Ready to Rock

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Well not quite yet. All the elements of the guitar amplifier are now tested and working, the Leak valve amplifier, the two loudspeakers and the preamp with tone control. The next phase of the project is to make the cabinet and fit all the internal gubbins.

Tone Amplified

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An hour ago, I finished building the preamplifier stage, with tone control, for the guitar amp. The volume, bass and treble control knobs are machined aluminium and the housing is hammer finish die-cast alum. A test is not far off.

Americana

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A watercolour by my friend Barry, which depicts the obsession of young Americans in the fifties with sex, cars and rock n' roll.

Spuds

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My spuds were planted back in early March and they have shot up in the last 10 days. I don't know what variety they are, because the seeders came out of a supermarket bag.

Hi And Lo

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I've just built a nice little tone control for Richard's guitar amplifier, which I hope to be assembling very soon. It gives a bass and treble adjustment of plus or minus 20 dbs, which should be more than enough to get the right sound.

Making Steam

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A 2 metre oil painting, hanging in the engine shed at the German Technology Museum in Berlin.

Shadows Of The Past

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Two friendly gee gees enjoy a bit of Berlin sunshine watched over by their bronze brothers. This day in the capital was the only warm one in the first half of April.

Speed Bahn

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A commuter train whisks in to Berlin's main railway station, the Hauptbahnhof, as another pulls out.

The Trench

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I've just dug a 15m trench diagonally across the back garden, to bring power to the newly plastered workshop. The cable will run in 3/4" heavy duty plastic water pipe at a depth of 2 feet. The dig was made very difficult due to slow penetration of a layer of building rubble just inches below the sod.