James Brown is no stranger to amplifiers , working with Peavey and Kustom for a good number of years before starting his own company , Amptweaker . Perhaps one of his greatest claims to fame is being the lead engineer on the hallowed Peavey 5150 , a legendary amp most famously used by Eddie Van Halen , with whom Mr . Brown worked with closely to design .
With a passion for gain and experience that almost nobody in the industry can match , James Brown has taken what he learned from Peavey and Kustom , while applying a unique blend of his own knowledge and the requests of his customers to create truly unique musical tools .
The TightDrive Jr . is one of his latest designs , which was built with the spaceconscious guitar player in mind . I had the pleasure of reviewing the TightDrive Pro a few months back , and many if not all of the best things about the TightDrive Pro were migrated and even improved upon in the Tight Drive Jr . It ’ s a refreshing design and take on a classic model , with bulletproof reliability and tone that rivals even the most expensive boutique overdrives .
For those of you worried that Mr . Brown abandoned his aesthetic while aiming for the pedalboard real estate-centric market , think again . Using nonstandard and quite beautiful enclosures , he miniaturized what made the larger Pro series so great in terms of form , while keeping the essential look of his pedals intact . The classic slanted front , roller bar , and knurled knobs are still here , just shrunk down for the folks who work with tighter spaces . It feels like a solid piece of equipment , and closer resembles a piece of military technology , not a guitar pedal .
AMPTWEAKER
TIGHTDRIVE JR
REVIEW BY YOEL KREISLER STREET PRICE $ 159.00
James Brown is no stranger to amplifiers , working with Peavey and Kustom for a good number of years before starting his own company , Amptweaker . Perhaps one of his greatest claims to fame is being the lead engineer on the hallowed Peavey 5150 , a legendary amp most famously used by Eddie Van Halen , with whom Mr . Brown worked with closely to design .
With a passion for gain and experience that almost nobody in the industry can match , James Brown has taken what he learned from Peavey and Kustom , while applying a unique blend of his own knowledge and the requests of his customers to create truly unique musical tools .
The TightDrive Jr . is one of his latest designs , which was built with the spaceconscious guitar player in mind . I had the pleasure of reviewing the TightDrive Pro a few months back , and many if not all of the best things about the TightDrive Pro were migrated and even improved upon in the Tight Drive Jr . It ’ s a refreshing design and take on a classic model , with bulletproof reliability and tone that rivals even the most expensive boutique overdrives .
For those of you worried that Mr . Brown abandoned his aesthetic while aiming for the pedalboard real estate-centric market , think again . Using nonstandard and quite beautiful enclosures , he miniaturized what made the larger Pro series so great in terms of form , while keeping the essential look of his pedals intact . The classic slanted front , roller bar , and knurled knobs are still here , just shrunk down for the folks who work with tighter spaces . It feels like a solid piece of equipment , and closer resembles a piece of military technology , not a guitar pedal .
50 GEAR REVIEW // Amptweaker TightDrive Jr .