Hank Presswood
Hank ran Presswood Guitars in Austin, Texas, for 25 years before retiring in 2019. He now buys, sells, and appraises vintage instruments through a private network and consults for auction houses. He got started after seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan on Austin City Limits at 14 and riding his bike to a pawn shop in Lubbock to buy a beat-up Harmony Stratotone for $25. His personal collection includes a 1964 Fender Deluxe Reverb, a 1962 pre-CBS Stratocaster, and an original gold Klon Centaur — and he will absolutely tell you about all of them. He plays with a glass slide cut from a Coricidin bottle, like Duane Allman, and his only concession to modernity is a TC Electronic Polytune. After a quarter century behind the counter, he's played, appraised, or repaired thousands of guitars and has stories about most of them.
Hank spent 25 years behind the counter at Presswood Guitars watching people buy and sell instruments with no understanding of what they were actually holding — the history, the craftsmanship, the specific choices Leo Fender or Ted McCarty made and why. He started writing because he wanted to preserve the stories. Not just 'this is a 1962 Strat' but why the 1962 Strat sounds different from the 1965, what changed at the factory, what the original owner probably paid, and what it meant to the music that came out of it. He thinks of himself as a historian who happens to play guitar, not a guitarist who happens to know history.
“Every great guitar has a story in the wood — your job is to shut up long enough to hear it.”
Field notes by Hank Presswood
Preamp vs. Power-Amp Distortion: How to Tell Which You're Actually Hearing
2026-06-10Preamp gain and power-amp saturation sound and feel different. A three-step listening test — starting with your guitar's volume knob — tells you which one you've actually got.
Can You Mix Speakers of Different Wattage (or Type) in One Cab?
2026-06-10Yes, with two rules: match the impedance and rate the cab off the lowest-wattage speaker. Here's the wattage math, the impedance trap, and the Greenback-and-V30 mix.
50Hz vs 60Hz: Why Mains Frequency, Not Just Voltage, Matters for Vintage Amps Abroad
2026-06-05Get the voltage right abroad and a vintage amp can still run hot. The reason is mains frequency: 50Hz pushes an old 60Hz transformer toward saturation. What it does over a long set, and when to care.
Your Tube Amp on 100V: What Touring Japan and the UK Does to a Plexi
2026-06-02Mains voltage changes how a tube amp breaks up. What a US amp does on Japan's 100V versus the UK's 230V, and how to travel without frying a transformer.
Sizing a Voltage Converter for a Touring Tube Amp: VA Rating, Not Speaker Watts
2026-06-02The wattage on your amp is not the number to size a converter against. How to find its real wall draw, why you double it, and which way to convert for Japan versus the UK.
Bone vs. Tusq vs. Graph Tech Black Tusq: Which Nut Material for Which Sound
2026-05-25Bone, Tusq, Black Tusq XL, and Corian compared by hardness, tuning stability, and tone. Which nut material to pick after a recut, and which to skip.
How to Recut a Binding Guitar Nut: The Real Cause of Most Tuning Instability
2026-05-22Most tuning problems blamed on tuners are actually nut binding. A step-by-step procedure for filing, lubricating, and seating slots so the string returns to pitch after a bend.
Non-Locking Tuner Showdown: Kluson Deluxe vs. Gotoh SD91 vs. Grover Sta-Tite
2026-05-20The three vintage-style tuner sets every Strat and Tele owner cross-shops. We measured slip behavior, weight, mounting compatibility, and what each one actually feels like under a bend.
Tube Rectifier vs. Solid-State Rectifier in Vintage Fender Amps: The Sag Story Is More Complicated Than You've Heard
2026-05-15The folk wisdom says tube rectifiers sag and solid-state rectifiers don't. The truth involves transformer impedance, plate voltage swing, and a 1959 amp I rebuilt three times.
Marshall SJ20H Studio Jubilee vs. SV20H Studio Vintage: The Silver Jubilee 2555 Circuit or the JCM800 2203, in 20 Watts
2026-05-11Two Studio-line heads. Two of the most modified Marshall preamp topologies ever shipped. Which 20-watt version belongs on your board, and which one actually sounds like the amp it claims to copy.
Marshall SC20H Combo vs. SV20H Head + 1×12 Cab: When the Combo Wins
2026-05-04Same JCM800-circuit 20-watt amp in two formats. The SC20H combo and the SV20H head into a 1×12 are not interchangeable, and the speaker coupling is a bigger deal than people think. Here's how to pick.
Marshall DSL20HR vs. Origin 20: The Two Cheap Marshalls That Get Confused
2026-05-03Both are sub-$1,000 Marshall heads. One is a single-channel pedal platform, the other is a two-channel hybrid built around a JCM2000 lineage. Here is which one fits which player, and why they are not interchangeable.
Marshall Origin 20 vs. SV20H: The $700 Marshall vs. the $1,500 Marshall
2026-05-02Both are 20-watt EL34 Marshall heads with built-in attenuation. One costs half as much. Here is what the extra $800 actually buys you, and which player should stretch for it.
The EL84 Tube: Why AC30s, AC15s, and Boutique Low-Watt Amps Sound Like Themselves
2026-04-26The EL84 is the smaller cousin of the EL34, but the family resemblance ends there. It compresses earlier, chimes harder in the upper midrange, and arranged in a quartet inside an AC30 it produces a sound no other power tube can imitate. Here is what the EL84 actually does, and why so much of British boutique builds around it.
Fixed Bias Amps and the Screwdriver: What Rebiasing Is, When You Need It, and When to Call a Tech
2026-04-24Cathode-biased amps adjust themselves. Fixed-bias amps don't — which means every tube swap is a potential date with a multimeter. Here's what rebiasing is, why it matters for tone and tube life, and how to know when your amp needs it.
Class A vs. Class AB: The Amp Operating Point Question Every Player Gets Wrong
2026-04-23Almost every amp marketed as "Class A" isn't, including the Vox AC30. Here's what Class A and Class AB actually mean at the circuit level, which amps use which topology, and why the distinction matters more for feel than you'd expect.
Why Your Tube Amp Sounds Thin at Bedroom Volume (Power Tube Threshold, Explained)
2026-04-18Your tube amp sounds different at rehearsal volume vs. bedroom volume, and Fletcher-Munson only explains half of it. The other half is your power tubes aren't doing their job. Here's why, and what to do about it.
Fender Deluxe Reverb vs. Fender ToneMaster: Do the Same Settings Sound the Same?
2026-04-16The ToneMaster Deluxe Reverb costs $200 less than the tube original. We put both on the same amp stand, dialed in identical settings, and listened. Here's where they agree — and where they don't.
What Is Power Tube Saturation? (And Why It Sounds Different from Preamp Distortion)
2026-04-15Two different stages in a tube amp can produce distortion. They don't sound alike, they don't respond the same way, and most gear guides conflate them. Here's the actual difference.
Marshall Shredmaster Clone Options: Aion FX Solstice, Five Cats Shredder, and What's Actually Different
2026-04-10Marshall Shredmaster clones and alternatives compared: the Aion FX Solstice PCB, Five Cats Pedals Shredder, Truetone Jekyll & Hyde Hyde side, and how close each gets to the discontinued original.
Germanium vs. Silicon Fuzz: What's the Actual Difference and When Does It Matter?
2026-04-06A practical and technical guide to the difference between germanium and silicon transistor fuzz pedals: how each sounds, why they sound that way, and which belongs in your signal chain.
How to Use Gain, Volume, and Master Controls Together (And Why They're Not the Same Thing)
2026-04-04Gain, volume, and master volume all affect how loud and distorted your amp sounds, but they work at completely different points in the circuit. Here's how to use all three together to dial in exactly the tone you're after.
Fender Deluxe Reverb Settings: Finding Every Sweet Spot on a 22-Watt Legend
2026-04-01The essential Fender Deluxe Reverb settings for clean tones, edge-of-breakup, crunch, and pedal platform — plus the differences between the original and the '65 reissue, and how settings translate to modelers.
Klon Centaur Settings: Clean Boost, Mild OD, and Full Drive
2026-03-29Klon Centaur settings for clean boost through full drive: exact knob positions, clone comparisons, and the one thing most players set wrong.
The Complete Guide to Guitar Amp Types: Tube, Solid-State, Modeling, and Hybrid
2026-03-26Everything you need to know about guitar amplifier technology. How each type shapes your tone, when to use them, and how modelers recreate them.