Celestion
Walking into Celestion’s room was enough to give a workout
to any boutique-amp maven’s saliva glands. The famed British
speaker maker had a huge row of amazing heads resting atop
cabs they’d loaded with the cream of their speaker crop. The amps
included [left to right] a Komet 19 combo sporting a Heritage
G12H, a Trainwreck Liverpool “Marge” on a Bruno 2x10 with G10
Golds, a Bruno prototype head powered by a quartet of 6V6s sitting atop a Bruno 2x12 with G12 Golds, a Bruno Underground
30 routed through a Bruno 2x12 with alnico G12 Blues (this
writer’s favorite of the bunch), an EL34-powered Dumble driving
a Bruno 2x12 loaded with Heritage G12-65s, and (not pictured)
a Trainwreck Express “Suzanne”—originally owned by George
Lynch—on a 4x12 full of 20-watt Heritage G12M Greenbacks.
celestion.com
TomasZewicZ
If you’ve been playing for a while—hell, even if you haven’t—chances
are the plexi-inspired look of TomasZewicZ amps is very familiar. However,
the glassy, searing tones coming out of their new TZZ-17H Overdrive
head were anything but everyday. This 17-watt, cathode-biased head
is powered by twin EL84s and features a unique preamp-tube complement (12DW7, 12AX7, 12AT7, and 12AX7) and footswitchable overdrive. Front-panel knobs include Master Volume, Cut, Presence, Bass,
Middle, Treble, Overdrive, Drive, and Preamp Gain.
jtsoundinc.com
Nolatone Ampworks
The 50-watt Black Tooth 50 prototype was one of the most badass-looking heads at the show. It had a ’50s sci-fi feel with its red
sparkle front and a big window revealing the glowing tubes and hefty
Mercury Magnetics transformers inside. Our favorite part? The two
gain controls: The straight-ahead overdrive knob is labeled Girlfriend
Gain, while the crazier high-gain control is called Stripper Gain.
nolatone.com
Ark Amps
The most unique-looking amps at the show, hands down, were from
Ark Amps. The Rhino bass head prototype is equal parts art-deco
and African safari chic (note the strategically placed eye knot), and it
stomps out 70 watts of point-to-point-wired 6550 power to a resonant,
tuned-port 1x12 cab. Controls include Presence, Master Volume, Bass,
Mid, Treble, Gain, and two frequency-boost switches that won’t be on
production models.
