Product Description
A conversation with Brian Gerhard is a lot like the first time you hear Bonnie Raitt, Steely Dan’s Walter Becker, or Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas—or any of the other studio and stage elite who’ve beaten a path to the Top Hat shop door. That is, always the perfectionist, Brian Gerhard, founder and designer of Top Hat Amplifiers, says he approaches his passion with a practical purpose meant to aid working players, producers, and engineers who demand top-quality tones and reliable performance. He’s emphatic in his belief that each component—from glue and capacitors to tubes, speakers, and cabinet design—has such an impact that each demands exquisite attention. You come away from the experience of hearing a Top Hat humbled and reminded of what it means to be a consummate pro: incessant attention to detail, relentless devotion to quality, and an unwavering excitement for the craft. With a penchant for quintessential Vox and Marshall archetypes and the classic guitar tones of players such as Jimmy Page, Gerhard has taken Top Hat from modest beginnings to stages and recording studios across the globe.
There are two things that have come onto the market in the last year or so that allow higher levels of correct breathing tone to occur. One is the EZ81 rectifier tube. This is the original rectifier used by 18-watt Marshall's and the Vox AC15 (which our Supreme Sixteen is based on) amps. This tube has been out of production for decades, yet very necessary to feed a 2-EL84 amp the right amount of current. The other item is the Celestion Blue Alnico. It is my personal contention, not verified officially by Celestion, that the Blue Alnico has been upgraded with the "glues, parts and pieces" used on the new Heritage Series speakers, also made with the "Blue", in England. This speaker has come along way from where it has been the last 10+ years. It now allows all the great things to happen, like the originals. THIS IS A GREAT BREAK THROUGH! When we went to drawing board to design this masterpiece, we started with what we believe is the best 2-EL84 platform of all time -- the early 60's AC15.
The head and speaker cabinets are finger-joined 15mm Baltic Birch plywood, covered in two-tone vinyl with an Art Deco inlaid piping design surrounding the new style round, lit up logo.
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