LA Amp Show 2014

audiomidijace · Oct 4, 2014

I just got back from the LA Amp Show.
I had a chance to play most of the Friedman amps.
The Dirty Shirley, Phil X signature, Jerry Cantrell signature and the Steve Stevens signature. Every one of them were amazing and very different. I think I connected with the Steve Stevens the most. GAS!!! :shock:

I also played the Bogner Helios 100. Hated it.

Check out http://squareamps.com
The website isn't done yet, but this guy is making guitar amps out of 1930's and 40s tube radios! He had a whole room full of them and they looked SO cool! They probably don't sound very good with those little speakers, but they would certainly be the coolest thing in your living room!

I tried two amps called LANG and HOVERCRAFT. I couldn't believe how offended my ears were. Just nasty.

These were by far the coolest pedals I saw at the show:
http://neunaber.net
They sounded great.
The Seraphim Shimmer was really cool.

Those were the most memorable things I saw.

bruce egnater · Oct 5, 2014

Can you clarify what you didn't like about certain things?

audiomidijace · Oct 5, 2014

Sure Bruce.
The Helios was incredibly stiff feeling, harsh sounding and unforgiving. I heard a few other guys play through it before I had my shot and it sounded the same.

The LANG was dark and muddy with no dynamics.

The Hovercraft was fuzzy and buzzy and all midrange.

Nightdare · Oct 6, 2014

audiomidijace said:
Check out http://squareamps.com
The website isn't done yet, but this guy is making guitar amps out of 1930's and 40s tube radios! He had a whole room full of them and they looked SO cool! They probably don't sound very good with those little speakers, but they would certainly be the coolest thing in your living room

Not on topic, but what you posted reminds me of a guy on the Jackson Charvel Forum,
who built guitar amps from old organs, Cygnus XI was his nick
...sadly, deceased now

speed2dirt · Oct 6, 2014

audiomidijace said:
The Helios was incredibly stiff feeling, harsh sounding and unforgiving. I heard a few other guys play through it before I had my shot and it sounded the same.

You should check out the Egnater SW45. To me both are trying to do the same thing (handwired hot-rodded Marshall JCM800 tones), but the Egnater keeps the organic, true to the original tone with tons of gain on tap. Seriously, this is my favorite amp, kicking out the Bogner 6L6 Shiva I had for the 5 years prior. Plus, the Sweetwater exclusive Egnater is way better priced. I was able to buy the Egnater SW45 and an Ampeg GVT52-112 for the same price I sold my Shiva for.

Disclosure: I have no experience with the Helios. Just looking at the specs and general descriptions make me think they're trying to achieve the same thing.

mightywarlock · Nov 12, 2014

Missed bumping into you this year...
With Rob not being there this time and all...

By far, the absolute coolest thing there was that guy with the amps out of old radios.
It definitely has given me some ideas for new headshells for a custom amp hehe...

Jaded Faith · Nov 13, 2014

Hey Rich, Rob here. Hope all is well and hope to see you at next years show. Took 2014 off to work on my own line of amps and we have a little girl on the way in January.