For the past few years, Black Volt Amplification[1], a small company based in the Silver Lake hills of Los Angeles, has been producing some of...
For the past few years, Black Volt Amplification[1], a small company based in the Silver Lake hills of Los Angeles, has been producing some of the most unique, high-quality guitar amps on the market today.
Essentially an industry secret—but a favorite of celeb players, producers and LA musicians in the know—these amps have been used on dozens of sessions, albums and shows, and they seem to be picking up momentum every day.
Black Volt's flagship amp is the Crazy Horse, a tweed-style circuit that's powered up and modified on multiple levels to achieve the Black Volt sound. The Crazy Horse continues the high-quality construction found in classic amps of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties.
Black Volt owner/designer Gio Loria was inspired by the raw sound of tweed, Blackface and Marshall Plexi amps; when pushed to their limit, these amps sounded like they were going to come apart at the joints and explode, but they hung in there and became the foundation upon which blues, country, punk and rock and roll were built.
Another inspiration was the untamed sound of Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Young—with his humbuckers and old tweed amps—influenced the sound of so many different artists, like a force of nature—like a hurricane.
Crazy Horse Specs:
• Available as 10" or 12" combo
• Entire amp constructed and wired by hand in LA
• Two 6V6 or 6L6 power tubes. No re-biasing required/swap and play
• Two dual triode pre-amp tubes (12AX7-12AT7-12AY7 or 12AU7)
• 25 to 30 watts of Class A output power into one 10" or one 12" speaker
• Vintage solid pine cabinetry with oak hardwood splined miter joints for strength and solid wood corner to corner
• Gain/Mid Gain Boost switch for added drive and