A hippie musician's tasty collection of audio gear (and guitars)
Show Us Yours: Gene's lifelong passions for audio and music adorn his cozy Greenwich Village pad.
Gene with his Gibson L2 acoustic guitar
This Show Us Yours tour has been put together by Steve Guttenberg, CNET's Audiophiliac columnist.
Meet Gene, who lives in New York City with his wife Beth in a midsize Greenwich Village apartment. He's a musician and an audiophile with great taste in audio and fretted instruments.
Gene's posing with a Gibson L-2 that he bought in the early '70s when it was around 50 years old. He paid a few hundred bucks for it.
Wall of (mostly) ukuleles
Everywhere you turn there are more instruments.
Conrad-Johnson Premier 11A tube power amplifier
Gene prefers tube electronics for his audio system and guitar amps.
Conrad-Johnson Premier 10 tube preamplifier
This classic preamp is the heart of Gene's home system.
1951 Fender Telecaster
Steve says: "I've heard Gene play a lot of bluegrass over the years, but he's actually played more with electric guitars, like his Telecaster. It's an incredibly versatile guitar, usable for most styles of music."
1957 Fender Champ guitar amplifier
This is a little Tweed tube practice amp. According to Gene, when Eric Clapton recorded the "Layla" album, he and Duane Allman were each playing through one of these little amps. The amps were made in California.
MartinLogan Scenario electrostatic speakers
The tall black speaker over to the left is the MartinLogan Scenario and it's around 20 years old. Of course there's another one on the other side of the front wall.
1931 Gibson GB1 guitar-banjo
Gene was a big fan of blues man Rev. Gary Davis, and saw him a number of times when Davis lived in NYC in the 1960s. Davis had one of these guitar banjos, and it took Gene 20 years to get his hands on this one.
1924 Gibson A1 mandolin
Gene is especially proud of this mandolin, it really does sound special.
Linn LP 12 turntable
Gene bought this turntable 40 years ago, and it's been updated a few times. It has a Linn Ekos tonearm and a Grado Reference1 cartridge.
Audio Research PH3 phono preamp
Gene is a pretty much an analog guy, but he's been known to play a CD every now and then on this old Sony changer.
1958 Gibson L7-CN guitar
Gorgeous guitar!
1920s Stella acoustic guitar
Blues players in the 1920s and 1930s played Stella guitars, says Gene. This is the kind of guitar Elizabeth Cotten wrote "Freight Train" on, and Charley Patton and Blind Lemon Jefferson played Stellas. It's a real gem of American music history.
Gene's fire escape audio system
Gene's favorite summertime spot for listening to music is on the fire escape outside of his apartment's window, with his Woo Audio WA6 tube amplifier (to the left of Gene) and closed-back Audeze EL-8 headphones.
More escapes
Most of Gene's Greenwich Village neighbors have fire escapes, but it's a safe guess few have as cool a headphone rig as he does.
Sony XDR-F1 HD radio
The Sony XDR-F1 radio, long discontinued, has developed a loyal following that pays many times its original cost.
Bang a gong
Doesn't everybody have one? Gene's gong makes a big sound.
Two banjos and a clock banjo
Left, an early 1900s Stewart banjo, right an 1890s Cole Eclipse banjo; they're flanking a banjo clock. Banjo was Gene's first instrument. He started playing at age 16.
Gibson L2 again
You've already seen this guitar with Gene playing it, but it just looked so pretty hanging on the wall.
Three ukuleles
That's a Kay on the left, and two Harmony ukes in the middle and right. All three date from the 1960s.
Gene likes Chuck Berry
Here's an early Berry LP pressing from Gene's collection.
Panasonic 40-inch plasma pro monitor display
Gene's not about to switch to an LCD TV. He still loves his 40-inch plasma too much.
Toy ukes
Very cool!
Beatles music
Gene loves the Beatles. Who doesn't?
Keep on plucking
Thanks for checking out Gene's sound system and his instrument collection!
If you want to see more Show Us Yours showcases, we have plenty more here.
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