Here’s more of the conversation with Satellite Amplification‘s Adam Grimm. We wound up part 1 talking about what classic amps his amps sound like, and he gave a long answer that ended with: “I do like to think of my amps as being aggressive, punchy, gainy, angry tone machines. They do tend to have a [...]

Part 1 Satellite amps are the haikus of the amp world: Simple but they convey a lot. Just look at the front panel. Two knobs (labeled Volume and Tone, but no numbers), two unlabeled input jacks, one switch that covers Off, On and Standby. That’s it.

I’ve been down a dark rabbit hole called Wizard lately. I keep pulling up YouTube clips of these amps because I keep hearing that something I really like, which is that Marshally upper-mid thing with extra Hiwatt-ish shimmer. I’ve heard it different places

Here’s the final part of the interview with Electroplex owner and amp designer Don Morris. Part 1 is here. AmpGAS: What was the first Electroplex amp? Don: My first model was the 90, which came out in 1994. Back then it was very hard to get good overdrive and low volume, so I built the [...]

Part 1 A few weeks ago I’d never heard of Electroplex amps let alone actually heard one. But Electroplex was at the NY/NJ Amp Show and I was too, so…. I stepped into the Electroplex room with my Les Paul, saw a bunch of Fender-looking amps and thought: I doubt it but I’ll give it [...]

“Major” GAS as in Marshall Major. Yes, at times those delicate towers of 150-200w power sound like freakin’ GOLD, baby! The vid below is what I’m talking about.

Part 2 (Here’s the second part of the interview with Andy Fuchs about his killer Mantis amp.) AmpGAS: First this amp was called the Frost, then the Viper and now the Mantis. Are they all basically the same amp?

Part 1 I live in New Jersey (doesn’t everyone?!) which happens to also be home to a few of the premier amp builders on our planet. One of these men is Andy Fuchs, who has his HQ about an hour from me. So naturally I had to go there, and am I glad I did.

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.)

Part 1 If you’re not familiar with the name Jeff Bober, you at least should be familiar with Budda amps. Now owned by Peavey, Budda was co-founded by Jeff in 1995 and he also was the company’s chief amp designer. In other words, he was the man behind the tone. Since parting ways with Peavey, [...]