Back in the early days of rock, guitarists developed the standards for guitar amplifier distortion sounds largely because of the limitations of the public address systems in use at the time. 200 watt PA systems were the industry standard and were barely capable of allowing the vocalists to be heard above the stage volume (remember the old rolled-and-pleated, red sparkle 4-10 columns?).

Because guitar amplifiers were not mic'ed at the time, the amps had to provide all of the guitar sound needed for the venue and they were typically run at or near full volume. Although not fully appreciated then, the amps of the time crunched out some great distortion tones that became the signature of future rock and roll.

As venues and audiences became larger the amplifier builders began putting larger power sections into their amps. By the time PA systems were capable of developing the clean sound pressure levels needed in most rock venues of the 1970's, the standard guitar amp was cranking out 100 or more watts and the Marshall Majors© even put out 200 watts!

In order to get the established standard rock guitar sound, amplifiers capable of 120 db sound pressure levels had to be run at full ear splitting volume. Unfortunately, since that time there hasn't been a focus on the development of lower wattage amplifiers.

Several years ago a renaissance of the all-tube sounds began with the rediscovery of the circa 1966 Marshall© 18 watt "practice" amplifiers. Although limited in sound variations, the 18 watter awakened the need for the guitar amplifier to become a tube based tone generator and stage monitor. Now, many boutique amp manufacturers are moving into the 15 to 25 watt market and developing amps that can reproduce the sounds of large overpowered and way-too-loud amps at usable volume levels.

The Quidley Guitar Amplifier is the ultimate example of this revolution in tube amplifiers. It has a thickness and breadth that makes it truly unique. The amp is designed to provide harmonically rich, brilliantly clean tones when cleaned up and thick, grinding overdrive when leaned on and everything in between.

The Quidley Guitar Amplifier is a hand made, point-to-point wired, all tube amplifier capable of up to 22 watts of output power. It consists of a single channel preamp with selectable gain changes at three locations within the circuit and has the ability to operate in open-loop or in negative feedback modes.

Two of the three gain changes are selectable with the included footswitch or front panel switch and the third is selectable via the high/low gain input jacks. Disconnecting the footswitch places both of the internal gain selections to the higher settings. The preamp is coupled to a push-pull dual EL84 driven power section.

The 22 watt output is designed to provide a perfect stage level mix at the full master setting for most live performance environments. A Pentode/Triode switch allows the amp output power to be reduced to 8 watts in case lower output is desired. Many guitarists are using the lower power selection in live performances in small to medium venues and it's perfect for the living room as well.

Optimal operation of the amplifier in live performance conditions may be different than guitar players are used to and requires some quick experimentation to achieve the best results. Generally speaking the amplifier should be set for the maximum distortion and loudness needed based on genre and playing style with the guitar volume control turned all the way up.

Distortion can then be adjusted by simply lowering or raising the guitar volume control with very little impact on amplifier loudness. This allows the guitarist to get the very best achievable tube distortion sounds without the use of distortion pedals (although pedals can still be used if desired) and still clean up the amp by backing the guitar output down.

Guitarists quickly adjust to the capability of having instant control of "tube burn" at their fingertips.

Prepare to be totally impressed by the Quidley 22's capabilities. The timbre and versatility of this amp will quite simply BLOW YOU AWAY!