Brown Note
It’s almost obscene to choose a favorite amp amongst so many fantastic
specimens—especially when we didn’t have time to play it ourselves—
but what we heard Brown Note owner/designer Moss Hudson conjuring
from his deceptively plain-Jane-looking new head, the D’Lite ODR 100
is a definite contender. The 100-watt, spring reverb-equipped head flat-out wowed us with its pleasing harmonic complexity. Cool features: an
effects loop, a three-function footswitch, a back-panel gain-trim knob
that sets the amount of overdrive you can dial in on the front panel, and
three-way Bright, Deep, and Fat/Lean switches.
brownnote.net
Fractal Audio Systems
Fractal has made a name for itself by putting a stacked arsenal of ultra-flexible, top-shelf effects and amp tones into the two-space Axe-Fx rack
system preferred by such marquee players as Steve Vai, John Petrucci,
and Tosin Abasi. Now the company has increased the flexibility quotient
exponentially with the new MFC- 101 MIDI foot controller. The robust
steel chassis measures 15. 75" x 10" x 3. 75" and features a bright,
20-character display and 21 switches (for bank/preset selection, effect
bypass, tap tempo, or any other MIDI-controllable function) with dual-col-or LEDs. It also supports up to four expression pedals and has an expansion port that will eventually enable you to increase switch count to 43.
fractalaudio.com
Hahn Guitars and Louis Electric
Amplifier Company
Another highlight of the show was enjoying twangmaster Redd
Volkaert’s chops and contagiously jovial quips in the room shared by
Hahn Guitars and Louis Electric Amplifier Company. (Watch the video at
premierguitar.com for a taste of the fun.) Volkaert plugged into a Louis
combo based on Fender’s 5E3 tweed Deluxe and gave us the scoop on
his new signature Hahn, which features a one-piece swamp ash body, a
quartersawn maple neck, and custom-wound Budz pickups.
hahnguitars.com
louisamps.com
Anacon Technology
When it came to guts and topology, perhaps the most unique amp in
Piscataway was the Anacon Technology Zagray. The brainchild of Swedish
designer Aleksander Niemand, the Zagray features two 12AX7s and a
12AY7 in the preamp, and the power section has an ECC82 and two 7591
tubes. The power and output transformers are both custom-wound toroidal
designs. But while most amps we’ve seen with toroidal transformers are
higher-gain boxes, the Zagray blossomed with incredible note definition
and dynamic, dimensional tones that could go from glassy clean to bluesy
overdrive and heavily saturated with endless sustain. Intriguing controls
include an SC/90/HB switch that tailors tones to your pickups and a four-position Dip<-->Hump knob with EQ presets set at half-octave frequencies.
anacon-tech.com
