Return of the rack? 3rd Power has ramped up production of a 2RU rack-mounted guitar amp. The model SV3015 has four EL34 power pentodes split into two independent channels. In contrast to conventional wisdom that players want "bright" and "normal" channels, 3rd Power markets a low-frequency enhancement technology it calls Push.

Budda Amplification will deliver leather-covered guitar amps to retailers by June 2010. The company has teamed with boot designer Mark Nason to adorn 100-watt heads and 4x12 cabinets in fine Italian cow hide.

In response to consumer demand Ampeg's "Heritage" SVT head will be designed and assembled in the USA. The 300-watt stadium blasters are due to roll off its Woodinville Washington assembly line by March 2010. Tubes are by JJ (3x12AX7 and 2x12AU7) and Winged C (6x6550).

Grid 1 launched its Class D battery-powered amp at NAMM. It uses 1U4 battery tubes for preamp distortion and routes the results to a highly efficient Class D power amp. The amp produces 60 watts for 4 to 6 hours on lithium batteries, very impressive compared to 3S4 pentode power amps. Power efficiency comes at a substantial price premium, however - the amp retails for $3.5k to $4k depending on cabinet options.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign plans a repeat of its popular Physics of Music Class for the 2010 Spring Semester. Professor Steven Errede continues to push the envelope on vacuum tube amplifiers, guitar pickups, and anything else in the signal chain that can be quantified by a well-equipped lab run by highly motivated students.

Eric Collins at Speedster Amplifiers has re-created Bluesbreaker grill cloth circa 1966 and is offering it cut-to-order to retail customers. Germino Amplification now installs the new grill cloth as a $400 per cabinet option.

Mack Amps is ramping up full production of its Gem heads and combos. The head is only 8 inches wide and 5.5 inches high and weighs in at just 4 pounds. Size and weight reduction are facilitated by an NOS 6AC10 triple triode followed by a single-ended EL84, just two tube sockets to achieve full overdrive that is switchable between 0.4 and 4.0 watts output.

Headstrong Amps has signed new dealers in our neighboring metropolis of Portland as well as in Canada and Sweden, where the builder has established its first retailers outside the United States.

Technical University Berlin released its latest project report on SILVESTRIS, an all-tube mixing board created using advanced design and manufacturing techniques. For those of us living on the unbalanced, 8-ohm side of a circuit board it is interesting to learn about 600-ohm balanced circuits at their finest.

Fargen Amps, producing custom-built guitar amplifiers for more than a decade, has added vintage amp restoration and resale to its business model.

Krank Amplification has re-established its online store to compliment its network of more than 100 dealers nationwide.