Italian maker Gurus might be better known on these shores for pedals like the Sexydrive, Optivalve, and Echosex, but amps have long been a part of their game,...
Italian maker Gurus might be better known on these shores for pedals like the Sexydrive, Optivalve, and Echosex, but amps have long been a part of their game, and that game has just been upped with the powerful Brivido, a tube head that generates its scorching 100-watt output differently than we’ve seen before in the guitar amp world.
Where most amps would generate 50 to 60 watts from a pair of EL34s, the Brivido takes a trick from old European jukebox amps of the ’60s, ramping up voltages much higher than usual to wrench 100 watts from this output stage. And when they say high, they mean it. Gurus’ CEO Chicco Bellini tells us they run these tubes at a walloping 800 volts DC on the plates, compared to, say, something like 450 to 500 volts DC for your average 50-watt Marshall head (depending on model and era). While so many makers are trying to get big-amp tones at smaller decibel levels, however, Bellini insists that swimming against the tide in this way is not as counter-productive as it might sound. “The badass thing in the Brivido technology is that you are able to reach 100 watts with only two tubes, but it sounds exactly the same even at its lowest volume,” Bellini says, “and you know that’s the ‘Holy Grail’ of amplifiers!” This head is the first of the new line, but Gurus plans to take the Brivido concept to other destinations: a more vintage-looking single-channel combo is in the works, as are other designs.
Its triplicate of channels and MIDI connectivity notwithstanding, the Brivido is a straightforward amp in operation. You’ve got the channel controls detailed in the spec box, and that’s it other than the shared Presence control, and a Solo control that provides a