Burriss Engineering Custom 212 Combo

Made in 2005 by Bob Burriss at www.burrissamps.com. Here are some of the features of the amp: two 6L6s, 5AR4 rectifier, 12AX7s, roughtly 30-45 watts. The amp has an early Marshall vibe but has a fantastic clean sound also. Burriss typically doesn't exactly recreate vintage amps, he improves on them and listens to what you need... The amp has two inputs- high and low. It has two volume knobs, one is "input gain" and the other is the main volume. This is the best feature of this amp, you can get tons of tones right at your fingertips. The amp also has a variable feedback knob on the back which also comes in handy. The amp currently has two Emincene Tonkers (the new Eminence speakers are fantastic).

Teles, Hamers, Gibsons, etc... They all sound fantastic with this amp. The Teles twang and can get gritty if you adjust the volumes accordingly (Imagine the best tweeds or the best blackface amps). The humbucker equipped guitars sing like all of the great humbucker tones from the past- Allman, Betts, Robben Ford, David Grissom, Skynard, etc. The amp loves pedals, it eats them up, they sound totally natural. To give you an idea of how good this amp sound to me I sold the following two amps because they didn't even come close: Dr.Z Route 66, Bad Cat Hot Cat 30.

I currently have two Burriss amps and nothing has happened to them yet. I gig about 5 times a month, not much but the amp does get tossed around quite a bit.

Bob will do whatever you want.

Been playing for 15 years. I've owned tons of amps (Carr, Victoria, Bruno, Savage, Komet, /13) including the ones I previously mentioned in the review, Bob's are the best I've played so far.

I had this amp built in October 2003 after I'd had enough of the "modeling" scene and decided to return to all tubes. Burriss amps had quite a buzz on the local club scene, and as I was unimpressed with the boutique amps I had seen, I paid a visit to Bob's store, "The Tone Shop" in Lexington Kentucky. After 2 consultations (he can build anything you want, so for me, it was WAY too many options!!!) with Bob I settled on a hand built custom set up. It is a 20 watt 2-12 combo. It is powered W/ 2 6V6's. It's equipped w/ 1 celestion greenback and 1 celestion g12h30(british). It is covered in green and cream tolex with 60's style marshall basketweave grillcloth and a backlit burriss logo. Its a channel switcher w/ 2 inputs, master volume for the gain channel,bass,treble, and volume knobs. It also has a tremelo unit that I can control the speed and rate with via a footswitch (that also allows access to the gain channel).

I favor, on gigs, a '98 Les Paul 58 Historic, and to a lesser degree a Tele and Strat ("parts" guitars with Lindy Fralins). I got what I wanted: A full, clean tone with personality but the ability, via the gain channel to get some Stones/Petty style crunch when I need it. It REALLY sounds great when you overdrive it, but even at 20 watts, its LOUD and I can't get away with that in clubs, so that's where the master volume comes in.It's works great, and fans come up to me after shows and compliment me on my tone---a new thing for me!

I've had it since November 2003, so far so good, but by looking at it's construction and the quality of materials, I don't think it'll be in for repairs anytime soon.

I've read this comment a few times from other Burriss amp reviews, but it's true--he isn't happy until you're happy, and bends over backwards to deliver to the point where you think--does this guy ever go home? He lives and breathes amps and guitar electronics!

I've been playing for about thirty years and have owned many Fenders, a few Mesas, and other faux amps and I've come full circle--I'm back to my 70's set up of a great all tube amp with analog pedals (and only a few at that). Being a custom builder, you need to check out his website- www.burrissamps.com , to get an idea of what you might want. I spend days dwelling on what cabinet style I wanted! I've got a hunch my amp may become a collectors piece someday, like early versions of any great product that becomes a classic--but I'm keeping mine!