voodooamps
New member
Focusing On The Positive - One of our lead techs left to go back to college to pursue new endeavors. We wish him nothing but the greatest of success in all his endevors. This happened to come at a time when we are experiencing growth within the company. We have hired two (2) new gentleman as techs. They are exceeding our expectations and working out far better than we had anticipated. This has helped us to get back on track with regards to our turn around times.
Turn Around Times - For updated turn around times on Standard, Deluxe, Platinum and Custom Mods please visit this link.
Please note; Since 1998 the turn around time was listed on each individual Mod page of our website. We are in the process of removing those and as there are over 100 pages it will take approximately one (1) week. There are many other updates happening over the course of the next 2-3 weeks and we are adding new Mods to the site so please feel free to check back as time allows.
Custom Mods - Let me preface this by saying 90% of all Long Term / Custom Mods have been completed and what few remain will be done shortly.
We have been doing a lot of Custom Mods in the past two (2) years, more so than normal. I am the only tech who designs our Custom Mods. There are some points where I can have one of my fellow techs perform changes that I designate and then I can continue tweaking it so that each amp sounds and feels as intended.
In a perfect world; I prefer to talk with the player on the phone before they send their amp in to be Modded. This actually tells me volumes about what they are looking for, how they want the amp to sound/feel, gain structure, frequency response, etc. I am very familiar with a great of gear on the market, meaning; speakers, cabinets, pickups, guitars, cables, pedals, etc, etc. This is all very important as each piece of gear colors/adds its own frequency curves and gain structure to the over all tone we hear in the end.
The Mod Form gives me a clearer idea of what the tone will sound like in the end (IE: the tonal puzzle), I use the list of gear included on the Mod Form as well as any notes in the Notes Section of the Mod Form. From there I go through the schematic and then play on the amp to get a sense of how it feels (when bending and vibrato’ing), how it reacts to pick attack, how the frequencies come across, how it sustains, how it feels when transitioning from string to string, etc. My first experience playing/listening greatly influences the changes/Mods I do. IE: I immediately get a sense of what I would like to hear differently and how I would want the amp to respond/react when playing on the amp. I then go through the Mod Form and find the common threads between what I hear/feel when playing on the amp and what the customer has listed.
From there I get a much stronger sense of what I need to change or alter. I then begin designing the Mod, make those changes and then play on the amp again. If in the first 5-10 seconds it does not strikes as “This is where the tone needs to be” then I continue tweaking. Granted sometimes this is what many would call “fine line tweaking” or “splitting hairs” but to us that is what it’s about.
After a while I will take a day or two away from the amp. I come back with fresh ears and repeat the process until the day I plug in and within the first 5-10 seconds I say to myself “that’s it!” I then place the amp on our proprietary break-in rig as all things with new metals factually has a break-in period. This allows all the new components to settle in so that they are ‘broken in’ and do not continue changing in tone and feel. I then play on the amp again. If it’s still spot-on then I place the amp in shipping / receiving to be properly packed and shipped out to you. If not, I repeat the process again until I am happy with the results.
As you can begin to see this process can take a fair amount of time and when you weigh out what we charge for the Mods you can easily see we are by no means getting rich doing this. It truly is a labor of love. What I have learned is that we have been charging too little for the amount of time we invest into each Custom Mod. As such we must raise our Custom Mods prices so that it is fair for everyone. At present prices for our regular Standard, Deluxe & Platinum Mods will remain the same
Nothing makes me happier than when someone is in love with their amp (it truly is the greatest feeling and that’s why I do this). When it is inspiring to play on an amp and you loose track of time and that is very special. It’s inspiration – you cannot see it, bottle it or touch it but you know when it hits you. That is what I strive for, to provide inspiration through tone.
Many thanks for your continued support and please know it means the world to me as well as all of us here at Voodoo Amps.
Trace Davis – President / Founder
Turn Around Times - For updated turn around times on Standard, Deluxe, Platinum and Custom Mods please visit this link.
Please note; Since 1998 the turn around time was listed on each individual Mod page of our website. We are in the process of removing those and as there are over 100 pages it will take approximately one (1) week. There are many other updates happening over the course of the next 2-3 weeks and we are adding new Mods to the site so please feel free to check back as time allows.
Custom Mods - Let me preface this by saying 90% of all Long Term / Custom Mods have been completed and what few remain will be done shortly.
We have been doing a lot of Custom Mods in the past two (2) years, more so than normal. I am the only tech who designs our Custom Mods. There are some points where I can have one of my fellow techs perform changes that I designate and then I can continue tweaking it so that each amp sounds and feels as intended.
In a perfect world; I prefer to talk with the player on the phone before they send their amp in to be Modded. This actually tells me volumes about what they are looking for, how they want the amp to sound/feel, gain structure, frequency response, etc. I am very familiar with a great of gear on the market, meaning; speakers, cabinets, pickups, guitars, cables, pedals, etc, etc. This is all very important as each piece of gear colors/adds its own frequency curves and gain structure to the over all tone we hear in the end.
The Mod Form gives me a clearer idea of what the tone will sound like in the end (IE: the tonal puzzle), I use the list of gear included on the Mod Form as well as any notes in the Notes Section of the Mod Form. From there I go through the schematic and then play on the amp to get a sense of how it feels (when bending and vibrato’ing), how it reacts to pick attack, how the frequencies come across, how it sustains, how it feels when transitioning from string to string, etc. My first experience playing/listening greatly influences the changes/Mods I do. IE: I immediately get a sense of what I would like to hear differently and how I would want the amp to respond/react when playing on the amp. I then go through the Mod Form and find the common threads between what I hear/feel when playing on the amp and what the customer has listed.
From there I get a much stronger sense of what I need to change or alter. I then begin designing the Mod, make those changes and then play on the amp again. If in the first 5-10 seconds it does not strikes as “This is where the tone needs to be” then I continue tweaking. Granted sometimes this is what many would call “fine line tweaking” or “splitting hairs” but to us that is what it’s about.
After a while I will take a day or two away from the amp. I come back with fresh ears and repeat the process until the day I plug in and within the first 5-10 seconds I say to myself “that’s it!” I then place the amp on our proprietary break-in rig as all things with new metals factually has a break-in period. This allows all the new components to settle in so that they are ‘broken in’ and do not continue changing in tone and feel. I then play on the amp again. If it’s still spot-on then I place the amp in shipping / receiving to be properly packed and shipped out to you. If not, I repeat the process again until I am happy with the results.
As you can begin to see this process can take a fair amount of time and when you weigh out what we charge for the Mods you can easily see we are by no means getting rich doing this. It truly is a labor of love. What I have learned is that we have been charging too little for the amount of time we invest into each Custom Mod. As such we must raise our Custom Mods prices so that it is fair for everyone. At present prices for our regular Standard, Deluxe & Platinum Mods will remain the same
Nothing makes me happier than when someone is in love with their amp (it truly is the greatest feeling and that’s why I do this). When it is inspiring to play on an amp and you loose track of time and that is very special. It’s inspiration – you cannot see it, bottle it or touch it but you know when it hits you. That is what I strive for, to provide inspiration through tone.
Many thanks for your continued support and please know it means the world to me as well as all of us here at Voodoo Amps.
Trace Davis – President / Founder