History

30TH ANNIVERSARY SERIES

Posted: 2017

Updated: 17 May 2022

The secrets behind one of our boldest looking amps. 

Read time - 3 mins

“What’s blue, has 17 knobs, 22 switches, 3 channels, variable damping factor, effects loop, 11 tubes and sounds like God?”

– U.S AD Headline, 1992


Most people dread turning 30, right? Well not us. By the time we reached our 30th anniversary, we had long been a household name, celebrated by rock legends from across the globe. We'd set the bar pretty high with the Silver Jubilee to celebrate turning 25, and we knew we had to do something special to mark 30 years of being in the amp business. So that’s exactly what we did.

Despite it being 1992, the amp also featured many forward thinking technological advancements, many of which are still utilised today. These include an effects loop, midi controls, separate send levels, and balanced output control features which provide a real direct to board guitar sound.

The amp itself was a 100 watt, all valve, triple channel beast. Both the head and the combo housed 11 valves: seven ECC83s and four EL34s. All three channels were independent, each with their own controls for EQ and volume and individual gain controls for Crunch and Lead channels. The tone of each channel could be sculped even further, making this amp a showstopper:

Alongside this tonal versatility, the amp offered four output power selections. There was the standard Pentode/Triode switch as well as the ability to choose between the use of two valves or four. This provided four different output options.

With its unforgettable look and amazing sound, this amp soon found its way onto the backline of artists such as Joe Satriani, Bill Steer (Carcass) and Alex Lifeson (Rush).