THREE TO GET READY
“My sound in a box!”
Rift Amplification, Aynsley Lister Signature Combo £4,000
This amp is a culmination of Lister’s search for a version of his tone that he can replicate live and in the studio. A 35-watt, EL34-driven amp with four-band EQ, valve-driven reverb and rear-mounted effects loop, it also features preamp gain and master volume that, as Rift says, “allows you to dial in shimmering cleans through to hot-rodded overdrive tones”. Although hardly cheap, there’s a long waiting list so talk to Rift about delivery times.
Victory V4 The Duchess Guitar Amp Pedal £799
As one of a relatively new breed of pedalboard amps, Victory says its Duchess is “designed for players who seek American boutique-style cleans and British-inspired break-up tones”. With an all-valve preamp and 180 watts of Class D power it’s said to deliver the valve amp ‘feel’ of the full-sized Duchess. With effects loop, onboard reverb and tremolo, plus Two Notes ‘virtual guitar cabinet’ output, it’s a fully functional system that can be fed directly to a PA, recording desk or cabinet.
Blackstar Dept 10 Amped 2 100-Watt Amplifier £479
Blackstar’s Amped range has been around a while and is one of the best amps-in-a-box you can buy. It’s very affordable, has switchable clean and drive channels, and comes with virtual EL34, EL84 and 6L6 valve choices, switchable overdrives (boost, drive, fuzz), as well as a range of reverb, delay, and modulation (tremolo, phaser, chorus) options. With built-in tuner, effects loop and line out it’s great either into a cab, studio desk or main PA.