Grid 1 Launches the G1 BPT212 at The Namm Show 2010

We were just a speck in the sea of companies showing their musical products and services at the 2010 Namm Show in Anaheim, so everyday we had to figure out how to let the world know we were there. Our booth location was in a corner of the main hall, but blocked by a huge 2 story booth so it took an extra effort to get the attention of Namm attendees. We had help from Tommy Rox, Blake Aaron and Miles Schon who each played outside our booth to attract attention (huge thanks guys!). Many people who passed by our booth would slow down to hear the music, then admire the hardwood cabinets, stop to watch a video demo that showed the amp being played in remote locations, and finally realize it was a battery powered tube amplifier. Moments later they would ask to play the amp. The most fulfilling experience was when people played the G1 amplifier. Everyone who took time to play the amp in our sound room was blown away by the tone and dynamics the G1 has. The battery power was a bonus. They simply thought the G1 was one of the best amps they had ever heard. Many visitors had seen our ad in Guitar Player Magazine and after playing the amp they would say "you guys were telling the truth". Warm, fat tone, amazing dynamics, and it gets really loud. There were a couple times I had to excuse myself from the sound room as the volume was more than I could bear. Everyone commented on the tubes and were curious why they sounded so good. They were amazed how a hybrid amp could sound and react so much like a tube amp. We explained that it took two years to design, create, and voice the preamp. The 1U4 battery powered tubes have not been used in instrument amplification and they have a very unique tonal quality. One that tends to growl and pop as the string is hit harder, but cleans up really smooth when played lightly. This is true in the clean and overdrive channels. Many loved how they could roll their volume down on the guitar when the overdrive gain was maxed, and the tone cleaned right up. The tubes in the G1 run very cool and will probably outlast most major components in the amp. We are offering a 3 year warranty on the electronics, speakers and the tubes. We think we might be the first company to give a 3 year warranty on tubes. The beauty of the G1 amp is you get the tone of a boutique tube amp, but do not have to worry about replacing a quad of output tubes.

The Namm Show was a perfect venue to launch the world's first battery-powered tube 60 watt guitar amp. We turned a lot of heads when we brought two G1 amps in front of the convention center as the show was ending and had Miles Schon and Blake Aaron jam on them while attendees walked by in amazement. We had the amps positioned near the walkway with the power cords laid on the sidewalk for all to see. They were playing very loud and people could see that the amps were not plugged in. We will be posting video up on youtube of these performances, so you can see the crowd reactions as they played the battery powered G1 amps. One of our favorite treats was a late night BBQ outside the Breedlove RV where they were serving attendees hotlinks, sausages, and beer, while different musicians were playing acoustic guitar and singing. We brought over a G1 amp and Ben Lacy (google him... he is amazing) played a Breedlove electric guitar through our G1 amp and amazed everyone at the after hour party with his guitar renditions of Stevie Wonder, The Who, Steely Dan, and others. The G1 amp we brought over had been played all day during the convention, then another hour on the walkway outside, and then another 30 minute set by Ben Lacy. We were waiting for the battery to finally give up, but it kept on ticking. We might be conservative with our 4 to 6 hour battery rating, as this amp played well over 8 hours that evening. I want to give a special thanks to Breedlove (crazy Pete, Michelle, Brendon, and all those names I can't remember) for their incredible hospitality. We were the little start-up trying to launch a new product and they gave us all kinds of love, food, support, and friendship. For this we are very grateful! We learned a lot from Breedlove and want to be sure we do our part to acknowledge their company for all they gave us at Namm 2010! We appreciate all of you who visited our booth at the Namm Show and are excited to ship our first batch of amplifiers to our new customers. We will also be opening up some local dealers over the next few weeks so more people have a chance to experience the G1 for themselves. We will be posting lots of video clips and photos over the next few weeks so stay tuned!

The phones are ringing...

It wasn't long after our ad in Guitar Player Magazine reached its subscibers, that the phones started ringing! We have been getting lots of calls from guitar players, trade magazines, audiophiles, and technicians, inquiring about the new battery powered tube guitar amplifier. Some are confused asking if the amp is an "all tube" design, so we thought it would be good to post a blog to clarify how the G1 amp works. We are saying "battery powered tube" as we use tubes that were used in battery powered radios back in the 40's and 50's. These tubes were also used extensively in the military for battery powered radio communication. The beauty of these tubes is they require very little power to turn on, thus we get extended battery life. The tubes run very cool. We engineered the amp so it can use a number of different battery powered tubes without any major modifications. These tubes did require a bit of engineering and voicing to get rid of unwanted microphonics and dial in the tone, but we think after you hear this amp, you will agree it sounds great, and more importantly... it sounds unique! The tube pre-amp gives the amp all of its tone, both clean and overdrive. After dialing in the tube tone we had to build a power source that would deliver lots of power while using a small amount of current. We decided on Class D amp chips to provide the power as they had lots of power, but very low idle current. They are also very efficient and do not require heat sinks, which also save power. Heat = wasted energy, thus a shorter battery life. The G1 battery powered tube guitar amp is using the best of old and new technology to deliver a leap forward in guitar amp design. This ultra-modern amplifier is the first of its kind, and it will surely open the door for many great products to follow. Stay tuned.

The World's First Battery-Powered Tube 60 Watt Guitar Amp

Wow.. a few years ago we were sitting in a jacuzzi brainstorming about cool inventions and before we knew it we were figuring out if it would be possible to build a tube guitar amp that could run on battery power. We did not want it to be a low output, poor quality product. We wanted to build a high output, high quality battery powered tube amp that would run for well over 4 hours on a single charge. That was one good brainstorming session as we have not stopped working towards that goal since the day we decided it could be done. This is not to say we haven't hit our share of bumps in the road. We had to find the right tubes, the best batteries (lithium), design a killer pre-amp, and design a super efficient power amp. Creating the amp was the fun part. Tackling microphonics, noise, power consumption, and perfecting the tone was an exciting challenge. Sourcing all the supplies in the USA was a huge endeavor, but we knew we wanted to build this amp locally, so we did not give up even when it seemed like it may not be do-able. Well we did it. We built 2 prototype G1 BPT212 amplifiers, the first was in a black MDF cabinet with an all aluminum chassis and no labels. We shopped it around to potential investors and it sounded so good we were able to raise some cash to build a much better looking G1. The second was a beautiful blonde bamboo cabinet with a gold chassis. Still no labels, but we added a few more features and the bamboo looked and sounded gorgeous. With that we went looking for more money to build our 6 production systems and pay our way to the Namm Show. Well raising money proved to be more of a challenge than building the amplifier, but we were determined to launch the amp at the Namm Show, so we marched on.

Here we are about 1 month away from the Namm Show and we are scrambling to get everything ready for primetime. We have 6 demo systems to bring to the show. We are ordering 25 ea. long lead time parts so we are ready to build systems as the orders come in. We have a full page ad coming out in Guitar Player Magazine, and negotiated to get a booth (4198) on the main floor at the Namm Show. We spent many late nights building our website and would like to give a huge thank you to Chris at Glitch Design for his amazing work on the site. We spent time recording some location videos with Miles Schon and Tommy Rox through a cheap digital video camera, so people could see and hear the G1 in action. We also recorded a bunch of sound clips through different guitars and different amp settings, so people can hear how flexible the amp is. In case you were wondering who is shredding on the guitar tracks, it is Tal Morris currently with Credence Clearwater Revisited. Tal is amazing! We have been blessed to have friends and family invest in our idea and help us make it a reality. We want to thank everyone who has helped us build the world's first battery-powered tube guitar amplifier. We could not have done it with out your help.

If you are reading this blog then you have probably already visited our website. We would love to hear from you, as we continue to work towards our goal to "unplug the band". Everyone who purchases a G1 amplifier from us will become part of our family and will help us grow to deliver high output battery-powered instrument amplifiers for everyone in the band. Thank you for stopping by.