How’s everyone doing? This month we’ll take another little trip down memory lane. You may have noticed how often I’ve mentioned tiny, 5-watt (or less) practice amplifiers for recording. One of my recent favorites has been the Fender Champion 600. You might remember a few issues back, when I was recording late into the wee hours of the morning? I stumbled across a particular signal chain that sounded just stellar at pin-drop volume: my guitar plugged into a BJFE Baby Blue Overdrive pedal and connected directly to the input of the Champion 600. From there, I used a really cool-sounding combination of a small diaphragm condenser microphone (Neumann KM 184), connected to my Great River ME-1NV mic preamp right before it hit my Pro Tools Digi 002 Rack.
 Kalamazoo Model One |
The Kalamazoo Model One has one RCA 6BQ5 (aka EL84) output tube, along with a single RCA 12AX7A preamp tube, and sports an old-fashioned RCA 6X4 tube rectifier. The single, class-A EL84 puts out roughly 5 to 7 watts RMS, and gives you a nice, warm tone at lower to medium volumes.
Inside the Kay Model 703, the layout is similar to the Kalamazoo. However, it has some odd tube choices when compared to today’s modern practice amps: a 35Z5 rectifier tube; a 50L6 model output tube that puts out a healthy 3.8 watts (using cathode-bias at 200V, according to the RCA Receiving Tube Manual); and a 12AU6 pentode preamp tube positioned in the corner of the amplifier’s chassis.
 Kay Model 703 |
The Gibson Skylark GA-5T uses a 6EU7 preamp tube. A pair of EL84s power the combo, giving it about 12 to 15 watts of power. There is also a 6C4 tube found inside this combo. One of the coolest things about the Skylark GA-5T is the tremolo circuit, which is very, very deep and rich sounding. This feature alone could make the amp highly useful for recording cool sound effects.
 Gibson Skylark GA-5T |
With the amps all sitting in the main recording room of the studio, the first pedal to hit the Kalamazoo’s main input jack was a Crowther Audio Hotcake. This was more than great, as the sound I heard emanating from the 10” off-brand speaker was akin to a lovely sounding roar! It was stunning, to be quite honest. Single-coil guitars sound absolutely righteous through the Kalamazoo Model One. Apparently, it can be any style of single coil, too, whether they’re “small aperture” single coil pickups (like your typical narrower Fender pickups) or any larger single coils, such as the old-style DeArmond Dynasonics used back in the mid-fifties.
It’s important here to note that you should experiment with the various instruments in your own collection, as you’ll likely find that some will bond instantly with one particular amplifier, while other guitars will have you sitting on the fence. Believe me, you’ll know immediately which guitar works when you plug it in. There have been some really magical moments for me since I’ve gotten these little tone machines back.
Just in case you’re wondering, I paid $5 for the Skylark and $25 for the Kalamazoo Model One. The Kay 703 came with a guitar—I paid a grand total of $20 for both of them. The moral of this story: keep your eyes peeled for neighborhood garage sales. Tonal treasures are living right under your nose. Have fun; we’ll see you next month.
Dean Farley
Dean is the chief designer of "Snake Oil Brand Strings" (sobstrings.net) and has had a profound influence on the trends in the strings of today.
For over five decades, audiences worldwide have marveled at Baxter’s inimitable and instantly recognizable guitar playing and generational songcraft. His output spans classic records as a founding member of Steely Dan and member of the Doobie Brothers in addition to hundreds of recordings with the likes of Donna Summer, Cher, Joni Mitchell, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton, and many more. During 2022, he initially unveiled Speed of Heat, showcasing yet another side of his creative identity and introducing himself as a solo artist.
On the Storytellers Edition, his fascinating commentary pulls the curtain back on both the process and the message of the music. This version traces the journey to Speed of Heat and its core inspirations as shared directly by Baxter in the form of detailed anecdotes, candid stories, and insightful commentary on every track.
The 12-songalbum, co-produced by Baxter and CJ Vanston, is a riveting and rewarding musical experience that features a host of brilliantly crafted originals co-written by the guitarist and Vanston, as well as inspired versions of some of the great classics. Along the way, Baxter is joined by guest vocalists and songwriters Michael McDonald, Clint Black, Jonny Lang and Rick Livingstone. Baxter notably handled lead vocals on his rendition of Steely Dan’s “My Old School.” Other standouts include "Bad Move" co-written by Baxter, Clint Black, and CJ Vanston, and “My Place In The Sun”, sung by Michael McDonald and co-authored by McDonald, Baxter and Vanston.
As one of the most recorded guitarists of his generation, Baxter’s creative and versatile playing has been heard on some of the most iconic songs in music history, including “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton and “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summer.
The stunningly diverse collection of material on Speed of Heat presents a 360-degree view of the uniquely gifted musician.
STREAM / SHARE / PURCHASE HERE.
If 3 Were 6
With six times the controls found on the 1 and 2 versions (if you discount the original’s on/off slider switch,) the LPB-3’s control complement offers pre-gain, boost, mid freq, bass, treble, and mid knobs, with a center detent on the latter three so you can find the midpoint easily. A mini-toggle labeled “max” selects between 20 dB and 33 dB of maximum gain, and another labeled “Q” flips the resonance of the mid EQ between high and low. Obviously, this represents a significant expansion of the LPB’s capabilities.
More than just a booster with a passive tone, the LPB-3 boasts a genuine active EQ stage plus parametric midrange section, comprising the two knobs with shaded legends, mid freq and mid level. The gain stages have also been reimagined to include a pre-gain stage before the EQ, which enables up to 20 dB of input gain. The boost stage that follows the EQ is essentially a level control with gain to allow for up to 33 dB of gain through the LPB-3 when the “max” mini toggle is set to 33dB
A slider switch accessible inside the pedal selects between buffered or true bypass for the hard-latch footswitch. An AC adapter is included, which supplies 200mA of DC at 9.6 volts to the center-negative power input, and EHX specifies that nothing supplying less than 120mA or more than 12 volts should be used. There’s no space for an internal battery.
Power-Boosted
The LPB-3 reveals boatloads of range that betters many linear boosts on the market. There’s lots of tone-shaping power here. Uncolored boost is available when you want it, and the preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.
“The preamp gain knob colors and fattens your signal as you crank it up—even before you tap into the massive flexibility in the EQ stage.”
I found the two mid controls work best when used judiciously, and my guitars and amps preferred subtle changes pretty close to the midpoint on each. However, there are still tremendous variations in your mid boost (or scoop, for that matter) within just 15 or 20 percent range in either direction from the center detent. Pushing the boost and pre-gain too far, particularly with the 33 dB setting engaged, can lead to some harsh sounds, but they are easy to avoid and might even be desirable for some users that like to work at more creative extremes.
The Verdict
The new LPB-3 has much, much more range than its predecessors, providing flexible preamp, boost, and overdrive sounds that can be reshaped in significant ways via the powerful EQ. It gives precise tone-tuning flexibility to sticklers that like to match a guitar and amp to a song in a very precise way, but also opens up more radical paths for experimentalists. That it does all this at a $129 price is beyond reasonable.
Electro-Harmonix Lpb-3 Linear Power Booster & Eq Effect Pedal Silver And Blue
