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Do yourself a favor and listen to this example of what the Brenda K. can do. This mp3 was contributed by Ronan Chris Murphy of venetowest.com. The sample was recorded using the bridge humbucker on a PRS guitar straight into the amp. All the changes in tone are from the player dynamics and adjustments on the volume knob of the guitar. There are no changes to the settings on the amp.
Thank you Ronan Chris Murphy of Veneto West for making this sample at his Veneto West Studios in Los Angeles.
The Brenda K. is a dual rectifier, dual 6V6 ouptut amplifier, housed in a deeply resonant solid wood
cabinet.
All the wiring in the Brenda K. is point to point. There are no printed circuit boards at all. There is nothing solid state in the amplifier. The controls are quite simple.
There are two controls for Volume and Tone, and there are two switches. The switches are "Bright," and "Boost." Between these four controls there are a lot of Class A sounds available. It has wonderfully rich, smooth tone, with a lot of punch. The front end of the Brenda K. is powered by a Russian 6SL7 preamp tube. Very rich and very powerful.
The reason some of the older amps sounded so great was because they overdrove both the speaker and the output transformers. The results weren't especially predictable from a reliability standpoint, but the sound was good. We do the same thing in the Brenda K., but we do it within the safe parameters of both the speaker and the transformer.
The cabinet shown is solid 3/4" Poplar with a figured Birch face. The cabinet is dovetailed together rather than stuck together with mechanical fasteners (screws and staples). This isn't only done for strength. It is done for tone. When these Brenda K. cabinets are finished, before the amplifer and speaker go into them, you can ring them like a gong. They are instruments in themselves.
The combination of the cabinet and the amplifer make for a great amp for gigs in small to medium venues. It is also an excellent amp to mic for recording.
If you would prefer a more "rough duty" Brenda K. head in tolex, click the image below to watch a 4.7M video provided by Stosh at Rotary Films.
Pricing for the Brenda K. is here.