Mass Resonator

Noise. It can be beautiful, and the manipulation of it is part of the essence of what it is to be a musician. However, when you are dealing with extraneous operating noise that can occur with tube amps, noise can become very frustrating. The tube amplifier itself will always have some sort of operating noise, but the severity is hard to denote without having a knowledgeable tech hear it in person. However, if you feel it is excessive, there are some things you can check on your own to reduce extraneous amp noise:

1) Take a pencil with an eraser, and while the amp is on and a guitar is plugged in, ready to play, take the eraser end and tap each of the preamp tubes (the smaller ones). If you hear an audible ping through the speakers, you most likely have a micro-phonic preamp tube. This can contribute to noise both when you are playing and not. Replace the offending tube and you should have less noise (and definitely better tone). We stock a variety of tubes here at Mass St. Music.

2) Make sure your amp is plugged into a power conditioner, or at least a surge protector. The difference is Continue Reading →

Can’t wait to plug into the Doctor’s lastest mad creation…the Dr. Z Monza Amp! 20 watts of high Gain EL84 Grind! We’ve got it all coming in (Feb!) including a Monza head, a 110 in red, a blonde 112, and a 210 in black with salt and pepper grillcloth. Want to know what it sounds like? Check  out the Monza on youtube…

And here’s the second half of his tearing up the Monza on youtube.

Thanks Doc!

The great Otis Taylor with Ome's limited 'Otis'

Ome has created a very cool 12 inch rim, open back 5 string banjo with the  multi-talented blues musician Otis Taylor, and named it after him. This banjo honors the great organic, woody tones of the first banjos brought to America from Africa.  Check out Taylor’s distinctive, percussive style in this great clip about his 2008 album “Recapturing the Banjo”. This has a  12 inch wooden pot perfect for more the percussive playing style and gives a really nice, warm tone. Crafted from Maple and comes with a hard case.  None in our store as of yet, but if you’ve any interest, just drop Brian a line.