"They must find it difficult, those who have taken authority as the truth,
rather than truth as the authority" G Massey

Keeping in line with my 25 year passion for playing guitar and seeking out the finest guitar tones, I have been drawn into making guitars and amps. About 10 years ago I discovered the amazing tone of the 50's Fender Tweed Amps. I was blown away by their warm and fat, yet detailed clean sounds that screamed and snarled when they were overdriven. With the almost non availability of the amps in Australia, except for $5000 Victoria copies, I set about learning how they work and how to build them. Since then i have built a variety of classic circuits and they are now used by top artists such as Ash Grunwald and Matt Mc Hugh of the Beautiful Girls.

I love pedals and have many great pedals but my favourite tone is still a guitar plugged into an amp that i can send from clean to scream simply by how i hit the strings or with just the guitar's volume control. A good amp will interact with the player and come alive to actually lift the guitarist's playing. No longer is the guitarist playing through the amp just to amplify the sound, they are now playing with amp and the amp is behaving as if it were another instrument... almost as if it is another member of the band, breathing and responding to the music.

KELLY'S AMP - It's taken a while but Kelly's amp is finally finished. The amp is a valve rectified Class A 5W with an Australian made 12" Lorantz hemp cone speaker. The fin in the side panel of the cabinet is a shell encrusted FCS Kelly model that i found washed up on the reef at the Bluff and the grill cloth is made from an old hawaiian shirt.

AMP FOR THE BLACK KEYS - I've been a big fan of the incredibly raw sound of the Black Keys and was stoked to run into Dan when they played here in Byron. I showed him the Class A 10W Plexi model which Dan really liked it but with his travel commitments and my work commitments it wasn't going to work to build him one. The end result is that I have agreed to supply his tech friend back in the US with the schematic so he can get one built for himself. I'm pretty stoked, Dan's guitar tones are monster and it's a real honour to know that he's going to be using the Class A 10W design.

Amp Models

CLASS A 5W
Based on the Fender Tweed Champ but with a GZ34 rectifier, a custom wound larger output transformer and a 12" speaker. This is really a great amp with a wide variety of tones. It has a surprising amount of volume that will hold up well for low volume gigs. This amp is also ideal for playing at home and recording. Acoustic guitars sound amazingly good through this amp. Loves pedals!
Speaker - 30W Lorantz Ferrite (similar to Celestion Vintage 30 but sweeter)
Valves- GZ34 rectifier (can substitute 5Y3), 6V6 output, 12AX7 preamp
Controls - One Volume knob- that's it!
Price - $1500

CLASS A 10W PLEXI
Very similar to the Class A 5W but with and extra stage of gain, a Marshall style tone stack and larger cab. This amp rocks! The low input sounds identical to a Tweed Fender Champ but louder. The high input starts off like a cranked Champ but as you turn it up, it moves out of Fender territory and starts roaring and snarling like a classic Marshall Plexi... but in Class A for even richer tones and harmonics! This amp sounds really good with acoustic guitars. This one's actually too loud for my house! My bass playing neighbour who's about 1/2k away across the field can't believe it's only 10W! A couple of years ago at the Byron Blues Festival we set Ash up with the 5W on one side and the 10W on the other side and blew the walls off the MOJO tent! The punters wouldn't have believed they were listening to 5 and 10 watt amps! It was great fun! Big sounds from little boxes!
Speaker - 30W Lorantz Ferrite ( similar to Celestion Vintage 30 but sweeter)
Valves - GZ34 Rectifier, EL34 Output (can substitute 6L6, 6V6), 2 x 12AX7 preamp
Controls - Volume. Bass, Middle, Treble
Options - Weber Blue Dog Speaker $200 (incredible speaker!)
Price - $1750

18W DELUXE
This is a boutique version all time classic, the legendary Fender Tweed Deluxe 5E3 circuit, one of my all time favourite amps. Incredible airy, detailed and very fat, warm clean tone with a bottom end that thickens and begins fuzzing out real fast this amp will really snarl, spit and scream when driven hard. This is the circuit that Neil Young has been using for years. The unique interactive volume controls of this circuit allow boosting and scooping of mids and play a big part in this amps unique sound. Fantastic recording amp with an amazingly diverse tone palette that will really accentuate the subtleties of playing styles as well as the timber and pick ups of the guitars themselves. When i started playing the first one that i built, i couldn't believe how responsive it was and how it really accentuated the subtleties of the tones of different guitars. Ash has one of these and Matt has a 40W version with 6L6's.
Speaker - 25W Weber 12" Alnico
Valves - 5Y3 rectifier, 2 x 6V6 Output, 12AX7 & 12AY7 preamp
Controls - Vol (Normal), Vol (Bright), Tone
Options - 35W (4 x 6V6) Version with 15" Speaker $250
Price - $2,500

30W HI GAIN
This is the legendary Ken Fischer high gain circuit that's highly regarded for its sensitivity and retaining single note clarity at high levels of distortion. Expect to pay US$20,000 - $30,000 for an original one of these...if you can find one! This is a very alive amp, that even at low volume settings, the notes leap out of the speakers. The 4 x EL84 tubes produce a unique grind and have those really nice upper mids. A punchy, very responsive, very dynamic amp - sorta like a Vox AC30 running on nitro!
Speaker - 50W Lorantz ferrite (Similar to Celestion Vintage 30 but sweeter)
Valves - Solid state rectifier, 2 x EL84's , 2 x 12AX7 preamp
Controls - Vol, Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, 2 way Bright sw.
Head Price - $2650
Combo Price - $2950

45W JTM
This is a great circuit! Warm, round, clean Fender sounds that produces classic mid 60's Brit rock sound that ACDC have made famous when you overdrive it. This boutique version of the very first Marshall circuit, the JTM 45 - a direct copy of the legendary Fender Tweed Bassman circuit features a couple of simple wiring mods that have no effect on the tone but greatly improve the stability of the amp. . With tons of bottom end, the massive KT66 valve's produce sweet, round, fat clean tones and classic Marshall overdrive when turned up.
Speaker - 50W Lorantz ferrite (Similar to Celestion Vintage 30 but sweeter)
Valves - GZ34 Valve rectifier, 2 x KT66 Output, 2 x 12AX7 preamp
Controls- Vol (Normal), Vol (Bright), Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence
Option 1 - 'The Bluesbreaker' with Valve Driven Tremelo $200
Option 2 - Weber Alnico Blue Dog Speaker $250
Head Price - $2450
Combo Price - $2950

50W PLEXI
Another legendary circuit. One that Jimi Hendrix was closely associated with....the Marshall Plexi. This is a boutique version of the legendary 1987 Plexi Lead circuit that is highly regarded for searing lead breaks and classic Marshall crunch. Similar to the 45W but more rockier with a solid state rectifier for a tighter response and bottom end. The 2 x EL34's and a higher gain structure complete the circuit for classic Plexi tone. Available in Bass or Lead versions.
Speaker - 50W Lorantz ferrite (Similar to Celestion Vintage 30 but sweeter)
Valves - Solid state rectifier, 2 x EL34 Output, 2 x 12AX7 preamp
Controls- Vol (Normal), Vol (Bright), Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence
Option - 1986 Bass Version
Head Price - $2450
Combo Price - $2950