Ken Luker built me a Tiger head summer of 2009. He was kind enough to cover it in black Tolex, put a detachable power cord on, and even autographed the chassis (who knows?).

The features are simple, and I like that. No channel switching, no reverb, no master volume, but I don't miss 'em. The line out could be useful, but I don't think I'll have need of the FX loop.

This is a great multi-purpose tube amp; club, studio, garage, even a big stage if you use the line out. With a good speaker it will easily hold its own with a drummer. But then again I like to crank it and don't need much clean headroom.

The Tiger sounds great with all my guitars, Les Paul, Tele, Strat, PRS, lap steel. And using my Danelectro baritone guitar with an open back Jensen P15N cab, it just ROARS! It sounds great through a couple Celestion Blues too, and louder than Jensen's. I thought my Jensen Electric Lightning exhibited some strange harmonics (cone cry?) but that's not the amp's fault.

I'm old school rock, I like to crank a tube amp and wallow in the juicy tube tone. This amp can do it, 6v6 style. I have several EL84 based amps, and this one is a nice change. But if tubes aren't distortion enough for you, the amp takes pedals well. I've used a Jordan Bosstone clone and Line 6 Crunchtone with good results. Dynamics are good, and the tone cleans up nicely as you back off the guitar's volume knob. Tiger doesn't have tons of clean headroom, but I don't care about that.

Time will tell. It's put up with my abuse for about 4 or 5 months now. I never gig without backups anyway.

Having met Ken and Florence personally, I have no worries. Good people.

Anyway, I KNOW WHERE THEY LIVE!

I have been playing in bands since I was 14, on the road since 16, have toured around the world, appeared on national TV, and have gold and platinum records hanging on my walls. I have owned more than my share of amps, guitars, stompboxes, keyboards, and don't want for anything in this department. So I like to think I know what I'm talking about (heh-don't we all).

There's lots of competition out there as the magic of small, all-tube amps is (re)discovered. The amps themselves are just clones of tried-and-true designs, nothing new really except the newer components used and workmanship. The Devil is in the details, and I think that Ken has been paying attention here. He's got a winner.

To me pure elegant simplicity is what a good amp is all about.
The simple and effective controls on this amp are all that
anyone needs to create great sounds with a minimum of fuss and muss.
It's in this amp's simplicity that true versatility abounds.
It lets you sound like you and allows your fingers and your guitar to come through clearly. Nothing you don't need and everything you do.
Dual 6V6 power tube section. Two 12ax7 preamp tubes.
All tube, hand wired amp head. (Ken built this for me using a solid state rectifier - which is not in the tonal path of the amp - it's more an amp 'feel' rather than using the standard tube rectifier). The solid state rec. gives the amp a slightly tighter feel than getting more sag with a tube rectifier. The amp loses none of its touch sensitivity with the solid state rectifier - it just doesn't have as much sag as a tube rec would offer and quite frankly you don't notice the difference until you start to play with the amp totally cranked up with dynamic playing involved. Until then you wouldn't notice the difference between tube rectifier or solid state.

When you first plug in and play you can tell the Luker Tiger (head design)
is a Fender inspired amp. Except it sounds like one of the best
Fender amps you have ever heard or played through.

It is a non-master volume amp head that is elegantly simple and
it is in this simplicity and compact design that great tones abound.
The dual 6V6 power section can go from sweet chime to saturated grind.
For those that say 20 watts is not enough to gig with - then you are
either playing stadiums without PA reinforcement or metal mayhem.
This 20 watt amp into a 1x12 or 2x12 cab is more than enough for
any small to medium sized venue. After that, mic up your cab
and send it out to mixer/ PA/floor monitors/wedges.. whatever.

1. There is practically no tube hiss or background noise with this amp.
Amazingly quiet (until you start to play of course)

2. The touch sensitivity on this amp is unreal. It tracks the way
you play, simply without fuss or muss. You pick or strum lightly
or dig in and play heavy - the amp responds exactly what you put into it.

3. It also lets you use your guitar volume in a way that most other
amps cannot begin to achieve. You can crank up the power section
and use your guitar volume to get saturation sounds or back off the
guitar volume and sit back into cleaner rhythm tones.

4. The tone stack is really well thought out. Whatever Ken has
decided on as center frequencies is perfect. Each tone control
is usable and there are no frequency peaks within any of the tone
controls. The Presence control can be somewhat on the subtle
side but that is a good thing. It lets you precisely dial in
the amount of cut you want via upper mids/top end.

5. The really cool part about this amp is that is has a duality to it.
Below noon on the volume it has mostly blackface tones but when you
start to go above noon it is like you blend in a Fender Tweed.
The 'sweet spot' of this amp is wide. Some amps have a narrow
sweet spot and unless you are playing in a venue or situation
where you can hit that sweet spot (ie. it's the right volume for
the setting) then you can't get the best out of the amp.
This Luker Tiger has a big sweet spot so you get great tones at
a wide range of volume. This is nice for those playing it at
home practice levels and then taking it out to the gig for louder
live band levels of volume.

6. You are not going to play death metal with this amp but I am
willing to bet with the right pedal in front you could certainly
play a few classic metal covers (Sabbath, Maiden.. etc).
This amp sounds so good that you do not miss reverb (if you want
reverb then this amp gets along very well with a good reverb pedal
directly into the front end). Anyway, when you have an amp that
sounds this good you just want to plug in a play through it.
No pedals needed. However, if you insist on some pedals then
this amp swallows up most pedals directly into the front end and
makes effects a part of the sound. The amp effective blends in
effects/overdrive/boost/distortion/wah/whatever and makes the effect(s)
part of your sound rather than the effect sitting on top of everything.
That, to me, is another sign of an excellent amp (that it absorbs pedals
rather than simply having them sit on top of the sound like obvious
tonal appendages).

7. The Line Out with line level feature is nice - you can go direct to board. Easy.

8. The actual size of the amp head makes for a very portable and
compact "grab and go" head. There is simply no need to have
a 20 watt head that is 3 feet/ 1 meter wide and weighs 40 pounds.
This amp head will fit onto just about any cab you might have or
will get. Unless you have some strange 'image' perversion and
need to have big looking gear - then it doesn't get any better
than this Luker head. It reminds me in size of

The inherent hand wired design of this amp along with the best components available that Ken builds these amps with and along with
perfect soldering (Ken doesn't cheap out and 'crimp' connections) this amp should last for several lifetimes. If you take a look inside the chassis you'll see all the little build details he does and the immaculate wiring and soldering. Like I said, all the best 'stuff' is in here along with transformers that resist hum and noise and keep the bottom end very tight. There is no typical 6V6 bass flub (ala Fender) with this amp. The tone controls and all switches, etc have a great 'feel' to them. You can feel the quality. No cheap switches or tone controls that spin around in the breeze. You set them and that's where they stay. I will try to come back here to Harmony-Central later (perhaps after a year of gigging the amp) and let you know how it has held up. But I can tell that with this build quality then there should be absolutely no problems with this amp head.

It doesn't get any better. Ken is there for you. Great warranty and return policy (why on earth would anyone return this Luker Tiger?).
He is there to talk with you or communicate through email.
Very nice person and is a pleasure to talk with.

I do not usually get too excited about various gear items or rig components but I am highly impressed with this amp. It can go from home to the road and sounds good at a wide variety of volumes. It is nearly impossible to get bad tones from this amp. It is one of the best amps that I have played through. incredible tones, very well made.
Ken could easily charge 2 or 3 times the price and you would still be getting a bargain. After you play through this amp then you will know what playing through an exceptionally great amp is like. You won't want to go back to playing pedestrian mass market amps any more.

Made 2009 by Ken Luker. According to Ken mine is the first to reach Australia. I had Ken fit a Weber 240V power transformer and Weber copper cap rectifier. Single channel with high and low inputs. Front panel has: volume, bass, treble, middle, presence and a send return effects loop. Rear has separate outputs for 4/8/16 ohms, line out and master and standby switches. The head is very compact and light and is finished in a lovely dovetailed pine cabinet. This amp is quite loud and has lots of clean headroom for only 18 watts. The tone stack is incredibly responsive and will give you a wide range of tones. This amp has all the features you would want and truly goes to show that less is more when it comes to tone.

I got this amp because I wanted something that would come close to producing classic tweed tone. At present I am running it with a single Weber 12F150 in a homemade pine cabinet and playing a Tolvanen JN316 with Mick Brierly hand wound pups (a mix of texas special tele and strat pups). First impressions are that the tone is extremely warm and rounded. Lows are huge and piano like and simple chords sustain and shimmer for days with plenty of rich harmonics. Mids and highs are very clear but no icepick folks. The amp is extremely responsive to pick attack and will definitely push you to be a better player as it is also very revealing.. just sweet bell like tone, no mush or mud. The tone of this amp will seduce you and make you want to play long after your fingers get tired. Great stuff.

I have only had it a short while so time will tell. I expect it to be very reliable as it is hand made and simple.

Ken was great to deal with and answered all my questions and was happy to make the changes I needed. I would much rather deal with someone like Ken who is a real artisan than some big name manufacturer who just is looking at the bottom line. I would encourage others to support this guy and his work.

For me this one is definitely a keeper. I have stopped looking at amps as I don't think I will find better tone and definitely not at the price. I know it's a cliche but if lost or stolen I would definitely get ken to build another for me.

This amp was made in either late 2008 or early 2009, and was purchased in April 2009. It is a point-to-point hand-wired 20-watt all tube combo with 12" Eminence Legend speaker. It features high-gain/low-gain inputs, volume control, effects send/return, treble, bass, mid and presence controls. On the back there are three speaker outputs (4ohm/8ohm/16ohm), on/off switch with reverse polarity, stand-by switch, line-out with a volume control pot. There are no on-board effects, no reverb and no tremolo. It is all housed in a hand-made linseed-oiled pine cabinet, with beautiful, tight dovetail joints and recessed handle on the side.

This is a very bare-bones amp, which is nice for me because most of the effects that I use are external anyways, and therefore saves me the grief of having to carry around a bunch of on-board effects that I won't be using.

I use this amp in a wide variety of situations including solo to big-band jazz situations, a 9-piece soul/funk group, contemporary chamber ensembles, as well as with an indie-rock quintet. The venues I play range from small bar-rooms to large concert halls and outdoor amphitheatres, and this amp excels at giving me the tone and presence I need in any situation I have found myself in.

I play a ES-335 style semi-hollowbody with humbuckers as well as a strat-style with single coils through it, and they both sound fantastic. It feels like playing on an old Fender Deluxe, but with more punch at higher volumes.

The amp is dead quiet. You can dime the volume knob, and it is still very quiet but for a very slight hiss (I'm told that this is due to the carbon-comp resistors). Ken Luker (the designer and creator) explained to me that a lot of it has to do with the particular output transformer that he used in the amp.

The twin NOS Russian military 6v6 power tubes in this amp break up very nicely at high volumes. It has a very creamy and compressed tone when overdriven. It also responds well and accurately to my effects setup (includes overdrives, delays, chorus, compressors and filters). Despite the transformer being rated at 20 watts, it has a surprising amount of clean headroom.

The amp is as solid as a tank. Given the fact that all of the top-quality components are hand-soldered on G10 board, I have no worry about components shaking loose.

Ken, Florence and Elijah were all wonderful to deal with. They invited me to their home to try out the amp in their living room. Ken patiently allowed me to play through the amp, answered all of my questions, and even opened up the amplifier for me to look at the "guts" (the wiring and soldering of which looked very clean and sturdy).

After I purchased the amp I noticed a little rattle when I played the F above concert middle C (1st fret, 1st string). When I mentioned this to Ken and brought the amp over, he made the necessary adjustments and even delivered it back to my studio on the same day (luckily for me, we live in the same town).

If I were to move away, I am sure that any competent amp technician would be able to easily repair/mod this amp, as the amp is very simple in design and layout, and it is all hand-soldered. The amp also features 2-year warranty on parts and labor, as well as a 30-day warranty on tubes.

I have been performing for twelve years, and I just recently received my degree in jazz studies at a major university. I have won several national and regional awards for guitar performance. I perform a wide variety of gigs all up and down the west coast. This is by far the BEST and most versatile amplifier I have ever played. I have never felt more confident in my sound than when I play through the Luker Tiger.

If it were stolen I would be devastated, but I would immediately call Ken and buy another one.

When I was shopping around I was looking into getting a Deluxe reissue (which, I might add, sells for MORE at guitar center than this hand-made beauty). I'm glad that I checked this amp out because it whips the flowery panties off of the Deluxe reissue.

I purchased my Luker Tiger in 2009, new. I play mostly blues with an American Strat with Fralin pickups. The amp has two inputs high and low and is a single channel amp. Effects loop, 3 band EQ with a presence control, 4-8-16 ohm speaker outs and a line out for recording with a level control. It's an all tube point to point hand wired 20 watt tone monster.

I love this amp because the tone is full, warm and round and has nice sustain that is controlled. It has a fatter fuller sound then my other Fender amps but yet the clean is to die for. At high volumes with good speakers it distorts just right. The amp can have that warmer fat sound and it also can do the Fender bright if that is what you're after. I appreciate the quality of the workmanship on the amp not only because of the tone but the way it is built the amp is very quiet even with single coils. I love playing through it because it is so easy to obtain great tone.

This is a point to point hand wired amplifier made with great components I would have no problem gigging with this amp with no backup. I have had the amp for 4 months without any problems and I don't expect any based on the way the amp was built.

Great customer support, easy to purchase, great to work with. Very helpful during the processes friendly a great guy to do business with. With a two year warranty and a quality build, I have little to fear about my purchase of the Luker Tiger 20 watt head.

I have played on and off since the sixties. I love my Fender Strats and I have a 61 Fender Bandmaster and a 68 Super reverb. If my Luker was stolen I would call Ken and have him send me out another one pronto. I believe that it is a great bang for the buck and has the quality and tone that I have been looking for.

High and low gain inputs; 4,8,16 ohm speaker outputs on separate jacks; line out; effects loop; volume bass, mid, treble, and presence control knobs; point to point wiring; beautiful pine enclosure with dove tail joints.

American telecaster and PRS SE. Sounds great with both. Somewhere between Fender tweed and blackface tones. Extremely responsive to guitar selection, playing style, and control knob settings. Low noise. Great clean sound on both channels with a surprising amount of clean overhead for a 20W amp. Wonderful breakup as you crank it up. Seriously hot tones on the high gain channel!

Workmanship is amazing so odds are it will be reliable. Only had it a few weeks, but it's built like a tank. I'm sure if anything goes wrong Ken will take care of it.

Ken and Florence at Luker amps are wonderful to work with. Quick replies to e-mailed questions - Ken provided great, detailed answers to all of my questions. Super nice and professional people. Amp shipped immediately upon placing order. More than sufficient packing to ensure safe arrival on my end.

This is a great amp at a very reasonable price. I plan to keep this amp for a very long time. Amazing tones and beautiful workmanship.

2009 20 Watt, all tube hand-wired head. Beautiful, hand-made, dove-tailed solid pine cabinet. Very versatile amp. It can go from quiet jazz to thick & creamy tube tone heaven. Hi & Lo gain channels, no switching (use A/B box for that), line out with level pot, 4/8/16-ohm cabinet output jacks (separate jack for each!), effects loop, treble, bass, mid, & presence. Tone is somewhere between Tweed and Blackface with more oomph than a Deluxe, but it also has its own sound qualities too. It can go from dark to warm to bright. It has plenty of power for small clubs and sounds great at all volumes. I love using it for quiet jazz just as much as laying open a sweet fat single note bomb through my Les Paul.

Sound quality is perfect. Seriously, this is at the end of a long tone quest for me which has included classic Gibson, Fender, Magnatone, Budda, etc... The Luker just sounds & responds the way I want my amp to sound & respond. It is dynamic to the touch and has a wide range of tonal possibilities. The controls are very responsive. Noise floor is low so the amp is quiet too! I love the powerful 20 watts through the Tesla transformer and 6V6 tubes. I love it! The low gain channel gets thicker at high volumes and the high gain channel is serious tone heaven at high volumes.

Brand new. We'll see. Looks to be made of quality components and hand made so it can easily be serviced down the road.

These kind folks are great to deal with. I met Ken Luker, the owner, when I purchased the amp, and he was very helpful in answering my questions. I anticipate excellent service.

Overall this one is a 10 since it is time for me to stop looking and just play! If I gave a 9.5 that would mean I'd still have more looking to do. It is a perfect amp in every way if you are into finding your own sound and want a tube amp for small clubs. You will love it. This is the best deal on a hand-made tube amp you will ever find!