Garnet BTO

I'm not sure of the date this head was made but my guess would be early to mid seventies.This amp is very versatile with it's bass & treble tone controls & volume having push pull pots for boost.It is a single channel with no master vol.so it is extemely loud if you want overdrive.The amp comes with trem & fuzz effects that can be controlled by footswitch

The B.T.O. is a killer sounding head when played loud.You can dial in a very realistc Marshall Plexi overdrive & more,it has more gain when the signal is boosted & will clean up nicely when you turn down the guitar vol.The fuzz effect on my head is really bush league,so I would only use it if I were doing something goofy like a beer jingle.I play a strat & it sounds killer,like old Uli Roth era Scorpions I boost with a Ibanez WH 10 wha into a 70's Big Muff.The Muff gives me a clean boost when it is off,& gives me endless violin sustain for days when on.I use a Boss NS 2 noise suppressor to keep things quiet & a THD hot plate to get the overdrive at reasonable volume.This amp sounds great even when I set the hotplate at 12db cut.I cant say that for many amps that I tried that with.The trem is very cool & throbby but I don't use it mutch.

I just bought this amp,but knowing Gar Gillies personally I get all my amps seviced by him with great results.He was the man behind Garnet amps & With all Garnets that I've had in the past they are very reliable.

Same as the above.

Ive been playing for over 20 years & have played many different amps,Marshall,Boogie,Soldano,Rivera,Fender,ect,to name a few.The Garnets are really a bargain.I also have a Deputy 1 head that I really like & an old 69 Traynor YBA 3 Custom special that was modded for guitar & the B.T.O. those are by far the best sounding amps that I ever played through.It's ironic that I wouldn't give Garnet or Traynor a second look 10 or 20 years ago,the B.T.O. is a GREAT HEAD.If you see one,buy it & if need be,get it serviced because it is worth it,when working properly,It kicks ass.
.

An 120 watt tube amp with four 6CA7 (EL84), two 12AX7, as well as a trem and fuzz tube. Very robust transformers complete the package that the manufacturer boasted peaked out at 260 watts, hence the L260 model number. Made in the mid sixties in Winnipeg, Canada. This single channel amp has volume, treble, and bass knobs that all have a pull boost/brite switch. Fuzz controls are color and level, and trem controls are speed and depth. The trem also has a cool neon lamp that flashes in time with the trem rate.

This amp provides a wide variety of tones thanks to the "sound fountain" controls for treble and bass, both with pull boost, and a volume control with pull brite. With 120 watts on tap it can be played clean and loud, but distortion comes only at really loud levels. This is where the built-in fuzz comes in handy, with its own level control it can be blended in nicely for any distortion tone from mild to molten. If you've never heard a tapped out tube fuzz you owe it to yourself. The trem can be very deep and can be set from medium slow to ridiculous fast.

Being a handmade point to point wired tube amp with overspec'd transformers, there isn't alot that can go wrong except for the tubes themselves and the inevitable leaking of the electrolytic filter caps. These particular amps do have a rep for being very very hot when played heavily. Early models had the chassis bolted to the top of the cab, with the tubes pointing down. This was later changed so that the chassis was mounted on the bottom with tubes up for better cooling.

Garnet Guitar Amplifiers has been out of business for quite some time. The man behind the company, Gar Gillies, still runs a small shop. Because I live near Gar's shop I can give the "10" rating in this category, but any local tube guru can fix one of these up just fine.

I personally love and collect Garnet Amps, so I admittedly biased. That aside I still think the BTO is a classic high power amp. The first time I played one I smiled like the day I got my wah pedal. The BTO is the holy grail of Garnets, and if you find one, buy it, even if it's just to sell it to me! If you want to learn more about these amps or see what they look like check out my page at www.garnetamps.com