“I’ve played ’em all: marshalls, rivera, bad cat, fender etc. There’s something magical in this 5 watter that’s missing in the others. It makes the others sound like they are missing a part of the frequency spectrum.”
-Craig Calistro, Calistro Recording Studios
“This Single Ended Red Iron amplifier is really a dream sound. Wonderful work. The tone of this amp begs the question: Should I buy two more and use them for my home stereo Hi-Fi?!?!? It has a sparkle and shimmer that is Creamy to the ear and only matched in sonic joy by the tight bass response that is Correct! Nice range of gain, volume and an accurate tone control. I can always turn to this amp to bring joy to playing the guitar.”
-Robert Keeley, Keeley Compressors
“Hello Paul –
Thanks for saying you’ll take on the job of rebuilding my Alamo. I’ll be taking you up on it very soon. I knew the first time I saw it that it was a well kept secret and worth the restoration.
Now that I think about it, I think it was you on the phone when I called Kendrick Amplifiers to order some parts to build my own all those years ago. Do you remember? I asked for the tranny’s, the ckt board, sockets, etc. I know what will make you remember — if it was you that I actually spoke to. I wanted to use a quartet of 6v6’s. You asked why I wasn’t just using a pair of 6L6’s, and I told you that I just wanted to try it. So you said that it was no big deal, ’cause with that 11 winding job, if I wanted to just use 6L6’s in the future, I could just use the 2 middle sockets and I would be good to go.
As far as the EL 34’s, I guess I was hoping that you would have something that was just as good but half as much. I guess the old saying “you get what you pay for” applies here. This amp deserves the best and anything less would just not be right.
That Keeley Red Iron amp sounds promising, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an amp with 6K6’s. The only place I’ve seen them used is in the stand-alone reverb. Sounds interesting. I hope to get a very low serial number of that amp. My prediction is that you will make a lot of great amps under your own name in the future.
Even the Marshall I have – I appreciate your giving the credit to the amp, but I know what that amp sounded like before you rebuilt it. Like night and day. As far as I’m concerned, if it weren’t for what you did to that amp, my whole perception of what an amp is supposed to sound like would be completely different. I’ll never be able to sufficiently thank you for introducing me to REALLY GREAT TONE! There are a lot of people out there that think really great tone is Mesa/boogie or custom shop Fender, and even though I was hip to vintage amps, I didn’t know anything about great tone until I sent that amp to Kendrick and you got hold of it. You changed my perception to tube amp tone forever. You set the bar real high and all the other amps I’ve played thru since just pale in comparison to what I know is Good Tone. And for that I will always be grateful. I will do whatever I can to help spread the word about your expertise. Your amps, whether re-built production amps or your own design, make playing guitar more rewarding and enjoyable.Besides, a great tone coming out of a guitarist’s amp is a direct reflection on that player. So many times I felt guilty about getting compliments about “how good I sound”, without feeling that I can’t take all the credit. It’s only a little bit me, it¡¯s mostly that Marshall and the real credit belongs to the person that put it in that shape. Whether you say that it’s the amp sounding great by itself, or my being inspired by it’s great sound, and being able to play better as a result of it, I can’t take all the credit without sharing it with you. I really mean that. As soon as the word gets out as to your ability to make great amps, the music world will be a better sounding place. I will do whatever I can to help that eventuality be realized.
-Steve