Tamerlane Amplifiers Pugilist Redhead Head

This amp is a 2005 model, ordered by me directly from the Gar Sukup, the builder of Tamerlane amps. The Pugilist is an evolution of the early Fender Bassman. Mine is built like a sort of combination of a Bassmann and a Marshall Plexi, but leaning more towards the Bassman. It can take 6l6, el34, kt66 and their likes. It can also take 6v6 tubes. AND BECAUSE OF THE EXTERNAL BIAS ADJUSTMENT POINTS, REBIASING CAN BE DONE BY A DONKEY LIKE ME, AND IS A TWO MINUTE JOB. THIS IS A FEATURE I CAN'T ACCLAIM ENOUGH. It has one input. Controls are presence, bass, midtone, treble, master volume and preamp volume. There is a push\pull function on the preamp volume, which adds another tube gain stage. There is also a push\pull function on the bass knob, which takes the preamp tone controls out of the circuit. The precense knob is still active. I give it a nine out of ten. For a single channel, vintage style amp it really has some excellent features. The only thing I personally miss, is a buffered fx loop. But Gar suggested leaving it out, and I'm pretty sure he has his reasons, and that they have something with the mystic concept of TONE to do.

I use Les Pauls. The amp is not noisy, not even when I crank it. I have mostly used it with 6l6's, and with the cab I ordered along. It's an axcellent built cab, consisting of a 15" and a 10". Both are Weber ceramic speakers. The cab never rattles. It's made to produce loud, tight and defined clean and rock sounds that really fills the room with sound. Which is what it does. With the Pugilist, the sound really is "outside" the cab.
I can obtain beautiful clean sounds both at conversational and high volume situations. The tone never gets squasy. This is mostly caused by the Fast Freddies rectifier Gar offers. It tightens the lows and increases the highs. I've also tried it with tube rectifiers. With a 5ar3 the tone was much more squashy. With a GZ34 it was a bit tighter, with better top end than with the 5ar3. For rock sounds I like the amp best with the GZ34. Smoother highs, and the lows break up in a nice way suitable for leads. For outstanding cleans the fast freddie is excellent.
With all these options I can obtain loads of killer guitar tones with the Pugilist. With the gain boost stage activated there's is quite a lot of gain on tap. I would say about the amount of a older TS9 pedal. But it's no high gain amp, and the gain never gets compressed like on a high gain amp. If you bypass the tone controls as well as use the boost mode, the sound is HUGE AND COLLOSAL. The tone controls suck up quite a lot of gain, and has big affect on the sound. More amp builders should offer this feature. You get to hear what your guitar REALLY sounds like!
It's also a very touch sensitive amp. But with higher gain, I have to set the eq in such a way that makes the clean sounds you obtain when rolling of the guitar volume, a bit dark. With lower gain, this is no problem. And yes; I use the tone control on my guitar:)
Sound is a matter of taste, and in my opinion the Pugilist produces outstanding clean and low gain guitar sounds. It sounds good in higher gain situations as well, but not excellent the way I see it. It's basic sound is somewhat a cross between a Bassman and a older Marshall, bot with a midtone character that leans towards Vox territory in my opinion.

When the boost is not active, and with the tone controls active I can get an almost accoustic like sound. Which I absolutely love.

Never seen an amp of such a build quality. It's like a rock. Will never die.

Gar Sukup is extremely friendly, relaible, honest and answers all your questions. Usually respnds the same day, or the day after. Also follows you up afterwords to make sure you are satisfied. I had a problem with a pedal he built for me (to turn boost on\off, and adjust amount), and I have a feeling this bugged him much more than it bugged me. He even offered to send me a new one!!!
I can with the whole of my heart recommend this ampbuilder to anyone.
A

been playing for 15 years, 10 actively in bands. Owned peavey classic 30 (my first amp, nice), mesa mark 2b, crate vc50 (good amp!), fender twin amp, rivera knucklehead 100 (amazing), rivera s120 (amazing too), rivera quiana, vht pittbull 45 (killer amp), framus ruby riot (maybe one of the best tones I've heard, but not loud anough for me), vox ac50 (serious tone machine). In addition I have test drove loads and loads of amps. They are all different, and made to sound different. If I lost the Pugilist, I don't think I would buy a new one. But that's only because I have GAS, and is deadly curios on all the amazing tone machines out there. Which is what the Pugilist is; an amazing tone machine.

I'm not sure how to fairly rate so-called features on an amp like this. For me it's a 10, because it has every thing I asked for! Others may want their reverb and tremolo built in, or maybe expect it to wash the dishes. The thing about buying an amp from Gar, is that you get what you ask for! No more , no less! Anytime you can get that with anything without having to do it yourself, rates a 10 with me.

This particular Redhead, is about 50 watts. It is tubed with 1 AY7, 2 AX7s, 2 6L6s and a Fast Freddies SS rectifier. It is a single channel, with a bridge out on the side. The controls are , Presence,Bass,Mid,Treble,Preamp Volume, and Power Amp Volume. It is a dual end stage(normal gain, and high gain), activated by push-pull pot. It has a tone stack bypass which leaves the presence pot active. Probably one of the coolest features this amp has, is external bias adjust points which allows you to bias it yourself with a volt meter. How many times have you wished you could do that!

Iv'e been playing blues for 36 years. I play mainly Telecasters and hollowbody Epiphones.The two teles have VanZandt and Rio Grande pickups respectively. The Epiphone Zephyr has Seymour Duncan Antiquity P-90s, and the Epiphone Casino has Rio Grande P-90s.I also use a Danelectro with a humbucker neck and P90 bridge for open D slide work. I have owned, used, tried at length, just about everything. Some good,(mostly Fenders), some bad,(anything British), some doorstops,(re-issue Ampegs). My favorite amp till now, was a modified Bandmaster Reverb in a 2/12 Twin cab. The Pugilist, is everything it was and more. It is louder,cleaner,tighter,and lighter. It is also very quiet with regard to ground hum. It is sensitive to other electrical circuitry such as a Fender Reverb unit sitting on top of it.

It is probably the most touch sensitive amp ever. With the guitar volume WFO, it will go from a whisper to a scream with no more than a change in pressure from your right hand,(or your left if your a southpaw). The tonestack bypass gives an immediate boost in clean volume and without a major loss of high end. What does drop off can be regained with a presence adjustment. When this is combined with the high-gain end stage,( I use this setting for slide work),this amp will sustain till next Tuesday, and knock the hats off of everyone in the first seven rows! One night I tried just randomly turning knobs and pushing and pulling stuff. There is honestly, no bad sound in this amp! I cannot say that about any other amp I have ever owned,begged,stole,or borrowed!If this all sounds too good to be true... well.

I have had this amp just over 4 weeks. I play 3 to 5 nights a week. Iv'e used it indoors, outdoors,(in Texas heat)! I have not carried a backup. The amp has a 3 year warranty, but I personally don't think I'll ever need it, but for now, in all honesty, I can't say. We'll see!

Right now there is only one man to deal with, and I have rarely dealt with anyone like Garner! He will answer any question about anything having to do with amplifiers or the building of them. He built a special rectifier to accomodate my needs. Now you can have one too. While he was building my amp, he updated me every day! Asked me if I wanted this or that a certain way. He is an artist at what he does, whether building circuits or building cabinets. I can't say enough about what a pleasure it has been to work on this amp with him.

I have bought my last amp from anyone else! For now I will keep my old Bandmaster Reverb, and use it now and then,so I don't wear out the Tamerlane. I can't wait for Garners reverb to be finished!