The Guitologist
Education • Music • Science & Tech
If you're a fan of my YouTube channel "The Guitologist" this is the place to reach me, support the channel, and just hang out with like-minded guitarists who love freedom and hate wussies.
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My Emails

Here’s a typical email i get about amps. What would you tell him?

Hi Brad,

You run a business and you probably get a lot of stuff related to your YouTube channels, so I certainly understand if you don't have time for this.

After the tone experienced from a Ryan Adams show a couple of weeks ago, I've decided to go back to a tube amp. He was running a killer rig with two Benson Chimera heads with a Benson Tall Bird reverb unit for each head. Needless to say - that's way out of my price range,

I wanted to get some recommendations for a tube amp head. I've heard so many opinions. I'm on a tight budget because I really want to also pick up a Two Notes Captor X when playing live. I need to stay around $500 - $700 and I need an effects loop because I want to use my Helix for effects. I've looked at stuff like Marshall Origins, Hughes and Kettner Grandmeister 40 Deluxe, and even a Bassman (I was told by an amp repair guy in the shop that he could install an effects loop easily. He highly recommended a hand-wired amp (no shit).
The main reason I'm contacting you is to see if you have recommendations or, even more importantly, amps that I should stay away from because of negative experiences you've had on the bench. The Marshall Origins seem to be decent, but the web has mixed comments. Any help would be appreciated. I also have a quad cortex that can capture amps that are pretty much dead on accurate (Somebody uploaded a real Dumble recently), but I like old school knobs, etc and you end up endlessly fiddling with the options with a QC. So any help with suggestions would be appreciated if you have the time. I need a 30 w but could go 50w if necessary..

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What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
Modding a Hiwatt DR504

This is a video response to Tone Priest's question about modding a Hiwatt clone build. If you are a paid member here on Locals and have tech or other questions, I'll be happy to give you a similar video response when I get time! Thanks so much for all your continued support.

00:14:42
1931 Gibson L1 Extended Jam

This was the full jam session on the Gibson L1 I did recently. As you probably know, I usually will jam for a while on something and then pick a few highlights to show in a final video. A ton of stuff got edited out. It's not all great, but it's not all bad either. I find it kind of soothing, this quiet acoustic stuff. I'm never sure where the mood will take me.

00:36:32
10 Minute Crash Course in Open Tuning and Open D Licks

I made this quick video the other day for a friend and figured I'd post it here as well. He wants to get started in slide, so I was quickly showing him some open tuning concepts to make the transition to slide a bit easier. Kind of like learning slide without a slide.

00:11:02
Why Do Billy Gibbons, Brian May, and EVH Have Such Distinctive Tone?

This is probably the most overlooked aspect of your guitar tone hiding right under your nose.

February 12, 2026

What's going on here, fellas? On both these schematics the OT plates get B+ DC like normal through a bridge rectifier but check out how the screens and all the preamp tubes are getting juice. There appears to be a second tap off the secondary of the PT which goes through a choke, has a couple filter caps than straight in. How is this getting rectified???

https://el34world.com/charts/Schematics/files/Univox/Univox1061.pdf

https://el34world.com/charts/Schematics/files/Univox/Univox1086.pdf

New Amp Repair Video...Early Bird Link

Exclusive early bird link for my Locals peeps. Enjoy!

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