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Hovercraft Caribou KT88 2016 Black Stage I spec

$1,699.00

SKU: C50BLKSTG2 Category:

Description

HOVERCRAFT AMPS – CARIBOU 50 ALL TUBE KT88 GUITAR AMP

‘classic black with grey lettering faceplate’
Black Grillecloth pattern tolex with silver/black medium and small skirted aluminum knobs

if you’re the type of person that gravitates to simple controls that DO things, basic, understated, and elegant, this is your amp. extremely versatile tone options await this amp with a good spectrum of full blackface style to bright voxy cleans running through the proto-fuzz and chest thumping grind of a full-tilt gain monster. (check the youtube demo video for a taste)

Stage I Spec:

3x12AX7 preamp
2xKT88 power amp tubes
2 channel unit
Switchable tone stack (TMB/BAX)
1/2 power switch to reduce volume
custom clean/crunch control switch for ch1 to switch between hi headroom breathy clean or a tight focused british voiced crunch with fast string response

Channel switchable with front button, or (optional, extra cost) footswitch
Custom high gain contour control knob to shape midrange response of the amp from crunchy british to heavily scooped (think 5 slider “smiley face” settings on an old MK3 or MK2 mesa?)

this unit is running a duet of KT88 power tubes. channel 1 is liquid clean, and gets progressively more into the gained punchy hiwatt/sunn T spectrum as you crank it, switch over to the ‘crunch’ setting and get fistfuls of bright aggressive crunch right when its peaked out.  ch2 is thicker low end response and fires of loads of overtones with a lot of sag on tap. darker sounding than ch1 and a lot more unrefined! in a good way!
this is a unique one off amp that would normally sell for close to $2300 if you custom ordered it.

Why you want this amp:

-you play a wide variety of ROCK guitar and need something that covers the bases.patches and presets don’t do it for you
-you are passionate about tone. we tune every amp we make, by hand, for maximum sonic improvements.
-Because i’m a one man show, I can put the cost of the amp directly into the parts that make great sound, not sponsoring race cars, sales “spiffs” or other frippery.
– I ‘Fettle” each amp, one at a time, to bring out the very best sounds the amp is capable of producing. like a sublime meal, it is a meld of balance, and extremes. the process is very time and labor intensive, but the results speak for themselves. Included with each amp is a hand written section detailing the nuances of each particular amp and some sample settings i’ve discovered and shared with you, the new owner.
-Blueprinted tubes: each amp’s tube complement is rigorously tested for acoustic and electrical properties, and written in the fettling sheet included with the amp.
-I played guitar professionally for almost 2 decades, and built and played most every guitar or bass amp circuit out there. i’ve experienced first hand what sounds great and what doesn’t. that knowledge and ‘ears’ go into the design and refinement of everything we make.

so, go with Omakase… or in other words “Trust the Chef”…

a little secret about pro musicians and engineers:

those amps you see on stage and in the studio with your fave band performing? they didn’t just get that from their local guitar store. a tech “massaged” their amp. quite frequently, if you peeked under the hood whats printed on the front of the amp has nothing to do with whats going on inside!

I give you this “secret power” with all of my amps.

This amp features:
Midrange Contour – shift the eq response of the high gain from scooped to boxy
Switchable Tone stack – this covers all of the popular 2 and 3 knob tone control frequency response

(over and over again i hear “the tone controls actually DO something!”)
Hovercraft Amps – as featured in Popular Mechanics magazine!

the manual for this amp is available online, and a printed copy will come with your amp.

 

the manual goes much further into all the wonder that is our new caribou 2 channel head. this was designed by me here in portland from scratch to bring the best of the best all in one head!

this is a very loud amp, think 50 watt Hiwatt DR zone. thank goodness this has a 1/2 power switch!

the gain channel: throws out thick chunk right out of the gate, then dials fatter and fatter through american voiced high gain monsters all the way up to dial crushing fuzz that can run the spectrum from an orange OR lit up at full roar to “that” sunn T sound that everyone is after, but requires acres of boutique pedals to really wake them up (not here, just use this amp, chum..) then you can keep going til square wave zip code sits in your lap and invites you out to dinner..

start out with the contour knob at 12:00 and set your overall hi gain tone, then dial in lower mids or upper mids using the knob.. focus, eliminate, or push almost infinite variation of sound that give this amp its real power to step out in a mix, and give you a unique sound people will be scratching their heads trying to figure out what is in that amp you are using!

 

ch1: non master volume early marshall crunch, roll back to hiwatt/british style clean
ch2: high gain with the ability to dial contour to full scoop, or strong mid present tone, roll the gain way back, run master volume full and you can get blackface style cleans with a bit more bluesy thick crunch!

we took the original circuits and adapted them to our tone response for these amps to maximise the influence on the sound of the amp in a simple to understand format.

a footswitch is available for this amplifier for additional cost.

DIVO tube matched power tubes for easy power tube replacement without requiring an expensive trip to the tech!
YouTube demos of the caribou series amps are available online

 

Fettled (sm) over the course of several days. (from the old english word for ‘gird for battle’) our exclusive sonic tuning & improvement process that tunes each amp for maximum response and performance.

Triple Tested Tubes (sm) we only use tubes that have been tested by 3 different companies: the tube factory (which screens out up to 90{d4bedfb142f39760bcc99bdc493ac665ae9906ad68bf0ab08734e20c4fe243fc} failure rate) a trusted USA tube vendor (which can screen out up to 90{d4bedfb142f39760bcc99bdc493ac665ae9906ad68bf0ab08734e20c4fe243fc} of the tubes from the factory), and our own testing process that ‘blueprints’ the tubes used in your amp. yes, we hand match and select power and preamp tubes that I choose for their sonic qualities.

Custom midrange contour control for this amp opens up even more sonic possibilities for the high gain channel.

Room filling low end – MUCH more perceived wattage than a tube amp of the same wattage. a LOT more.
Outputs for 16 & 8 & 4 ohm cabinets
Versatile vintage classic gain structure that goes from the traditional clean/mild breakup of the earliest tube rectified dirty blues amp (cranked!) to a much more high gain sound with all the additional rich crunch you would probably need to add a distortion pedal to the real vintage examples. except this comes from 100{d4bedfb142f39760bcc99bdc493ac665ae9906ad68bf0ab08734e20c4fe243fc} TUBE distortion, not diodes!
the power section design is hybrid of sunn t power with orange (WIDE) style frequency response. we dont baby-gate your guitars full sound. you get all the crayons.

squash it, bloom it, fill the room or cut thru a mix..

Included with your amp:
-fettling / build sheet detailing the particulars and options of each amplifier with hand written notes with information about each custom control and the technical details of the amp. tube ratings and general tasting notes
-Handpicked control settings for each individual amp to show off just a few of the grand sounds you can find within (located in the back of the printed manual) these are handwritten by me as I am walking through final playtesting of the amp, making sure it is capable of great sound
-Solid Cables GT instrument and speaker cables (over $200 value)
-Mercury Magnetics heavy duty red power cable
-Signed Certificate of Awesome showing completion date and serial number of the amp

IMPORTANT NOTE: if you are overseas, please allow several days to rewire the input power for the amp to 240v and retest/rebias the amp for trouble-free operation.

your amp will come with a speaker cable and power cord for your country (if we have it in stock)

International shipping info: the shipping cost quoted is an estimate, if it is less we will cheerfully refund the extra.
Fulfillment/delivery information: as we are a very small ONE MAN shop, with high demand, please allow extra time for your custom amp to be packed and shipped to you. this timeframe allows us to provide you with a high quality custom amp you will be proud of. please be patient!

 

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