I know Kopper and some folks are always encouraging us members to be more active, so I figured I'd include a link to my blog page called "Drowning in Guitars."  I've been playing cheap, weird guitars since the late 80s, and I just love their quirks and strangenesses (I may have just made up a new word).  I originally started the blog to help out two friends who were basically starving because of the bad economy, but since then the page has grown in all sorts of weird ways, and I was just invited for a visit to Japan!!!  Friggin' nuts!!  

Anyway, I know a bunch of you old and young punchers enjoy these cheapies too, so check out the site, and I'll be doing my best to contribute to the hangout!!  Cheers!

OK peeps, here's the latest article I wrote about one cool little trashy cheap rockin' geetar!!! http://drowninginguitars.com/2012/05/20/lil-rocker-1960s-cameo-deluxe-japanese-electric-guitar/

Oh, yeah, those are cool!!  I love fuzz pedals as mush as I like vintage guitars.  That Aria was probably made by the Japanese Shin Ei electronics company.  Shin Ei made a bunch of fuzz pedals and pickups during the 60s and 70s.

Early on, Jamie used this obscure vintage Japanese fuzz pedal, an Aria FW-1 Fuzz-Wah Machine, about which one can find almost nothing (pics below).  I think he's using a Big Muff now.  I go for the big chrome Morleys.

-A

THEE DIRTYBEATS maximum vintage garage
http://theedirtybeats.bandcamp.com

Hey Andras, thanks for commenting man, and I'm glad you dig the site.  Us fans of the oddballs are scattered all over but my hope is to bring us together through the site.  The Kapas are cool, and still sorta affordable.  The Minstrel was one of Kapa's more rare offerings, and had unique pickups for the Kapa line of guitars.  Good taste man!!  And I checked out your music, what fuzz are you using?  Mosrite fuzz box?

Hey Franco,

I too am crazy for trashy electric guitars from the 1960s.  For me, it's not just their unconventional sound, it's the way their primitive electronics produce so many unexpected glitches, pops and squeals -- sublime!

In THEE DIRTYBEATS, we embrace old electrics for exactly these reasons:  typically, I am skittering leads across the top of Jamie's buzzing vintage Mosrite using a '67 KAPA Minstrel teardrop (see pic below).  The contrast of odd guitar sounds works well, and the random bizarre feedback effects, pings, and shrieks just add to the fun.

Thanks for a great website.  So much for my afternoon -- will be on it for hours...

Best,

Andras

THEE DIRTYBEATS maximum vintage garage
http://theedirtybeats.bandcamp.com

Here's some of the stuff we do, check it:

We do pedal demos like this BeeBaa Fuzz

We do weirdo guitar demos like this Teisco

And I write some far out articles about some interesting guitars like this Silvertone

And get this, it's all free!!  I hate guitar magazines, and I hate pay guitar sites, and I hate ad covered guitar review webpages!  And you know, I'm not a hateful person!  I just get sick of hype and would rather talk about guitars that you could buy in a grocery store during the 1960s, mostly forgotten instruments that are often scoffed at by bourgeois turds.  If you can relate, then stop on over, and I'll be posting my stuff on the Hideout pages too (for you lazy sods).