Kendrick’s Gerald Weber has been
building amps since before boutique
amps were big business. Further, since
1989 he’s also been building guitars, writing
books (including 1996’s A Desktop
Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps),
and tweaking the gear of the elite. He
also offers amp kits and seminars where
students build their own tube amplifiers
at his shop in Kempner, Texas. To say
Weber is a gearhead’s gearhead would be an
understatement.
But just because Kendrick is a walking
encyclopedia of vintage amplifier
knowledge, doesn’t mean he’s stopped seeking
better ways to make guitars loud. The
latest addition to the Kendrick amp line is
the V-Front series. And in either 2x10 or
the 2x12 configuration reviewed here, it
bristles with Tweed-style tones, Kendrick’s
renowned 3-knob reverb, and a speaker
array designed to disperse signal more
effectively.
Angled Action
It’s hard not to be struck by the beauty and
personality of the V-Front’s cabinetry when
you first behold it. The V design is a nod to
the ’40s and ’50s, when various manufacturers
embraced split-front cabs and angled
speakers to improve sound dispersion.
Kendrick’s V-Front employs the principle
to achieve 340-degree sound dispersion via
two Kendrick Greenframe 12" speakers. The
cabinet is built of 150-year-old pine covered
in Nico-Tweed and adorned with a pair of
white racing stripes and a large K built right
into the wood of the cabinet. The V-Front
feels solid as a rock, and with a triple
chrome-plated steel chassis and heavy-duty
20' power cord, it’s clear this amp was built
to last a lifetime and then some.
The V-Front uses a pair of 6V6s, four
12AX7s, and a GZ34 rectifier tube to drive its
25 watts. The circuit is built on an epoxy-glass
component board that is completely handwired
with quality components, including carbon-
comp resistors, custom Kendrick electrolytic
caps, and a custom paper-bobbin output
transformer. The front panel couldn’t be much
simpler—four Fender Deluxe-style inputs,
three knobs—Volume, Bass, and Treble—a
green power indicator, and on/off and standby
switches. Inside the cabinet you’ll find the
reverb’s Dwell, Tone, and Mix knobs—just
like the ones on an old Fender Reverb unit. It’s
not an ideal placement if you intend to switch
settings on the fly, though I rarely changed settings
over the course of the test period.
Clean to Rockin’
I rounded up four guitars to play through
the V-Front—a 2003 Les Paul, an American
Standard Strat, a Hamer Korina Special
with P-90s, and a Richmond Dorchester
with Lace Alumitones. Given the amp’s
minimal control set, I hoped the simpler
circuitry would show off each guitar’s personalities,
and a few quick switches between
guitars proved me right.
Jumping off from Leo Fender’s Tweed
designs, the V-Front uses four inputs of
varying resistance. Running the Stratocaster
into the higher-output No. 1 input, with
Treble and Bass set at noon, the Kendrick
was gloriously clean and brimming with
harmonic complexity. It didn’t stay clean for
too long, though. Because the V-Front uses
just two 6V6s, there isn’t a ton of headroom,
and by the time the Volume reached noon
the breakup was quite apparent. Make no
mistake, though, this was far from a disappointment!
The complexity in tone, dynamics,
and interplay between the guitar and
amp were addictive at higher volumes—and
the breakup was nothing short of delicious.
The No. 2 input displayed a bit more
top end and a slightly clearer tone overall,
while No. 3 exhibited a more saturated
sound and No. 4 had a bit more saturation.
All four proved useful for getting the tone
just right in a given situation, and it’s a
simple but super-effective way to extend the
amps range and functionality.
With the Dorchester in a variety of open
tunings and the Kendrick’s reverb set up
for a nice, ethereal wash, the tone became
meatier—sort of a mix between George
Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” and Zep’s
“Travelling Riverside Blues.” The bottom
end is smoking and authoritative, and the
top end is glassy without any harsh overtones.
Pushing the volume further still puts
the Kendrick in raunchier territory, though
it retains the definition that a smaller amp
sometimes loses amid that much drive. The
brilliant reverb circuit is never intrusive,
though it can be dialed up to be very present.
The Hamer Korina proved to be one
of the best, most rocking pairings for the
V-Front. Power chords sounded positively
filthy, raunchy, aggressive, and thick with
harmonics. Single notes above the 12th fret
screamed and teetered on the verge of beautiful
harmonic feedback. The brash and bratty
potential of the V-Front with P-90s alone
makes this an amp well worth consideration.
The high output Les Paul produced
the results you might expect—more gain,
more harmonic content, and more rock ’n’
roll. There’s something very natural about
the pairing of the humbuckers and the
Kendrick. The inputs offered a wealth of
sound options: No. 2 gave me a little more
clarity, while 3 and 4 had a little more push.
Because the Les Paul tended to compress
more, the tones were more mid-centric
but still very bold and clear. Montrose and
Zeppelin tones were easy to access, and it
was a pleasure to pull the reverb back and
hear the resonance of the 150-year old pine
cabinet, and the focus, big bottom, and
screaming highs of the Greenframe speakers.
The Verdict
It’s clear that Weber’s decades of experience
have paid big dividends in the beautifully
designed V-Front. From its custom transformers,
caps, and speakers, to its pine cabinetry
and a reverb circuit that ranks among
the best spring reverbs I’ve heard, this amp
is a winner. The simple circuitry and use
of individually voiced inputs is a perfect
way to fine-tune the amp for use with any
guitar. More importantly, the V-Front is
a fun amp to play. It doesn’t have a ton of
clean headroom, but it’s remarkably responsive
to picking dynamics and control, and
it encourages you to dig in for additional
aggression. Volume-wise, it’s pretty much
the perfect blend of loud bedroom amp and
soundman-friendly club tone. You could
rehearse with a full band and probably not
worry too much about being heard, thanks
to the cabinet design, and that’s a beautiful
thing. Kendrick has indeed found the sweet
spot with the V-Front.
Buy if...
you need impeccable retro tweed
tones with killer reverb.
Skip if...
you need more headroom for clean
sounds, and/or modern appointments
such as channel switching
and effects loops.
Rating...
