The Studio2 (EAST photo).

In part 2 of this AmpGAS interview, EAST Amplification founder and Budda co-founder Jeff Bober talks tone, cabinet wood and speakers. (Part 1 is here.)

AmpGAS: Is there a way to describe these amps using amplifier tone reference points everyone knows, like Marshall, Fender….

Jeff: I’ve always tried, even during Budda, to not describe my amps by comparing them to other amps. I’ve always tried not to make comparisons because [if you do that] you always have people saying, “It sounds nothing like that, it sounds like this.”

In my experience over the years, the way an amp sounds has a lot to do with the player and the guitar as much as the amplifier. I’ve had people tell me over the years that my amps sound like Voxes, Marshalls, Hiwatts, Dumbles, Trainwrecks – all from the same circuit. So it’s very much the player, his style and the rest of his rig.

I’d really like to emphasize the versatile aspect [of EAST amps]. There’s a video up already where a guitarist named Bryan Ewald gets a great Hiwatt sound out of the Studio2. [Below, at about 2:18, and don't turn it up to try to hear him talk!] It sounds just like Townshend playing a Hiwatt. I’ve had guys with the right guitar and playing style completely shredding on these amps. So “versatile” is really the key word here. It all depends what you plug into it and how you play it.

The words that come back to me when people play these things are “inspired,” “transported” – just a very mental and physical happy place.

How are these amps similar to or different than Buddas?

The way I’ve been describing that is that this is my natural progression from Budda. Whether this is where Budda would’ve gone, that wasn’t solely for me to decide. But for me, design-wise, tone-wise, feel-wise and response-wise, this is my natural progression.

How can a 2-watt amp through a 10″ speaker, or even an 18-watt amp through a 10, sound so huge? Did you discover some incredible new cab design?

There’s no incredible new cab design, but this is one of the carryovers from Budda: The cabs are made from solid pine. I’ve experimented with many different woods over the years, and I always come back to solid pine. It’s the most resonant and most musical of woods for a speaker cab. It just seems to work well.

I was actually surprised at the sound of the 1×10 cab when I got it finished. I thought the 10 would work very well with the 2-watt amp, but it came out better than I expected. It sounds much bigger than I thought it was going to be.

Some people might think that with such a low-watt amp you’d want a bigger speaker for a bigger sound. Why not a 12?

I did experiment with a 12, and while [the Studio2] had no problem driving the 12, I couldn’t find a 12 that I liked as much as the speaker I’m currently using, which happens to only come in the 10″ configuration. It’s an Eminence Ragin Cajun.

Why do you like that speaker?

Most guitar speakers out there, whether a 10 or 12, have their own certain characteristic midrange peak. And while a guitar is a very midrange instrument, I was finding that the speakers themselves were coloring and limiting the potential of the 2-watt amp. And since I wanted to make this particular amp as versatile as possible, I felt it was being limited by most of the guitar speakers out there – until I found the Eminence Ragin Cajun.

The speaker seems to have a really nice, full bottom end, a really nice top end – plenty of top without being brittle – and the midrange content of the speaker seems to be very flat, frequency-wise not response-wise. This enables the amp to produce a wider range of tones, since it’s not limited by the preexisting midrange content of the speaker.

Is that versatility the reason you used it for the Club18 too?

Yes, though I may consider a 12″ optional cab for that amp depending on the player.

What’s on the horizon for EAST? Any new amps on the drawing board?

Interest seems to be picking up exponentially for the amps, especially for the Studio2 since the NY/NJ Amp Show. So more than likely I’ll attempt to satisfy the demand for these [two models] right now and see what the future brings.

Notable

Here are the prices for the amps (US $).

Studio2
> Head = $1,350
> 1×10 extension cab = $425
> Combo = $1,550

Club18
> Head = $1,850
> Combo = N/A right now. Jeff: “It does come in a combo, but I’m not sure yet what the speaker combination of that cab is yet, a 10, 12 or 2×10.”

> Color-wise, for now it’s Henry Ford: one color. Jeff said, “For now I’d like to stick with the vinyl I’ve been using. It has a very unique emboss and people are really taken by it. I’ve had plenty of comments about what a fantastic looking amp it is, so I’ll just stick with the standard color for now, options possibly to come.”

> Email is the best way to reach Jeff. Click here (email popup).

- End of part 2 (of 2) -