AMPS!

I've played electric guitar for many, many years.  I chased particular guitars for many years in search of a particular tone.  I only found it when I finally realized that whatever amplifier I was using was as important as the guitar.  

So, axes aside, here's what my son, Karl, and I were working with today. My AB 763 Showman will rejoin the rest of the crew very soon.  Karl's Blackstar is AWESOME--beautiful tone shaping character.  But nothing--NOTHING--beats the cathode-biased sound of my little blackface Princeton Reverb.

n.b. the red "Divine Noise" cable.  It is very nice.  Thanks to Grant Knepper for putting me on to Pro Guitar in Portland for it.  http://proguitarshop.com/about-pro-guitar-shop