Training Course - 2007
"enjoyment-- fantastic,time and money allowing i would definatley like to
attend another of yr courses!
skills covered-- learned a great deal,some tech points were covered a few
times as i guess people learn at different speeds. certain aspects of the
theory i understood quickerly,others i still dont fully understand.this
certainly is not a criticism of the course but more an admittance of my own
shortcomings heh. general tech areas were covered in an almost 'classroomy'
way. in front of a black board with all 'students' listening. i noticed that
when a student had understood a point they were eagre to get on with their
building but out of politeness stayed in attendance of the lesson untill all
the students suggested they understood.this meant that at times,valuable
practical time was spent waiting for the lesson to be repeated untill all
students understood,other times i still didnt understand the thing being
taught but would say i did so as not to hold people up that were eagre to
get on with their amp. (a suggestion---- maybee have 1 to 1 lessons
throughout the course of the weekend? people learn at different speeds and
therefore wont be holding up anyone else and can ask questions untill they
fully understand the theory of the lessons).
facilities-- couldnt have been better! Gerry's workshop/home is amazing! if
your father didnt have a tool Gerry probably(and often did) had a drawer
full of them somewhere.
teaching aids-- important points were displayed on sheets and pinned up in
the workshop. perhaps handouts would be good( as some points i have
forgotten)
location-- myself and owen travelled up from south wales. although this is a
longish trip the whole experience was worth it. and anyway it felt like a
holliday!!
catering-- i love my food!!! we were well looked after and the food was
great!! thanks again!
costs/timing,course length-- i mentioned,one afternoon at lunch that i
thought the course was cheap. on reflection i still believe this. but as
most of us did not complete our amps maybee an aetra day would be handy ( i
would be prepared to pay an extra £50 for the extra day) although this is
just my opinion...and i would say that things went quiet at the table when i
mentioned that the course was cheap hahaha!
learning experience-- i realy have learned a great deal about
amplifiers,valves, electronics, tools etc.
i was already an enthusiast! the course has fueled this (yr fathers and
Gerry's enthusiasm is infectious)
technical support-- my amp is now complete(well almost) it is all assembled
etc but one of the chanels is iffy (nasty distortion) my bass and trble pots
do nothing at all and the push pull pots again do nothingto the sound. we
noticed this at the end of the course,but ran out of time so could not sort
the problem(this is not surprising as i made a british invation amp that is
meant to be tackled on the 4 day course!) i have not as yet contacted Barry
as i am very very busy! i was suggested that the schematics and istructions
that were provided for my particular amp were in need of amending and
updating.but again i must admit that my amp wasnt the 'regular' amp type
that would be made on that particular course!
perhaps you could ask your father for an updated schematic/instructions for
the british invation and maybe email them to me? i would have no problem
calling Barry and sorting the amp issues with him but as there are so many
issues i would imagine it could take some time. and to be honest i would
quite enjoy pouring over the ammended schematic and fix it myself! would
remind me of a great weekendi had a few months back.
thanks again!! sorry for the epic essay! and best wishes to you all!"
jason ball
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letter to Guitar Buyer from George Barr |