I made my first Aluminium amp in early 2004, it was a 5W 1x8. I cut the logo and drilled all the holes by hand and when it was finished it sounded great; I loved it. Through the rest of 2004 and into 2005 I made a run of 5W 1x8 amps and started work on a 45W 2x12. Aluminium cabs sounded great on small amps, but what would a 45W 2x12 combo sound like? In late summer 2005 the 2x12 was finished and it sounded awesome. The valve rectifier point-to-point amp compressed beautifully and the Aluminium cab was really immediate sounding.

  About this time Bryn Wildish walked into my workshop. He'd seen the amp, liked what I was doing and offered to help me sell the things. I was as difficult as ever but came round to understanding that if I wanted to make amps I had to sell them. We decided I should take a 2x12 combo to the 2006 NAMM show in LA just to gauge response and see if we were on the right track.

  The guys from Mojo very kindly included the amp in their stand. A lot of the components were from them and the amp was a good example of what you could do with their stuff. The show went really well and there was a lot of interest in the amp. Everyone who saw the amp loved it but a few people said they'd like to see a more polished, finished product. "Make it shinier!" they said, so I came back to London to do just that.

  Through the rest of 2006 and into 2007, I worked on the Mk2 design and finished building the last of the Mk1s. Around easter 2007 Craig Nicholl came to get a guitar repaired and we got talking about the amps. I was beginning to need someone to help assemble the amps, Craig was keen to get involved and I was impressed with his work.

  In early summer 2007 the Mk2 was finished. Paul Stacy helped us out with some final tweaks and speaker tests and we set about getting the amp reviewed. Guitar and Bass magazine were kind enough to give the amp a great review in their January 2008 issue.

  We are currently building our first production run of 45W 2x12 Mk2 combos and some prototypes of some interesting new products for 2008.

  The last person who needs mentioning is Doug Hammond who has been an absolute legend and helped with loads of design drawings and the website for very little money or thanks; thanks Doug.

JD