GOODSELL
VALPREAUX 21
BY SHAWN HAMMOND
If you run into Richard Goodsell at a gear show—heck, even if you just spend a few
minutes perusing his company’s website—you’ll
soon find out why he’s famous for being a
character who can barely get through a sen-
tence without a double entendre or humorous
metaphor. (One of his newest amps is called
the Dominatrix, if that tells you anything.) But
over the last six years or so, he’s also become
pretty popular for his line of tube amps. Players
like Sonny Landreth, Peter Buck, Vince Gill,
Gilby Clark, Big Head Todd & the Monsters’
Todd Park Mohr, and Billy Gibbons are digging
them, so you know something cool is going on
inside his boxes.
The 21-watt Valpreaux weighs a very manageable 30 pounds—roughly three-quarters the
heft of a blackface Deluxe Reverb—and it’s
available in any covering or grill-cloth option
listed on Mojo Musical Supply’s website. Ours
came in striking red Tolex with a black-and-tan
grill. Top-panel features include a delightfully
simple EQ section with crème-colored Tone,
