HooRU I suppose you’d say getting a good guitar that feels good is a crutch too.
Best is hard to define, it is subjective the best for one may suck for another, as such my opinion is the best guitar to own if the one that fits one’s playing style and body and when it begins to hold them back then it is time to set it aside and find another and that is why I know so many guitarists who have so many guitars in their collection, many of which they swap back to for the many different styles of music they play.
Amps are also a subjective subjective, some folks love solid state ones with tons of effects, most of which I would never need or use, for me I found the best one is a home-brew unit utilizing a 12AX7 tube for the pre-amp feeding a set of double pole switch’s which can insert or bypass a transistor/diode sidechain, a 12AU7 phase inverter powering a Hammond 124 (if I remember properly) which feeds a push pull tube output section utilizing two 6L6’s into a 1650, 50 watt Hammond output transformer driving two 12″ speakers wired in series (16 ohms), they where upgraded to Celestion Heritage drivers a little while back.
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It is a class A/B amp which is the best for musical use, when used in a tube/transformer design versus any solid state design.
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As for the hardware.
The cabinet is custom made out of ¾ Oak plywood internally braced and is rear ported, it sits on 4 rubber wheeled locking casters allowing it to be moved and positioned rather easy, considering it weighs right around 280 pounds.
Back around 73 I was working part time in recording studio trying to learn audio engineering and had moved the amp into one of the studios where I could practice without disturbing anyone, one day an artist was there to record tracks for a new album and was looking it over, he asked the RE what model it is, I was pointed at and walked in the studio and explained how I built it, he requested permission to try it out, plugged the cord that was on top of the amp into his guitar I flipped the power switch and he played a few notes, nothing no sound, I told him to wait slow down the tubes need to warm up, he looked at me said “tubes” then smiled.
He tried it out and offered me $5K cash for it, being maybe 14 or 15 and earning $120 a week I almost said yes, but the idea of giving it up prevented me from taking his money.
So we made a deal I would build another one for him and customize it exactly the way he wanted it, he gave me a generous deposit and I set out to build another one just the size he needed for one of his homes or on the road or something, I never asked I just built it and shipped it out.