Carl Hart is our very talented
lead guitarist. He is a fanatic about tone, and all of
his guitars and amps reflect this passion. His main
instrument is a classic vintage Gibson "SG Special" (in the
photo above). This guitar was manufactured in the same year
in which Carl was born: 1964! Loaded with Gibson P-90
pickups, it really screams. The SG is the same model used by
Carlos Santana and Pete Townshend at Woodstock.
Carl also plays an Xaviere Lemon Drop XV-500 "Tony Zematis style" Les Paul type guitar (in the photo below) that he has re-wired to sound fantastic.
Carl's
"dirty" sounding amp is a Russian-made Sovtek "Mig 60"
(manufactured in the same factory that made radios for
Soviet T-series tanks), powered with screaming,
Marshall-style EL34 tubes, and fed into a yellow pine
cabinet loaded with four 10" Eminence speakers with alnico
magnets and kapton voice coils (Jensen "P10R" clones) that
produce a wonderful British Oxford tone (behind Carl in the
photo above). For his "clean" sound Carl plays through a
modified Crate VC-50 amplifier (this amp is used by Joe
Walsh, as well as the lead guitarists in Dire Straits and ZZ
Top, among others) that is mated to a uniquely designed
2x12" cabinet with one speaker facing forward and the other
facing backward (in the photo above on the right side).
Carl is a tube amp aficionado/connoisseur/genius. He modifies his tube amps by hand, soldering different resistors and capacitors and other components and changing the circuits to achive optimum tone, and is belovedly known by band members as "The Mad Tweaker". Carl even makes his own picks out of stainless steel because no other pick gives him the perfect tone he wants!
In addition to classic rock, Carl loves the blues. He also enjoys punk. During college, Carl played punk in the Sigma Nu house band Nervous Fashion, and later he formed his own punk band, The Missionaries:
And
he has been tweaking and performing with electric guitars
and tube amps ever since. For many years, he did all
the amplifier repairs for KSM Music. He was also the
house guitarist for KSM, and he did some recording and
played on many radio jingles.
For his day job, Carl works as a real estate agent. By night, he used to drive his family crazy playing regularly and loudly in his basement and, after their failed attempt to get him into golf, they were thrilled when Carl was discovered by The Fender Benders. Steve Roberts was in KSM Music one day and heard Carl testing a boutique amplifier. Steve said "Wow! We need that guy in our band!" And although the rest may not be history, it sounds pretty good!
Carl also plays an Xaviere Lemon Drop XV-500 "Tony Zematis style" Les Paul type guitar (in the photo below) that he has re-wired to sound fantastic.
Carl is a tube amp aficionado/connoisseur/genius. He modifies his tube amps by hand, soldering different resistors and capacitors and other components and changing the circuits to achive optimum tone, and is belovedly known by band members as "The Mad Tweaker". Carl even makes his own picks out of stainless steel because no other pick gives him the perfect tone he wants!
In addition to classic rock, Carl loves the blues. He also enjoys punk. During college, Carl played punk in the Sigma Nu house band Nervous Fashion, and later he formed his own punk band, The Missionaries:
For his day job, Carl works as a real estate agent. By night, he used to drive his family crazy playing regularly and loudly in his basement and, after their failed attempt to get him into golf, they were thrilled when Carl was discovered by The Fender Benders. Steve Roberts was in KSM Music one day and heard Carl testing a boutique amplifier. Steve said "Wow! We need that guy in our band!" And although the rest may not be history, it sounds pretty good!