Ya never know what you might get gifted, and I got a hell of a surprise this year. My girlfriend, Valerie, informed me that she was working on a Super Secret Project for me this XMas, and kept me in suspense about it for a few weeks. The only clues I had were that she was working with our buddy jar as a co-conspirator, and that she was learning some new skills as part of the process.
When unveiling time came, I was given a medium-sized wrapped box. Before opening, I was shown a picture as a final clue, to see if I could guess:
Now, Val is one with the computer geek skills, like jar and myself. But this threw me for a loop - drill press work?! Was this some kind of crazy craft project? Was I to receive a riced-out spice rack? Did she put speed-holes in my car? Baffled, I opened the box.
.
.
.
.
.
...I was stunned. My jaw dropped through the floor, crashing into the basement, where it startled a family of mice. It's a friggin Millett Hybrid tube amp. Beautifully made, no less! The tube holes cut in the top are perfectly lined-up, controls are totally neat and well-placed. "I made it myself
" she tells me, with guidance from jar, who was building his own in parallel (special thanks to Mr. jar - 'twas quite kickass of you!).
Let me put this in perspective. She had never done casework, and didn't have exposure to electronics projects. Hadn't even soldered before! And she learned it all, and tackled a Millett from soup to nuts as a first project. In case I didn't believe her (
), she documented the project on flickr. Here's a couple highlights:
Oh hell yes, we have sound!
Case'd!
It looks great, and sounds incredible. I'm listening at work right now, using a Headroom Overture DAC to the Millett, on iGrado/flats headphones. Guitar tone is absolutely killer.
Best. Girlfriend. Ever.
When unveiling time came, I was given a medium-sized wrapped box. Before opening, I was shown a picture as a final clue, to see if I could guess:
Now, Val is one with the computer geek skills, like jar and myself. But this threw me for a loop - drill press work?! Was this some kind of crazy craft project? Was I to receive a riced-out spice rack? Did she put speed-holes in my car? Baffled, I opened the box.
.
.
.
.
.
...I was stunned. My jaw dropped through the floor, crashing into the basement, where it startled a family of mice. It's a friggin Millett Hybrid tube amp. Beautifully made, no less! The tube holes cut in the top are perfectly lined-up, controls are totally neat and well-placed. "I made it myself
" she tells me, with guidance from jar, who was building his own in parallel (special thanks to Mr. jar - 'twas quite kickass of you!).Let me put this in perspective. She had never done casework, and didn't have exposure to electronics projects. Hadn't even soldered before! And she learned it all, and tackled a Millett from soup to nuts as a first project. In case I didn't believe her (
), she documented the project on flickr. Here's a couple highlights:Oh hell yes, we have sound!
Case'd!
It looks great, and sounds incredible. I'm listening at work right now, using a Headroom Overture DAC to the Millett, on iGrado/flats headphones. Guitar tone is absolutely killer.
Best. Girlfriend. Ever.
