I am an enthusiast amp tech, self taught, with many, many hours tinkering on my own amps. I'm a DIY kind of guy, it's in my blood. I was raised by a father that never paid somebody else to do a job he could do himself. I learned from him how to work with my hands and my brain.
I've got over 30 years experience in technical fields, as a Journeyman Master Mechanic on diesel powered heavy equipment (earth moving, construction & mining), I hold certificates from OEM's such as Cummins, Komatsu, Dresser, JCB, Deutz. I'm a trained welder and I'm a Certified Lubrication Specialist with the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers, and a Certified Lubrication Technician II w/ the International Council of Machinery Lubrication. My real job these days is as a lubrication engineer with an international lubricants company. If you're wondering how this kind of experience translates to tube guitar amps,I'd say that's a fair and good question. Let me answer by asking you what you know about hydraulic systems? If you are familiar with hydraulics and with electronics you'll recognize the close association between the two sciences. Electricity flows in much the same way as hydraulics, and we control the two technologies in much the same way. There are many correlations between the two technologies. There is a very good reason why folks in the UK call tubes "Valves". If you think tube amp technology may be complex, let me tell you, there is no comparison between even the most complex tube amp and a common ordinary everyday hydraulic excavator closed center, load sensing & pressure compensating hydraulic system. Modern hydraulics are far, far more complex systems, and if you can get your mind around those systems, vintage style tube guitar amps are cake. Ever rebuild a powershift transmission from a bulldozer? If you've got the technical abilities to understand these machines, to diagnose and correct problems with them, you've got the aptitude to work on tube guitar amps. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I'm also a guitar player, my main influences were the popular guitar gods of the 60's and 70's; particularly Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Johnny Winter, Alvin Lee and Billy Gibbons. Over the years I've moved away from playing rock, embracing the roots of most modern music, the blues. I currently keep busy playing in a couple of blues bands, jamming several times a month and picking up gigs with a handful of friends I've made at the blues jams I host and attend.
I've combined my technical skills with my love of music gear, servicing, tuning and modifying my amps to achieve the performance I want from them; refurbishing vintage amps, and designing and building my own amps, and providing the fruits of my labors to the public, much of it as free information they can take and use as they please. I also perform amp repairs and modifications for people on a very limited basis (I'm playing too much music these days to be able to spend much time at the work bench).
I have a knack for taking a stock amp and fine tuning the circuit to enhance the performance and extract the tones that are hiding inside, waiting to be let out. That's my specialty. Give me a mass produced, value priced amp and I'll turn it into an amp rivaling boutique hand built amps costing several times what the mass produced amp cost. It's a challenge I enjoy, & I get special satisfaction in the completed projects, in the thanks I get from owners of the amps I tune, and in the faces of those who hear my modified amps and can't believe the fantastic tones they hear coming from the simple amp they are looking at. That's a gas!
Most folk's read my online screen name and pronounce it as one word, but actually it's Hasse-r-l. It's a combination of the first 5 leters of my last name, and my first and middle initials.
You see, I come from a big family. I have several brothers, and we all carried the nick name of Hasse as we were growing up. And I've got a lot of cousins, and a lot of them were known by their friends as Hasse too. It's a common nickname in my family. So when I first got started online computing and I needed a handle for the music forums and message boards I took my old nickname, and added my 1st and 2nd initials to identify me from all the other Hasse's out there.
I've been using it for many years now, and a lot of people know me by that handle, so I figured it was a natural to go with for this new website. What could be easier to remember than hasserl.com?
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