic rock tones with a raw punchy tone that is highly expressive. You can achieve beautiful, edgy clean tones by rolling
your guitar's volume back.

Pictured top left are the first two Two Tones minus their chassis and speakers, awaiting shipping to Guitars Kauai. By the way, GHS Strings and Rocktron pedals, amps cabs and accessories are here. Snake oil Brand Vintage Nickel Strings are arriving this week!

Email for a text inventory.

We are very excited about these superb amps, arriving any day now!

Until next time,

Mahalo, for tuning in.

Tyler J. Barnes

WWW.GuitarsKauai.com

Blogging at guitarsKauai.blogspot.com

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[1] Vintage Guitar Magazine Official Price Guide 2007 Edition; page 316

By Alan Greenwood and Gil Hembree. Hal Leonard Publ.

Snakes in Hawaii?

I got a telephone call from Dean Farley shortly after emailing him with questions regarding his Snake Oil Brand Strings. I had ordered and received a couple of sets from him, had strung up a Tele of mine with a Vintage Nickel Set, plugged in and played…and played and played. I actually found myself weeping as the tone and the feel of these strings transported me back to my youth in Southern California. Like Proust’s Madeline, the memories came pouring in and the tears came pouring out. Needless to say I am pretty jaded, I don’t drink anymore and I don’t cry at funerals or sad old movies. For me the tone was the trigger and I had to write this mysterious source of my strange emotional weather.

Over the course of a year Dean and I had many conversations and I had an opportunity to get to know him and for us to become long distances friends. Dean lost his mom in Feb. of '07 and as I work with Kauai Hospice periodically, hopefully I was able to offer some support in the way of strategies for dealing with loss.

In a recent forum post on the mother of all guitar gear forums, The Gear Page, a member said, and I quote loosely, “Dean Farley has forgotten more about guitar strings than most experts could hope to learn in two life times.” I don’t doubt this, his knowledge is encyclopedic, his memory is photographic and he owns one of the most acute and discerning pair of ears I’ve ever encountered. I’d have to count my best friend, Bay Area Bassist/multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Marsh right up there except he only has one functional ear. In a recent conversation with Tungsten Amplification owner/builder Adam Palow, Adam had this to say about Dean’s hearing: “You listen to something together and Dean explains what he hears, and what you somehow missed. After he explains it to you and you listen to the same thing again you hear it too.”

Dean is an articulate conversationalist and a wonderful teller of tales. His musical experiences are many and varied. The love and respect he holds for all players he has known is evident in his recalling and sharing these delightful bits of guitar history. Dean’s longtime friend, now departed amp guru Ken Fischer dubbed Dean, “The String King,” it is a title he humbly shirks but I believe it fitting if not a bit limiting.

Dean has been a contributing columnist recently for Premiere Guitar Magazine and his efforts are usually informative, often fascinating and at times controversial. I personally look forward to them with anticipation.

Dean told me he has been developing Snake Oil Brand Strings for 20 plus years now and has several innovative frying pans on the stove concurrently. In 2006 Guitar Player Magazine awarded Snake Oil Brand Strings its Editor’s Pick Award, the first I can recall ever given for guitar strings.

Guitars Kauai is honored to be able to bring Dean’s wonderful strings to players in the State of Hawaii and I consider myself fortunate to have become a friend of such a remarkable, outspoken and inspiring musician, journalist, alchemist and historian.

Aloha nui, until next time,

T.J. Barnes

Aloha, from as West as you can get in the U.S.A

Guitars Kauai grew out of a life time dual romance with the solid bodied guitars of Southern California and the rich Culture, craft, woods and sounds of traditional and contemporary Hawaiian Guitar and Ukulele driven music. I received my first Fender Telecaster as a present from my mother in the the early sixties.

We drove her '61 T-Bird to Fullerton to see Leo the Radio Man as my mother called Mr. Fender. He fancied my mom as she was a vivacious blond actress and I guess they flirted while the deal was made. Then Mr. Fender put a brand new white Telecaster in my small hands. I have never fallen out of love with with Leo's inspired and timeless design and am honored to have met The Creator.

I first played out in 1963, I've never grown out of it and probably never will. My father is a talented composer/lyricist and a piano man. He had successful hits that are considered standards today. He took his inspiration from Cole Porter and Rogers and Hart, but I was drawn to the works of Francis Vincent Zappa, Lennon and McCartney, Jagger and Richards, McGuinn, Van Morrison and the Three Kings: Freddie, B.B. and Albert. Later in L.A. it was Tom Waits and Warren Zevon then moving to Texas, I was captivated by the storytelling of Jerry Jeff Walker, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and the talented balladeers hanging around the Austin club scene and playing The Armidillo in the 70's . There I first heard the T Birds and their leader, Jimmy Ray's brother, a lanky white blues player with the initials S.R.V. who was stirring up quite a fuss playing an ugly sunburst Strat.

I was back in L.A. and then San Francisco just in time for disco and punk. I played the Mabuhay Gardens, The Roosevelt, The Off Broadway, the Palms and The Goodman Building with my four piece band, Buck$. When the bank account had 13.00 in it it was bac to L.A and then I became an expatriate.

Upon my escape to Kauai, now some 23 years ago, I delighted in discovering Gabby Pahinui, The Peter Moon Band, C and K, Ms. Cindy Coombs, Teresa Bright and a son of Nihihau now remembered as Brother Iz, to name but a few.

I met master restoration craftsman and ukulele historian Tero when I gave him a job in 1990. He had a collection of off beat Harmony and Silvertone guitars the memory of which still makes my heart beat faster. He was a California escapee and we both had considerable knowledge and shared a passion for wood and strings, although I am a hopeless electrical junkie, and he more the purist. We lost touch after Hurricane Iniki and were reunited just last year. I am blessed to have him as a partner and guide once again, in the shop and in my life. He is a consummate gentleman, and a highly skilled perfectionist. He can take a plastic bag of Koa splinters, utter an incantation which in time will transform the jigsaw puzzle into a pre-war Kamaka that will sing again for generations. Tero handles the finishing alchemy for our Custom Electrics.

I have been doing electrical repairs and setups for a small but loyal customer base for the last 15 years. I also buy and sell and offer Auction Brokering, verification and documentation. I have handled vintage acquisitions for clients with collections in Japan and the mainland. We will be introducing our line of custom guitars and bases this winter. Client requests for quality gear has led to a web presence and hopefully this blog will help during the site construction.

I have good relationships with several talented luthiers and can aide clients by exposing them to these different builders and assisting in accurately determining their wishes and needs and translate this information faithfully to the Artisan in guitar speak. This service can make all the difference in the world of professional, investment and presentation grade custom instrument purchasing.

The majority of our products are not off the shelf items. The big boxes and the factories of the Far East serve that need. I choose products made by companies with real faces, voices and hearts. I am not greed driven and do not want to be Mr. Taylor or Mr. Paul Reed Smith. I want to expose the talented players in Hawaii to products they might never know existed. I also believe in fair prices and look for products that represent value and are accessible to the working person, i.e the majority of the folks here on the island and throughout the state.

In future posts I'll introduce the products and the folks that make them. Hawaii Kamaina please sign up for your discount code at www.GuitarsKauai.com as gear is arriving daily. Until next time,

Aloha from Koloa

T. J. Barnes