my first guitar amp
I got a cheap electric guitar from argos when I was a kid, it weighed about two pounds and was a nightmare to keep in tune. After learning to play a few basic "tunes" I elected to get myself an amp to make the most out of it and possibly start my career as a rock god but they were a little beyond the range of my pocket money.

Then I noticed the jack on the guitar lead was the same size as my uncle's 1960's reel tape machine. Genius. Not only could I plug it in and use the primitive speakers as a makeshift amp, I could also record my noise on tape!

It all worked wonderfully until I realised the other socket was for a microphone and by pluging in the mic and holding it near the pickups I could create the most amazing distortion and feedback. I was in heaven pretending to be a member of Sonic Youth... for about five minutes. I made the mistake of touching the metal strings with the metal top of the mic, completed the circuit and blew every fuse in the house. I swear my bedroom smelled of ozone for the next year or so. I opened the tape recorder up but sadly I'd melted the wiring and turned every glass valve inside it a nice shade of black.

I still have the guitar though, I often pick it up and stand in front of the mirror wondering what might have been.
(Suddenly, zebras Safe and sound for eternity, Mon 24 Aug 2009, 15:56, 5 replies)

No
sorry
(Ed Quarters has moved house!, Mon 24 Aug 2009, 16:07, closed)

no need to apologise mr. quarters
I think.
(Suddenly, zebras Safe and sound for eternity, Mon 24 Aug 2009, 17:49, closed)

Entertaining
But false. If the unit failed so spectacularly, it would not have been due to your guitar strings touching anything.
(keyboardman, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 2:09, closed)

No again
Complete nonsense - the strings aren't connected to anything electrical and the top of the mic *shouldn't* have any power going through, unless it was a badly wired phantom powered one, and if that was the case you'd have known the first time you picked it up.

Sorry, a complete fabrication of a story.
(cfvp, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 12:43, closed)

Any ideas what could have caused it then?
I swear this story is true. I'm just guessing that the strings + mic caused the blowout but the timing seemed too coincidental to be anything else so I put two and two together. (last time I do that you pedantic buggers)
Too much power going into it and me just overloading it with feedback? I dunno. Not an electrical genius. But you've probably guessed that by now.
(Suddenly, zebras Safe and sound for eternity, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 13:05, closed)