Suhr Amplification

Suhr has been building amplifiers for just about as long as guitars. They, modify, and build electric bass and guitar tube amplifiers that are among the very best and the most highly sought-after in the world – certainly a worthy match for their renowned guitars.  More recently, they came out with the Badger line of amps that hit the market with great success. 

In the late 1990s, Suhr Guitars & Amps was born. Perhaps most famous for the Mark Knopfler signature guitar produced with Rudy Pensa, John Suhr’s Fender-inspired work like the Classic T reaches many more iconic artists like Scott Henderson and Bill Frisell. Effect pedals like the Shiba Drive or the Riot and a successful line of amplifiers like the Badger are more fodder for a legacy that is still writing itself.  Amplification has been a love of John's from the early 80's. It's John's complete understanding of the entire signal chain – from the woods and the metal components in a guitar, to the pickups and their materials and structure, to the design layout of the PC board or PTP construction and the value of each component in an amplifier, to the design of the cabinets and its acoustic properties – that gives them a distinct advantage in creating the best possible playing experience.

Working with some of the top players in the industry from his days in New York, John learned on his own about what makes a great sounding amp. After leaving Rudy's Music Stop in NY, John made the trek to LA and joined forces with Bob Bradshaw of Custom Audio Electronics in 1991 to design and manufacture the 3+ preamp and the OD-100 amplifiers. The OD-100 and the 3+ (later the 3+SE) soon became a standard in the LA studio scene, embraced by top-flight players such as Mike Landau, Pete Thorn and Steve Lukather as well as many others. John also did extensive amp modification and repair work for various great players such as Eddie Van Halen.

John's uncanny ability to envision a great sound that players seek and applying his natural engineering skills to develop great sounding amps for professional use won him a diehard following of some of the best players in the world. Even after John left CAE to work at the Fender Custom Shop, he continued to modify amps on the side and found the time to build the low-power Tweed Twin that Eric Clapton used in the mid-to-late 90's. John's broad and deep knowledge of both the classic American Fender circuits as well as the classic British Marshall circuits is what allowed him to design what many consider the best American-and-British-sounds-in-one-box amplifier in the world: the OD-100.

The OD-100 has evolved into several versions to cover a wide array of musical styles and tastes and the basic OD-100 design is being used by players ranging from Scott Henderson to Mike Landau to Reb Beach to Steve Stevens to Kirk Fletcher to Rob Marcello. The OD-100 production languished under CAE during John's years at the Fender Custom Shop and the early years of Suhr Guitars, but John always knew that he'd be getting back into amps. In 2004, they took over the manufacturing and distribution of the OD-100 and the amp immediately became a big hit amongst the tone aficionados who had heard of or about this legendary amp but never actually heard one in person or played one. All of a sudden, they had become a serious player in the crowded high-end "boutique" amp market. Built from the original OD-100  Suhr has since launched the Bella, Corso, Hedgehog, PT15, SE-100, SL67 and SL68 each with a distinctive character to suit particular musical situations.

From the most gorgeous vintage American clean sounds with a beautiful sparkling high-end and a big punchy low-end, to warm growling overdrive sounds that are organic and sweet, to singing and silky lead sounds that cut through a dense mix, to brutal and intense modern distortion sounds that pulverize with a chest-thumping low-end and shred with cutting yet toneful high-mids and smooth treble that never gets ice-picky in your ears, our SE-100 can cover all the bases and then some! The company is just getting started on a whole new line of branded amps that will extend the tonal foundation that has been laid down by the OD-100 in the years ahead. As is with their electric guitars and pickups, the future of tone is with Suhr Amps. You can look forward to many new models to suit every musical style coming out for many years to come.

To buy or customize your Suhr amp here at Rogue Guitar Shop call us at +541-223-5478 or email us at sales@rogueguitarshop.com.