I went to one of his amp learning sessions, one of those he held at his home base in Texas, it was interesting and sort of useful at the stage I was at some years ago, but I wouldn't do it again.
Took my little 15W tweed Harvard clone, everyone else there started at 50W so I didn't get to participate in the big play-off. He also plays a pretty fair Hammond B3.
Did you see his video where he got careless and stuck his finger on a live power tube socket? That's an object lesson if ever I saw one.
David Root wrote:Did you see his video where he got careless and stuck his finger on a live power tube socket? That's an object lesson if ever I saw one.
Alot like ken without the scientist mind LOL. I use to intern with Gerald back in the late 80's or early 90's for a short time. This was before Gerald and Ken had there fall out. Really I can't say anything bad about him he had a cool operation going back then. I still say some of his early version of his speakers were really good.
David Root wrote:Did you see his video where he got careless and stuck his finger on a live power tube socket? That's an object lesson if ever I saw one.
I'm pretty sure he faked that. I think he just touched the input so it made a loud hum, like touching your cord tip when you're plugging in. It doesn't make much noise when you get shocked. You'll be the one making the noise! Not that I would know or anything...
"The blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits." - Willie Dixon
Yeah, I had to look at that video again and I agree that he faked that by touching the grid.
Even still, it gets your attention!
The last time I got shocked I had my hand (one hand rule) resting on the edge of the chassis while I probed with the red probe.
I can't remember what I touched but man, what a wake up call.
I think you need a little reminder every once in a while to keep you safe.
Gerald's a first rate guy. Sure, he has some pretty strong opinions, and is certainly willing to let you know them, but, hey--he's from Texas.
I've called him up a couple of times when a Fender really had me stumped. He's worked on so many of them, he's very skilled. I think he could fix most Blackface Fenders just by sniffing them!
A friend of mine went to one of his amp camps.
It was at Gerald's place.
He said he had a blast and he had brought his Princeton to work on.
He told me Gerald is a very nice guy and he made the classes a lot of fun and helped those that brought amps to get them in shape.
Not it's not cheap but my friend said it was worth it.
I think Gerald learned from the school of hard knocks and and learned from working on amps. He certainly has years of experience.
I have three of his books.
I know he was having some health issues a year or so ago. I hope he is doing alright now.