PRODUCT REVIEW
65 AMPS
the SOHO
BY JAMES EGOLF
Peter Stroud is a modern renaissance
man; in addition to being Sheryl Crow’s
guitarist, he and his business partner Dan
Boul are the proprietors of 65Amps. He
is also a Premier Guitar contributor, writ-
ing our popular “Tone Tips” column. This
presented me with a good old-fashioned
quandary, although the potential conflict
isn’t what you might be think-
ing. I have just taken care
of those journalistic
concerns by tell-
ing you “Peter
makes this amp,
and writes for us,
too.” What was
bothering me was,
before doing this
review, I had never
spoken to to the man
himself, but everyone
here who has had even
the smallest of interac-
tions with him openly
sings his praises as “the
coolest guy ever.” In fact,
the ball started rolling on
this review via a conversa-
tion with a member of our
sales team. I casually asked him what he
thought of 65Amps, and was met with
a rollicking, “Dude! You would (expletive
deleted) love them!” And so it began.
offices are about three hours southwest
of Wrigley Field – Ed.]. Fortunately – due
to the SoHo being one of the best sounding, most flexible, low-wattage combos
I’ve heard – the beer and insult hurling
will have to wait for when various ex-girlfriends catch sight of me at the local
tavern.
trols, as well as a switch taking it in and
out of the circuit.
The SoHo’s appearance is anything but
shy, with two chrome-plated grills being
the line’s most recognizable feature.
That, coupled with the two-tone tolex,
prompted everyone around the office to
comment on the obvious good looks of
the SoHo. That is also
the basis for an iso-
lated criticism of the
amp: it’s almost too
pretty. While this fol-
lows a trend started
a while back by amp
makers like Matchless
and Tone King, I ques-
tion the logic, particu-
larly for the types of
gigs the majority of
guitarists play. Unless
the SoHo is being
purchased strictly for
bedroom/living room
use, budget for a flight
case – and even then
kid gloves are in order. I
am in no way inferring it is
not built solidly, because it
is, but I’d just hate to see it
after a few years of gigging
without adequate protection.
A few weeks later a 65Amps SoHo shows
up, and I suddenly get all chickenshit about
everything. What if I don’t like the coolest-guy-on-earth’s amp? I had the potential to
become the rock n’ roll equivalent of Steve
Bartman, to Peter’s Moises Alou [Our
The SoHo cranks out 20 watts, and is
equipped with a Celestion G12H 30-watt
70th Anniversary speaker. The chassis
mounts in the cabinet like an AC30, with
the top-mounted controls consisting of
a defeatable Master Volume, Volume,
Treble, and Bass controls, and a unique
Bump feature, with Tone and Level con-
Continuing with this theme of full disclosure, I prefer to remain incognizant of the
products I review beforehand, so I’m not
swayed too much by preconceptions.
That, coupled with the way the chassis is
mounted in the 1X12” cabinet, made me
