With this move, the Divided by Thirteen brand is now placed under the stewardship of Two-Rock’s owners Eli Lester and Mac Skinner.
Bringing together a pair of iconic amp companies, Two-Rock Amplifiers has announced the acquisition of Divided by Thirteen Amplifiers. Founded in Los Angeles by Fred Taccone, Divided by Thirteen has been building an array of high-end amplifiers for discerning guitarists since the late 1990s.
Now, Taccone is passing the baton to new owners. Two-Rock Amplifiers is the perfect company to build upon the Divided by Thirteen legacy. With its own 24-year history, Northern California’s Two-Rock has earned a worldwide reputation for top-tier build quality and tone.
Heralding the new ownership by Two-Rock, Divided By Thirteen is immediately embarking on production runs of six core models: Divided By Thirteen’s FTR 37, AMW 39, BTR 23, JRT 9/15, CCC 9/15 and CJ 11 amps will all be available following the NAMM show in January.
In announcing the acquisition, Two-Rock owners Lester and Skinner noted “We are excited to embrace Divided by Thirteen and help it reach new heights. It is an iconic brand and Fred has always been one of our favorite builders. The exciting thing for us is it is completely different from Two-Rock and they don’t compete with each other, both brands complement each other nicely. We did not seek out or plan on owning two brands as we are so proud and busy with what we already do at Two-Rock, but this opportunity started sounding too inspiring for us not to explore.”
“We became good friends with Fred Taccone and when he stated talking about retiring and selling the company it started to make sense on many fronts. We like the current size of Two-Rock and our current position in the marketplace. I feel we have a specific and unique sound that customers wanting a Two-Rock have come to expect. Divided by Thirteen gives us the opportunity to expand on what we currently do, a desire for modern performance married to classic styling. We can add British and American style circuits with EL34s, EL84s, KT66 & KT88 that Fred has spent decades perfecting.”
Fred Taccone welcomed the new chapter in Divided by Thirteen’s evolution: “I want to thank everyone for all of their support of Divided by Thirteen over the last 23 years. I have gotten to the point in my life that I would like to retire and enjoy my free time. I have spoken to several companies over the years about purchasing the brand but none of them were the right fit. When I met Eli and Mac from Two-Rock it was a clear choice that they were the right guys that could build the amps to the quality that I would want to see. They have turned into family and frankly, I think they will build the amps to higher standards than they ever have been built to before. I have the utmost faith and trust in Two-Rock and look forward to seeing the future live on with Divided by Thirteen.”
Two-Rock’s Eli Lester added: “Mac and I are excited and honored to be caretakers and custodians of Divided by Thirteen and look forward to bringing it to the forefront of the marketplace. We will be building everything in our existing Two-Rock shop in Northern California with our hardworking and passionate team. We have spent the last six months gearing up for this acquisition and have allocated personnel in a way that it should not slow down current Two-Rock production and allow us to build Divided by Thirteen simultaneously. We will still hand build every amp one at a time with the highest build quality and components to hold both brands to the same standards that you have come to expect from us.”
For more information, please visit dividedby13.com.
