The Digital Dispatch

From NOEBIE.net

Video

New Tubes for a Vintage Amp

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When I was playing music for a living, I spent ridiculous amounts of time and money obsessing over gear. One of my “Holy Grail” items was an old Blackface Deluxe amp. Glenn Frey played through one, and I really wanted to be Glenn Frey when I grew up.

I was at my friend Mike’s house buying some JBL speakers from him, and noticed an empty Fender cabinet. “Oh, yeah. That’s an old Deluxe. I found it in a barn, covered with bird shit.” He had given the chassis to one of my bandmates for parts. So I bought the cabinet from Mike for $25, along with an extra JBL for $50. Then I talked my bandmate, Andy, out of the chassis. All I needed was somebody to put the amp back in operating condition.

I found a repair guy in Decatur, Illinois who called himself “The Amp Doctor.” He was reluctant to take on any new projects, but when I told him what it was – an early 1960s Blackface Red Jewel Fender Deluxe, he agreed to take a look at it. He went back to the original schematics and parts vendors as much as possible, and made the thing as close as he could to how it would have been when it rolled off the line at the factory. About the only component where he compromised was the power cord (the original would have been cloth covered, with no grounding prong). I believe his bill was either $180 or $210 or somesuch. This would have been in the mid 1980s.

The amp was just a screamer, especially with the JBL D120F speaker in it. The repair guy told me that it was a transitional model, produced after CBS bought Fender, but before they made any significant design changes.

A few years back, I noticed that it was dropping out some when I played through it. So I started using it as a speaker cabinet for a Quilter amp head. Recent discussions with Mike, and another old bandmate, Lem, prompted me to replace the tubes and see how it sounds.

As I began removing the old tubes, I noticed that one from the main power section was cockeyed and hanging from the socket. I suspect that this was the cause of the amp cutting out. 🙂

I took video of the process of changing the tubes, and a quick test run. It still sounds marvelous after all these years.

In terms of reliability, range of sounds and ease of transport, I know that more recent amps offer a lot of advantages, but there is something so romantic about these old Fenders. I was considering selling this one, as they are going for astronomical prices these days. After hearing it again, now I’m not so sure.

More info on the tubes and the process are in the video and the YouTube description box.

The Lokah Peace Prayer

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After completing the recording of the Cowboy Mahamantra I asked my wife, Claudia, what we should record next. Without any hesitation, she chose this ancient Sanskrit invocation of compassion and peace.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

“May all beings everywhere be blessed. I devote myself to this goal.”

I set to work on the melody, and have been fiddling around with it for a few weeks now. This morning I did an impromptu Facebook livestream with what I have so far.

I’m still not very comfortable with the Spanish Guitar. 🙂

Look for a full recording of this one in the next couple of months.

In the meantime, here is my wish and blessing for you. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live in safety. May you be free.

Be That One Accepting Person for Somebody

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My youngest child sent me the link to this video, saying “I cried when watching this video, man.” I watched it and replied “Me too.”

There are a lot of things about how we humans experience and express gender and sexuality that I still do not understand. Here is what I do understand.

People have a right to live authentically, in accord with their own sense of the deepest truths of their being.

People have a capacity to choose love, kindness and acceptance for one another. This is something that I believe we ought to do.

Help to Gaza

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My kid came up to me this morning expressing frustration with the conversations on social media concerning the current crisis in the Middle East. I think a lot of us are feeling that way.

I have little interest in politics. For me, the important thing at this point is that innocent children and their families are suffering, and there are simple things we can do, if we choose, to help them.

My own donation this morning went to Zakat Foundation. I would encourage you to help as well, by donating what you can to whatever charitable organization suits you.

Pilgrims On The Road

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Several years ago, I first heard about the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. The idea of backpacking 500 miles across Spain to arrive at the burial site of an Apostle caught my imagination, but it was not something that I thought would really be possible for me to undertake. I filed it away as another pleasant thing to dream about.

A few weeks ago, we ran across Stefanie Hurtado’s marvelous documentary of her trek on the Way of St. James. It inspired me to reconsider, and it looks like it may be feasible after all. Claudia and I are still in very early discussions about the possibility, but are thinking we may attempt at least the portion of the pilgrimage from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela some time in 2025.

I’ll be posting more here as we continue to plan. In the meantime, the video above is highly recommended.

Here’s a link to the English version of the official website for the pilgrimage.

https://www.caminodesantiago.gal/en/inicio

Louis Theroux in India

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A friend in our work chat this morning shared this video after a short exchange about Hindu and Buddhist practices. It’s from the BBC program Weird Weekends with Louis Theroux.

Theroux is, I think, a sincere and light hearted skeptic. The video presents a mostly amusing look at some Westerners who have gone to India seeking enlightenment, their practices, and the Gurus that they follow, from OSHO to Prabhupada.

Toward the very end of the program, we witness Theroux’s encounter with Amma, and it is a moment of beauty and truth.

Preventing School Massacres

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With each new school massacre, there is a predictable pattern of reactions that has come to seem almost performative. Much of what is said and written seems little more than hurling insults towards political opponents, utterly without value to either grieving or prevention.

There are some actual, practical, well-researched and replicable steps that our communities can take toward prevention though, and they do not require shouting obscenities, or writing your representatives in Congress, or tilting at political windmills.

Mark Follman is the author of Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America. He appeared in April on Democracy Now! to discuss the book, and they recently featured the interview again after the massacre in Uvalde.

You can read an excerpt of the book at the link below from Mother Jones.

Here’s How We Can Prevent the Next School Massacre – Mother Jones. Inside a growing method that experts are using to thwart disasters like the recent Oxford High rampage.