mark norwine
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My long-winded explanatory tome about my life's journey. Read it if you want; pass it by if you don't. It's "all good", as the kids say these days....
*****
It’s funny how things happen. You fan a fire, and it grows bigger. Such is to be expected, right?
Last month, I was at my bench performing a mod to a Bassman head belonging to a good friend of mine, when I was struck by a simple notion:
“What am I doing here”?
Rewind 46 years to an eleven year old’s Christmas and a fancy Harmony guitar under the tree. This inquisitive kid also had a penchant for taking things apart to see how they worked (sometimes managing to reassemble them in working order!). Mix in a budding interest in electricity / electronics, and, later, some formal education…coupled with improvement on the instrument and a growing passion for “the process”…and the inevitable doesn’t take long: “amp repair”. All the ingredients were there...
Late teens found me ripping amps apart. They often “worked” when I was done! Sometimes they didn’t.
My ‘20s had me doing all of my own repairs & simple mods. Not just on guitar amps, either, but all sorts of audio gear: rack amps, mixers, VCRs, etc.
Into my '30s I was performing repairs for “friends”, which soon morphed into “friends of friends”, followed rapidly by “people who knew friends of friends”. Before long, there was a constant parade of strangers funneling through my shop. By the end of that decade, I had designed my own amps, was running an S-Corp (Carlson Amplification, Inc.); full-fledged manufacturing was taking place. My 600 sq.ft. shop was 100% set up & dedicated to making and repairing amps. I lived in my shop.
My early ‘40s, after 10+ years, things got tougher. Amps was hopping like crazy, but not quite enough to quit my day job. I was also playing in a popular gigging band and had 2 small kids, too. I was getting by on [maybe] 4 hours of sleep; something had to give.
In 2003 I turned in my business license & tax ID number and shut it down. I cancelled the phone number and website, turning away everyone. And yet, many still came. Saying “no” was very hard for me…”They keep pulling me back in”, as Pacino said in (the unwatchable) Godfather III. Maybe I brought it on myself, but it was like waves on the beach. The momentum couldn’t be stopped.
So here I am, at my bench in July of 2015, modding an amp in a shop that’s still 100% dedicated to amp work. Yes, I do far less work these days, but still, the thought hit me like a brick:
“What am I doing here?”
So I finished the Bassman (it sounded glorious, BTW!!), and after the customer picked it up, I made a big decision. Last weekend, my shop was 100% completely & totally dismantled of any-and-all aspects of amp repair.
But amps? I’ve given over 25 years to helping guitarists’ amplifiers sound great, and I have nothing but fond memories. But the muse has left the building. My interest in amps is gone. The story is over. The book is closed.
If I see a thread here that I think I can offer insight into, I might chime in. But as for the bulk of the threads here, I believe my work here is done.
As for the rest of my shop and all this new-found space? Well, who’s to say what the future holds! I’ve always wanted to build a boat…
*****
It’s funny how things happen. You fan a fire, and it grows bigger. Such is to be expected, right?
Last month, I was at my bench performing a mod to a Bassman head belonging to a good friend of mine, when I was struck by a simple notion:
“What am I doing here”?
Rewind 46 years to an eleven year old’s Christmas and a fancy Harmony guitar under the tree. This inquisitive kid also had a penchant for taking things apart to see how they worked (sometimes managing to reassemble them in working order!). Mix in a budding interest in electricity / electronics, and, later, some formal education…coupled with improvement on the instrument and a growing passion for “the process”…and the inevitable doesn’t take long: “amp repair”. All the ingredients were there...
Late teens found me ripping amps apart. They often “worked” when I was done! Sometimes they didn’t.
My ‘20s had me doing all of my own repairs & simple mods. Not just on guitar amps, either, but all sorts of audio gear: rack amps, mixers, VCRs, etc.
Into my '30s I was performing repairs for “friends”, which soon morphed into “friends of friends”, followed rapidly by “people who knew friends of friends”. Before long, there was a constant parade of strangers funneling through my shop. By the end of that decade, I had designed my own amps, was running an S-Corp (Carlson Amplification, Inc.); full-fledged manufacturing was taking place. My 600 sq.ft. shop was 100% set up & dedicated to making and repairing amps. I lived in my shop.
My early ‘40s, after 10+ years, things got tougher. Amps was hopping like crazy, but not quite enough to quit my day job. I was also playing in a popular gigging band and had 2 small kids, too. I was getting by on [maybe] 4 hours of sleep; something had to give.
In 2003 I turned in my business license & tax ID number and shut it down. I cancelled the phone number and website, turning away everyone. And yet, many still came. Saying “no” was very hard for me…”They keep pulling me back in”, as Pacino said in (the unwatchable) Godfather III. Maybe I brought it on myself, but it was like waves on the beach. The momentum couldn’t be stopped.
So here I am, at my bench in July of 2015, modding an amp in a shop that’s still 100% dedicated to amp work. Yes, I do far less work these days, but still, the thought hit me like a brick:
“What am I doing here?”
So I finished the Bassman (it sounded glorious, BTW!!), and after the customer picked it up, I made a big decision. Last weekend, my shop was 100% completely & totally dismantled of any-and-all aspects of amp repair.
- My scope and generator…which had been permanently built into my bench…are now packed away in a closet. If I don’t touch them in a year, they’ll be sold.
- All remaining inventory has been given away, as have the plastic parts bins in which they were kept.
- The filing cabinet has been emptied of all records, schematics, bench notes, etc. and tossed.
- “Specialty tools” [load banks, variacs, reverb tanks, diagnostic OTs, etc.] have all been boxed up and will be given away.
- I kept a few test leads, but discarded most of the “special” ones that I’ve made over the years.
But amps? I’ve given over 25 years to helping guitarists’ amplifiers sound great, and I have nothing but fond memories. But the muse has left the building. My interest in amps is gone. The story is over. The book is closed.
If I see a thread here that I think I can offer insight into, I might chime in. But as for the bulk of the threads here, I believe my work here is done.
As for the rest of my shop and all this new-found space? Well, who’s to say what the future holds! I’ve always wanted to build a boat…
Such goodness... 
