May 2000

Don't Blow Your Top!
Instead, Release Your Valve
by Steven R. Rochlin
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  In this world of magazines harassing each other, we here at Enjoy the Music.com wish to praise those who are bringing excellence to music lovers worldwide. Let is be said here and now that VALVE magazine is one of the greatest DIY reads this side of Singapore (or the dark side of the moon for that matter). Valve is for those who are looking for true wisdom and content from a variety of very knowledgeable writers. It is not just another rambling diatribe on cooliosity and tiodemania/egomania. Now in their seventh volume, for many years Valve has been greatly appreciated by those who know which end of the soldering iron is hot.

From your basic 300B to really far out exotic 45 and way beyond! One guy told me that Valve is like Sound Practices on crack cocaine. The rush is higher and the desire for the next issue is stronger (plus it arrived on time and is free to boot!). VALVE is run by the most hardened, cantankerous, solder fume sniffing daralicks like Chief Editor and Publisher Dan "Dr. Bottlehead" Schmalle (pictured right) with Brad "Just Fell Off The Turnip Truck" Brooks as the Managing Editor. This being a "keeping it all in the family" kinda 'zine, the Chief Administrator is none other than Dan's wife "Queen Eileen" Schmalle. So what is the high many people are missing by not reading VALVE?

Have you ever had this dream of finally achieving the ultimate musical ecstasy experience? Do you want to find this nirvana through a learning process? Do you live for the experience of being shocked by electricity so severe that you could literally taste it? If so then run, do not walk to Bottlehead's Valve website. While the current issue is free via download in Abode Acrobat pdf format, the truly wise will want all six volumes on CD-Rom. Sure you can pick and choose a volume for only $12-18 dollars each, but the true DIY crack addict will simply get the Volume 1 through 5 CD-Rom for the discounted price of $65. Sheesh, i can't think of a truly spectacular pair of output tubes i could get for $65. So what does each volume contain within its precious e-pages?

Well, too much to list here (i tried to, but then i realized that would take an all day to read). Let's just say everything from rectifier shootouts to 6B4's + Magnequest = SEcstasy and the good ol' Marantz 7, 8 and Scott LK150 impressions. Of course things like Vaic VV30 and VV52 tube data plus junk store LPs could be more to your liking. Lowther talk, cartridge chat and a whole heck of a lot of other infamous DIY stuff other on the web are talking about yet you are missing. Simply check out the Valve website for a good listing of the awesome articles each volume contains.

As for me, i already have my CD-Roms and i not only live them, i love then and secretly sleep with them at night. While Doc Bottlehead also sells his own DIY kits and goodies through Electronic Tonalities such as the Foreplay, Afterglow, Paraglow, Afterglow and much more, you never seem to feel as though Valve magazine is used as a shill for selling more of his goodies. In fact the opposite seems to be true where there are projects by others for you to build plus articles how to tweak out what you already own! A truly wonderful thing in this day and age of overly self-hyped, egomania, posers and trash talking garbage filling the airwaves today.

So go ahead and check out the current free issue of VALVE. As i said earlier, this stuff is like crack. Your first taste will lead to the deep desire for more. You want more? Then buy the past issues on CD-Rom. Just remember, i warned you how addictive this stuff is... You have been warned!

Manufacturer

VALVE
P.O. Box 2786
Poulsbo, WA 98370

voice: (360) 697-1936
e-mail: bottlehead@bottlehead.com
website: http://www.bottlehead.com/valve/valve.html