A Visit to Strobel Guitars

Last week I traveled to Fort Lauderdale for business. I travel fairly frequently now, and you may have read the post I wrote recently on travel electric guitars. I had been torn between getting the Strobel and the Stewart, but Stewart was having availability issues. Plus, since I go to Florida fairly often, I could visit Russ’s shop up in Boca Raton as see where these cool guitars come from. So that settled that.

Russ used to travel for business a lot, too–which is how he came up with the idea for the Rambler. If you travel frequently for business, you are going to want something that will fit in your carry on, and the Rambler is one of the few guitars out there that will do that.

Russ has a small workshop in Boca Raton, Florida. He currently offers three models: the hand-built Rambler Custom which he builds himself in his shop to your specifications, the Ramber Classic, which he has built to his specifications in Asia, and the Rambler Bass. However, he is adding a “Strat” style Strobel to the mix for the single coil fans. Here he is playing the “Strat” style Rambler, and yes, it really has that true Strat squawk.

I plan to publish a more thorough review with sound clips and how the disassembly and re-assembly works. But for now enjoy more pics of his shop and guitars after the jump! Oh, and be sure to check out StrobelGuitars.com!

Russ-Strobel

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Fender Mini ’57 Twin Amp

I’ve been meaning to write something on this little amp for a while now. I have a weird fascination with mini amps, and I’m also a fan of pretty much anything Fender. So the minute I saw this little Mini ’57 Twin Amp, I pretty much had to have it.

Now, if you go to the Fender website, you will see that the mini amps are listed under accessories. That should be a tip off right there. Fender is not trying to market these as amps. Yes, it does amplify sound from your guitar. But… it’s really just a toy. If you are thinking of using one of these for a practice amp, I’d spend a few more bucks and get something real–like a Mustang 1. However, if you want a toy, something that looks cool and is kind of fun to play with every once in a while, this is pretty neat. It would also make a great gift for that Fender fanatic who has everything.

Now, I’m kind of curious to try the Orange Micro Crush. Sounds like it might be a bit more than just a toy. Maybe I’ll put it on my Christmas list.

Anyway, more pics of the little ’57 Twin after the jump!

Fender-Mini-57-Twin-Amp

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