Matt Ristrom LOVES vacuum tubes and uses them to design and build really groovy amplifiers. Ristrom Amplifiers also offers repairs and modifications for a variety of musical equipment, and custom speakers designed for studio, live sound and instruments. But Ristrom Amplifiers really shines at building some truly unique and exceptional sounding tube amplifiers. Our specialty is pushing limits and offering radical designs that push past the comfort level of the typical amp design along with wild aesthetics that include hydro-dipped chassis parts and bright colored leather. We dare to build amplifiers with radical amounts of gain, wider ranges of negative feedback, unique control options, and an extreme range of flexibility that in some cases allow the user to push the amp to instability. The goal with our designs is to capture the sounds of the best vintage amps we all know and love, offer the flexibility to also cover a full range of modern sounds with the same amplifier, and make sure the amplifier will last forever. That last point is incredibly important: Ristrom amplifiers are built to last forever. Nothing in a Ristrom amplifier will ever fail where the amp will not be serviceable, and more importantly - worth fixing. Ristrom amplifiers are extremely easy to service and would be an exceptional choice for touring musicians. Zero cost considerations are made in the choice of parts and the construction technique. We are not trying to make the amplifier expensive, but we are absolutely not looking for cheaper ways to build a lesser product that "pretends" to be great. The amplifier is the sum of its design, the quality of the parts, and the craft of the builder. We use high quality turret board for mounting components and mount tube sockets where they belong - on the chassis. Everything is hand wired and nothing leaves the shop until it is tested with confidence. We really believe these are not only the best sounding amplifiers on the planet, but also built to the highest quality standard. There are a few other builders that follow this method. There are not many.
Big Rock is Ristrom Amplifiers flagship bass amp. Very reminiscent of an early 60's classic American bass amp but with more bass, deeper bass, and a few extra twists. Pull switches engage a pad for active bass, a bright switch, and a bass cut. A master volume lets you get some growl at any volume you like. Vintage and modern bass sounds are readily on tap and pushed through a pair of KT120 power tubes at a deep thundering 150 watts. And it's happy down to 2 ohms.
Hot Purple is the most convertible amp ever: bias with ANY pair of octal tubes and rectifier tube - including mixed sets (EL34 w/ 6V6 as an example). Adjustable negative feedback. Overdrive the power tubes while the preamp is still clean. Capture vintage and modern sounds beautifully. Switchable 5th gain stage will allow you to sell your boost pedal. It's a single channel amp but it covers any flavor you can imagine by turning a few knobs. And it's an amazing platform as clean power if you use pedals to get your sound.
You MUST hear this amplifier to believe it! Clean sounds are similar to the early-American tube amps but with more sparkle and dynamics. Tube buffered effect loop acts as a pre phase inverter master volume so you can get the spank you want out of the clean channel and still keep track of your stage volume. Switchable overdrive channel has a post phase inverter master volume to match it's volume to the clean channel, and the overdrive sounds just like your favorite British rock amp after a trip to CA for some mods. Seriously. Best of both worlds. Both channels/flavors sound great. Tremolo, reverb and overdrive are all available by foot-switch or front panel. 15-20 watts depending on how clean you like your clean. Loud enough to piss off your drummer. Perfect size, volume and flexibility for gigging. Sounds amazing. Modern and vintage sounds. You might even leave your pedal-board at home with this monster. And it has a switched speaker jack to disengage the combo speaker to power a cab. Or it can do both simultaneously. Did we mention yet how fantastic it sounds? It sounds fabulous. You're going to be disappointed with your other amps. Sorry about that.
Our logo is forged from Bismuth, which is a metal similar to lead in that it has a very low melting point - app. 210 degrees.This forging method allows us to make the logos in our shop without the need of a high temperature forge. We are happy to provide branded cabinets with the Ristrom logo for any of our amplifiers or rebuilds. If you would like to match an existing cabinet to one of our amps, please inquire about having it wrapped and branded. We are also happy to make less extravagant looking cabinets and head boxes (yawn) if you prefer a more vintage (boring) look. We can also use stained wood, Duratex, or Tolex instead of leather if you prefer the parts list for your amp does not include a cow or other animal. Our chassis can be painted any solid color or hyro-dipped to accent the color of the cabinet. We use a Cerakote clear ceramic coating to lock in the color after the paint cures.
Copyright © 2023 Ristrom Amplifiers - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.