Airline 18 Watt Hand-Wired Combo

Eastwood Guitars in Canada introduced this hand wired 18 watt limited run tube amp a few years ago. I'd seen pictures of it and thought the red finish and Jetson's TV shaped cabinet looked cool but didn't realize it contained a 12" speaker until I saw (and haerd) it used by guitar guru Joey Leone.

Typically this style amp is single channel and has only volume and tone adjustment features. The Airline has both along with a really cool additional 3 notch control labeled "On", "Oner", "Onest" which seems to push the preamp section a bit harder as you click from the "On" upward. It's very cool and shockingly usable to really pump the output. No headphone jack, extension speaker jack (though the internal one is able to be disconnected should you want to use another speaker cab), no effects loop. Going from a nice clean tone to a great classic rock sound was effortless and I absolutely wish this was 50 watts because I could see it becoming my favorite amp easily. It uses 2 EL84 power tubes (came stock with JJs) and 2 12AX7 preamp tubes (Sovtek).

There's no front end compression on the Airline so turning it all the way up brings forth a serious tone. Much less British than you'll expect; more like a mini Matchless. Clean it sounds bold and articulate; cranked up it's glassy and full. The natural distortion is terrific but I will use a Damage Control Demonizer to send it over the edge when that urge strikes me. It sounds great with humbuckers and standard single coils but my favorite tones came from a P90 loaded solidbody.

Wide open there's a bit of operating hiss but nothing distracting; far less than you'd expect from the volume level you're hearing. The Airline sounds much louder than most amps of this nature and I've enjoyed seeing people's reaction to it's look and tone.

I haven't had the amp long enough to deal with a performance issue (knock wood). The screws holding the cabinet together were short and attached internally from bracing on the back board. I felt movement after unboxing it and was able to remove the entire back with ease. I replaced the screws with longer ones and added 2 from the outside inward to increase stability; it's solid as a rock now. While I'd love to see Eastwood bring the Airline amps out full force they would definately have to improve this so the production run would be more durable than this small batch example. Though minor, no warranty information or explanation of the amp's controls were provided. Did I need 'em? No, but.....

I've had the pleasure of dealing with Eastwood's owner Mike Robinson and his associate Peter McCraken from a retail standpoint. They're a dream to work with and if not immediately available they actually call you back- amazing!

I've been playing 25+ years, have a ton of cool tube amps and guitars and if this was lost or stolen I'd jones for another one! The cool factor is super high with the bright red finish and retro vibe, and there's no getting around the fact that it sounds wonderful. I greatly perfered the Airline to the Peavey Mini Colossal or Orange Tiny Terror, and would be more likely to use it with a Krank Rev. Jr. for a full bodied kick *** tone than many of the bigger amps offered today.