New Guitar and Amp Day

**citizenk74** · 01-17-2022, 02:59 PM

Big day at Chez k, courtesy Gentleman, Scholar, Ranconteur, and Forum stalwart Hammertone:

One hand-built, PTP, all-tube, 35watt Princeton clone; and a very nice Sherwood Green partscaster Strat that is just spiffy. I am very, very pleased, to say the least.

Pictures, if I can manage it:

New Guitar and Amp Day-mail-google-jpg

**Stringswinger** · 01-17-2022, 03:02 PM

May that new gear inspire your playing for many years to come !

**citizenk74** · 01-17-2022, 03:23 PM

Thanks, SS, I'm lovin' it! The Strat has a very generously-sized neck that my aging hands really appreciate and the the amp, with its 12" speaker and truly glorious reverb is just a joy!. In my long playing history, I have never used tremolo until now. That throb helps my time, and just sounds good. A single electric guitar all by itself is an exercise in precision: touch, tone, and taste are the focus. After a two year hiatus my hands and arms need therapy, and this pair is just the ticket!

**kris** · 01-17-2022, 03:27 PM

Congrats.:-)

**Gitfiddler** · 01-17-2022, 03:35 PM

Congratulations on your new (VERY COOL!) gear.

Maybe you'll grace us with a review, once your hands and ears adjust to their new friends.

**skykomishone** · 01-17-2022, 04:01 PM

Congratulations!
That's a nice setup.
I can never forget seeing Jimi Hendrix playing one of those when I snuck into the little practice room he was in under the stairs before his concert.
He never looked up. Totally absorbed into the guitar. I was not old enough to drive, but my older brother brought me along because he was doing the light show. Wow. Hendrix could really play

**wintermoon** · 01-17-2022, 04:07 PM

just when you think you know what someone looks like.........not!

enjoy the stuff CK!

**Sam Sherry** · 01-17-2022, 04:14 PM

Hayo!

Make every note count, K -- I know you will!

**Hammertone** · 01-17-2022, 04:14 PM

The amp was built by the Princeton Whisperer up here - Brian Luckhurst. He maintains a low profile and builds .... Princetons, in a variety of flavours. This is one of his early ones, built on a Hoffman turret board. I would have kept it, but... I am trying to reduce the amp footprint around here. Yeah, reverb, with just a touch of trem, makes for a pleasant sound, indeed.

The guitar is a high-end partscaster with a REALLY special Musikraft neck.

Only the best for K.

**jazzkritter** · 01-17-2022, 04:24 PM

Hey Cit74! That sure looks like fun, best of luck coming back from that hiatus my friend. Two years, I didn’t realize you had been out that long! My one year doesn’t seem so bad.
A Princeton clone with a 12”, as said in my ol home state of NJ, is ‘to die for’. (Not pronounced anything like it looks, more ‘Tadaifaw’)
You enjoy!
kk

**vernon** · 01-17-2022, 04:40 PM

Very cool!! What a fun way to start the new year!

**burchyk** · 01-17-2022, 04:47 PM

Look how happy you are, made me smile too

Thanks for the photo, and enjoy your gear!

**citizenk74** · 01-17-2022, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Gitfiddler

Congratulations on your new (VERY COOL!) gear.

Maybe you'll grace us with a review, once your hands and ears adjust to their new friends.

Ask, and Ye shall receive:

The amp, built by Brian Luckhurst, is a PTP hand wired Princeton circuit with a bigazz transformer, a 12" heavy-duty speaker and some other electronic magic I wouldn't understand if you explained it to me in a cabinet that is 1" bigger all around than the Fender it is based on. Workmanship, fit, and finish are utterly immaculate. Solid and just perfect all around. The sound is clear and clean, the reverb spacious and lush, and the tremolo just amazing. Playing through it with any of my three "out" instruments (the new Strat, my '66 Custom Telecaster, and my '86 PRS CU24) is just a revalation, partly because of the quality of the amp (superb) and partly because of its position ay ear level, three feet off to my left. This allows me to hear the amp in the same way a microphone does, which I like. I've got it set on just shy of 3 for the V, 5.5T, 4.5B, 3.5R, 1.75S, 3.5I. The Speed and Intensity knobs I twirl a bit, V/Ts stay pretty much the same +/- 0.5., depending on the guitar. Fun, fun, fun!

The guitar is a Hammertone special, and I love it. A nice slab of rosewood expertly fretted over a girthy, lightly-figured hard maple neck gives my left hand something to get a grip on, the Sherwood Green Metallic finish, lightly distressed, glistens around the 3-ply w-b-w PG, housing the requisite 3 American-made pups, the 5-way switch, and the 5-spring trem, whose handle will remain ornamental, but which adds just that saucy ring to the cleanly separated notes of any chord I can form. I use the 2 & 4 positions a lot, with 3 and 1 for lines, 5 more rarely. I love this guitar. Using a Wampler Belle as an (almost) always-on fine-adjustment pre-amp, I'm getting linear tones I really like, and chordal sonorities with plenty of chime and what I call "stringiness" - a palpable texture along with the harmonic content. Strats, in my experience, are their own thing, and "Unforgiving" is its name. A stern mistress, but rewarding.

**Strbender** · 01-17-2022, 04:51 PM

Congratulations. Looks sweet. Enjoy it

**citizenk74** · 01-17-2022, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by wintermoon

just when you think you know what someone looks like.........not!

enjoy the stuff CK!

Oddly enough, I was a cute baby, 73 years ago! Just goes to show you what time and tides can do to a man!

**citizenk74** · 01-17-2022, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by Hammertone

The amp was built by the Princeton Whisperer up here - Brian Luckhurst. He maintains a low profile and builds .... Princetons, in a variety of flavours. This is one of his early ones, built on a Hoffman turrect board. I would have kept it, but... I am trying to reduce the amp footprint around here. Yeah, reverb, with just a touch of trem, makes for a pleasant sound, indeed.

The guitar is a high-end partscaster with a REALLY special Musikraft neck.

Only the best for K.

Really appreciate all your good work in making this happen, S. You are one of a kind, the best!

**wintermoon** · 01-17-2022, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by citizenk74

Oddly enough, I was a cute baby, 73 years ago! Just goes to show you what time and tides can do to a man!

I was thinking you'd look a little more academic, like an accountant or something, maybe a thinner version of Jonathan Stout

not even close.....

**citizenk74** · 01-17-2022, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by skykomishone

Congratulations!
That's a nice setup.
I can never forget seeing Jimi Hendrix playing one of those when I snuck into the little practice room he was in under the stairs before his concert.
He never looked up. Totally absorbed into the guitar. I was not old enough to drive, but my older brother brought me along because he was doing the light show. Wow. Hendrix could really play

Wow! that is one for David Letterman's "Brush with Greatness" file! But yeah, total absorption is the whole ball of wax, in an empty room or in front of thousands.

**Flat** · 01-17-2022, 05:48 PM

Congrats on the new git and rig, K74! That custom Princeton sounds glorious in description. Long may she run!

**Eck** · 01-17-2022, 07:33 PM

Looks like after two years of purgatory you’re now in heaven! Well deserved and I’d be happy to hear what it sounds like!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**sgosnell** · 01-17-2022, 08:01 PM

I thought you already owned a guitar and amp. Another? Of both? What is the world coming to?

**Endaro** · 01-17-2022, 08:08 PM

To your new gear, in citizenk74 style, I say:

To you, I say, congratulation!

**citizenk74** · 01-17-2022, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by sgosnell

I thought you already owned a guitar and amp. Another? Of both? What is the world coming to?

Actually, I'm surrounded by the fruits of a half-century in Da Biz. More guitars and amps than any sane person not a merchant would have. But I make no claims in that regard....