Good morning fellas. A couple of things.
Andy Fuchs is the same as well... Andy Fuchs has always been.
Lets clear up a few things.
He sent me an amp to try decades ago. I sent it back with a nice note but did not try to buy it, get it for free or anything of the kind. At the time I was playing D13 amps which I loved and toured with in Europe and had no intention of playing a FUCHS. Fred at D13 and I are still very good friends and I love this products.
My friend Andy Brauer had given Fuchs my address. That clears that up.
Fuchs then ran an ad in a magazine with a fake quote saying I used his gear and refused to remove it until my lawyer sent him a letter. There are plenty of folks who saw the ad and know the truth behind this guy so no need to go back and forth about it. Its a dead issue. And no, I don't think I am special, or worthy of some special deal from anyone. Any gear that I haven't paid for in the past was gear I earned for doing demos and helping the builder. I PAID for my Bludo that I had and it was a very nice amp. I did get a bit of a discount since I helped him market that amp by default in a bunch of YouTube videos. Now that is cleared up.
I also didn't sour Fuchs relationship with Bonamassa. He didn't really have one. Joe tried the amp and sent it back too. Joe and I have been dear friends for years as my old bass player Carmine worked with him for a long time. Joe is an awesome person. He really is. Joe has a lot of great gear and does not own a FUCHS and I don't think he ever will.
Heck Andy attacked me like this when we did Retro Channel amps and then had his wife call me to ask if I could help them get a photographer to shoot Al Dimeola in Austin and I actually did help them. Then of course he went back to attacking me again.
We made mistakes at Retro like not building offshore. They were a solid state amp and too expensive for the marketplace but a few guys bought them and loved them and played them on tour including Walter Becker.
When it comes to credibility lets all remember that Andy is also the one that brought you
www.dumbleamps.com and dumble.com directing folks to... you guessed it... FUCHS...
I really don't wish to discuss any of this again.
Moving forward:
As far as our amp goes it leans more Tweed Twin than it does Dumble but we like the look of the 70's Dumbles and certainly the way the EQ is setup. No, we did not copy a Bludotone although we did do the variable FET which I like quite a bit. We thought that adding the Tube buffered loop was a good touch instead of having it outboard. We are happy, selling amps and some of my favorite classic Rock guys have ordered and are using ours. Tommy shaw has a 100 watt as does Frankie from Survivor. Love those two guys and glad they enjoy what we are doing. Here is a link to a quote from Frankie about his P51 . And yes they paid for their amps.
https://smartbelleamplification.com/sma ... n-survivor
So if you get a chance to play one of our amps please do. All made in the USA with custom transformers and some nice goodies inside. No, I don't really care to flame war, or compete with anyone at all. I just wanted to respond to the thread now that we have a minute and I hope that you guys have a wonderful day.
OH PS
TED doesn't use our stuff but he is a friend, a legend, and sounds like Ted through ANYTHING... I do really wish he would go back to the Super Twin but his stage volume is a bit lower than it used to be when he used 6 Super Twins and 6 showman cabs. I saw him in 1978 and that was the loudest show I ever attended. There is room for everybody in the amp biz I suppose and I am proud to be working with Lee Jackson. Metaltronics was a HUGE success, and his work with Ampeg and Fender was amazing. Lee designed our amp, he didn't just open up someones product and copy it. Give it a try sometime you might like it. The amp that is..
