Fender Tone Master Super Reverb

[Woody Sound]

It was 21. We’re talking about the 1960s. Some states lowered it to 18 starting in ‘68 IIRC. But in 1984 a federal law was passed denying highway funds to states that didn’t make it 21.

When I was in college (university) we had a tavern in the basement of the student union called the Rathskeller. Nice place, stained glass decor, fancy wood, etc. Both students and faculty would meet there after classes for a beer and a snack. I was old for my grade, turned 18 in Feb of my senior yr of hs. So I was able to drink at "The Rat" as soon as I got there.

I work at that uni now, and they do not tolerate ANY alcohol ANYWHERE on campus. If there is a special event or reception where they want to provide wine, or anything, they have to get special permission. Times do change.

(ps - I was also very popular in hs because I could drive at night. )

[Spook410]

And I'll never understand it. The "muted woof" ..

I'm in this camp. For electric I like the scooped mid's with a bit of sparkle from a blackface Fender Twin. For more acoustic tone in the mix (why have a nice carved archtop otherwise?) I've come to like the flexibility of amp modelers, IR's, and a quality full range speaker.

Tone isn't everything of course. Jim Hall is one of my favorite players. Love his playing. Hate his tone.

[bluenote61]

I also have the problem that when I get the chords sounding right, the single note stuff sounds a little too thin.

I faced the same problem. My personal solution was the so called '50s wiring' for the tone control, i.e. at the volume pot the tap of the tone circuit is on the wiper (output) lug and not on the input lug as made today.
The difference to nowadays circuit is when you are rolling back the volume, the tone looses some bass and gets thinner and therefore sounds more trebly.
For comping, I roll back the volume to approx. 70% and adjust the tone to what I want. For single note playing, e.g. solos, I turn the volume full up and get a thick tone.
Drawback of this wiring is the greater interaction of the pots. That may be the reason why it is no more in use.
But for me it has more points on the positive side.

[Doctor Jeff]

When I was in college (university) we had a tavern in the basement of the student union called the Rathskeller. Nice place, stained glass decor, fancy wood, etc. Both students and faculty would meet there after classes for a beer and a snack. I was old for my grade, turned 18 in Feb of my senior yr of hs. So I was able to drink at "The Rat" as soon as I got there.

I work at that uni now, and they do not tolerate ANY alcohol ANYWHERE on campus. If there is a special event or reception where they want to provide wine, or anything, they have to get special permission. Times do change.

(ps - I was also very popular in hs because I could drive at night. )

There's a Rathskeller at U Wisconsin, where 2 of my kids went. There's a bar in Omaha called the Rathskellar. There may be one in every college/town of any size LOL...

We had a basement tavern like that at Emory--Dooley's Den I think it was called. They featured a comedy group that many of my friends were in called Rathskeller.

[bluenote61]

Very interesting. The word 'Rathskeller' is of german origin. It was used in former times for a tavern or restaurant located in the basement (german "Keller") of the town hall ( german "Rathaus"). And, of course, there was (or still is) a Ratskeller in each bigger city in Germany.
Now I have learned, not only the 'Kindergarten' was exported from Germany over the pond. Also another place for adults.

[John A.]

I’ve always understood “rathskeller” as a generic term for an on-campus basement pub, not as a formal name of specific pubs, but I guess there are pubs named "The Rathskeller” after all. We had one at my college that was mostly called "the pub", but some people called it "the rathskeller". Neither was its actual name.

[street]

Re. Op's question,

I have the TM Twin, my usual settings are 6, 5, 2 (t, m, b), vol around 3ish, with no attenuation. If I use the built in attentuator I find there's a bit more bass and adjust accordingly. My bright switch is usually on but if I need a quick treble cut on a bright guitar I'll switch that before messing with the knobs. My tube Deluxe Reverb setting aren't much different, 6 on treble and 3 on bass, vol 5ish.
Obviously different rooms may elicit changes, but those are the general settings.

I never play my guitar with vol and tone knobs dimed, they're always backed off. Vol rides around 5-7 and tone 3-6 on Gibsons, and I'm a big fan of the middle setting on 2 pickup Gibby's.

FWIW I also really like the Intercontinental tone and my Polytone set flat seems to get the closest to that.

[Bluedawg]

Fun little tangents LOL

There is ... or maybe was, a great restaurant in Washington, DC called the Rathskeller. Can't find it online. Maybe I'm thinking of the Brickskeller which is also out of business.

Yes, the name comes from Germany.

I have fond memories of the Ratskeller in Wiesbaden. The restaurant was run by Andechs which is a monastery southwest of Munich. Andechs is famous for its fabulous food and beer.

Der Andechser im Ratskeller

Der Andechser im Ratskeller

You can versenken Sie Bayerische Gemuetlichkeit there.

Now I want a Schweinshaxe.


I have even found Andechs beer in the states occasionally and the import version is still rather awesome.


As for stateside drinking age, I grew up in Tennessee. It was still 18 when I turned 18. When I turned 19 it went up to 19 and was finally raised to 21 after I turned 21.

Even after that, for the longest time you could still buy a drink at 18 with a military ID in Tennessee. I think that's changed now.