Premier Guitar September 2016 | Page 48

AMPS CONT'D SOUND CITY MASTER ONE HUNDRED Fryette Amplification head honcho/tube-amp genius Steven Fryette revived the Sound City brand with the intent of bringing the late, great Dave Reeves’ famed brawny tones into the 21st century. Featuring PCB construction and Heyboer transformers similar to the old Partridge designs, the Master Fifty and Master Hundred (shown) feature EL34 power sections and a unique, highly interactive triple-volume section (normal, brilliant, and master), plus a 3-band EQ and presence control. To our ears, the amps—which hover around the $2k mark—sounded glorious through the rear-loaded 4x12 and 2x12 cabs with repro Fane speakers. SoundCityAmp.com BULLHEAD MATADOR 3RD POWER CITIZEN GAIN CSR The EL34-driven Citizen Gain CSR ($2,999 street for the head, $3,399 for the 1x12 combo) is a dual-channel, 50-watt head that combines the lush clean tones from the original Dual Citizen with a ferocious high-gain channel. Each side features independent reverb controls and EQ sections. 3rdpower.com 46 PREMIER GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2016 Nashville’s Bullhead Amplification didn’t travel far to NAMM, but their new Matador 20-watt head ($2,950 street) bridged continents thanks to its mid-altering tone-profile option. The single-channel workhorse has two 6V6s and three 12AX7s, as well as master, presence, gain, and 3-band EQ controls, and it was paired on the floor with Bullhead’s own Greenback-stocked 4x12 ($1,099 street). bullheadamps.com premierguitar.com