Question of the Month: The Amps We Can’t Live Without

A: My main amp on the road is my signature Category 5 LD100 (or LD50 in a small room). Don Ritter and Barry Dickson of Category 5 and I designed this amp similar to a 100-watt Marshall plexi, but with nice subtle spring reverb and a groovy tremolo that goes from very slow to very fast with a foot pedal controlling the speed.

- YouTube

Obsession: Live Prince concert footage does not count because that’s constant, but I’m thrilled by Tolgahan Çoğulu and his microtonal guitar YouTube page! As a slide player I’m familiar, even intimate, with some of the microtones they utilize with these amazing guitars with movable modular frets, and thus I love his music, approach, and this scene (including King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard).

READER OF THE MONTHSteve Rempis

A: Having recently embraced doom metal in a big way, I started on a quest to find the perfect amp for getting a distinctive tone and taking fuzz pedals. After trying all the usual suspects, I stumbled upon a circa 1972 (just like me) Kustom Hustler 4x10 combo. This amp gives me what I consider to be my ideal doom tone, especially when the bright switch is engaged (contrary to conventional wisdom). I pair the Kustom with a Roland JC-40, which handles all my time-based effects. My rig looks and sounds unique, and most definitely dooms!

Obsession: My current obsession is parallel fuzzes. When looking for my perfect fuzz sound, I found that I had three pedals (a Pro Co RAT 2, a Rowin Frenzy, and a Keeley Suns) that didn't get me what I wanted in isolation, but each did great things as part of my tone spectrum. The obvious solution? Run all three! A little internet research led me to the Electro-Harmonix Tri Parallel Mixer pedal, which allowed me to run all three pedals together as separate signals which were then combined at the output. No “stacking” required. I now have a “best of all worlds” fuzz sound that brings a big grin to my face every time I plug in.

Charles SaufleyGear Editor

A: My 1964 Fender Tremolux is my first amp and it’s certainly the last one I would ever sell. For my purposes, the Tremolux, with its 30 watts and tube rectifier, deftly splits the difference between a tweed Fender’s squish and growl and a black panel’s clarity and immediacy—a nice lane for a lad that counts circa-’69 Crazy Horse, early-’60s South Bay surf, and Mod-era Pete Townshend as tone ideals. With a Fender Reverb unit and an Echoplex out front, it is pure joy.

Obsession: Making space in mono mixes. It’s a great workout for the ears, a cure for option fatigue, and reinforces and encourages smart arrangement decisions. But as an individual that marvels at the potency, punch, and sometimes spooky ambience heard in mono records, it’s fun chasing the magic that lurks in those slabs of wax.

A: My Dr. Z Maz 18 Junior 2x10 combo has been my dream machine for about 11 years now. It’s a Mark I model, with reverb. A few months back, it wasn’t keeping up with my band at a show, so I started looking around for a used amp in the 50-watt range. I went through a few heads and cabinets only to end up back at my Z, which I paired with a Fryette PS-2 to raise its wattage to 50. Maybe 11 years of Z has just cemented my amp’s frequency range in my brain, but whatever the case, it just feels like home.

Obsession: Finding the perfect balance between chime, depth, and aggression. I favor single-coil tones that have a lot of pluck and definition, but striking the right harmony with top-end clarity and thick, characterful distortion is tricky. Blue Colander’s Crooked Axis, a massively expanded take on the Colorsound Power Boost, has been getting me there the past few months. But I have started to wonder: Can I depend on my ears to dial in the sound I want, or have I lost enough high frequencies in my hearing that I’m not a reliable tone sculptor? Overthinkers anonymous, unite.