I got another day off today, so I decided to head to the Guitar Center on Van Ness & California. To be honest I didn’t know if it would be good or not, but it was worth a try. Oh dear goodness how dare I doubt that place!

For a start, they have a whole floor dedicated to drums, which is pretty impressive considering it’s a guitar shop! It didn’t take me long to spy a small Mesa Boogie in the corner, so blindly followed. And there she was - a half stack Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier all plugged in and begging to be played. I took no hesitation, grabbed a PRS Custom 24 and plugged her straight in. No sooner had I started rocking when a store assistant came over. I knew I had it up a bit loud so I stopped playing and apologised. He actually scolded me for playing the darn thing too quietly! It’s 150w of all-tube gain. He instructed me too keep playing while he fiddled with the settings. After he had reached a trouser-shaking level, he said “Oh, your not even on the 3rd Channel yet. Here you go…” and with that he hit the Third Channel Footswitch. Describing in words the sonic majesty of a D with this amp is a futile task. Suffice to say I’d sell my kidney to do it again.

I must’ve been there in the shop for close to 3 hours. There was just so much to see. Back home the Triple Rectifier is way outta my price range. For the whole set up it’s gonna cost around 3000 quid. Over here - it’s 1/3 of that price. It’s under $2000 if you buy second hand. Plus I really have no need for the Triple, the Dual is just fine. It’s identical to the Triple, just has 50w less power which is insignificant unless you’re regularly playing stadium venues! It would sting me a bit getting it home but if I claim I’m a musician I can request to have it loaded onto the plane with me for a special rate. And given that student loan company is giving me a pretty good amount this year I’m thinking this will be a wise investment. And by wise, I mean selfish.

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