I think I've posted somewhere before that my first bass amp in 1969, was a Coral (made by Danelectro) with six Jensen twelves, and a 100 (?) watt solid state head, but the most memorable one was my very first electric guitar amp, entirely hand built by my father.
I was thirteen in 1965 and had gone as far as I could go with my Harmony archtop acoustic. My Christmas wish that year was for an electric guitar and amp, as many of my more fortunate friends were getting Fender Champs or Deluxe Reverbs around that time.
Well, needless to say, I got my wish. Even though my Dad had a very modest income, he always tried to make my growing up years happy, so I awakened Christmas morn to a brand new "Kingston" cherry sunburst six string with tremolo. The icing on the cake, however, was..... THE AMP. Dad didn't have the funds to buy me both a new guitar and amp, and the quality of the cheaper, Japanese electronics of that time was sup-par in his eyes, so he built for me an amp that was encased in an old TV case, painted satin black (TVs were made of wood back then), a control panel that he fashioned out of a piece of brushed aluminum, and a twelve inch speaker, which in itself, gave cause for bragging rights since most of the other kids had the smaller Fenders I mentioned before. Now this wasn't a crudely built DIY project, but an attractive, professional looking piece of equipment that sounded to my young ears, excellent!
I may be waxing sentimental, but how I wish I still had that wonderful gift from a beautiful man, who encouraged me in all my youthful artistic endeavors. It's funny how age brings out the sentimental side in us and special events such as this makes one's memory for details so accurate.
Thanks for reading.....