http://www.300guitars.com Guitar Mania by Billy Penn Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:01:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/jeff-becks-guitar-collection/ http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/jeff-becks-guitar-collection/#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:23:01 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=10310 My man Alan Gowa (who is the bass player in my band the Inside Drivers) hipped me to the cool video. Check it out!!! Tweet]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/jeff-becks-guitar-collection/feed/ 1 http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/fender-princeton-reverb-reissue-gets-hand-wired/ http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/fender-princeton-reverb-reissue-gets-hand-wired/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:32:58 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=10302 Before: Printed circuit boards throughout. I find that pcb’s are more difficult to service and modify. Because of the small size of the components on the board you are limited on parts choices. Mallory 150′s or some boutique PIO caps will not fit. I believe that the carbon film resistors are not helping either especially... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/fender-princeton-reverb-reissue-gets-hand-wired/feed/ 6 http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/1950-fender-champ-electronics/ http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/1950-fender-champ-electronics/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:59:14 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=10262 Here is a photo of the 1950 Fender Champion 600 electronics. Every capacitor and resistor had to be changed. The amp was not working at all when I got it and I also replaced the AC cord with a 3-prong grounded type. No more 2-prong with “death cap” set-up. In this photo you can see... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2012/01/1950-fender-champ-electronics/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2011/11/mojo-blackface-bassman-amp-kit/ http://www.300guitars.com/2011/11/mojo-blackface-bassman-amp-kit/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:51:04 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=10233 Here is a “guts shot” of a Mojo Blackface Bassman amp kit I just completed for a customer. I get kits sent to me pretty regularly for assembly and thought I’d post a photo of what a completed chassis looks like. The Mojo kits include good quality parts and everything mounts up very nicely. This... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2011/11/mojo-blackface-bassman-amp-kit/feed/ 5 http://www.300guitars.com/2011/10/1950-fender-champion-600-restoration/ http://www.300guitars.com/2011/10/1950-fender-champion-600-restoration/#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:50:22 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=10189 My good friend John Fabian gave me this little 1950 Fender Champion 600 amp to restore. The amp has all the original electronic components, except the AC power cord. Obviously the grill and handle are not original and it’s missing it’s “skin”. During the coming weeks I will be posting from time to time the... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2011/10/1950-fender-champion-600-restoration/feed/ 3 http://www.300guitars.com/2011/02/fender-6g15-reverb-unit-restoration/ http://www.300guitars.com/2011/02/fender-6g15-reverb-unit-restoration/#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:20:09 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=9661 My man Andy Reidel brought me a hurtin’ original Fender 6G15 Reverb Unit for some cosmetic love. Electronically it was working perfectly and had a recent cap job. It really just needed to be completely stripped and then re-covered with new tolex and new grill. I love doing cosmetic restorations because after you’re finished the... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2011/02/fender-6g15-reverb-unit-restoration/feed/ 1 http://www.300guitars.com/2011/02/fender-factory-tour-1959/ http://www.300guitars.com/2011/02/fender-factory-tour-1959/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:39:39 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=9613 Here is a seven minute and twenty-six second look into the past. This is a really cool video of the Fender factory in 1959..!! You can see all of the factory workers doing their individual parts in the guitar building process. The factory is very modest, the workers have no dress code whatsoever and I... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2011/02/fender-factory-tour-1959/feed/ 2 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/11/1967-fender-super-reverb-asi-2/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/11/1967-fender-super-reverb-asi-2/#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:27:05 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=9338 Here’s a look inside a 1967 blackface Fender Super Reverb. Pretty much stock (changed output transformer) and sounded great. There is a little jack cleaning tip in this video as well. Tweet]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/11/1967-fender-super-reverb-asi-2/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/07/new-fender-limited-edtion-snake-head-telecaster/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/07/new-fender-limited-edtion-snake-head-telecaster/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:21:50 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8922 The new Fender Limited Edition “Snake Head” Telecaster model is now available..!! This is a Custom Shop creation replicating the first Tele prototype that was produced in the summer of 1949. Legend has it that good ol’ Uncle Leo and a few of his associates took the prototype from club to club for guitar players... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/07/new-fender-limited-edtion-snake-head-telecaster/feed/ 3 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/07/fender-introduces-super-sonic-amplifier-line/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/07/fender-introduces-super-sonic-amplifier-line/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:24:25 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8758 The new Fender Super-Sonic amp line is designed to deliver the classic Fender clean sound and overdriven tones, along with modern type higher gain distortion sounds, all in one straightforward amp. The new Super-Sonic 22 Combo is a 22-watt tube combo with an organic feel and output power comparable to the calssic Deluxe Reverb making... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/07/fender-introduces-super-sonic-amplifier-line/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/06/ny-amp-show-lance-lerman-interview/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/06/ny-amp-show-lance-lerman-interview/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:00:00 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8649 Lance Lerman of LSL Guitars is now offering rosewood fretboard models. I talked with Lance for a while at the show and played the new T-Bone and Saticoy. Lance is a great guy, VERY funny and builds an excellent guitar..!!! Tweet]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/06/ny-amp-show-lance-lerman-interview/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/06/new-victoria-ivy-league-amplifier/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/06/new-victoria-ivy-league-amplifier/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:49:28 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8517 The Victoria Amplifier Company has just released the new “Ivy League” amplifier model. It is based on the vintage 5F10 Fender Harvard circuit. The original Harvard amp featured three inputs, Volume & Tone controls, a 6AT7 preamp tube, a pair of 6V6 power tubes and 10″ speaker. The “Ivy League” amplifer incorporates all of these... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/06/new-victoria-ivy-league-amplifier/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/seymour-duncan-interview/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/seymour-duncan-interview/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 15:23:28 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8422 There is a really cool video interview over on the Guitarnoize blog. There are 4 parts and Seymour talks about all kinds of pickups and designs as well as some of the artists he has worked with over the years. One of the coolest parts is when he talks about the Tele-Gib.. I built one... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/seymour-duncan-interview/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/eminence-red-fang-10-speaker-review/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/eminence-red-fang-10-speaker-review/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 20:05:53 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8381 There is a review of the Eminence Red Fang 10 speaker on the Reviews page along with a video demo clip. This speaker sounded absolutely huge in my 1980’s Fender Super Champ! Rated for 50 watts @ 8 ohms the Red Fang has a big bottom end, sturdy mids and and chimey highs. It is... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/eminence-red-fang-10-speaker-review/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/danny-gatton-since-i-fell-for-you/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/danny-gatton-since-i-fell-for-you/#comments Mon, 17 May 2010 04:44:44 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8415 This is a little bit of a rough video clip of Danny Gatton playing Since I Fell For You. I think a lot of people think of Danny as a country or rockabilly player…which he was but he was so much more than just that. In this clip we get to see his jazzier side... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/danny-gatton-since-i-fell-for-you/feed/ 2 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/new-article-vintage-pots-metal-vs-plastic-shaft-by-jim-pasch/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/new-article-vintage-pots-metal-vs-plastic-shaft-by-jim-pasch/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 18:13:17 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8175 There is a new article on the Guest Guru’s page by Jim Pasch of The Parts Drawer called “Vintage Pots- Metal vs Plastic Shaft”. Jim is our Vintage Guitar Guru here at 300guitars. In this article Jim talks about metal and plastic shaft pots that were used on vintage Fender guitars. Some people question the... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/05/new-article-vintage-pots-metal-vs-plastic-shaft-by-jim-pasch/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/cool-cd-alert-pure-by-tomo-fujita/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/cool-cd-alert-pure-by-tomo-fujita/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:18:18 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8071 Here’s a great new CD by Tomo Fujita called “Pure”. Tomo is an amazing player and faculty member at the Berklee College of Music. He has worked with some great artists such as Phil Collins, John Mayer and Ronnie Earl to name a few. On his latest release Tomo enlisted Will Lee to play bass... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/cool-cd-alert-pure-by-tomo-fujita/feed/ 0 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/fender-super-champ-mods/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/fender-super-champ-mods/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:05:49 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8149 Here is the inside of my 1980′s Fender Super Champ and a few of the mods I did. Nothing too drastic just a few cap values altered for better tone. Let me know if you have any questions. Tweet]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/fender-super-champ-mods/feed/ 4 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/1958-fender-champ-new-in-box/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/1958-fender-champ-new-in-box/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:45:12 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8119 Whoa….two rare Fender tweeds in one week..!! Jason over at myfenderchamp.com made a post this incredible find on his website recently. It seems that Terry Foster, one of the authors of Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970 sent the pic to Jason. The book should be available soon and I know I have been patiently waiting... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/1958-fender-champ-new-in-box/feed/ 3 http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/qa-with-legendary-guitarist-jeff-beck/ http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/qa-with-legendary-guitarist-jeff-beck/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:02:55 +0000 Billy Penn http://www.300guitars.com/?p=8103 There is a cool interview with Jeff Beck over on the Fender website. In this Q&A interview Beck talks about his new album “Emotion & Commotion”, how and what he practices, guitars, the Yardbirds, cars and some other cool stuff. If you are a Jeff Beck fan this is definitely worth a read. He is... Read More »]]> http://www.300guitars.com/2010/04/qa-with-legendary-guitarist-jeff-beck/feed/ 1