Goodsell Amplifiers

Goodsell Amplifiers is an Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state) based boutique guitar amplifier company. The owner and founder of the company is Richard Goodsell. The company originally began as an organ repair service before making its transfer to the guitar market.[1] Owning an organ repair business had a large influence on Goodsell's amp design. His famous Goodsell 17 (now referred to as the Super 17), was originally made by leftover Hammond Organ components.[1] Using this unusual combination of left over organ components and a Class-A EL-84 vacuum tube combo amplifier, Goodsell created his signature sound.[1] What guitar players favor about Goodsell amplifiers is how simple the amplifiers are designed, with a very simple circuit. As a result, there is a pure signal in the amp which is not filtered therefore the amplifiers are much quieter.[1] Nothing extra has been added the amplifier that will alter the guitars natural signal that is going to the amp.[1]

Numerous Complaints Music

In the early 1990s, Goodsell owned a successful vintage organ and keyboard business operated under the name of Numerous Complaints Music.[2] With this business, Goodsell acquired, repaired, and sold highly sought after vintage keyboards and organs such as: Moog Synthesizers, Hohner Clavinets, and Hammond and Farfisa Organs. After the pre-ceding decade of digital keyboards, professional musicians were yearning for the classic sounds of a vintage keyboard or organ, creating the perfect time for Goodsell's business to soar.[2] Soon, professional artists such as Bon Jovi, The Allman Brothers, and R.E.M., began banging down Goodsell's door for vintage keyboards.[2] As a result to the high demand, Goodsell began accepting orders that he could not fulfill. As a result, he began to go global, traveling the world for vintage keyboards and accessories.[2] Twelve years later, after becoming bored and tired of his organ/keyboard business, he created the first Goodsell Super 17 amplifier.[2] The amplifier was made with nothing but old organ components he had lying around. Today this amplifier resides at Southern Tracks Studio in Atlanta, Georgia.[2] At this point, Goodsell became known as Goodsell Electric Instrument Co., LLC.

Models

Goodsell now offers a variety of models since the Super 17.

Super 17 MkIII

The Super 17 is now known as the Super 17 MkIII but with the same beauties and features of the original Super 17 with a few updates Goodsell has added over the years. The amplifier is available in a head version and combo amp version.[3] Its features include two EL84 tubes, three 12AX7 tubes, two of the three function the preamp, reverb send and return, and tremolo oscillator, while one 12AX7 serves as the long-tail phase inverter of the amp.[3] As a result of its simple yet uncommon design, the amp is versatile, capable of projecting tones from bright British rock to soft warm tones.[3]

Custom 33

The Custom 33 amplifier is the big brother amp of the Super 17.[3] It is just like the Super 17 MkIII yet twice as powerful and is equipped with four EL-84 tubes.[3] Also like its predecessor, the Super 17 MkIII, it is available with or without tremolo and reverb, and is available in a combo amp or guitar head enclosure.[3]

Black Dog 20 & 50

Goodsell's Black Dog amplifiers differ from the other's because they feature a complex two-stage gain structure as well as a full 3-way tone stack.[3] Additionally, the feature can by bypassed via a foot switch resulting in an extra 20 dB of gain.[3] The amplifier's 20 watt version is powered by two E84L/7189 tubes, while the 50 watt version is powered by two EL34 tubes.[3] The tone associated with this amplifier is a medium-high gain sound similar to guitar amps of the 1970s.[3] Both versions of the amp are available in head enclosures.[3] However, only the 20 watt version, is available as a combo amp. Additionally, all Black Dog amplifiers all solid state rectified.[3]

Unibox 10

The Unibox 10 is Goodsell's spin-off of the now defunct 1960s Japanese musical instrument company Univox's U45B model.[3] Features of the original Univox amplifier were its light weight, compact size, soft tone and low price.[4] Goodsell has kept many of the features prevalent in the original yet put his own flare into it. The Goodsell version has kept the obscure 6BM8/ECL82 tube line up.[3] However, Goodsell has incorporated a long-tail phase inverter (also featured on his famous Super 17) into the triode sections of the power tubes in the amplifier.[3] Additionally, Goodsell has replaced the original model's tremolo section with his own tremolo system, added reverb, as well as a preamp only pair of 12AX7 tubes.[3] This amp is only available as a combo amplifier.[3]

Dominatrix 18

The Dominatrix 18 is quite similar yet also contrasting to Goodsell's all-star Super 17 MkIII amplifier[3] . It is enclosed in the same combo amp enclosure as the Super 17 MkIII and the Unibox 10, yet its tone is modeled after the Watkins Electric Music Dominator amplifiers of the 1960s and 1970s[3] . Like the Super 17 MkIII, the Dominatrix features two EL84 tubes as well as three 12AX7 tubes. However, unlike the MkIII's solid state (electronics) rectifier, the Dominatrix features a EZ81/6CA4 tube rectifier.[5] Also like the MkIII, it features six control knobs however their functions are quite different to that of the MkIII's[3] . The tremolo feature has been replaced by a tone stack knob configuration (treble, mid, and bass) including a midrange knob[3] . The three left over controls are occupied by a volume, master volume, as well as reverb control[3] . Another distinguishing feature of the Dominatrix not featured on the MkIII is its two stage preamp[3] . The phase inverter in the Dominatrix is structurally similar to those of all other Goodsell amplifier's yet its component values differ in an effort to be more similar to the Watkins Electric Music schematics[3] . The resulting tone is quite British rock yet with more gain than the MkIII.[3]

Valpreaux

Incredibly similar to the MkIII yet still a much different amplifier is the Valpreaux.[3] It is Goodsell's latest amplifier and just like the MkIII it features a single gain stage, long-tail phase inverter, as well as the same control surface.[3] What makes the Valpreaux distinct from the MkIII is that it features a significantly larger power transformer which powers a 5 volt GZ34 rectifier tube.[3] Instead of the usual EL84 power tubes, the Valpreaux employs either two or four of the semi-obscure 6973 power tube. These tubes were extensively implemented in amplifiers built by Valco in the 1960's, which leads to the Valpreaux's name being a play upon words, whether intentional or not. Additionally the pre-amp uses four 12AX7 tubes simply because it has enough filament current to afford an extra so the V1 can be paralleled.[3] This resulting sound is much fatter than that of the MkIII yet is still distorts at the same settings as the MkIII.[3] It is particularly well-suited for guitars with humbucker pickups, whereas the MkIII sounds sweetest with single coils.

Artists

Several famous artists have become well known for using Goodsell Amplifiers including Cartel (band), Butch Walker, Oliver Wood, John Medeski, Sean Costello, Billy Gibbons, Vince Gill, Sonny Landreth, Peter Buck, Tomi Martin, Big Head Todd, and Grant Green jr.[3]

External Links

Company website - Goodsell Amplifier Company, LLC

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Corner Music - Goodsell Amps". cornermusic.com. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "DestroyAllGuitars Goodsell Amps, Amplifiers, Amplification, Amp". destroyallguitars.com. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 "GOODSELL Amplifiers Home Of The Super 17". superseventeen.com. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Rob's Crazy eBay Finds: 1960's Univox Amps". myrareguitars.com. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  5. ↑ "The Watkins Dominator". vintagehofner.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2010.