I will start this short article by conceding very early on that I am simply old. Old school (so old in fact that I refuse to use the spelling "skool") is not something new to me. I have been this way for as long as I can remember. When I was a teenager and New Wave and Punk were all over the place, I was listening to The Beatles. When it came time for me to get my first car, all I wanted was my dad's old jeep (you would have to see it to appreciate exactly how 'old school' that was).
To this day I still want an old '65 Mustang and I still drool over old Triumph Bonnevilles and Trophies. When it comes to my guitars, you guessed it, Fender and Gibson all the way. In fact, the older and more beat up the Strat', the better I like it. I don't know why….wait, I do know why. Because they are better! They are full of character and color and life. Old guitars and gear are experienced. They bring with them a certain feel and, dare I say it, mojo. Yuk, I almost cringe to see myself using that now worn out word. Mojo. Still, it is really the only word that works when it comes to expressing the feel of older instruments.
In addition, the old stuff just looks cooler. Not pared down and digitalized. Good old fashioned analog stuff. Yeah man! Capacitors, rectifiers, filters, circuits!
My case in point, look below at the images of Roland's early Space Echo units. Awesome stuff! Big and bulky, with cool knobs and switches to mess with. A 'vu meter'? Are you kidding me? Sweet!
Then look at the advance of technology and how the current Space Echo unit looks. What? Lame! Tiny, plastic, boring, digital reproduction of what was awesome and unique.
So march on technology. March on without me in fact.
Just get me to a good analog yard sale and let me dig through the old treasures.
