It's been forever and a day since I've posted here, but I thought this needed some public love...
I had an interesting exchange a little bit ago that was one of those things that got my mind working. It requires a bit of backstory to set up, but if you stick through, I promise it will be worth it.
Background
I am a fan of great engineering. I like when things not only function at a level that exceeds expectations, but also has a design that compliments the function. Regardless of prevailing opinion, it’s why I use Apple computers and other products, it’s why my motorcycle is a BMW, and why I decided to buy a BMW X5. But, from a musical equipment side of things, it’s also why I respect vintage Fender amplifiers and appreciate early Soldanos, Marshalls, and HiWatt amps. It’s probably the reason I love my PRS as well. All that being said, it’s not to brag about cool stuff, but just to inform on where my tastes lay and why they are what they are.
As a person that works on amplifiers and builds them myself, I have a decent amount of hands-on time with a lot of designs and have seen their deep, dark secrets. Some amps - actually quite a few - are, to borrow from my distant relatives across the pond - rubbish. They have the best care and attention that can be mustered by a pick-and-place machine populating a wave-soldered consumer grade PCB operated by an underpaid Chinese factory worker can muster. That’s great if you are buying a laptop or phone, but when you want a piece of musical equipment that can truly connect with your soul, you really need some “mojo” and not just luck of the draw on component tolerance.
At various times, I’ve had my friend Dave’s amp on my bench for routine stuff. Being a touring musician, his equipment takes a beating both in terms of travel as well as being put through the paces. Like anything, it requires a certain amount of ongoing maintenance. But, for the most part, his main rig has not needed much except for tubes. Given hundreds of shows and tens of thousands of miles - that’s a testament to the equipment.
Unfortunately, his amp came to me a while back with a few issues related to simple wear. As is my process, I try to obtain any information I can before just diving in and this was no exception. I reached out to Henry over at RedPlate Amps for their take on the problem. Henry responded pretty quick as did his partner Keith. Now, when I say responded, I don’t just mean a simple “read the doc and if that doesn’t work ship it to us” as I’ve gotten from some other companies. I received two, distinctly different approaches for both troubleshooting and identifying the potential area of failure along with an invitation to use them as a resource as I serviced one of their products.
Keith and I exchanged quite a few emails about the amp and various fixes since this wasn’t a simple thing that had an obvious cause. But, once we were confident we determined the cause, Keith offered to prep the parts needed and send them out. That in itself impressed me to no end as most companies would simply give a list of part numbers and send me on my way.
The decision
I made the decision to place an order for one of their amps. I’ve really loved the design and the tone and figured it was good form to support the company. It’s not a cheap amp by anyone’s measure, but I also know I’ll have it for as long as I want or am alive - whichever comes first. And that was that.
However, in the meantime, Dave was making his way on tour out to Arizona and dropped off one of his other RedPlates for a factory update and modernization. While there and talking with Keith, the fact I purchased one came up. As relayed to me, Keith made the comment, “Brad seems like he’s relatively intelligent and has built his own amps - why didn’t he just copy the design and build his own since he had the documentation…”
After this was told to me, it got me thinking about it. It took a good, long time to really articulate my reasons, but I’ll lay them out:
- I know the limits of my talents and abilities. My comfort zone is securely in single-channel vintage designs al la Fenders and Marshalls. I like building a certain subset of circuits - they are like that old pair of shoes for me. To branch out into the RedPlate design paradigm would cost me time and effort beyond the cost of buying an amp from them, so it was a value to get what I wanted.
- I know how I am when I do a project like this. I would not build a single amp. I’d buy enough parts to run off a significant number of amps (probably between 5 and 10). I mean, why buy one when you can get a volume discount at 10 or more? I’m not really in a position at this current time to try and liquidate that many amps - and I’m sure my family doesn’t want them for Christmas and Birthday gifts.
- Most importantly, I respect the process and the sunk costs. RedPlate and other small companies like them have sunk time and energy into R&D and perfecting their process as well as their supply channels. They have taken considerable time and energy in not only whipping together amps but also producing documentation and layouts and schematics. It’s an ethical decision to respect that and not take food out of their mouths - especially since they proved to me they not only pump out product but care about their buyers.
- Their documents said “Do Not Copy”. It might be trite, but my day-job entails compliance and I have responsibilities to protect my own intellectual property. No part of me would willingly just do that.
- As a caveat, I am aware it might seem like a contradiction when I say I enjoy building Marshall and Fender derived “clones” from early designs. However, I am secure in my convictions simply because Leo Fender copied his designs from earlier reference works and Jim Marshall copied his designs from Fender so it is in the spirit of the heritage I can sleep at night building the way I do. Or maybe I’m just a hypocrite because I never had a conversation with either of those two legends.
My RedPlate
Summing Up
My professional endorsement, as a hack that can wield a soldering iron, is if you have the means and you dig what they offer - buy a RedPlate. I can’t knock their product, quality of build, design, or their service.
If you want to see some good amp-porn, this check out my Facebook page for some good shots of the build quality and construction on the amp when Dave's BlackVerbDuo first came to me: BlackVerbDuo Photos
Finally, check out Redplate!
