The third day of NAMM was full of tone toys from Boss, Marshall, Vola, Marshall, Diamond Pedals, and more.
Bartel Amplifiers
Longtime Tone King amp designer Mark Bartel unveiled his new company, Bartel Amplifiers, and three debut models at NAMM. The Roseland ($4,795) is 45 watts and has a preamp developed by Bartel that creates three distinct British and American voices. Another of his 6L6 powered entries, the Starwood, at center, clocks in at 28 watts sans the Roseland’s bias modulation tremolo, with a $4,295 tag. And the smallest subs the others’ 12” Celestion Alnico Cream speaker for a 12” Celestion Alnico Blue pushed by 12 Watts. No reverb but a line out, and tagged at $3,295. It took Bartel a year of experimentation to develop his distinctive cab construction and he hand builds each of these point-to-point wired amps himself.
