When you go to Richard's website and read the words like dusty laboratory, it's easy to develop the impression of some mad scientist looking dude with a hunched back and volts of electricity buzzing around everywhere. Then you meet him, and he's like the unassuming, happy uncle everyone is glad to see at Christmas time because he always brings the best presents. You might say he's a combination of both, because Richard Goodsell has ingeniously paired the magic of the Hammond Organ with a Class A EL-84 powered combo amplifier and turned out an amazing sounding product.
While Mr. Goodsell is continuing to expand upon the success of the Super 17 with new models and different voicings, the concept remains the same, which is consistency, quality, affordability and most importantly, great sound. In fact, Richard had been in our store a total of 5 minutes, before I was writing him a check for my very own 5/17. People make a big deal about tubes, and it seems everyone and their pet donkey (you know who you are Don), makes a small,EL-84 powered Class-A contraption promising to yield classic 60s British Bliss. That's great, but what do you do when your amp sounds just like everyone else's "Boutique Beauty"? In addition, while it's true there are tonal similarities consistent with Goodsell's claim that Chicago and Liverpool went on a wild date, got crazy and had a test tube baby in Nashville, these amps have their own sound, vibe and place in music history.
As was mentioned above about the overemphasis of output tubes used, the transformers have just as much to do with how an amp sounds. When Richard married Hammond transformers to his guitar amp circuit, players quickly took notice. He (Richard Goodsell) also keeps things very simple. By doing so, a pure signal stays unfiltered, the amp is much, much quieter, and you are truly getting a hand-built, point-to-point amplifier. There are no tag-boards or extra preamp tube stages to degrade your guitar's natural signal, and by minimizing the eq layout, you spend more time playing, instead of wasting time having to tweak your controls to find the right sound.
Richard is one of the nicest people in the business, and he stays committed to building an amp you won't want to stop playing. I know I love mine, and feel confident taking it anywhere to any sized gig, recording session, or band practice, no matter which band or musical style. It's also reassuring to know while there are many "boutique" amplifiers claiming to be the best thing since Skippy invented peanut butter, and costing more than most of us can afford, Richard's prices are extremely reasonable, and are often even less expensive than many mass produced circuit board amps out there.
Do you need additional information? Feel free to give us a call us at 615 297 9559 or email us info@cornermusic.com. If there is not a price listed, please call or email us for a quote. |
