Calabasas, Ca (October 20, 2010) – Vintage guitar collector and reseller Fretted Americana is now in the electronic production business with the release of its new Evil Robot guitar amplifier. The first production run of 100 pieces, all made by hand in the USA, are now available for order.
Inspiration for the new Evil Robot comes from the 1959 Tonemaster Troubadour 214 amplifier, built by the Chicago-based Accordion Company. Originally produced for accordion amplification, it quickly became a favorite of guitar players, sought after for its tone and its ability to create a controllable vibrato. An original Troubadour found its way to Fretted Americana through guitarist Phil X and it quickly became a favorite of customers. After receiving countless offers on the amp, Fretted Americana made efforts to not only to duplicate, but to improve upon the original. This work led to the creation of what is now, the Evil Robot.
The Evil Robot is a Class A, 18-watt, 1×12 combo guitar amplifier constructed of Baltic Birch. The cabinet is a semi open back and houses a 16 gauge steel chassis and one 12” 8 ohm handmade speaker. Internally, all assembly is point-to-point hand-wiring and includes hand-wound, ear-tuned transformers made exclusively in the USA. Cosmetically, the amplifier features a custom vintage brown vinyl, classic gold mesh grille cloth and a heavy-duty, vintage style black handle.
Keeping with the vibe of the original, the instrument control panel has two separate high and low gain inputs with individual loudness controls and a master tone knob. The foot switchable vibrato utilizes two separate potentiometers: one controls the speed and a second controls the intensity. Completing the panel is the on/off switch, red LED power light, remote speaker jack, screw cap fuse holder and a three way slide switch for additional tone control. MSRP $1595.00 USD
As acknowledgement for his contribution, each Evil Robot bears the name of Phil X, silk screened onto the control panel. Phil works extensively with Fretted Americana as the host of over 250 videos produced to demonstrate, promote and sell the inventory of Fretted Americana. As with the walk-in customers, viewers were often inquiring about what amplifiers were used in the videos and where they could get one for themselves, further prompting the development of the new Evil Robot.
Fretted Americana is now seeking to establish domestic retailers and international distributors.
For more information
Fretted Americana
Source: https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Fretted_Americana_Releases_First_Amplifier_the_Evil_Robot
