Boomer Amps
Some beautiful looking Australian made amps and cabs. Gareth tells his story and how you can help make his project pozible.
You slide this precious vinyl out of the case, lay it down and drop the stylus. Your speakers fuzz until you hear the thump of ‘dirty deads’, or the rumble of ‘Miserlou’, or you start doing that weird knee wobble stomp you to do to ‘Papa Ain’t Salty’. From the second sound hits your ears, the tone from the guitar is so distinctive you feels a sense of de ja vu. The sound has character, soul and it feels alive through the speakers, it’s you all over.
I learnt guitarists through out time had sounds so distinctive, so unique, and so instantly recognisable; it’s become their signature sound. The noise they made was their own, the voice they spoke filled the room with character that was one of a kind.
After years of playing a cocktail of guitars, effects, amplifiers, my playing style had been evolving and changing, but what I realised was that all along I had been searching for my own ‘signature’ sound. My setup was awesome, all bar one part…the amplifier. There was something about the amplifiers that were available in store, they seemed unoriginal, the same old production line sound that ‘belonged’ to someone else.
Eventually, my bedroom turned into a science experiment of guitars, amps, chord charts, recorders and notebooks, I was on the search for something that only existed in my head! You know that feeling, when you listen to your favourite bands, then like your dog, your head tilts to the side and you think to yourself “how the F$%& are they doing that?” I can’t get the sound out of my head. That’s me. My parents tell me, as a kid I was deafeningly noisey and was always found rumaging through the lego box, building my next masterpiece.
I think in pictures and ideas come from being ‘hands on’. School wasn’t a place of learning for me, I struggled with dyslexia and didn’t know how to deal with it. I would go home frustrated and instantly swap school books for guitar tab books. This was my world.
And this is my world today. I’m thankful for my ‘hands on’ character for putting me through trade school and for helping me hone my carpentary skills. I’m thankful for not excelling in school, so that I can find music instead. I’m thankful to everyone that has supported me and didn’t think I was weird, now and into the future, so that I can achieve my dream of ‘making’ music.
I’m now at a stage where I can make a difference, music has always been there for me, and building amplifiers is my way of making music available to all. Boomer Amps is a combination of a passion for music, creativity and people. Creating customised guitar amplifiers made from recycled material and carefully sourced vintage speakers – each amplifier is one of a kind.
I’m hoping these boxes of pure noise will give you the courage to think out side the box and create a signature sound, that is uniquely yours – with a style to match. This will not be possible without your help though. A pozible campaign has been set-up to inject urgent funds into this project.
Check it out here www.pozible.com/boomeramps. Pledge today and spread the word to other music nerds!