Three Tubes and a Handful of Parts
Why I love old Tweed Princetons
The Tone Journal by Benjamin Fargen
Founder of Fargen Amps. 25+ years building, modding & restoring tube amps for pros & tone chasers. Sharing circuit secrets, gear insights & real-world advice through The Tone Journal.
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Latest posts
What’s the Real Difference Between Tube, Solid-State, and Modeling Amps?
After 25 years designing tube amplifiers and a much longer stretch recording with all three technologies…here’s what I’ve actually learned.
5 Tube Amp Myths That Refuse to Die
I’ve been building and repairing tube amps for over 25 years, and if there’s one thing that hasn’t changed since my kitchen-table build days, it’s this: we guitar players love a good story about our gear almost as much as we love the gear itself.
What Would You Build Around Dick Dale’s Blown Showman Transformer?
My buddy Kerry Dean just picked up a strange piece of amp history.
Touch Sensitivity Is Not a Myth
Why some tube amps feel alive under your hands, and others just get louder
Small Watts, Big Feel
The magic of small tube amps, and why Class A still rules
Underrated: Roy Buchanan and a Telecaster on the Edge
The first time I ever laid ears on a Roy Buchanan track was back in 2004, when I was deep in the middle of a custom signature amp project called the JW-40 with Jim Weider.
The Ampeg B-15: Small Amp, Massive Legacy
The Flip-Top That Defined Recorded Bass
The Blonde Bassman — Fender’s Most Overlooked Era
The first one I ever worked on came in from a yard sale find.
Underrated: Robert Cray and the Discipline of Clean Tone
The first time I heard Robert Cray was on the radio driving down Mother Lode Drive in my stepdad’s old pickup.