Ghost of Charlie Christian

This unique amplifier is a close copy of the first commercially available guitar amp, the Gibson EH-150 used by pioneers of the electric guitar like Charlie Christian, T-bone Walker, and even Django Reinhardt. It recreates the original tone of those amazing musicians. I like to think of this as "sonic archaeology"; if you've only heard scratchy old recordings then you're in for a big surprise.

The Ghost Of Charlie Christian utilizes an all-octal front end, a seldom-seen transformer based phase inverter, and two NOS metal 6L6 output tubes to give approximately 15 class-A watts. It has two input channels, one suitable for line-level use, and the other one dedicated to electric guitar.

The cabinet is robustly braced and constructed of solid pine, and covered with light brown leatherette tolex.

Despite the archaic circuit design, it is surprisingly loud and has a tremendous bass response. Part of the reason for this is the use of a 12" genuine vintage electromagnetic speaker, just like the original. The lower levels of hum and hiss are thanks to the use of new, modern components elswhere. When played softly, it has a lively, deep and round tone. Crank up the volume to five and you'll get some fat, blooming distortion around the edges, and it only gets meaner from there all the way up to a full-on bluesy howl.