On the weekend of August 21-22, amp builders, musicians, collectors, and tone fanatics from far and wide convened in Music City for the second annual Nashville Amp Expo. The organizers—Creation Audio Labs—reserved the entire Hyatt Place hotel in nearby Brentwood, Tennessee, for the event.
Hundreds of attendees roamed the hotel hallways, stopping at exhibitors' rooms to hear and test drive some of the world's finest boutique amps, and also ogle guitars, pedals, and related accessories. There were seminars too, including a guitar recording workshop led by Michael Wagener (Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Extreme, Metallica, Skid Row, Dokken, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth). Our photo gallery brings you a hint of the wild sounds and beautiful gear that made this year's Nashville Amp Expo such an exciting experience.
Nashville Amp Expo 2010
Reason SM40
This one-off 40-watt head and cab is essentially a Reason SM40 tricked out for the Nashville Amp Expo. "I built the Rockin' Stag rig to demonstrate the custom work and creativity we're capable of at Reason Amps," says Anthony Bonadio. "We work hard to design amps that stand out sonically, and as guitar players, we also need our creative outlets. You can only build so many black cabinets before that creative itch gets to you. We don't plan to build more Rockin' Stags, but we'll continue to do some "out there" designs."
Sporting a quartet of EL84 power tubes and a pair of 12AX7 preamp tubes, the SM40 offers independent Normal and Bright channels, as well as a "Stack Mode" switch that links both channels, making their controls interactive. A footswitch lets you quickly select the individual or combined channels.