PRODUCT REVIEW
Positron
BY LYLE ZAEHRINGER
DIAMOND AMPLIFICATION
Hailing from Houston, Texas, Diamond
Amplification is probably best known for its
high-gain, modern-voiced, EL34-powered
amps. Given that many of those amps are
distinctive, in part, for their expressive,
articulate clean channel—something that’s
quite uncommon among most of Diamond
Amplification’s high-gain peers—it’s perhaps
no surprise that the company would build a
more compact and tonally varied amp like
the Positron. This 22-watt, handwired, single-channel amp features a class A, non-Master
volume design and was designed with the
travelling guitarist in mind.
New Directions
Diamond Amplification’s founder, Jeff
Diamant, recently expanded Diamond’s
design capabilities by partnering with
boutique amp guru Roy Blankenship of
Blankenship Amplification. Blankenship
established his reputation as a top builder
with his 50-watt, EL34-powered VariPlex
(which was modeled after a modified ’ 68
Marshall plexi) and his FATBoy combo,
which is inspired by a late-’50s tweed
Fender Deluxe. Blankenship had already
designed a smaller version of his 21-watt,
class A Leeds21, which he called the
Leeds21 Carry-On, and it’s a fair bet that
experience informed the design and execu-
tion of the Positron.
The Positron is about as streamlined in
design as a head can be. It has no protective
corners, which can mean increased risk of
Tolex damage, but that also adds to the very
clean and uninterrupted style of the case.
The structural integrity of the box is impres-
sive and feels amazingly solid. The amp rests
firmly on quality rubber feet and includes a
rugged metal-and-rubber handle. The black
Tolex (burgundy snakeskin is also an option)
is as smooth and seamless as any amp I’ve
ever seen, and the backplate fits perfectly
flush with a back grate that enables a view
of the amp’s interior. Inside, two EL84s in the
power-amp section form the backbone of the
Positron’s handwired, all-tube circuit, which
also features three 12AX7s in the preamp
and a 6AC4 rectifier. In short, the Positron is
a really well-built amp—though the most bril-
liant aspect of its design may be that you can
fit all this tube-driven goodness inside some-
thing the size of carry-on luggage.
Positively Positronic
Evaluating the Positron was a matter of
hooking up my Gibson SG and Fender
Stratocaster and routing the Positron’s signal through an Emperor 4x12 loaded with
Weber C1265s and an Avatar 2x12 with
Celestion Vintage 30s.
