something borrowed something blue...

Posted: May 22nd, 2009

hey folks,
sorry I've been remiss in my blogging duties. now that we're back on the road, it'll take a few days to get readjusted to our other lives & schedules. when we 1st get out on tour, I still wake up @ 6:30am every day - even when we're up until 2:00am the night before. it usually takes a few days to get "reassigned". it's a bit odd living this way, but we've done it for so long. I think I'll save it for another topic, another day.

today, I'm more excited about my new amp! I'll always be a 13 yr. old in the guitar shop (except instead of lusting after flying V's, my tastes have changed - some. I still like V's - are you reading this Gibson? korina is esp. nice ; ) back to my 'new' amp!

LOOK!

This is an Oldfield Marquis 30 in a new custom bamboo cab. I'm a big fan of bamboo. it's a great alternative to hardwoods & it's sustainable. it's as durable as oak or maple (some say more so) & is less susceptible to water damage. it can also grow as much as 3 ft. in 1 day. (we've used it for all of our hardwood flooring @ home too).

Being a big fan of bamboo as a green alternative, I was particularly drawn to the speaker cab I'm currently using, which is made by Hard Truckers (the same guys who made all the cabs for the Dead). they offer a eco friendly version of their Fatty cab made out of hemp plywood w. a bamboo veneer. in addition to sounding as good, or better, than a typical birch or pine cab, it's also significantly lighter (that is, before I loaded it with vintage JBL D120f spkrs which weigh a ton). here's a pic of the back:

I started talking to Paul Gussler, owner, designer, & builder of Oldfield amps about rehousing my Marquis 30 combo (the dark green one you've seen on stage for the last few years) into a new bamboo head cab to match the Hard Truckers speaker cab. Paul & Glenn (from HT) spoke about some of the details, & we were off.

There were some initial tests to see if the bamboo would stand up to the rigors of traditional cabinetry (ie. dovetailing, splintering, etc.) & it did great. There was also the issue of taking my old amp chassis (which used it be in the rear facing up) & flipping it over to fit into the new head (now lower front panel facing fwd.). needless to say, paul did a 'spongeworthy' job!

the final piece involved working with Hard Truckers to develop a grille for my speaker cab that was also green (I'm a huge pain in the ass). they sent me samples of bamboo, hemp, & silk. ultimately, we opted for the unbleached hemp. it's actually very similar to the grille cloth used on Fender tweed amps from the early to mid '50s (TV front & wide panel tweeds).

Thanks so much to paul & glenn, & the girls @ HT, for hanging in there with me. clearly, one of the coolest amp rigs on tour...

Oldfield Tube Amps
Hard Truckers

sunset @ summer camp!