Handcrafted Guitar Amps

[Phil Owl]

It has a proud heritage going back to Randall Smith and those early hotrodded Fender Princeton's that gave way to the Mesa-Boogie's that we all know and love.

What other hand crafted guitar amps are worth a look at and a listen to? Who are some of the hot up and coming amp visionaries.

One amp that is the stuff of legend (and a considerable price tag) is the Dumble. Handcrafted by one Alexander Dumble (a serious nutjob with a passion for collecting pistols who resides in an old abbey apparently), these amps are a perfect match especially for Strats with a sweet harmonic-drenched sound, singing overdrive and sustain.

[ottokbre]

I really like the THD recording amps. If you love clean to really uber complex mild breakup, these are choice. Class A so you can swap the tubes w/o re-bias, switchable plate voltage (hi & lo). It's a tweakers amp for sure.

For the money, I like VHT Pitbull 45 stuff.

[SLAG]

They have some killer looking amps at Specimen. I never heard one, but they look kick-ass. And if I had an extra $6400 I would definitely check out that 20 watt stereo amp.

Kendrick amps just stopped production on their custom amps.

Okay, that's all I got.

[Rodgre]

We've got some great boutique amps at Tremolo Lounge. My favorite (period, maybe) is the Fargen HC-30. It's the nicest sounding Vox Ive ever heard. I also love Cage amps as well. We have a rockin' DR. Z too that is still trying to find it's place in my heart. Sounds great, but breaks up quick. The Matchless DC30 rocks hard too.

Roger

[I'm Painting Again]

I saw a tube guitar amp that looked pretty fly in an audiophile mag this week..guitar amp to audiophile specs..sounded interesting..

[AstroDan]

There was a guy named Winfield Thomas who, up until recently, made awesome amps for ridiculously cheap prices. He seems to have disappeared from the face of the planet, however.

[heylow]

Yo...

Have you guys checked out David Allen's stuff?
Classic and quite affordable. I built an Old Flame out of his kit. Best amp I've ever played.


heylow

[schnozzle]

Actually, I hate these things. Hate them. Not because they're bad in of themselves, they're not, but as soon as someone shows up with a "boutique" amp I have, without exception, always hated the actual music coming out of them--like people who own these things seem to play lots of 9-minute guitar solos.

On the hand, if someone shows up with a Teisco Del Rey and an old Valco amp I often seem to end up liking their songs.

[Scodiddly]

This is the sort of thing I'm pursuing these days:


(78 rpm just isn't fast enough for a Leslie-style tremolo, though. Back to the drawing board...)

[luckybastard]

i have a dr z carmen ghia that i love...i gig with it and record....once i got that amp i've never had the urge to look for another...i've basically sold every other amp i have other than my blackface deluxe reverb because i feel i can cover any tonal range with those 2 amps. the only pedal i use in front of it is a bad cat 2 tone which gives me that bad cat/matchless pre in front of that amp to diversify it's already wide tonal range. i would recommend to gigging musicians and for studio rats alike...btw it's only like 15-18 watts.

other boutique manufacturers:

matchless
bad cat
fargen
mojave
top hat
carr

that's all i can think of right now

[shoehorn]

I have a ValveTech amp. Made by hand by a very nice guy in Indiana. Very versatile and much less expensive than many of the boutique amps out there.

www.valvetechamps.com

[JES]

The valvetech looks quite nice. Wish they did something for bass!

--JES

[MikeS]

www.sewellamps.com

Built like a tank, sound fantastic, priced right.

[NewYorkDave]

It has a proud heritage going back to Randall Smith and those early hotrodded Fender Princeton's that gave way to the Mesa-Boogie's that we all know and love.

Randall Smith? Bah! The guy has made a career out of ripping off Fender designs and patenting circuits that can be found in the 1959 Audio Cyclopedia, e.g., the extended class-A circuit, which he retitled "Simul-Class" or some such. I DO give him credit for originating--or at least being the first to exploit commercially--the idea of cascading multiple voltage amplifier stages for the purpose of saturation, and adding a master control on the output.

I hate Boogie amps. They sound like shit (to me, anyway) and they're very difficult to repair. Plus, Mesa's reimbursement to repair centers for warranty work is pathetic.

As for boutique amps that I like, it's hard to beat Dr. Z.

[marqueemoon]

I agree with the Dr Z. comments. I have a Carmen Ghia and love it. I am impressed that someone had the guts to build an amp that simple that has its own voice.

I really wish the Doc would build a single or dual 6V6 amp.