The 'Wide Dinger'

Annually, my son Jay hosts a Father's Day ride for all his road bike buddies, from near and far.  Guys and gals of all ages show up in their Spandex finery to sit on a razor blade-wide seat, on an expensive, skinny-tired, twelve-pound bicycle, to ride in a non-supported 35-, 65-, or 75-mile trek through hill and dale of central Ohio.  It's known affectionately as the 'Peckerhead Ride'.  I wonder why?

In a prior post, I wrote about the 'Peckerhead Guitar' that I created for Jay to show off at this year's event.

Well, after the ride, some of the guys were sitting around admiring the little three-string git, and questioning me about it.  During the conversation, the subject of battery-powered mini-amps came up.  I explained that phenomenon to the group, while they were giving me blank stares . . . 'little' guitars and 'mini' amps are to hard-core peddlers, what bathing and clean clothes are to a Harley rider . . . a mystery.

But, out of the crowd came a comment that got my attention.  Jay's friend Tom Weidinger told me he had an old radio in his shed that he thought I might like for an amp.  I tried to pay him for it, but his wife Jenny said no . . . I like a level-headed woman.  

Geez, I jumped on that like a wino on a jug of Thunderbird. 

The old tube-driven radio works had to be removed, and the speaker cloth replaced.  I added a back panel with access door to cover the cavity which was originally open for the careless tinkerer to be electrocuted.  Then I installed a GuitarFuel amp harness, using two of the original radio knobs for controls and the other knobs are there to make it look original.  An input jack is tucked in the outside corner, and voila, I got a cool not-so-little amp.

Here's the finished blower, which I call the 'Wide Dinger', named after my friend Tom, of course.

Thanks!, Tom and Jenny.