Never Judge on Looks Alone

This is my Tacoma DR-12 dreadnought I bought from Pedrini's Music in Alhambra in 1999.  It is actually my favorite acoustic guitar because it is loud, the neck is wide and the tone of the solid spruce top projects well.  I played it consistently up until 2006 -- when it met a terrible accident during a family trip to Sacramento where the lower bout got smashed and the binding started detaching.

It sat in a case, damaged until 2 weeks ago when I decided to take it to get repaired.  The luthier, Henry at Folk Music Center in Claremont put it back just enough to not make it worse.  Carpenter's glue is all the magic he needed to make it playable again.  I picked it up today and played it for the first time in years and I now remember why I prefer the DR-12's tone over any Taylor acoustic I have.  Like an old friend I haven't seen in years, literally, it felt familiar.  I recognize the tones I get from it.

The abalone inlay work around the soundhole was done very well and added to its overall visual appeal when I first picked up the instrument in '99.  Add the clear pickguard and it was not like any other guitar I have.  When I put it away in 2006, the finish coat was still perfect, seeing nothing but the dark confines of the case, stashed away in a closet.  When I opened it last year, I was just shocked at the finish coat starting to peel off like a scab on a healing wound.  WTF?  It started in the rosewood sides and at the Gumby-shaped headstock.

A little bit of research revealed this was a Tacoma problem for a few years built around the time I got mine.  Fender Musical Instruments bought Tacoma in 2004 and had since stopped making Tacoma brand guitars.  Warranty on the finish?  Foggetaboutit.  Yes, a "Made In USA" guitar can undergo really crappy manufacturing processes.  But what's interesting about this guitar, is if you can ignore its visual ugliness, it still sounds excellent.  So like they always say, don't let appearances fool you.  The soul of any instrument is not revealed until after it speaks.

Epiphone Valve Junior

The search for the ultimate tone is what most would use to justify a new amp.  For yours truly, there isn't a single "tone" I'm looking for but a way to get the best sound out of a guitar.  I know for a fact, my Tele doesn't sound good on my Marshall and at the same time, my Midtown doesn't sound too good on the Vox.  The absolute worse case scenario is an amp specifically chosen for each guitar in the collection.  Not only is this not feasible but only not practical both financially and space-wise.  This Epiphone Valve Junior is attractive on a couple of aspects.  First, the price I got if for used on Craigslist at $200 is reasonable enough that I know I can sell it for the same amount if I don't like it in the long run.  Second, I had read a lot of good reviews on the speaker cabinet that contains a single 12-inch Eminence Lady Luck rated at 70 Watt (16 Ohms).  And last, Epiphone stopped making this particular amp in 2012 -- meaning the demand may continue for a discontinued item.

From a power standpoint, the 5 Watt rating on a single EL84 power section isn't enough to cut through a full drum kit and bass playing at volume.  I tried the Valve Junior with my Talman, Jaguar and Mustang and finally settled on the tone I was after with a single coil Strat (and Tele) but the volume just wasn't there.  But hey, that's why guitarists mic amps into the PA system right?

The front face controls is no-nonsense -- a single volume knob, an input jack and an on/off switch.  No gain, no tone and certainly no standby power.  There are 3 speaker output options at 4, 8 and 16 Ohms so I'm somewhat curious to try the head with a 4 and/or 8 Ohms speakers.  The Valve Junior is popular with mod monkeys and I've read people buying the half stack model, reselling the head and keeping the cabinet.  Overall, it was worth the drive to Hesperia to pick it up from the seller.