Sampson, renowned for his pioneering work in boutique amplifier design, was instrumental in shaping the golden age of hand-wired tube amps. His original designs set a benchmark for tone, craftsmanship, and reliability. Now, with the Era 30, Sampson has distilled over 35 years of amplifier design evolution into a product that embodies the best of his creative vision.
With four EL84 power tubes, the Era 30 delivers 30 watts of output power and offers two fully independent channels, each designed to bring out the best in your playing, no matter your style.
- Channel One: Powered by the iconic EF86 tube, this channel delivers harmonically rich, three-dimensional tones that tube enthusiasts dream of. The stepped six-position depth control sculpts low-end frequencies with precision, while the Treble control acts as a masterful tone-shaping tool.
- Channel Two: Featuring a 12AX7-based preamp, this channel offers a tighter, punchier tone. Its linear bass and treble controls provide intuitive shaping for everything from vintage chime to earthy, woody textures.
- Complete Control: Both channels feature independent gain and pre-phase inverter volume controls, giving players complete authority over their sound. Want the best of both worlds? The included two-button footswitch makes it effortless to switch between channels or combine them together.
Era 30 product features include:
- True Point to Point Hand-wired Construction made in Costa Mesa California, USA
- Custom Bad Cat Transformer Set by Pacific Transformers
- DC Filament Heaters in Preamp
- 30 Watts of Power from 4 x EL84 Power Tubes
- 1 x EF86 Preamp Tube
- 3 x 12AX7 Preamp Tubes
- 1 x 5AR4 Rectifier Tube
- 2 Switchable or Mixable Channels
- Independent Gain and Pre-Phase Inverter Volume Control per Channel
- 6-way Deep Control and Treble Control on EF86 Channel
- Linear Bass and Treble Control on 12AX7 Channel
- Global Post-PI Master Volume
- Buffered Effects Loop
- 4, 8, 16 Ohm Switch for Speaker Outputs
- Ultra-Durable Heather Tolex with Premium Leather Corners
- 2 Button Footswitch and Amp Cover Included
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
Bad Cat’s Era 30 amp is available as a head with matching 112 ort 212 cabs. Pricing is:
Head: $3899.99 US
112: $699.99 US
212: $999.99 US
For more information visit badcatamps.com.
Friedman IR-X
The Friedman IR-X dual-channel tube preamp is an entire Friedman rig in a compact pedalboard-friendly package. Powered by two high-voltage 12AX7 preamp tubes, each channel delivers the harmonic richness and touch response of Dave Friedman’s finest designs. DSP IR cabinet/power amp simulation sends a studio-quality mic’d-up tone to your DAW or Front-of-House.
IR-X isn't simulating a Friedman tube preamp. It is one. While many available preamp pedals utilize tubes to 'warm up' their digital or solid-state circuit, two glowing hot 12AX7 preamp tubes, running at the proper high voltage, are this pedal's beating heart. A genuine preamp in every way, IR-X delivers all the tone, response, gain characteristics, and harmonic complexity you expect from a Friedman design.
IR-X boasts two fully independent foot-switchable channels. Like the famed Friedman flagship amps, channel one takes your tone from bluesy, British-voiced cleans to a muscular Plexi-style roar. Engage channel two for the Friedman signature higher-gain voice and all the percussive punch, note clarity and singing sustain that comes with it.
Both channels feature their own independent and highly tweakable Boost circuits. This essentially gives you four channels, accessible with the tap of your toe.
All great tube amps need a great speaker cabinet, and whether sending your signal straight to the board or silently playing through the onboard headphone output, IR-X gives you a selection of Dave Friedman’s favorite IRs. Select the IR per channel using the 3-way mini toggle switches or load your own quickly and easily via IR-X’s editing software. You can even disengage the onboard IRs entirely to use IR-X’s tube preamp with another IR loader.
IR-X gives you astounding tonal control, but its included Friedman IR-X Editor software takes it to a new level. With it, you can tweak each channel’s power amp simulation via the thump and presence controls, load your favorite IRs, activate the Boost Lock feature, select loop ON/OFF and save it all to 128 MIDI presets.The IR-X software includes 12 free Friedman IRs to choose from.
IR-X is MIDI-capable. Whether pulling up presets with a pedalboard controller or switching channels with the laptop running your entire show, IR-X is ready for the job. It truly is the perfect marriage of modern control and classic tube tone.
The IR-X’s transparent effects loop allows you to easily integrate your favorite effects with everything from the most straightforward setups to the most complex digitally controlled rigs.
