Make no mistake about it, the Reverend is a crappy musician…I can barely tap out “Smoke On The Water” or “Little Wing” on my beat-up old Epi. But I love me some geetar gear, and I spend way too much on gadgets and gimcrackery like Jellifish picks, stomp boxes and mini-pedals, straps and accessories and, of course, guitars. Wandering around the NAMM convention a couple of years ago in Nashville, gawking at all of the wonderful instruments and electronics, I damn near passed out from euphoria as all of the blood in my body rushed helter-skelter to my overloaded brainpan. Rest assured, if your humble scribe ever hits a six-figure (or higher) lottery jackpot, I’ll be sprinting to the House Of Guitars here in Rochester and blow a small island country’s GNP on my six-string dreams.

Since I wander through the pages of the Musician’s Friend catalog on a regular basis, and soak up the ads in every issue of Guitar Player, there’s not much that I haven’t seen and/or lusted after in terms of musical gear. Then a buddy of mine sent me some info on the Amp Gremlin and I have to admit that I’m smitten. The Amp Gremlin is a customizable cover for your amp, cabinet or PA speaker. Constructed of a unique mesh material, you can keep your boxes covered with the Amp Gremlin and your awesome sound waves will pass right through! You can grab the handles of your gear through the cover to move stuff around, and the Amp Gremlin has cut-outs for your input-and-output cables.

The possibilities are endless! The good folks at Amp Gremlin have hundreds of fabric colors and patterns to choose from, and you can upload your own artwork for them to make your cover from. Think of it…a band could have different artwork for each stack o’ amps, get different covers made with individual photos, or sell ad space if they deem it necessary. The Amp Gremlin ain’t cheap – the price is $130 for one cover or $320 for three – with standard size based on a Marshall 4x12 cabinet; a full stack cover is available for $190. But the Amp Gremlin will “dress up,” personalize and protect your gear and from what I’ve seen, other covers aren’t that much cheaper. For odd-sized or mutant gear, they’ll knit you an Amp Gremlin for $18 per square foot based on the size of the cabinet face.

Check it out for yourself at the Amp Gremlin web site and let your imagination run wild! I’ll have to buy a Marshall amp just so I can get an Amp Gremlin made up with my hairy mug on the front, and then stick it in the corner of my office so that I can watch myself work and play. How’s that for a disturbing display of narcissism, eh?