East Amplifiers

Now that Budda Amplification is 100% owned by Peavey (and is apparently celebrating by releasing the hideous MN100 head and getting rid of my primary contact at the company), it looks like Jeff Bober (the guy who designed the Budda Twinmaster and Superdrive) has started another amp company, East Amplification.

So far he's got two models. The Studio 2 is a 2-watt single-channel boutique high-gain mini running two 12AT7s in push-pull for a power section and offering an internal load and a line out for preamp use. I don't doubt it'll be loud despite the 2-watt rating; those Superdrives were shockingly loud for their power ratings too.



I really like the "Hiwatt" approximation it does, and through crappy Youtube compression it does sound a bit Superdrive-y, although I use very different settings from this.


Videos Posted by EAST Amplification: Nicky Moroch at the Austin Amp Show [HD] | Facebook

The Club 18 runs two EL84s and adds a second "mode" (essentially adding another gain stage and a second master volume, but both channels use the same tone stack). Seems very Superdrive-y to me, but I haven't played one.

Prices reflect the "boutique," "small shop," and "USA handmade" expectations, with the Studio 2 coming in at a very pricey $1300 and the Club 18 around $1800. Ouch. I don't doubt they sound amazing, but that's quite a chunk of change, although reasonable as far as handwired MIA amps go. They look great too, I really like the tolex.

Will definitely be watching these. Dunno if I'll ever replace my Superdrive, but I'm glad to see it's designer back in business working on something new!