bringing back the magnatone - arch grants · magnatone name traces back to the very beginnings of...

Like every other boutique manufacturer, Magnatoneproudly boasts of the epic tone quality of its hand-built tubeamps. However, the ringing endorsement of some of the mostinfluential guitarists of the past four decades elevates theselofty claims above the status of mere promotionalhype. Magnatone amps are currently on stage and in the studiowith Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Neil Young and Jeff Beck. Eachof these guitar icons has his own distinct style and tonal signa-ture, but all three have been notoriously demanding about theamps they use, and have long had a pronounced affinity forvintage gear. Their respect for new Magnatones is as potent astamp of approval as any manufacturer could ask for.Ted Kornblum, president and CEO, has poured working cap-ital and vision into resurrecting the Magnatone brand and con-siders the support of Gibbons, Young, and Beck as validationof the Magnatone product line, and his entire plan, which couldbe summarized as: manufacture in the USA, seek great playersand invite their input in product development, and then makethe once famous Magnatone brand better than ever.Ted says, “I watched a lot of famous amplifier companies out-source their production to Asia, either to hit a lower price pointor to improve margins. The dollars may have added up, but the

products lost their soul.” With Magnatone, he says, “I decidedto do the exact opposite and in-source manufacturing here inthe USA, use the best domestic parts, and build a product thatwill stand the test of time alongside the best vintage amps weall love.”Kornblum’s Magnatone Company is technically new, and theamps have been designed from the ground up to be better thanever. And they continue to feature the “pitch shifting vibrato”effect that Magnatone patented around 1956. But theMagnatone name traces back to the very beginnings of theelectric guitar era. In fact, Magnatone amps pre-date just aboutevery other amp manufacturer, including Fender. AlthoughMagnatone faded from the scene around 1969, it was an impor-tant pioneer.The Magnatone story dates back to the peak of the Hawaiianmusic craze in the early 1930s. Delbert Dickerson’s daughterhad been pestering him for a lap steel guitar and amp. Since hecouldn’t afford one of the pricey new Rickenbacker “fryingpans,” he decided to build one himself. The machinist used theskills he acquired watching his father build guitars, and man-aged to put together a slick and functional guitar and amppackage. Sol Ho’opi’i, a popular Hawaiian guitarist at the time,

MUSIC TRADES February 2016

Bringing Back The Magnatone The amp made famous by Buddy Holly

is back, updated, and endorsed by Neil

Young, Jeff Beck, & Billy Gibbons

The Magnatone team, Dave Ryan, masterbuilder; Obeid Khan, v.p. engineering/oper-ations; Ted Kornblum, president & CEO;Chris Villani, production manager.

PROFILE MAGNATONE AMPS

was sufficiently impressed and askedDickerson to build him one. More ordersfollowed, Dickerson ramped up produc-tion, and by the late 1930s DickersonMusical Instrument ManufacturingCompany was a thriving concern in LosAngeles. Even today, Dickerson amps,distinguished by their colorful fauxmother-of-pearl coverings, are covetedby collectors.Simultaneously, in Torrance,California, just a few miles fromDickerson’s operation, ArthurDuHammell launched MagnaElectronics, building a line of portablevacuum tube radios and phonographs.One of the company’s specialties was acoin-operated radio that was installed inmotels. He saw guitars and amps as theperfect complement to his product offer-ing and in 1946 acquired Dickerson’sbusiness. By the early 1950s, the originalDickerson guitars and amps had under-gone a redesign and were rebrandedwith the Magnatone name. DuHammellstressed innovation, patenting a pitchshifting vibrato circuit (vibrato modu-lates frequency, not to be confused withtremolo, which involves amplitude mod-ulation). Magnatone was also known forcreating striking art-deco cabinet cos-metics that received design awards fromthe Los Angeles Museum ofArt. Notable Magnatone players fromthis era included Tommy Tedesco,Robert Ward, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddleyand Lonnie Mack.In 1957, Magnatone hired Paul Bigsby,creator of the famous Bigsby mechani-cal vibrato and designer of the highlycollectible Bigsby electric guitars. Inaddition, they hired Paul Barth, formallyone of the designers of Rickenbackerguitars, to design a line of Magnatoneguitars and basses.The baby boom, the birth of rock ’n’roll, and an expanding economy fueledrapid growth in the music industry in theearly 1960s, which attracted the interestof outside investors who were confidentthat big profits could be had by applying“professional management discipline”to musical instrument making. Thisrationale prompted a slew of transac-tions. CBS broadcasting acquiredFender, Thomas Organ Company tookover Vox amplifiers, Ampeg amplifierswere absorbed into a conglomerate

called Unimusic, and Magnatone had aseries of owners, including the EsteyOrgan Company of Brattleboro,Vermont. The specifics of each deal dif-fered, but the outcomes were all disap-pointingly similar. Even though Fendersurvived, CBS ownership still drawscriticism. Vox and Ampeg went into atailspin, and remained dormant foryears. As for Magnatone, productionceased in 1969 and the brand lay dor-mant until Ted Kornblum decided torevive it.

AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERYTed Kornblum grew up in the musicindustry. His grandfather, BernardKornblum, founded St. Louis MusicCompany in 1922 and his father Genedramatically expanded the business by

creating the Alvarez guitar and Crateamplifier lines. He also revived thedefunct Ampeg brand. By the time Tedwas a teenager, he was handling artistrelations for St. Louis Music, success-fully signing endorsements with JerryGarcia and Bob Weir of the GratefulDead, David Crosby, Stephen Stills andGraham Nash, and numerous othernotable players. He eventually joinedthe family business full time after spend-ing a few years working at ModulusGuitar in San Francisco, and workingfor Hyman Peller at On The RoadMarketing. He also earned an MBAfrom The University of Denver.St. Louis Music had been the distribu-tor of Magnatone from the 1940s untilthe brand was shuttered around 1969.One day as Ted was thumbing through

Magnatone amps are currently being used by Billy Gibbons, top right, with TedKornblum at the company operations in St Lous; Jeff Beck. amd Neil Young.



old catalogs from the past, he stumbledacross a presentation of Magnatoneproducts. The cosmetics struck a chordand he began digging deeper intoMagnatone history. The trademarks hadbeen abandoned, so he registered them,even though initially he had no clearidea of what to do with them. As his interest grew, Ted acquired asprawling collection of Magnatoneproducts from every era, effectivelybuying back the company history. Of the400 Magnatone products he hasacquired, he says, “Everything theymade had incredible style. From lapsteel and solid body electric guitars tocoin-operated radios to portable tuberecord players, as well as guitar amps,they all have this incredibly cool vibe.It’s been like a treasure hunt findingthese gems of musical history.”When the Kornblum family sold St.Louis Music to Loud Technologies in2005, Ted stayed on for a few yearsmanaging artist relations for the enter-prise. (Today, Magnatone has no affilia-tion with Loud Technologies or St.Louis Music.) But before long, Teddecided it was time to start revivingMagnatone. His first step was to assemble a “dreamteam” of engineers who had worked atthe manufacturing and engineeringfacility in St. Louis for Ampeg. Theseengineers were called in as needed forspecific skills, but the core engineersprior to going to market included DanRyterski, Greg Geerling, GeorgeMcKale, Gregg Hopkins, KenMatthews, and Obeid Khan.

IMPROVING THE ORIGINALObeid brought an unusual skill set tothe task at Magnatone. With an engi-neering degree, he understood manyvintage circuit designs; he also broughtexperience as a great guitar player in hisown right. In addition to his formaltraining, he had some unique practicalinsights, having learned from stintsplaying guitar on the road, and workingat amp repair shops in the St. Louis arearepairing and “hot-rodding” tube amps.It was Gene Kornblum who first recog-nized Obeid’s blend of formal and prac-tical experience, and hired him to workon Ampeg tube amps.For Obeid, Magnatone and Ampeg rep-resented similar challenges: how to re-

create the essence of the original amp,but in a package better suited for con-temporary guitarists. He says of the1950s and early 1960s Magnatones,“They were great sounding amps with avintage vibe, but they were limited intheir usage and did not have enoughpower to keep up. The cabinets werefragile, the ’50s-era speakers didn’treproduce the best tone, and the chassiswas packed so tight, they were prone tobending. They weren’t roadworthy.” Heset out to make them better in every way.Correcting the deficiencies of the orig-inal Magnatones first required bench-marking the sound and tones of some ofthe best vintage amps already out there.Then it involved securing top-qualitycomponents made in the USA.Components were then handwired at aSt. Louis plant and installed in solid pineand plywood, finger-jointed cabinets.The result is an all-new, high perform-ance amp with a vintage vibe.One of the major obstacles was findingauthentic varisters, the crucial compo-nent of the patented vibrato circuitry.Varistors had previously been used forvoltage controlled surge suppression tostabilize television pictures tubes. Thesedays, they are made primarily for highvoltage industrial applications. Gettingvaristors built to the original Magnatonespecs took over a year to find the rightsupplier and silicon carbide materi-

als. “We could have used a digital alter-native as a substitute for varistors,” saysTed, “but the amp purists would haverejected it. We wanted to keep the vibra-to authentic to the original patent.”As Obeid began building prototypes,Ted solicited the input from his manyartist friends to make sure their designswere headed in the right direction. NeilYoung has been a long-time user fromthe ’70s, and to this day still plays hisvintage Magnatone Model 280. LarryCragg, who served as Neil Young’s chieftech for 32 years, was eager to help eval-uate the prototypes of what becameMagnatone’s Traditional Collection. Atevery stage of the prototype process, Teddescribed him as “the gatekeeper.Everything had to get by Larry first,” hesays. Cragg says of the development process,“Ted came to me and asked, ‘If you wereking, what would you do?’ He told methe sky was the limit. I knew what Iwanted and it took a long time before wefinally nailed it, but we did, and itsounds as good as anything I’ve everheard.” Neil Young apparently feels thesame way, as he’s been using two newMagnatone Twilighter models as anaddition to his longtime rig, and all canbeen heard on the “Promise of the Real”Tour in 2015 and into 2016. Neil is per-forming with a new Stereo Twilighter2x12" combo and also Twilighter 1x12"

Artist input has been essential at every stage of Magnatone product development.Above, Obeid Kahn demos a prototype to (l-r) Gregg Hopkins; Elwood Francis,Billy Gibbon’s guitar tech; and Billy Gibbons.



combo from the Magnatone TraditionalCollection.As an alternative to the sound of earlyrock ’n’ roll, Ted felt the brand neededan amp offering a classic British soundas well and began working with long-time friend Billy Gibbons to develop aline that would complement theTraditional Collection. As a self-described “gear fanatic,” Gibbons is aconnoisseur of the British amp sounds,having recorded most ZZ Top’s hitsusing a 1968 Marshall Super Lead. “If Icould pick one player to work with indesigning British-sounding amps, itwould be Mr. Gibbons,” says Ted. “Billytoured with Magnatone prototypes invarious stages of completion to help usrefine the look and sound of the mod-els.” Elwood Francis, Gibbons’s long-time guitar tech, was also involved,making several visits to the Magnatoneshop with Gibbons.

BUILT TO TAKE A BEATINGThe result of this collaboration is theMagnatone Super Fifty-Nine in theMaster Collection. This model is offeredin a head or combo configuration anduses EL-34 power tubes, and has a mas-ter volume and effects loop, features notfound on the Traditional models. TheSuper Fifty-Nine also has vibrato andtremolo effects. Jeff Beck came onboard in 2015 after he experiencedMagnatone amps firsthand—Billy intro-duced Magnatone to Jeff duringrehearsals for a combined ZZ Top and

Jeff Beck tour. Getting the right tone was only part ofthe process. Tube amps have a reputa-tion for being fragile and finicky. To cre-ate a truly road-worthy product, Tedasked Bob Dixon, who has an amprepair shop in Los Angeles and is a “tubeamp repairman to the stars,” to evaluatepre-production prototypes for anypotentially vulnerable designs or com-ponents. “We wanted to get a repair-man’s perspective on service concernsso we could address them before goinginto final production,” Ted says. GreggHopkins, of Vintage Amp Restoration inSt. Louis, Missouri was also enlisted indesign and prototyping speaker cabi-netry. “The goal,” Ted says, “has been tomake Magnatone’s last for a lifetime.”Magnatone amps were re-introduced

to the world at the 2013 NAMM showthree years ago, and production startedin earnest immediately after. Since then,about 35 key retailers in the U.S.A. havebeen authorized to carry the line, andsales have increased every month.International retailers have been comingon board now that all models havereceived electrical and safety certifica-tion to ship worldwide.Industry veteran Fred Coyner joinedthe Magnatone team as director ofworldwide sales in early 2015 after rep-resenting high-end amp lines such asMatchless, Bogner, and Bad Cat. SaysFred, “Magnatone is very unique. It wasdormant for years, only to come back tolife with models today better than ever.

Our dealers tell me that Magnatone isthe finest line they carry. It’s also a veryprofitable line. Hearing true stereo pitchshifting vibrato for the first time inspiresplayers to sit down and check it out.”Magnatone amps are currently hand-crafted in a small workshop in St. Louis,Missouri. The fanatical attention todetail that guided the design process isalso evident in the final construction.Skilled builders Chris Villani, DaveRyan, and Diane Villani along withObeid Khan, personally hand wire per-fectly braided harnesses to tube socketsand align components with meticulouslyclean solder joints. And they install thesturdy, aesthetically pleasing chassis inequally elegant cabinets. Instead ofusing traditional Tolex-type cabinet cov-ering, all Magnatone cabinets boast thesame 100% cotton backed textile mate-rial used for covering fine books. Itoffers a pleasing, distinctive look, andTed says, “It might even be moredurable than Tolex. And as the ampages, it looks even better…like a niceworn-in pair of jeans.” The amp handleis choice leather, handcrafted by Amishsaddle makers, and the dust cover ismade from the same material used forluxury convertible soft car tops. The 14-carat gold chevron that adorns the vin-tage brown grill cloth on the TraditionalCollection even has a glass beaded mattefinish, so it won’t reflect light on stage. Magnatone amps aren’t cheap. ButTed says, “All our amps look as goodas they sound. Using both parts andlabor from the USA, we have created aluxury brand. So when you buy aMagnatone, you’re going to get thebest of everything and want to keep itforever.”

NO FREE AMPSNeil Young and other artists who cur-rently play the new models have pur-chased them. “No one gets free amps,”Ted says. “Artists like our amps, andthey have no problem paying for thequality.” The Magnatone product lineup is divid-ed into two product families. TheTraditional Collection features brownand gold cosmetics, harkening back tothe 1950s-era when Magnatone was thechoice of Buddy Holly. Models includethe Single V head or combo that has apair of 6L6 power tubes and can standup to any vintage tweed amps from the


The Magnatone Tradition Series and the Master Series amps.


’50s. The Twilighter 1x12" 22-watt ampfeatures a pair of 6V6 power tubes, andthe Twilighter Stereo 2x12" stereocombo has dual output transformers andpower amps—making it 44 watts ofpower. All the above models havereverb, tremolo and vibrato. New for2016 is the Panoramic Stereo 2x10"combo, with single-ended 6L6 powertubes, reverb, tremolo and vibrato in acompact and lightweight package. Since Ted is not a fan of channelswitching amps, the Master Collection

boasts models with British-type tubesand features a Master Volume controlfor added versatility. Also unique to theMaster Collection are distinctive auto-motive-styled cabinet cosmetics withwrap-around grille, custom-tooledknobs, and an illuminated logo using oldschool, warm incandescent bulbs. TheSuper Fifty-Nine uses a pair of EL-34power tubes and is available in a 45-watt all-tube head, with a 2x12" ext.speaker cabinet, as well as in a comboconfiguration. Ted emphasizes, “These

are not clones of anything; they are gen-uine Magnatone amps.” Jeff Beck, BillyGibbons, and Jason Isbell are all cur-rently playing these models. New for 2016 is the Super Fifty-NineMk. 2 that is a lower-gain version of theMk. 1 and is available in standard blacklevant covering, or limited-editioncream colored cosmetics, as seen withBilly Gibbons on his “Perfectomundo”tour. Ted describes his company as morethan an amplifier maker. Magnatone isa luxury brand that he can eventuallyextend into additional market seg-ments, including consumer electronicsand high-fidelity audio products likerecord players and tube audio devices.He says, “We’re just getting startedwith this, but there’s no question thatthe Magnatone brand can be muchmore than guitar amplifiers.” BillyGibbons probably says it best: “WhatTed Kornblum and his team haveaccomplished—resurrecting theMagnatone brand and tone—is not justa success story. It’s a case study indesign and execution of excellence.”NAMM booth 4794

www.magnatone.com


Details make the different: from classic “varisters,” used in Magnatone’s patentedvibrato circuit, to handmade leather hands, Maganatone amps are designed to per-form for the long run.


bringing back the magnatone - arch grants · magnatone name traces back to the very beginnings of...

Documents