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by Doug West

HBKnobsSide

W ell, it's been a long time since the last issue of Amplitudes, and though we wish we could devote more time to letting you know what's happening, we're so busy making it happen that there is little time left to work on the newsletter.....

Toneman

Doug West in front of his mixing board in
the Tone Lounge

Here in the R&D chamber we call the Tone Lounge, we have been doing anything but lounging.  In fact, there are so many exciting products we have been working on - our big dilemma is trying to decide which one will see daylight first.  With the release of the bodacious Single Rectifier series combos and heads and the long awaited ship status of the Formula Recording Pre-amp, we were finally able to clear a slot and get on to updating the Dual Caliber series.  Now all you Caliber Owners are probably saying "Hey...what's wrong with my amp...it smokes everything I put it up against " and to this we say "Bravo...we agree".   In their 14 years of continuous backorder status, they leave a proud long list of inspired and satisfied owners.   But the one area of the MI marketplace alongside home recording that seems to be growing steadily as guitar continues to be young musicians axe du jour is ampli- fiers. And the ever popular "around a grand " region is a competitive venue to be sure, where players really shop their choice.  Here, stripped boutique offerings are impossible - as they would get killed off quickly by feature hungry players needing a value priced performer.  And major manufacturers are forced to deal Tone a mighty blow at the hands of the ever powerful profit-conscious suits and penny-pinching accountants.  Thank goodness we have successfully dodged the many buyout offers over the years in favor of staying small enough to remember the Musician and focused enough to remember the Tone. 

RanDoug2BlueSo for us this project was a challenge and tested our design skills like no other.  Build  ultimate value, tone and performance into
a package that delivers mind- bending sound quickly, effortlessly and affordably!  Manage to do so using all the same custom designed, high-quality parts used in our more expensive models.  And finally, ensure that there simply is no competition in this strata of the marketplace . A Tall Order.  But after 27 years pushing the envelope of high performance tube amplifiers, we have some pretty solid tracks to follow.  So, with trance like determination we look forward into the future - and reverently, back through our past to create a collection of circuits so defined in personality... that they are instantly recognizable in any domain .  Like the Nomad.  At home in any land.

For eons, these wandering bands filled with inspiration and the calling of a higher purpose have left responsi- bility behind in search of a feeling...an experience.  Trading the habitual life of security for that brief glimpse into the timeless...that fifteen minutes in the sun.  It is in the spirit of this courage and resiliency that we offer a new line of all-tube, three channel  amplifiers dubbed appropriately... Nomad. 

With three different fully evolved and independent channels, the Nomad pre-amp covers the sonic continents with mysterious confidence.  Combine this footswitchable gain and shaping finesse with three robust power section configurations ( 40watt-EL84 & 50/100watt-6L6 ) and pack them into three combo speaker choices (1x12, 2x12 & 4x10 )... you can arrive assured that you'll conquer any city you visit .

Channel 1 ( Rhythm ) pays tribute to the Dual Calibers sparkling clean channel - which is black face in lineage, but refuses to be positively identified as it shifts to double as a high gain drifter.  This new pull "Pushed" control located on the Gain pot is the same ugly circuit causing riots on the front panel of the new Single Rectifiers' and is a full blown lead mode in its own right .  Channel 1 alone offers more flexibility than most two channel amps !

Channel 2 is a fat-ass blast from the past that has become all of our favorite new lead sound around the shop .  Browner than the How-Now-Cow, this channel is part Mark1, part Heartbreaker and part Formula Pre and is so juicy, it's downright messy.  Its liquid gain response in any region, from virtually clean to a violin howl is our easiest to play, fattest single note voice to date and should be played for the first time in near proximity to an uncrowded restroom . 

And then there is Channel 3.....This rebellious channel - now a traitor to the crown - escaped only recently from across the Atlantic.  Recognizing its potential we offered  political asylum, freedom and a whole new identity .  Imprisoned there for years...lying dormant in a sedentary life serving low gain signal to a dynamically impaired set of EL's,  this brash young circuit is reborn Yankee and now threatens to challenge even the mighty Rectifier army.  With an uncanny ability to disguise itself as either warrior or sage, it defies logic and description as it massages the deepest blues grudge - then turns, mercilessly slaying the unwary at the local mosh pit.  Don't take my word .  Just play .

The culmination of so much discovery, hard work and breakthroughs beyond frustration lives in these Nomad amplifiers.  They are totally comprehensive and deliver instant gratification while never sacrificing long-term satisfaction.  They promise the most amplifier you will find in virtually any price range and certainly represent the deal of this century and possibly the next at their respective pricing.  And best of all...they really are at home in any musical land .  

Enough tales for now... excuse the overly graphic nature of my descriptions of these new Nomads' - if you get  down to your local M/B pro center and take one of these camels for a ride you'll better understand my exuberance.   Tone this good you just gotta share! Gotta' change strings now... the iron is hot and I can feel a brainstorm downstairs in Randy's  tech lab.  Any minute he'll be bustin' in  with the next proto and we'll be off on the next tonal adventure.  I'll keep you posted .  'Till then... Happy New Year and I hope you close out this millennium with the golden note - and the best tone you ever had.

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