Kay Sound Fashion 50B

This amp must spawn out of the 1980s, when people were still raving about transistors for not smashing up like valves, and people didn't mind too much the harsh sounds, as they shredded away.

The versatility issue is interesting, as its patent lack of versatility means that I have to put work into getting different sounds, instead of flicking a switch ala digital modeling. So instead of sounding like Jimmy Page exactly (cos some boffin at Line 6 went overboard with tone copying) I can approximate his sound with the tone and gain.

Yeah, Treble, Bass, Volume, Gain, and 2 inputs. Most people at school band-nights find this amp hilarious, as it only has 4 controls (add more comedy value, as two of the knobs are missing). Yes, the rich-kids with their 100watt modeling vox amps look down on this little pig of an amp. Shame.

I Wish it had a spring reverb, just because the of the surf-rock sounds you get when you kick amps with a spring reverb, and I like to kick amps. I kicked this amp because I thought the speaker was tearing apart, when infact it was just the bloody dodgy plug-board it was running off (run a string of pedals, 2 amps and a recording tape deck off a multi-board, jumped off an multiboard powering more amps, lights etc.. and you are breaking the law, and breaking the laws of physics).

Sounds the amp can make... ah. Well I use a whopping 3 stomp-boxes. Danelectro Fab Distortion and a Fab Chorus, and a Marshall Echohead. The amp has its own slight distortion when the gain is up, and it reminds me of valve distortion (the way you play valves you know). So pushing your guitar hard gives more crunch, but seriously nothing harsher than some of Pete Townshend's cleaner moments (such as the intro to "A Quick one" off the Kids are Alright DVD).Not that I play too close to Townshend.

Perhaps there is something I need to explain. I use this amp for 6 string, undetuned guitars, and its a bass amp. The laws (or facists) of guitardom permit this action to happen once in a while (for example back in the days of Fender Bassman and other dinosaur amps made from cardboard and asbestos).

I like a real sound (que hippy moment, "its all real man, REAL") because for years my sound came straight out of some Japanese multi-effects box (Zoom 606, Korg AX10G) which make all beginner guitarist sound the same, oooh this is a very testosterone-lite Metallica sound. Well when I finally disconnected the Korg from my Marshall practice amp, I discovered that the sound improved, it seemed to come from the edge of the amp, not some little caged up wrath hidden somewhere withing the cabinet. In other words, the sound was real. This Kay is even more real. I use a cheapo Strat copy by Saga. It sounds not too excellent through my Marshall, but onto the Kay the sound suddenly becomes 3D, and there is suddenly a magnificent bass-end sound to the guitar, otherwise lacking.

With the Marshall echo, you can push the amp to distort the repeats. This isn't clean 24bit processing stuff, this is filthy grungy swampy delays from the 1960s, more up my street.

Well I don't know. How reliable is 20 year old solid state technology? It has a crackly pot, and when I opened her up, the pot was soldered onto a PCB, very annoying, as it was not a standard pot (thinner spindle, the work of Satan). Still, I don't use it so much as the speaker will blow, and it doesn't seem to clip when I push it. This thing is the neglected though, in the damp basement of a church (its sorta their amp, they never use it, and no I don't play christian rock, or have a faith, or anything...)

No comment. It would be stupid to phone up Kay and expect them to service a 20 year old amp. After all, 1960s Kay is not 1970s Kay is not 1980s Kay, as the company is just a franchise (lots of ghost-built products) so who knows who made my amp! Also, in those pre-modeling days, an amp was a machine, not a computer sitting on a speaker, so a bit of general know-how in electronics should fix any problems.

I've been playing music since I was 5. I am 17 now. I am pitch-perfect, although not too technically minded. You won't find videos of me shredding on youtube. I started out playing the violin, which is ideal for learning the discipline of phrasing and dynamics. I also play the piano, although when puberty set in I became disenchanted with it (after all, midget Elton John leaping around is not the same as Jimmy Page or other "guitar = phallus" rock gods to your average 12 year old).

Then I got an acoustic guitar. Strum strum strum, not so much fun if you want a barrage of distortion. Then I got a Vintage SG copy, and wasted a good 2 years of my life thinking that The Blues was the only guitar music acceptable. I got out that trip, and discovered Jazz and Fusion, although they don't feature too much in my playing, which still bears the scars of blues, although interesting chard voicings is my forte now.

If the ampo was stolen, where would I find another one? According to this site it doesn't exist!