"A muscular 1x12 combo, Industrial Amps' Overdrive 15 uses a pair of 6V6 power tubes and three 12AX7 preamp tubes to drive its Celestion Vintage 30 with 15 watts of class A/B power. Featuring point-to-point wiring, custom Mercury Magnetics transformers and chokes, military spec and hospital-grade components, and pure copper wire, the Overdrive 15 is built ""to be one of the toughest, sweetest-sounding, small production amps available,"" says its designer Tony Niekrewicz."

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.