The Brenda K. is a dual GZ34 rectifier, dual parallel 6V6 ouptut amplifier, housed in a deeply resonant solid Poplar cabinet. People quickly understand what we intended for the Brenda K. when we say it's an old Champ on steroids. It is a single ended Class A fixed cathode biased amplifier.

All the wiring in the Brenda K. is point to point. There are no printed circuit boards at all. There is nothing solid state in the amplifier. The controls are quite simple.

There are two controls: Volume and Tone, and there are two switches. The switches are "Bright," and "Boost." Between these four controls there are a lot of Class A sounds available. It has wonderfully rich, smooth tone and a whole lot of punch. You can easily change the preamp of the Brenda K. by switching preamp tubes. You can use either a 6SL7 or the usual 12AX7. We always ship the Brenda K. with a 6SL7 installed because it has a much fatter, richer sound. We also include a boxed 12AX7. There is more you can do with the sound of a 6SL7 than a 12AX7.

The reason some of the older amps sounded so great was because they overdrove both the speaker and the output transformers. The results weren't especially predictable from a reliability standpoint, but the sound was good. We do the same thing in the Brenda K., but we do it within the safe parameters of both the speaker and the transformer.

The cabinet is solid 3/4" Poplar with a figured Birch face. The cabinet is dovetailed together rather than any kind of mechanical fastners (screws and staples). This isn't only done for strength. It is done for tone. When these Brenda K. cabinets are finished, before the amplifer and speaker go into them, you can ring them like a gong. They are instruments in themselves.

The combination of the cabinet and the amplifer make for a great amp for gigs in small to medium venues. It is also an excellent amp to mic for recording. Pricing is here.