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Hovercraft Amps Unveils the Caribou

Hovercraft Amps Unveils the Caribou

Production of this completely customized amp will start in the Spring.

Portland, OR (September 8, 2015) -- Hovercraft Amps is now making the ‘Caribou’ a brand new amplifier of their own design. Each customer can pick the exact appearance and sonic personality to end up with their dream sound. This tube amp brings the cherished capabilities of vintage, unobtainable amplifiers and puts incredible potential in the hands of guitar players.

With the release of these new vacuum tube powered guitar amplifiers, Hovercraft Amps is building the perfect tool for musicians chasing audio bliss. Production of their new Caribou amplifier is starting this spring, bringing highly desired rockstar grade sound to musicians all over the globe.

“I started out with piles of burned out amps, pallets of surplus and unwanted parts from warehouses and estate sales, and scrap wood scavenged from dumpsters and construction sites. Figuring out how to resurrect stuff that was headed for a dumpster was a huge learning opportunity. You could hear the difference in these old parts. By working on hundreds of amplifiers from multiple eras, I saw right away what did and didn’t work, what caused them to break in the first place. Those lessons all went into our new Caribou.” says owner, Nial McGaughey.

“By using our improved circuit designs and carefully tuning each amplifiers sound response, the new owner is guaranteed a one of a kind amp that would typically cost several thousand dollars and can take up to several years to have made elsewhere.“

“We build these amps one at a time, each one is different, as individual as a fingerprint. We speak directly with the person that will use the amp, and that helps us tailor their Caribou amplifier perfectly for their needs. Because the amp is ordered directly from us, that saves the customer thousands of dollars, and cuts down on manufacturing time. The research we put into learning about old amps and the advances made in our new designs help the Caribou amplifier be extremely flexible. The new owner can get many amazing styles of sound from just one amp.”

Each customer is interviewed to find out what kind of sound they want. An audio archive of rare and vintage example amplifiers, as well as a short questionnaire, form help guide the design of the new amplifier being made. Nial McGaughey’s goal is to build a permanent, inspirational relationship between the customer and their amplifier.

A musician can use their new amp in a variety of styles, settings and tasks from home practice to full on live gigs by just switching a few options. Tens of thousands of dollars of irreplaceable vintage equipment can now be left at home when a touring musician hits the road: they are able to find their sound using a custom amp made for them by Hovercraft.

For more information:
Hovercraft

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