Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 18: Guitar Amp or Bass Amp?
271 Plays13 days ago
This week, Chris and Bryan are joined by Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns. The three discuss Tracii's amp building, the difference between bass and guitar amps, their musical projects, and answer a hypothetical question from a listener.
If you'd like Bryan, Charles, and Chris to answer your question on an episode of Amplified Nonsense, call (513) 334-3803 and leave a voicemail.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Hosts and Podcast
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Amplified Nonsense, a podcast that's technically about amplifiers, but is mostly driven by your random voicemail questions. Your hosts are Chris Benson of Benson Amps, Brian Sowers of Sour Sound Transformers, and Charles Henry of Silktone.
00:00:23
Speaker
Usually. My name is Emily and I'm just here to keep these guys on track and before I get too far into this episode you can call 513-334-3803 and leave your own voicemail questions for our hosts. That's call and leave a voicemail and it's time to turn it over two the three folks who are recording tonight How's everybody doing?
Guest Appearance: Tracy Guns on Wire Types
00:00:51
Speaker
Charles, your beard is looking so different. It's looking good, right? I'm i'm going for that illusion that humans created of Satan. Hey,
00:01:03
Speaker
hey Tracy. Hey, Chris. How you doing, buddy? We got Tracy Guns on the line, which is a last minute addition because Charles couldn't make it. And we're Brian and I had been texting with Tracy earlier and we're like, we should have you on the podcast. And then Charles is on a bullet train to go get sushi or something in Japan. And ah now Tracy's here.
00:01:29
Speaker
i I can talk about amps. Look at, I have wire. Yeah, man. What kind of wire? what's What's the insulation? Well, I have all wire. I have paper wire. I have push wire.
00:01:41
Speaker
i have vinyl wire. You know, we make amps out of this stuff. It doesn't end. Tracy, you've been making amps. Yeah.
00:01:52
Speaker
Right? You have an amp company. I do. but it's an But it's an accident. I wanted to make an amp for me, and then I had to post
Tracy's Accidental Amp Company
00:02:01
Speaker
it online. And then really cool people are like, dude, I have to have an amp that you build. And so now I'm taking meetings with people and like doing like really weird sh... Taking meetings? Well, you know, I mean, it's the supply chain issue.
00:02:21
Speaker
When it was just Mojotone, that's where I started, you know, Mojotone. You know, it was like, hey, I want to i want to build a 2204, you know? And they're like, they're like cool.
00:02:31
Speaker
And then when I posted my amp, the next call was like, hey, can I buy 20 of these kits? And they're like, yes. Yes. Yes, you can't. Yeah, yes. We're going to say yes. And then that was the first time I ever experienced, you know, like a supply issue or anything in my life, you know, and, you know, they're awesome. And and and if it wasn't for their hand drawn circuit.
00:02:57
Speaker
I wouldn't be doing it. you know I mean, I got to give credit where credit's due. But but you know I went to Colleen Fazio and Patrick Kaufman. and They had a little class here, and I built a champ first. you know i did like I did all the Boy Scout stuff. But at the end of the day, for me, it's just another great hobby. and it's like knitting for aging guitarists. you That's the only way I can put It's like, this is just great. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I kind of feel bad doing what I do because i I started pretty young, but a lot of the people that I'm quote in competition with, this is like kind of their retirement, like fun thing. Right. I'm just like, guys, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm not, well, I'm not like ah an older rock star. Who's just trying to get off the road. I mean, not that that's what you're doing. but i mean i mean, you saw me last summer. I was like, Building these things on the bus, you know, it's on tour. When I go camping, i I wire the circuit boards and it's just kind of like an all the time thing. But it's cool because, you know, I watch TV and I can cut enough wire for 10 boards and then I strip them. It's kind of like learning the layers, what comes first, how delicate the phase inverter tube wiring is, the difference between 4.7, 47, 470 ohms. There's a difference. Yeah. i thought we weren't talking about that. We had a day, didn't we? I mean, it was no big deal. you know The amp didn't have as much gain as as it should have. and
00:04:37
Speaker
You know, seeing those those resistors, I just been looking at the same, you know, resistor colors for God knows how long now. So I just caught it, you know, no big deal. Yes. Sometimes the red looks like orange yeah or the orange looks like red. If something's going to get me, that's what gets me. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing is I see whatever the last thing my brain remembers.
00:04:59
Speaker
you know That's how it kind of works. And so if five minutes go by, then that memory diminishes very quickly. And it's like, well, I'm i'm sure this is it.
00:05:10
Speaker
Wire up a whole amp. And then Brian screams at me in a text message. It says, dude, no. No. no you know but I know better. I have things labeled better now. Thinking about doing you know a pre-populated PCB for people that have to have amps now kind of a kind of a thing.
Amp Design and Aesthetics
00:05:34
Speaker
um i can help you lay that out if you want. Brian can attest that I love...
00:05:40
Speaker
PCB layout and I'm pretty fast at it. Yeah, you're you're really, he's really fast at it. Like, put definitely puts me to shame. Yeah, but that's my knitting, man. i woke up at 5 a.m. m this morning and in a hotel room. My family was in the Redwoods on this big trip and you I've got four hours before everyone else wakes up. So I went to Starbucks and just laid out a printed circuit board that totally doesn't need to exist.
00:06:02
Speaker
it Do you, where do you use printed circuit boards? It's the pedals. Like I don't really use them in amps. Although I started using them in our reverbs because you have to float the ground away from the chassis. And the only way to do that effectively is to use a circuit board, unfortunately. Well, we use a circuit board for the safety system and the LED stuff in the Babylon too. yeah, that's right. I mean, it's like, it's not audio. It was just pops fuses, LEDs go on.
00:06:33
Speaker
You guys are insane. I just want to get that out of the way. There's absolutely no reason to design, build, and then transport that amplifier other than everybody that saw it and listened to it go, my stomach hurt. Mm-hmm.
00:06:51
Speaker
I mean, you know, it's a little bit of a little bit of hubris, a little bit of ah can it be done. yeah um Thankfully, I didn't have to drive the thing around. ah Chris did. I mean, on the road trip, it was it was nice to drive that to Chicago, honestly.
00:07:06
Speaker
And it's beautiful, right? I mean, that's the thing about it is it's – when I saw the first photo – When it was just almost done, I was like, holy moly, look at that thing. Because I live near Apex. And Apex, they have all this old nautical electronics, massive computer systems, you know, from... And that's what the Babylon kind of reminds me of. It's just like, I don't even know what that, the atomic age or whatever, it just has that vibe. Yeah.
00:07:35
Speaker
Yeah. and I think ah we really tried to, I mean, i just, this is weird. I didn't start as a visual person, but I apparently have a design eye. And ah i I really like how that thing turned turned out.
00:07:49
Speaker
It kind of has this tough art deco thing. Yeah, it's gorgeous. it's It's gorgeous. But also, talking about aesthetics, you have the best logo. I've i've said it from day one. You know, the Benson logo, that logo,
00:08:03
Speaker
As great as the amps are, everybody loves looking wants that on stage. yeah I wore a T-shirt for five years just because I wanted the logo with me on stage. I know, man. I've got the poster of you wearing it in our front room. It's amazing.
00:08:18
Speaker
I think that was hanging in front of the toilet at the old shop. Hey, no King's shaming.
00:08:30
Speaker
yeah Well, the old shop, but we probably didn't have anywhere else to put it. But no, I'm honestly really proud whenever I see you wearing one of those shirts. I'm like, dude, the coolest in the world is wearing a Benson shirt. That's totally sweet. Yeah, why aren't you wearing it right now? Why are you shirtless for our viewers at home?
00:08:47
Speaker
Because I feel bonita. And don't always feel bonita. That's the food. um um and i don't always feel bonita so so
00:09:02
Speaker
my God.
00:09:05
Speaker
Oh, man, I'm going to start. I'm going to start saying that. That's OK. Put a shirt on. Are you guys glad I don't live up there? i hope you come visit. I'm going come visit.
00:09:16
Speaker
But but like it never ends. It just keeps going. Well, let's go ahead and take our first call. It's a relationship question. Hey, guys said you wanted some relationship questions, so I'm hoping you can settle a bet between ah me and my girlfriend. Basically, you know we got an argument over whether or not this amp I have is a guitar amp or a bass amp, and I want to know how you guys define the difference, you know, amp makers between this is a guitar amp and this is a bass Thanks.
Guitar vs. Bass Amps
00:09:53
Speaker
Thanks. This might be the end of our relationship, Brian, because I know we're going to have different answers. You know this will tear a couple up, right? Yep. This is too toow spicy. Real o issues. Honestly, like the answer is really like whatever the maker calls it, right?
00:10:10
Speaker
Because it's whatever they designed it for. like It's a bass amp. Oh, but it sounds great with guitar. It's a bass amp. It's called Bass Man, you know? Yeah. But it sounds great with guitar. Well, so what?
00:10:22
Speaker
But I mean, I think... Like if if we're look at the super lead, the super bass, if you look at how from Jim Marshall's radio experience. Okay, bass has less high end, so we're going to do the tone stack like this. Yeah.
00:10:40
Speaker
You know, and a guitar amp's brighter. We're going to put a 4700 blah, blah, blah. right Yeah, I mean, if I had to get technical technical with it, and which I'm curious of how you think this is going to differ between me and you, Chris, but obviously like EQ points, having lower center frequencies on the EQ, the mids push lower, the bass push lower. treble pushes lower. I mean, that would be fundamental thing number one to me.
00:11:03
Speaker
And then secondly, the output transformer design, not just a fidelity thing, but a distortion thing. Cause most of the, when you design like a high output level output transformer, Yeah, you're looking at frequency response, you're looking at primary inductance, you're looking at, you know, capacitance and, you know, sectionalized coupling and all of that stuff. But really the biggest fundamental thing is going to be flux density because it's it's a point of headroom. And the lower the frequency going into it when the frequency one the the ah input level effectively is the same.
00:11:35
Speaker
Lower frequency creates higher flux density. So if you think about it, if you're giving 100 volts on the primary and your inductance is is flat, you know, it's it's open, then 20 hertz is going to have more flux density or more power into the core than 100 hertz by a long shot.
00:11:52
Speaker
So when I design an output transformer for a bass amp, I'm looking at flux density headroom at much lower frequencies. Versus a guitar amp, it's like, if I design something that has 20 hertz headroom and guitar amp, people are mad that it's too big. You know, if you look at a Super Bass 100, that was a great example. That's a Dagnol C1998. It's the same damn output transformer that's in the Super Lead 100. So, you know there's obviously, you know, circuit stuff that's done.
00:12:18
Speaker
to, you know, emphasize more of bass, EQ, bigger caps, more low end, so on and so forth. But Chris, you put like ingrained high pass filters in a lot of your guitar amps. So yeah, you're gonna have a different opinion on this.
00:12:30
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. So for me, I think the biggest difference is what cabinet you're playing out at playing it out of. Because obviously bass cabinets are way different. Some are ported, some are the infinite baffle system. Some my favorite bass tone is like a Marshall 50 watt into a closed back, ca like just Marshall cab. Like I think that might be one of my favorite recorded bass tones. Obviously that's not going to work live for most people, but I just don't really like distortion with electric bass.
00:13:02
Speaker
i like I actually think it sits better in a mix. So as long as there is bass frequency there, and by that I mean like around 100 Hz, I'm not too concerned about what's happening at 20 Hz, 30 Hz, because that stuff tends to get in the way of what people are really looking for and and a bass signal. like i I like the kick to be the pillow underneath it, usually. So when it comes to bass amps, I mean, I don't even really shift EQ points that much. I might make like a treble cap a little bit bigger because that's where it becomes really obvious. But I kind of like weak power supplies and limited bandwidth. i was ah We were listening to like the basement tapes on the way and in the car. I was kind of showing the kids that Dylan record.
00:13:46
Speaker
Dylan and the band, I'm listening to the bass. I'm just like, oh man, I love this bass tone so much that I probably shouldn't be designing modern bass amps. Right. Because it's so like distorted and bandwidth limited. And I'm just like, this sounds so beautiful to me. Well, but also the, I forgot his name, but the guy that played in James' game, all the live recordings, I don't know what he's playing through, but it' it has that vibe, that kind of, if Neil Young was a bass player kind of vibe. Yeah.
00:14:16
Speaker
Heck yeah. Where it's just like, wow, that feels like a big fuzzy bathtub and it's moving and it's melodic, but it has no no spike to it. Nothing on the high end. And that's weird because for me to like that, because i play heavy metal guitar, which is the most obnoxious guitar sound anybody could get, but but it only works if everything under it is nice and woolly and warm. and you know But I know what you mean. bass player in LA Guns, he plays so loud, and it's because he's trying to get distortion. And I'm like, you know, you can get a different amp.
00:14:53
Speaker
ah But I love the the sound of this amp. It sounds great, but you know but you can't hear anything else.
00:15:03
Speaker
you know But it won't distort. and then we discovered that it has a little tube mix knob on it. It has one 12AX7 in it. And you can have it all the way to the left, which is off, and you can blend it in. And after six years, he discovered that you can turn it to the right, and it brings in some really warm sound.
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah. yeah like There it is. I know my philosophy isn't right for everyone, and I would never try to sell like Sun-O or like a Doom band. I was just going to say, you've you've never played in a band where guitar player is tuned to drop A. Like, 20 hertz matters. That's not necessarily true, but that's not what I tend to gravitate towards my tonal practice.
00:15:49
Speaker
But i could I know I could design a good bass amp for that type of music. That's just not what we really do. It's sort of like you could design like it right an awesome sounding solid state amp or something, Brian, but it's not really what what we're known for, not really what we do. That's what I was just going to say is I have a couple power amps you built me that look like amp heads that depending on what I drive through it, it could be the greatest bass amp ever because it's so good.
00:16:18
Speaker
Like for some reason, that solid state stuff, if it's if it's if it's the right one, they're pliable. like you know they're not so They don't have to be stiff. And the ones that that I have from you, you were thinking of guitar and heavy guitar and distorted guitar.
00:16:32
Speaker
So they they already have like this warm character about them. And it just depends on what you're boosting through it. Because I remember we talked at one point and I was maxing out whatever I was using at the time going into them.
00:16:44
Speaker
And it was exactly the right volume, but there was nothing left. And i had some friends over and you had mentioned to me, well, stick a boost, you know, in between whatever you're using and the input of the amp. And we did that with like a Hoffner style bass, you know, like the Paul McCartney kind of thing.
00:17:02
Speaker
And wow, like, you know, that thing can can can really accept anything into it and will do extremely insane output if you if you push it. Tracy, have you ever like done any recordings or anything or live shows where you were playing guitar through a
Playing Guitar Through Bass Amps
00:17:19
Speaker
bass amp? Anything notable?
00:17:20
Speaker
Only when I was younger because we had i had a flip top and I had some weird amps. The group of people surrounding my family were all you know hippies and musicians and stuff like that. So we had a flip top, but we had another Ampeg that was a bass amp in theory.
00:17:36
Speaker
But you know back then I had an MXR Distortion Plus, and as long as I could get any amp to kind of break up, then that worked great. But I don't think I've ever played guitar to record through a clean, clean bass amp. would A lot of people would consider, you know, like you know like a Galleon Kruger, for example. like I had never ever done something like that. It's just too unforgiving.
00:18:01
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. That's the problem. If you played guitar through our bass amp, the b seven hundred you would probably really like it. That's got the tube preamp in it, and it's very... Oh, it oh it does. okay Very Marshall-y, and I actually tweak that Marshall circuit to be even squishier than normal. Really? Because I i love that squishy tube tone on bass. I mean, that's why I like Marshall specifically, the DC coupled cathode follower thing. Yeah. Like just gives that second harmonic that helps bass. just gives it such a nice lift and growl. Like I freaking love it.
00:18:35
Speaker
I was wondering what was different about that than the amps I have, because I knew that you put them out, but I'm not a bass player, so I was was like, oh, I wonder what what's different about that or if it's the same thing. So it does have a tube preamp. I'd love to hear They sound great through a guitar cabinet. um im ah you know Obviously, it doesn't have the tube power section you know breathing. yeah a lot of There's a lot of debate over that, isn't there? Chris, I was just at HQ the other day and they've got, there's two of the like Akai Roberts M7 preamps sitting there. And I was like, oh, what are you guys doing with these? You know, and Jason jason was like, oh, I don't know. i think Chris is doing something with them. Those things, plug that into a speaker and plug bass into that and just dime it.
00:19:16
Speaker
Like fuzz bass. It's amazing for that. i bet. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't gotten into those. Mason Snoop sent them up because he wants to run them stereo for some project, and he wants me to make them into guitar amps. I mean, guitar is fine, but for bass, yeah, they're really cool. It just gets super fuzzy, but like fuzz, not distortion. They're fuzzy. Is it because they're such a high bandwidth because they're for tape?
00:19:42
Speaker
Well, they have a bunch of compensation filtering. There's like a conjunctive filter on the output transformer. Oh, cool. It's obviously single-ended e l eighty four but there's the EF86 side in it. So again, it's just like gain, just gain into a brick wall. Put it on, man. Sounds like Dr. or something.
00:20:01
Speaker
It's really cool. Hey, did I tell you, I think I hip to guys, my friend Ryan that makes those junk box. Like he makes amps out of like, like old cassette recorders.
00:20:12
Speaker
Oh yeah. Yeah. You sent me some of this stuff. Yeah. I sent you the wall of sound. Yeah. yeah He had five of his pedals and you could turn them on all out. Now there's two super famous bands right now, because I don't want to blow his whistle, that bought all that and are doing documentaries around how they're recording with them.
00:20:32
Speaker
And it's a lot like that kind of gain where you put whatever tubes you have laying around that'll fit in 1287 slot. And you see what it sounds like. And there's nothing smooth about it. But it's very cranky. You know what i mean? like Like, what does this do? Wow. That's okay. I'm starting to like this. And he's got a kind of a different approach because, you know, he he's like comes from a strict electronical engineering degree.
00:21:01
Speaker
He just wants to ruin. He wants to take, you know, old toys ah at pawn shops and thrift stores and and torture them, you know. And and he's not. Yeah, he's having such a good time. And, you know, I have one of his his cassette recorders. I have some of those pedals with all the tubes in them. And there I haven't even looked at the circuits, but like even like a 12-AT7 or 12-AU7 is way too much gain. So I don't know how he's stacking it. It's just like, Jesus, man.
00:21:31
Speaker
Yeah, brian Brian and I are like, we didn't go to electronic engineering school. So I feel like we err on doing things the innovative or right or correct way sometimes. But then, you know, you'll hear something that's that's just wrong, but it sounds so right.
00:21:48
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And then you're like, what am i what am I doing? Why am I trying to get this to clip smoothly when I could get it to sound like a car battery exploding or something? Well, remember the first time i was up, or the only time and when I was at the shop, and you had plugged in the little... Oh, the Vinny, yeah. The Vinny into the Chimera. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:09
Speaker
And you had just finished up those Vinny's. And you're like, check this out. And we were driving the amp with the little Vinny into the into the bigger amp. And that's still, to me personally, one of the best sounding recordings I've ever heard myself play on.
00:22:26
Speaker
You know, that ah inspired the Vincent. Because the Vincent is taking that little Vinny amp and putting it in the preamp of the Chimera, just like we did. So sick. Yeah, man. but That video sounds super cool. I love it.
00:22:41
Speaker
Yeah, I hadn't watched it like in four years until me and you and and Brian started hanging out on text messages. And I'm like, hey, look at this. And I listened to it. was going, wow, that sounds great, man. Like, geez.
00:22:54
Speaker
yeah you know But I think Jim Marshall didn't even play guitar, right? Or something like that. He just wants to sound cool. Yeah, wasn't he a drummer? What? Am I wrong on that? Maybe I just want to believe that.
00:23:05
Speaker
Never read the book on Jim Marshall, unfortunately. I want to believe that, so I'm going to believe that. Oh, you like it because you're a drummer. Okay. Oh, that is that what's going on? Yeah, that's what it is. That's what it is. I'm willing that into internet folklore. You're the smartest drummer I've ever met. Just to jump in Wikipedia says that Jim Marshall, the businessman, was a drummer. Yeah, suck it. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay. yeah He was a singer, and then he doubled on drums. i would love to hear Brian sing.
00:23:41
Speaker
yeah Yes. No. Do it. no i've been working I've been working late a ton. And the other night, actually I was blasting some failure record and I found myself singing along with it. And i was like, oh, that's creepy. Don't do that.
00:23:59
Speaker
I don't sing other people's songs. It's weird. Singing is is, yeah. I'm too shy to sing. Yeah, don't do that. I just yeah hit things really hard, you know? Yeah. yeah i said I sing very badly.
00:24:11
Speaker
But i I do like it, so I do it in front of people sometimes. Well, you have such a ah calm demeanor about you, Chris, that even though you're completely insane, it's not outward.
00:24:23
Speaker
Yeah. you know So whenever you pick up an instrument or anything, i feel like you're just letting out this much where there's this much behind it, and that's it's emotional.
00:24:35
Speaker
ah Thanks, man. i appreciate that. And ah ah especially when you play guitar, man, you know, you're just kind of like very understated, you know, you're just doing something that always sounds beautiful. And it's just like, man, listen to that guy, you know? man. I love when you do the little recording stuff and you're testing something and and it's it's not like like, if I post a video, it's just like pure ADHD nonsense, you know? Here's a rhythm, here's a solo, here's a melody, here's a squealy.
00:25:06
Speaker
and And that's just me and at home. you know like I can't organize my musical thoughts when I'm doing stuff. But when you sit down and you do something with your drummer, it's always so cool, man.
00:25:18
Speaker
Thanks, man. I really appreciate that. I get self-conscious because we don't really prepare much for those until the camera goes, and then I feel like I play like crap. That's how it works. Yeah. I think that's what people are expecting. Yeah, that's true. but That is, I mean, you got what you pay for, right?
00:25:37
Speaker
Free internet guitar plan. That actually leads into, i think, our next question, if you all are ready for that.
Brian's Band Aspirations
00:25:45
Speaker
Hey, loving the pod. Question, are any of you in a band?
00:25:49
Speaker
If so, what is the name and what type of music do you play? If not, what type of band would you want to be in, assuming you had time to be in a band? Thank you.
00:26:00
Speaker
You first, Brian. Well, I'm not in any bands right now. You're supposed to make it up. Well, I mean, I've been wanting to start a band playing guitar, but actually this whole thing is that I was... I have this one Les Paul. It's nothing special. It's like an early 90s, I think, if I remember correctly. Les Paul classic. um But it's set up for lower tunings, heavier strings, higher output pickups, that whole thing. And I got it because I was... it was it was cheap and it was helping someone out who needed money and also it was like well i could turn that into a guitar that i would actually play in a band because all my guitars that i have have all been like for testing stuff you know i mean like i don't i didn't want to own a telly but i own ah a pretty nice telly but that's because i need to be able to test gear with a telly i have an 84 les paul it's the the studio standard you know it's like the studio that's kind of like the standard it's a great guitar fantastic sounding guitar and i got because i needed a les paul for testing so i have this other les paul but it needed a bunch of fret work it needed a bunch of stuff so i have this ongoing trade with ah a guy over at 12th fret russ who does a lot of work for me and he was like oh well i need this magnetone amp rebuilt and i was like okay great so i have the magnetone he has my guitar
00:27:14
Speaker
And I think we're coming up on year two or three of me still having that amp and him still having that guitar. Yeah, I need to get it done. So I keep doing the thing. It's like... You two need to start the band. Me and me and Russ.
00:27:29
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, because we have the gear together. Anyhow, one of these days, he keeps bugging me. i need to get to it. But I'd always wanted to do ah something with that guitar, playing guitar. But yeah, time, time.
00:27:42
Speaker
But, ah well, you're in a band, right? ah Sometimes. You know, I...
00:27:54
Speaker
you know i I certainly manage a band. Are you the band dad for LA Guns? Is that how this works? Oh my gosh. It never ends.
00:28:08
Speaker
You know, it, it, If I'm not busy every second of every waking hour, then i'm I'm going to die. Yeah. You know, I have all the slots filled and then I have my days where I just sit right here and don't do anything. Well, it's the unmedicated ADHD thing.
00:28:26
Speaker
Yeah. You know, it's like you just have to keep busy. You're crazy. Yeah. I tried the the a few different meds and they didn't really, you know, i mean, I could drink, you know, four shots of espresso and go to bed. You know what i mean? So like none of that shit's going to do anything for me.
00:28:44
Speaker
Yeah. know, it's just better to be productive. My kids love me. They think I'm funny. So I win. Yeah, yeah totally. Totally. I love watching you as a dad, by the way.
00:28:57
Speaker
It's an amazing. You know. Yeah. Well, you built, ah didn't you build NAMP for one of your kids? Me or Chris? You. I don't know what Chris does, but if he builds NAMP for his kids.
00:29:09
Speaker
i been I get really weird stories about like eating rivets and things. No, but um Mike Zeta, Zady built an amp for Jagger when he was when when he was born. So he would always have an amp. And then, of course, the kid grows up and he's going to be a status to stat. ah Can't even say the word of what he's going to do. yeah He's all into math.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah, and and and higher kind of education stuff. So now I just have an amp that was made for my son that that I use.
00:29:45
Speaker
But no, my and my little kid, a little Danish kid, he's got all my Danish gear because I don't live there anymore. So now he's got like amps and guitars and, you know, he's the six-year-old's got the coolest gold top ever made. Oh, my gosh. That's amazing. Yeah. He's noisy and he's sketchy. I love that little guy. it's going to be I can't wait for him to speak English. It's going to be great. He's sketchy. yeahy Yeah, he's awesome, man.
00:30:15
Speaker
He'll give you that side eye like, like what? o Chris, how many bands are you in right now? How many are you in, Chris? I think just two. One is with ah Ryan Lynch. He's my ops manager at Benson. And we've been friends forever, playing in bands forever. I've been his drummer.
00:30:36
Speaker
He's been my guitar player. And we have this like kind of kraut rock. he's He's a really... out there interesting to guitar player very angular and jagged and i did brian you've heard him play right and he's just like he's kind of uh he's incredible but he doesn't bring a whole lot of structure to it because you know adhd or something uh so my my job is to come in and bring melody and structure and kind of keep that thing going and but it's really awesome i mean we we play guitar together and in a band and he's uh one of my best friends and we just do it it's super fun And that's called Mount Terror.
00:31:12
Speaker
And then, i don't know, I always have something going. I've been asked to just do folk, open up for a lot of people recently doing like a folk act. Really? That's just me singing with an acoustic guitar because I've, you know, I've been a songwriter since I was 17 or something. And I've just, people have seen me play.
00:31:31
Speaker
a lot and ah they just remember me and want me to come open their their show. So yeah, I guess I haven't really, i think monikers are dumb. So I just go with Chris Benson now and people are just like, where's your records? I'm like, dude, there's so many on the internet.
00:31:46
Speaker
Right. But I'm just, it's just fun. Yeah. That's, that's why i think, you know, I took to you right away when we first met because you were interested in tape and recording and, and, you know, ah everything that's involved in, and, you know, from the start to finish of you know, writing a song, getting cool sounds, recording it in different ways, finishing it, you know, also knowing how to operate the machinery, how to fix the machinery, you know, it's, I always felt that the guys historically that did stuff that was next level, like like Tom Scholes from Boston is an example. You know, a guy that's just such a brainiac. He's like, yeah, I can play the guitar, but like I can make this compressor that makes my guitar sound like this. And I can make a machine that makes my Echoplex kind of automatic. And I can record the whole thing in my basement and and sell 3 million records like right out of the gate. like that's That's me. I'm Tom Scholes.
00:32:47
Speaker
You know, it's like it's it's the all inclusive thing, because especially growing up in Hollywood, so many musicians here growing up, they just wanted to get laid. yeah It's like, yeah, I play guitar, I play drums. I'm the bass player. you know And nobody wanted to ever admit that they were a brilliant piano player, because how boring it is.
00:33:08
Speaker
But the guys that that, to me, the musicians that are able to tie at least some of it together, it gives you more control over what you're trying to express. you know it gives you tools. you know gives you crayons, for lack of a better word. And I think you know both of you guys are right in there. you know it's like it's like It's not just about the riff. it's about But I can make the riff sound like this. And then you know and I can fix it if it's f***ed up.
00:33:38
Speaker
Yeah. ah but I think Brian and I are similar kind of and and ah a lot of those ways. I mean, Brian, you've recorded Grammy winning records. and but you're You're in it.
00:33:49
Speaker
like You know what these things sound like. Yeah. I guess. It's like a, it's like vertical consolidation of badassery or something. I just do what I'm doing. I don't know.
Managing Communication Overload
00:33:59
Speaker
That's it.
00:33:59
Speaker
I let the universe kind of push me where I need to go. And then I just, you know, go as hard as I can, you know, like, like Tracy was saying earlier, like just keep doing constantly, you know, like I'm never alone with my thoughts.
00:34:15
Speaker
So thank God. Yeah, seriously. yeah i've been I've been trying to do a little bit of that, at least just like instead of just blasting music in the car, like turn it off and kind of like sit with the silence. and And then I end up thinking about a bunch of cool, you know, so there's nothing wrong with it. But yeah, just just go with the flow, you know. I mean, that's why I do those insane drives, you know, because our gear is stored in Colorado and we always start tours in Indiana or Illinois because that's where the bus company is. So, but I can't have a lot of my gear just living in a trailer, you know, like I can't.
00:34:52
Speaker
I got to have my amps and certain guitars and, you know, enough stuff to where I can't take it on an airplane. So, you know, that's why I have the little RV, you know, and I do these 2,000 mile trips twice or four times a year. Once in, once back, once in, and then again.
00:35:08
Speaker
So you're doing that every time that you're doing US touring? Yeah. and and And sometimes someone will go with me, but normally it's just me. It's the greatest time because you go like 500 miles and you think to yourself, I'm exhausted. yeah I got to pull over and go to sleep.
00:35:24
Speaker
You lay down for 10 minutes and you're like, this, I got to keep going. You know, so it's kind of like that light at the end of the tunnel kind of just keeps you going. And then you kind of get in this really weird Zen place.
00:35:38
Speaker
Once you've reached, you know, once you pass the point of I'm exhausted, you know, all of a sudden you're not, you're, you get to another kind of place And I noticed it on my second trip. On the first first time I did it, i did the 400-mile thing and then pull over and get a room and like do all that stuff. And it took like four days.
00:36:01
Speaker
I can do 2,000 miles now. Yeah, I'm ready. Man, like a day and a half. Jesus. You know, just like nothing, because it's just like I can pull over and and sleep for, you know, three and a half hours and then go. But it's the mind alteration. it's You know what I mean? Like that being alone, maybe not listening to music for a few hours and letting, you know, your.
00:36:25
Speaker
your brain kind of do stuff, it's a whole different plane. And I think Neil Peart kind of did something like that when his wife died. You know, he got on a motorcycle and he did the whole tour. you know, once he got back to touring, first he went and traveled around on his motorcycle for a year, I think.
00:36:41
Speaker
But like, there's a something about that. that's that's don't I don't know if it... I get it, man. I love that stuff as well. Well, you did the long trip to Chicago, right?
00:36:52
Speaker
Yep. I think we only slept like five hours, six hours a night. And by the end of it Ryan wanted ah to kill me. He was kind of... clawing at the windows of the van but I was just like this is this is the best just having that goal and focus it was great I love road trips that's the thing you just said it it's like when you have to do drives like that the only thing you have to do is get to the next spot is get to where you need to go that's it so whereas like you know at least like my everyday is like oh my god I got 30 emails I'll never have time to answer and like phone calls and
00:37:29
Speaker
you know, employees and designs and this and that, like it's like 300 things happening all at the same time, but something like that, where you're just, all you got to do is just get to the spot, you know? Yeah. But that's a great excuse to, to, to make a trip because when you're on the trip, you don't give a f*** about the emails, the phone calls, the text messages, because they don't exist all of a sudden.
00:37:51
Speaker
Yeah. It's like, it's like, whatever, man, this is my, my little spot in the universe and, and whatever. You know, it's like this weird dismissal from reality. I guess a lot of people go on walks every day for the same reason. I guess it could be considered some sort of retreat. It's like this extended thing where he it just kind of takes you out of your normal reality of, I mean, gosh, my inbox and phone are are always melting down. man. Insane. these guys These guys will hear my notifications come in when I'm not muted, and they're like, dude, are you okay? Yeah.
00:38:27
Speaker
Man, it's like, you remind me, Dave Friedman, i was with him yesterday at the shop, and and he replies to everybody, you know, because he's not rude, right?
00:38:40
Speaker
But the text replies are like, yeah, cool. And that'll be like after like, hey, you know, I want this, that, and blah, bla blah, blah, blah. And then when he wants something, you know, he'll be like, like, hey, are we going out to eat at 630 on this day and we're going to be there?
00:38:53
Speaker
It's like, yeah, cool, man. And then you get like, say a soul sentence and then he writes back, cool. but So if you don't know him, you just think, man, this guy, you know, is a ice cold. You know, he's got a shield up. The coolest, funniest guy in person. So it's like, I i feel like we live in a...
00:39:11
Speaker
in a kind of text ah anxiety, email anxiety mentality now where if somebody doesn't respond to you, number one, immediately, number two, with with lots of information that you require, that it ah it affects people emotionally. It's so weird, man. Yeah, you can you can you can accidentally hurt people if you're not careful with that stuff. Yeah. Just just trying to trying to triage your own attention.
00:39:38
Speaker
Yeah, but I think that's why as time goes on, you know, you have to develop a style of how, you know, you're you're going to respond and stay consistent with it. It's weird. Me, I just don't really answer anything and unless it's unless it's... No, no, no. I i mean, i don't mean that in a negative way. I mean, it's just like...
00:39:55
Speaker
Well, that's nonsense. I'm not answering that. That have something to do with my children, have something to do with my business, have something to do with going out to dinner. Yes. But hey, man, you know, what kind of strings do you use? It's like guitar strings. What do you mean? What kind of strings do you use? Speaking of questions that you may or may not like, I have one more call that I would really love for us to get to. It's kind of a fun one. If you all are ready. Yeah, absolutely.
00:40:23
Speaker
Also, would you rather exercise in a giant wheel or ball? all Wait, that's it? good Good question. That's the whole question.
00:40:35
Speaker
She left like five voicemails and started everyone with, oh, one more thing. who Who is this?
00:40:46
Speaker
Heather Brown. Oh, I thought so. ah I'm going to choose wheel. Why? well that's well Because I basically exercise on a wheel now.
00:40:57
Speaker
Which is a stair stepper in my garage. And i just like being in one place and zoning out. I don't want to pay attention to, you know, not getting run over by a, by an F three 50 or something. Very practical.
00:41:11
Speaker
that's tactical I would choose a ball just because don't have time for that. So I would just use it to like go places. Yeah. i mean, is would you be exercising inside of a ball? Is that what it is? Yes. Like a big inflatable or plastic ball, like a hamster. Would you rather have a ham hamster wheel or one of those hamster balls? A hamster ball.
00:41:32
Speaker
Yeah, there it is. See? Yeah. You just roll around and are you really exercising that point? actually a great question because i i i want to completely dissociate when i'm exercising because i hate it so much right i get that yeah i do feel that but at the same time like i like doing things with purpose yeah you know i don't know if you know this chris but i lost 35 pounds in a year dude i lost like uh around that as well but you exercised right i did I
Tracy's Weight Loss Journey
00:42:03
Speaker
did not. What do you do Intermittent fasting and calorie counting. And and I play, you I obviously do 100 shows a year, but that's not really exercising.
00:42:15
Speaker
But it was the commitment to, you can have one donut a day, you can't have six. You're not going to drink Coke anymore. You're not going to eat between 8 p.m. and noon the next day.
00:42:28
Speaker
And yeah calories and the fasting. And after four days of getting in the routine, that was it. I don't exercise, man. yeah so The commitment to learning why you put on weight and realizing, well, it took this much time to get heavy.
00:42:45
Speaker
It's going to take that much time to lose it. And I was able to stick to that for, man eight months. And then now it's just calorie counting. That's awesome, man Congrats. you know But I know that that because you said that, you hate the exercise part because it is. It's brutal.
00:43:03
Speaker
It's so boring, number one. My girlfriend, she does an hour on the elliptical. I'm like, what do you do? What do you do? What do you do for an hour just exercising? So if it came down to having to exercise lose weight, I would never been able to have done it.
00:43:23
Speaker
I like the stare thing because I can call Brian Sowers and just breathe heavy in his ear talking about circus. Getting out getting on the phone. I guess that's one way, yeah. He called me the other day and I was like, at one point, like, yeah, he was breathing heavily. And I was like, okay, okay, cool. We can talk. Yeah, no problem. And at one point, it's like he walks into the bathroom and I'm like, hey, are you in the bathroom? It's cool if you are. And all of a sudden it's like...
00:43:48
Speaker
ors whosh And i was like, are you okay? And he goes, I'm in the shower. i was like, what? Waterproof earbuds. Yep.
00:43:59
Speaker
I'm wearing them right now. What the? but
00:44:06
Speaker
Waterproof earbuds. That's insane. Yeah. I'm really sorry. yes Freak. Okay. Wait. So just because we're ending, Chris, i do do you have any second thoughts about going to the hamster ball versus the wheel?
Exercise Debate: Hamster Wheel vs. Hamster Ball
00:44:24
Speaker
You know, i think I know that the hamster ball would actually be better for me because i would be doing something and it would be, it would be better. Like it's the only reason ah I wanted to associate is that I'm lazy. Yes.
00:44:39
Speaker
Can we all agree that we all want to be lazy? Yeah. But i should I should be the hamster ball guy. I should be the man in the ball. Okay. I'm glad that with that that that we talked this through. I love that Alice in Chains song, man. Man in the ball.
00:44:56
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode of Amplified Nonsense. Our goal is to release a new episode every other week, so please subscribe wherever you listen. If you have a question for Brian, at Charles, and Chris about amps, pop culture, or relationships, please call 513-334-3803 and leave a voicemail.
00:45:19
Speaker
If you enjoyed this episode of Amplified Nonsense, please leave a rating and review. Thanks again, and we'll see you soon.