Grateful Dead Music Forum

I read most, if not all, of the original thread before it was deleted. This thread is surely more helpful and useful than the deleted one.

I have found it is pretty common for creative types to be pretty terrible when it comes to deadlines and organization in general. I wont bother speculating why this is the case. Often there will be a "business" guy in partnership with the ideas guy for this reason. Its often worth the headaches in order to get an extraordinary product. One can always get a mass produced corporate product if schedule and logistics do not allow for delays etc.
People often have no idea how difficult starting and running a business is, especially in todays climate...preferring to see the position as all freedom and big money. That just isn't reality usually, especially with small businesses it can be quite the opposite. Long hours and sacrificing to make payroll is more common. Being the owner boss of a small business often means you are the guy that has to answer to, and accommodate, everybody else practically speaking. And there is no "personal" time like an employee enjoys.
That said, honesty is the key I think. I hate telling people what they don't want to hear, but it is always better in the long run. Anger and persecution usually stops when admission and a plan of reperation is made.
'

Peace,

James

hippieguy1954 wrote:Oh James T, at least have the honesty to say who the negative voices are you are referring to. Sometimes I think you confuse negative with honest. If someone doesn't agree with you, that doesn't make it negative.

Anyways, he didn't just delete what he wrote. That would have been admirable. He deleted the whole entire thread including posts others wrote as well. That is a significant difference than deleting your own post.

Also, how do you know what his intentions were? There can only be speculation about that. I tend to agree he had good intentions, but still speculation.

The original thread was a warning about shakedown amps and peoples experiences with them/him. Here we are having the same discussion anyway plus all this discourse about censorship. What was the point?

The negative voices most certainly know who they are and do not need to be called out by name. They seem to know peoples intentions and can ascertain when you're confusing negativity with honesty. To have the gift of such intimate insight must be quite a burden to bear.

cripeowner wrote:

hippieguy1954 wrote:Oh James T, at least have the honesty to say who the negative voices are you are referring to. Sometimes I think you confuse negative with honest. If someone doesn't agree with you, that doesn't make it negative.

Anyways, he didn't just delete what he wrote. That would have been admirable. He deleted the whole entire thread including posts others wrote as well. That is a significant difference than deleting your own post.

Also, how do you know what his intentions were? There can only be speculation about that. I tend to agree he had good intentions, but still speculation.

The original thread was a warning about shakedown amps and peoples experiences with them/him. Here we are having the same discussion anyway plus all this discourse about censorship. What was the point?

The negative voices most certainly know who they are and do not need to be called out by name. They seem to know peoples intentions and can ascertain when you're confusing negativity with honesty. To have the gift of such intimate insight must be quite a burden to bear.

I guess you need some sort of excuse to feel better about yourself. Might as well team up with James T and personally attack me. Now tell us who the rest of "they" are. You quoted me and then used "they" throughout your post. I'm starting to see why you had to delete your original thread.

Hey, I just want to say, even though I do not know Joe personally. He is a member of our community and I hope he resolves his problems soon and wins back the trust of his customers. ,Paul

Hello,

At the risk of opening up part-2 of a can-of-worms, it seems I got pretty well reamed-out for starting a new thread and not posting the following on the end of this thread:

Hey all,
There's been some recent discussion on these boards about Shakedown amps, and Joe Martin. I just wanted to chime in, and say that I feel that Joe is a very talented man.
As far as modding and building amps, I think he's a genius. I just got my '69 Deluxe reverb back from him yesterday, and I haven't stopped smiling. It completely gets 'that' tone, but more than that, the amp is now way more 'alive'. When I bought the amp, it was a mess. It had already been f-ed with a bunch, and after sending it to 2 different, well-respected techs, it still was never right. Well, it is now. I'd post a clip if someone could help instruct me how....
chipperj

I meant no ulterior motive, calculation, subterfuge, malice, connivance, or any other shenanigans. I am not a shill for Joe. I just wanted to say that I'm happy with my amp. Sorry to any and all with their nose out-of-joint. If you have a problem with me liking my amp, I can't help you any furthur.

I'm curious why you're so chipper, tell us about it. Time line, I certainly would like to know. I was told 3 weeks, which turned into about 50 weeks. What did you have done? Start and finish dates.

I'm curious why you're so chipper, tell us about it. Time line, I certainly would like to know. I was told 3 weeks, which turned into about 50 weeks. What did you have done? Start and finish dates.

It wasn't an exactly swift process. I sent the head chassis to him the beginning of June. Got it back mid-September. There were extenuating circumstances (of which I will not disclose) that probably added a month to the process. A mild wait, but worth it.

The amp is a '69 Deluxe reverb that I bought about 6 years ago.
It was a mess. Had been modded, but not well. I took it to a different tech in CT. and had it "black-faced", but I was still not happy. It had this high-pitched squeal that drove me crazy. I took it to another tech out here in UT, and he put all new iron in it, and set it up to drive 6L6s. He also put in the option to drive it with an SS rectifier. Turned out much better, but still had that squeal.

Then I started seeing these Shakedown posts on YouTube.....

I was currently using an SMS/Rocktron into SSP cab (with 2 Ks and then just 1), and loving it. But I thought since I still never use my Deluxe, I thought I'd send it to Joe for yet another attempt at making it usable, maybe just to have a back-up.

The first issue was the squeal. The guy who had it before me had added a negative FB pot on the rear chassis. But it turns out the leads to that pot were causing interference- squeal. By moving that pot to the front (in stead of the V intensity), it made the squeal disappear.
Also done: Recap, new reverb tank, pre-amp out tap, a couple switches replaced, made it so I could use reverb on both channels, made one channel fat (more stock), and 1 more hi-fi, changed values/composition of some components (exactly what and how is beyond my pay grade), and lord knows what else. Bottom line, it sounds perfect. I gigged with this weekend (4 hours), and loved it.