Suhr Amplifiers and Pedals: Beyond Boutique
There’s a lot more to Suhr than simply excellent guitars.
True, they are world-renowned for their boutique six-string masterpieces, but for decades now, the brand has also produced top quality amps and pedals. We’re talking hand-made, USA built pieces here, and today’s blog will hopefully introduce you to these sides of the Suhr operation.
I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with John Suhr on a number of occasions, so these encounters will feed today’s article. John’s a real ‘amp guy’, so it’s natural progression for him to pursue these areas of guitar tone. I’ll investigate this all today.
Contents
Suhr Guitar Amps
As I mentioned, John Suhr is a noted master guitar builder. Suhr’s brand foundations lie upon this fact, but John has long since been a committed student, master and guru of the guitar amplifier. Indeed, his personal office at the Suhr workshop is apparently an amp demo station now!
Suhr amplifiers are designed, developed, tested and manufactured in the same premises as Suhr guitars. It’s all one big workshop, with staff chatting and commenting on designs as they develop. This rich and communal workplace is healthy for the instruments and staff alike, and this attitude helps foster creativity across the board.
Suhr Badger
The Badger is the amp beloved of Suhr artists such as Big Wreck’s Ian Thornley. Available in two ‘sizes’ - 18 watts and 25 watts - the Badger is loosely based on the ‘classic British’ sound. Each has a full tube preamp and poweramp section. The Badger 30 (which is 25 watts) has a solid state rectifier, whereas the smaller Badger 18 has a tube rectifier and different power valves.
I say this to help you understand that each model is a little different under the hood, even though they share a name. I think this shows dedication to the task: producing great ‘British’ tones at different power ratings. Using different components to achieve the results proves that Suhr are using their ears more than their spreadsheets when developing amplifiers, as it should be!
For single channel, cascading-gain fun, look no further!
Suhr PT15 I.R.
Pete Thorn is an artist closely associated with Suhr. You’ll know Pete either from his YouTube channel, or from his sideman duties with Satchvai, Chris Cornell and the Classic Rock Show. He’s a consummate pro with great chops and excellent tone.
Pete has a line of Suhr signature guitars, but on top of those, he has also co-developed a signature tube amp! The Suhr PT15 I.R. is actually a very sophisticated piece of kit. It’s a three channel all tube amp with built in impulse responses which are assignable to each channel. This amp runs the full spectrum from British to American tones, and is as clean or as dirty as you want it to be. The ultimate amp? It certainly is for Pete Thorn!
Suhr Hombre
The Suhr Hombre is a very cool and interesting amplifier. Developed by John Suhr in order to capture something of the early Billy Gibbons sound, the Hombre sonically sits somewhere ‘between continents’, as it were. Though the visuals pay tribute to the ‘brownface’ Fender amps, this is its own beast. You can read a more in-depth piece on this article - and more - by clicking through to my John Suhr: Meet Your Maker interview article.
Suhr Effects Pedals
Suhr started out in the world of effects with only a few drive pedals. They’ve since snowballed into becoming a major boutique house for pedal lovers, and once again it's down to the product itself. Even the sniffiest of pedal snobs will accept that some Suhr pedals are on par with the best that’s out there. In fact, two of my personal favourite drive pedals are Suhr units: the Riot and the Rufus.
As with the guitars and the amplifiers, everything is made in-house, in Suhr’s Lake Elsinore premises. This isn’t a vanity project that’s farmed out to another company to produce, which I feel is pretty significant. How many guitar builders, working at this level, also make their own top quality amps and pedals? In the same location?
Not many!
So what do Suhr offer in their current pedal line? Here’s a brief overview…
- Koji Compressor - feature-rich comp pedal with multiple voices and a mix for blending in your dry, unaffected tone.
- Koko Boost - versatile clean or mid boost, with a choice of voicings for the mids. Suhr’s very first pedal release, and still going strong.
- Dual Boost - two independent, switchable boosts, made with audiophile components.
- Shiba Drive - Medium levels of gain here, very handy pedal with a ‘smooth’ switch that is particularly handy for Strats.
- Riot Distortion - top notch higher gain distortion that doesn’t disappear in a band context! A Riot mini version is also available for crowded pedal boards.
- Eclipse - dual overdrive/distortion with two completely separate sections.
- Rufus Fuzz - filthy fuzz with the potential for excellent ‘octavia’- style octave screams.
- Jack Rabbit - tremolo pedal with a wide range, and can be controlled remotely.
- Discovery delay - hugely comprehensive analog delay packed with features and modulation.
Not Just Awesome Guitars
With Suhr, obviously craftsmanship is a big deal, but I feel like the focus is always on sound. Sound is the goal for everything they create, whether that’s a beautifully crafted guitar, a handmade tube amp or a boutique pedal. Everything is in service of a singular goal: to sound great.
It’s a good way to be, and as I mentioned before, one discipline inevitably informs the others. There is a tireless desire to improve and offer the best, and that’s something that Suhr advocates have long known.
Whether you’re a fan of the guitars or not (it would be weird if you weren’t though), there’s a lot more to Suhr than just great guitars. Amp aficionados and pedal geeks will find fun, inspiration and maybe even aspiration with Suhr amplifiers and effects pedals. Check them out and tell me I’m wrong.
