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“Lo-fi is cool, as opposed to transistor radio-sounding solid-state modern stuff.” Larry Teves, a local bassist, recently started the Lo Fi Mob, a loosely-organized circle of musician friends and acquaintances. There are no requirements for membership except an appreciation for vintage guitars, basses, and amps.
We agree that for the most part, gear made during the 1940s, '50s, and even the early '60s still rocks the house in terms of look and sound. “They were using tube technology,” says Teves, “because that’s what they had. Starting in the '70s, they started using transistors.” He describes the change to modern electronics in automotive terms. “Like muscle cars. You take '68 and before, and everybody just goes, 'That’s the stuff.' ”
The older and weirder the better, he says. “Especially when you’re trying to get your own tone and your own sound.” But the sound is somewhat genre-specific. “A lot of people in this group,” he says, “are blues guys, roots rockers, rockabilly guys, people who are into that old stuff as well.” Classic rockers likewise favor vintage amps.
For the record, Teves, who once played bass in the Mississippi Mudsharks, is presently taking guitar lessons from Robin Henkel. He plays through an old Bell and Howell projector speaker cab that has been somewhat renovated. “I don’t even know that much about all that stuff, which is why I did it,” meaning, why he created a Facebook friends group also called the Lo Fi Mob. “It’s kind of cool to trade pictures or trade stuff you’ve got or find that you think is cool.” The rules are simple: no gig posting. “We have Blues Central for that.”
“Lo-fi is cool, as opposed to transistor radio-sounding solid-state modern stuff.” Larry Teves, a local bassist, recently started the Lo Fi Mob, a loosely-organized circle of musician friends and acquaintances. There are no requirements for membership except an appreciation for vintage guitars, basses, and amps.
We agree that for the most part, gear made during the 1940s, '50s, and even the early '60s still rocks the house in terms of look and sound. “They were using tube technology,” says Teves, “because that’s what they had. Starting in the '70s, they started using transistors.” He describes the change to modern electronics in automotive terms. “Like muscle cars. You take '68 and before, and everybody just goes, 'That’s the stuff.' ”
The older and weirder the better, he says. “Especially when you’re trying to get your own tone and your own sound.” But the sound is somewhat genre-specific. “A lot of people in this group,” he says, “are blues guys, roots rockers, rockabilly guys, people who are into that old stuff as well.” Classic rockers likewise favor vintage amps.
For the record, Teves, who once played bass in the Mississippi Mudsharks, is presently taking guitar lessons from Robin Henkel. He plays through an old Bell and Howell projector speaker cab that has been somewhat renovated. “I don’t even know that much about all that stuff, which is why I did it,” meaning, why he created a Facebook friends group also called the Lo Fi Mob. “It’s kind of cool to trade pictures or trade stuff you’ve got or find that you think is cool.” The rules are simple: no gig posting. “We have Blues Central for that.”