If you’re browsing used music gear on Reverb or Craigslist, you tend to check the usual information: what year was it made, what condition is it in, how many owners, any scam red flags, how are the pics. But do you ask about the smell?

Unlike your local music shop, the Internet is notably odorless. Furthermore, “smell” is not a common descriptive category on most resale sites. “Fender 6-Watt Champ, 1970, Good Condition, Smells Fine.” Not exactly de rigueur. I would imagine most people don’t stop to consider what the keyboard or guitar they’re buying might smell like. But imagine if you bought a used guitar amp, took it home, and then realized it was a stinky little monster? I do not have to imagine this. The stinky little monster sits beside me.

Let’s back up. Why did I buy another guitar amp? (The following explanation is as much for Emily as it is for any of you.) You see, Triple Click is putting on our first Portland live show this July (Friday the 11th at the Alberta Rose Theatre!!) and while there will be much discussion of video games, there will also be music. I’m going to be playing guitar, Maddy and I will be singing, Jason will be joining in as well. I’m writing new songs just for the show. It’s all very exciting!

When recording a guitar in the studio, I mostly use a digital amp modeler called a Line 6 Helix. It’s basically an ugly computer that sits on the floor and can replicate just about any amp or effect combination ever. It’s a popular piece of gear and is very useful for making Strong Songs, since I need to reproduce such varied guitar sounds on the show. It would also be convenient to use it live, but the Helix doesn’t have any built-in speakers or anything; I’d have to plug direct into the board and would only hear my guitar through the stage monitors. Because digital amp modelers like the Helix have become so popular, and because guitarists generally like to have an amp next to them on stage, a number of companies make amp-shaped cabinets you can use with a modeler to get an “amp experience” on stage.

I looked on Reverb and found a local music shop selling a Line 6 cab modeler that is specifically designed to work with my Line 6 amp modeler. (Line 6 has also experimented with guitar modelers. What’s next, guys, an audience modeler!) The cab was going for about half what it goes for new, which seemed like a pretty good deal. I called the store, confirmed they still had it, and drove over to pick it up. Cool, there it is, an unremarkable black box with the screen protector still on the LCD and everything. I threw it in the back of the car, lugged it down to the studio, and got back to whatever I was doing.

Half an hour later, I noticed the smell.

“Floral Hell” is one descriptor that comes to mind. “Rosewater Despair” is another. It was as if someone, realizing the amp smelled like cigarettes or body odor (?) or maybe blood (!!) or some other obviously gross thing decided to bathe it for an afternoon in some kind of air freshener, replacing the “bad” smell with what they understood to be a “good” one. Or maybe the original owner lived in a perfume factory, I have no idea.

The resulting odor is vaguely familiar and quietly horrifying, like a midday memory of last night’s anxiety dream. I’ve smelt it before, but I don’t know precisely where. The school nurse’s office? The lobby of an hourly rehearsal space? A pot dealer’s car? Someplace fraught, and temporary.

It’s the smell equivalent of a charmless acquaintance who remains, against all evidence, convinced of their charm. That it is so evidently unnatural is all the more troubling; a smell like this should not have been created on purpose. It haunts my recording studio, unseen but never unnoticed.

After reading through every relevant Reddit thread I could find (most of which are about amps that smell like cigarettes), I have attempted several remedies:

After a couple of weeks of sun therapy, the smell has faded. Somewhat. I’m optimistic the situation will continue to improve. And while I know I could have returned it for a refund, at some point I became invested. That, and I couldn’t imagine setting it on the counter and watching the clerk sniff the tolex as I explained the problem. And there’s some baking soda residue in the cracks that I can’t get out.

And anyway, it really was a good deal. It sounds great, is lighter than it looks, and it can double as a keyboard amp. I like practicing with it, and I’m sure it’ll feature in many future performances. I was glad to support the local shop where I bought it, and just for the record, I hesitate to assume their culpability vis a vis the smell. Maybe it was sold to them that way and, like me, they didn’t notice until it was too late.

Things will turn out okay for me and my stinky amp. But let this serve as a reminder to any of you who shop for used things online. Along with your usual questions about wear, functionality, and shipping, it can’t hurt to ask about the smell.

The newest Strong Songs episode is about “All The Things You Are” by Jerome Kern, and how a 1930s show tune becomes a ubiquitous jazz standard.

I've always found that repertoire is one of the more mysterious aspects of jazz, especially for those who haven't studied the music extensively. There are these tunes, see, and everyone seems to know them, but they aren't all written by jazz musicians - a lot of them seem to be ballads from 30s Broadway shows? But those were ballads, and jazz players often take them really fast, and reharmonize them and add lots of changes. And there are hundreds, and they each have their own weird little tics and conventions that have evolved over time, and everyone just... kinda seems to know all of that.

And that IS the gist, but there is of course more to it. I've been wanting to make this episode for ages, and had the idea way back in year one. What if I picked one of the best-known jazz standards, and rather than sticking with my usual format, jumped from recording to recording to illustrate how a single tune can be the basis for countless different reinterpretations? And what if I then got some friends together and we recorded our own version??

This episode was a fun change of pace. I hope it helps some of you out there better understand how jazz repertoire works, and how jazz standards evolved alongside the music itself. It was also a good excuse to have buddies some over and mess around in the studio. And hey, if you want to see a video of our recording session, head over to the Strong Songs Patreon and sign up.

As always, you can find me on Instagram and Bluesky, posting infrequently. Also guesting on a number of podcasts that you may or may not listen to. You never know where I’ll turn up!

I’ll leave you with Appa, as she displays the golden retriever’s natural aptitude for camouflage.

Take care and keep listening-

~KH
6/6/2025