These Amp Shows are fantastic! It’s the best $20 you can spend even if you aren’t in the market to buy anything. It’s an up close and personal demonstration of all the best amps and pedals made here in the US and a few from abroad as well. The Amp Show features mostly boutique builders and a few mainstream companies showing off their latest and greatest inventions. What’s cool about this show is that the “exhibit booths” are actually in hotel rooms where you can turn-up and really dig into the tones. You can even bring your own guitar and plug in. It gets a little noisy at times, but for the most part it’s really cool.

I personally love this show because it’s a chance for me to meet the gear designers, ask questions, and talk about their new products and their personal approach to design. Amp and Pedal designers are some of the most innovative and wacky personalities you’ll run across. There is also a structured panel discussion called “TONE WIZARDS”. This year, the Tone Wizards panel included Myles Rose (Moderator), Mike Franceschini (65 Amps), Andy Fuchs (Fuchs Amplification), Billy Yates (Venice Amp Repair), Paul Sanders (Nolatone Amps), Dan Boul (65 Amps) and Alphonso Hermida (Hermida Audio).

There is also something called the "PEDALBOARD FROM HELL”. Pedaltrain provided a couple of their pro pedal boards for a special display of every pedal you can think of (well…not every pedal), but there are a lot of darn pedals on this board!

Then…there is the amazing guitar playing! Players from all walks of life were plugged in and showing off some great licks and great tones. In some of the rooms they even had an electronic drum kit set up. The jamming was spectacular which only highlighted the wonderful amp and pedal designs throughout the rooms.

It wasn’t all play either. There were some serious buyers wandering the rooms. These were professional musicians in the market for a new amp and they were taking time to talk to the builders, try different models, and experiment with different amp designs. What a great venue to plug in and try them all!

The opportunity to hear these amps in this environment is pretty amazing. Rumor has it that there were about 75 vendors. Most of them were boutique and unique builders. I didn’t see them all, but what I did see were top of the line amps and pedals from around the world.

Chuck D’Aloia

Red Iron Amps

Bludotone Amps

These Bludotone Amps always impress me. I LOVE playing through them. The feel good and sound amazing! The one I played through is super articulate with a warm crunch with lots of harmonic character.

Brandon Montgomery, the owner, designer and builder of these boutique little amps is located in Littleton, Colorado. He’s quite a guitar player himself by the way and even has some pedal steel chops. The room was filled all day with players and listeners.

Also, I heard that Larry Carlton is now using the Bludo-Drive model. That’s saying something considering that Larry has been a long-time user of Dumble amplifiers. Very impressive and kudos to Brandon for making this happen. I know there is a Bludotone amp in my future.

Website: www.bludotone.com

Contact: Brandon

Brown Note Amps

I love Brown Note amps. I just bought one and I love it! They continue to gain notoriety in the boutique amp world. These amps have great tone and they are incredibly articulate and possess a smooth and warm character

As usual, Chuck D’Aloia and other great players were demonstrating the great tones you can get form these amps. There was the D’Lite 22/33, which seems to reveal a lot more harmonic overtones than it’s big brother the Bluesmaster D’Lite44. Also in the rooms was the little Voxy18 that was amazing.

Moss Hudson, amp designer and owner of Brown Note Amps was there enjoying it all. These amps have a great buzz in the industry and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they sell over the next few years.

Website: www.brownnote.net

Contact: Moss or Norm

Dan Boul, Owner and amp designer of 65 Amps has created a great line of high quality amplifiers. I’m impressed with the full line of amps they have pumped out over their short history. The amps take on some of the classic flavors but are built with modern ideas and integrity. The 18-watt London is still my favorite with its classic tone and character. There is nothing like a dual EL84 amp but this one really strikes a chord with my ear. The 22w Monterey with dual 6V6 tubes is also another one of my favorites. All these amps are also hand-wired and custom voiced to please.

Website: www.65amps.com

Contact: Dan Boul

Andy Fuchs continues design and release amazing guitar gear. At this show, he was showing off his new his new “tube” guitar pedal as part of his “Plush” line of supreme guitar pedals. I knew he was working on a delay pedal and it’s nice to see it released. I particularly like the Fidelity, Wow and Flutter controls on this pedal. That to me is what makes echo pedals sound more natural. Personally, I don’t like the delay to echo off at the same fidelity. I like to roll off the high end on the echo so that it is in more of the back and sounds much more “Echoplex-ish”. Very nice.

His original release of the Overdrive Supreme guitar amp has lead top a whole line of awesome amps ranging from super clean to over the top metal. My favorite is still the ODS which is a superbly designed guitar amp. It is a rich sounding amp with warm tones and cutting articulation that can be very unforgiving but inspiring.

Website: www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com and www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com/plush.htm

Contact: Andy Fuchs

V-Picks were one of the gifts given away to the first 100 guests. I was lucky enough to get one. I’ve heard of these “magic” guitar picks over the years from players like Chuck D’Aloia who use and swear by them. Prior to the show opening it’s doors, I was outside enjoying the California sun and I happened to be sitting next to Vinni Smith, owner and create of V-Picks. Being an accomplished guitar player himself, V-Picks were bourn out of his frustration with one of the most single tone making tools in his arsenal…his guitar pick! Inspired by iconic guitar players such as Billy Gibbons and Brian May who were using coins for their plectrum, he experimented with different materials until he came across acrylic, which is stilled used today.

I must say I was quite impressed with using the V-Pick. I’m an old Dunlop Jazz III pick user and I think I’m converted. What is really interesting about these picks are the different thicknesses and the different corner shapes. There is one for every style. The “magic”, in my mind for these picks is the beveled edge. This feature helps accentuate and promote the tone of the strings and guitar. IT REALLY DOES WORK! I was a bit skeptical at first but Vinni was kind enough to give me 5 samples and I played them all over the weekend. They take a bit of getting used to but isn’t that true for any new piece of gear? I’m going to stick with it and see where it leads. I don’t know which V-Pick I’m going to settle on. I may end up with 2 or 3 different V-Picks depending on the style I amp playing. One thing is for sure; I can definitely hear better tone using the V-Pick! Some picks reveal more highs, some reveal more mids, and it really works.

Try it for your self. I think you will see (hear) what I’m talking about. Look for my upcoming review on V-Picks too!

Website: http://www.v-picks.com/picks

Contact: Vinni Smith

Bruce Egnater is on fire! His whole amp line is really making a big splash in the community. He just came out with his 30w version of the Rebel which a fantastic little amp. The 6V6/EL34s blend control is one of the more innovative features and it really works. You can really hear the difference as you move from one pair to the other and any blend in between. I personally love these little amps. The 30w version comes in a head or a combo.

Egnater Amplification basically has two different divisions. The modular amplifiers are all hand-built in Michigan, while the Tourmaster series are manufactured overseas and marketed through Guitar Center.

Website: http://www.egnater.com/

Contact: Bruce Egnator

VHT’s modo is “It’s Your Tone….Own It!”.

These guys truly understand the basic building blocks of a fine guitar amplifier and how to eminate that wonderful tone and excitement we all love. VHT amps create classic tones using modern design techniques and components.  VHT is one of the few builders who make amps that are really simple.  There approach has always been that “less is more.

They like to keep it simple by offering players an opportunity to hear true tone coming through loud and clear, rather than disguised by a haze of channel-switching, pedal-driven distraction.

While at the show, I played through the Standard Series and their Classic Series. Both felt real good and very expressive. My favorite was the Classic 18.

Website:http://www.vhtamp.com/

Contact: Justin Magaña or Josh Smith

Here was a unique pedal. This is the M440SE Stereo Expression Pedal. If you have a stereo guitar rig, you can mix and control the signal to each amp with this foot controller. It’s like having two pedals in one.

Basically, the pedal splits the input signal into two outputs that are “panned” with left/right motion. The total volume (both amps) is controlled with the up/down motion. The expression pedal jack can be control with both left/right and up/down motion. I played around with this pedal and it actually works pretty damn well!

Website:http://www.dbinstrumentamp.com/

Contact: Derrick Baird

If you are looking for an amp that will breathe in and out of your playing, this is it. Very dynamic and very expressive! You can roll the volume back and hear beautiful clean tones. Dig in a bit and it grinds and then turn up the volume and really dig in and it’s a screamin’ amp. I was very impressed with these amps. Billy Yates, formally of the Outlaws and a great player and amp designer in his own right was playing through these amps with a variety of Telecasters in the room and they all sounded great. Todd Pflug, Billy’s partner in crime in this amp design builds these beautiful cabinets. They are truly a work of art!

Website:http://www.redjones.net/

Contact: Todd Pflug

Matchless is known for its high quality amplifier designs. At the LA Amp Show, Matchless showed off its new Avalon 30 amplifier. The Avalon utilizes an innovative new hybrid construction method that combines point-to-point wiring, circuit tracing, and turret style construction. All parts, including the transformers, are identical to the ones that go into our traditional amps and are hand wired and built in our factory in Los Angeles.

This new construction technique helped lower the price of these classic amps making them more affordable to all. This amp uses 12AX7 tubes in the preamp section and four EL84s in the power section.

I played through this beauty and it was an absolute pleasure. These amps have a lot of control built in to allow you to dial in a huge variety of tones. They are well made and sound great!

Website:http://www.matchlessamplifiers.com/

Contact: Phil Jamison

These amps were new to me at the Amp Show. I met the amp designer Joe Kelemen who seemed genuinely excited to be show off his amps. He even pull the chassis out of one amp to show me how beautiful and simple his hand wiring was.

I got a chance to play through his Road Runner amp. This little amp rocked! It’s a single channel amp, 35w, and can deliver incredibly rich tones at different gain levels. It has a three-stage preamp that gives you a lot of control. For the power section, he has provided a twenty-turn bias adjustment pot available on the back panel to fine tune & balance the power tubes. Power tubes can be either EL34s or 6L6s. Keep you eye on this amp. I think it is going to be very popular!

Website:http://www.kelemenamps.com/

Contact: Joe Kelemen

Reinhold Bogner is a crazy man. He builds crazy stuff. At this show, he was showing off his new (not yet released) Goldfinger amplifier. The Goldfinger amp is a 3 channel, 6V6, 45w amp with lots of buttons, switches and knobs to play with. I didn’t get a chance to play through it but watched plenty of guys get themselves in trouble. Reinhold had plenty of time on it and some of the tones he was producing were awesome. The clean sound on channel one is a bit spongy and warm, which I liked. The high gain sounds reminiscent of Bogner’s Shiva amps sounds that we all love.

He’s a great design and a lot of fun to watch. You can tell he really loves what he does.

Website:http://www.bogneramplification.com/index.php

Contact: Reinhold Bogner

I must admit I was very impressed with the Axe-FX made by Fractal Audio and the self-powered speaker cabinet called the Reactor FR made by Atomic Amps. The Axe-Fx is a breakthrough guitar amp simulator and studio effects processor.  I’m not much of a “modeler” type of guy but I was blown away by some of the tones this processor created and more importantly, how realistic they sound through the self-powered speaker cabinets. It did not sound “processed” at all.

The Atomic Reactor FR self-powered speaker cabinet is a full range, tube powered guitar amplifier and personal monitor designed to accentuate punch, clarity and depth in modern digital guitar systems. The power amplifier employs one 12AX7 and two EL-6L6GC vacuum tubes to deliver full-rated power over a full frequency response, with high headroom and very low distortion. The speaker system consists of a 12” speaker, a 4” tweeter, and a crossover network.

Website: http://www.fractalaudio.com/

Contact: Sales