A New Amps I am really digging (Page 2 of 3)

Hi Folks,

I had a chuckle reading the comments on the name of my Company and felt I should set the story straight. Carol-Ann is not my mothers name...Kathleen-Sheila doesn't have quite the same ring to it...LOL !!

I am an Englishman, but have been living just north of Boston, MA for 5 years. I own a full time custom amp building Company in North Andover, MA.

I'm originally an Industrial Control and Instrumentation Engineer by trade. I earned my Masters in Electronic Engineering. I've been playing guitar since I was 8 and building and repairing amps since I was 16.

I came to the US as a Consultant for a large pharmaceutical Company and that is where I met my wife to be.....Carol-Ann. In 2004 I decided to build myself yet another amp, even though at the time we really couldn't afford it. I got around my wife by naming the amp after her. 

In early 2006, I had had enough of Corporate life and left and formed my own business, Carol-Ann Custom Amplifiers, LLC. The name had stuck. At first mainly doing repairs and rebuilds, but building the odd amp here and there.

I got a couple of my amps in to the hands of a awesome session player called Matte Henderson, he loved them and bought both on the spot. Matte put me in touch with a bunch of other influential guys like David Torn, Doc from Bad Brains, Lance Keltner, Cliff Cultreri, Tomo Fujita etc 

The thing with Joe was a combination of lucky circumstances. Joe was playing at a place local to me that I sometimes run FOH sound for so I was going there anyway. Lance Keltner phoned me up and said I should bring an amp down for Joe to try at sound check. I was a little embarrassed just turning up with an amp, but Lance insisted that Joe was totally cool it.
He certainly was. What a great guy, we chatted about gear for ages and he made me feel welcome and glad I had brought an amp. He tried the amp out, loved it and paid a deposit for his own custom model that night.

Hopefully Joe continues to love the amp.

Essentially, it is like a Dumbleized Marshall. The gain structure is similar to a HRM Dumble, but it is voiced a little different. It is a 100W with a very strong power stage that keeps together even at high volumes. Joe runs his amps pretty hard.

If you want to say hi, check out www.myspace.com/alanphillips or check out Carol-Anns website www.carolannamps.com

Kind Regards, Alan Phillips

Hey Alan,
Thanks for the post.

SWEET   What a man will do to get his way...

"I came to the US as a Consultant for a large pharmaceutical Company and that is where I met my wife to be.....Carol-Ann. In 2004 I decided to build myself yet another amp, even though at the time we really couldn't afford it. I got around my wife by naming the amp after her. "

We went to Cumbria on honeymoon around 22 years ago. It was in the winter and Lake Windemere was frozen. The birds were ice skating as they landed.

Do you have a website for your amps?

Geoff

what effect is it that is used to give the "violin" sound.  i know its a line 6   but im not sure exactly what model or effect it is.  I want to get one of these  its one of the coolest sounds ive ever heard

there was a particular line 6 product he talked about in an interview though.  I cant for the life of me remember which one though.   Does he use a push/pull pot or it it just straight?

I think you'll find that Line 6 are very much in business with the release of thier new all valve modelling amps. :-)

He does use the Boss DD3 delay on the violin effect combined with the volume pot.

Oh, see what you mean. However Line 6 need a kick up the arse ......they've always said that their amps were better than tube amps.....and now look what they've gone and done D)