Voodoo Amplification
Encyclopedia
Lansing, New York
Lansing, New York can refer to:*Lansing , New York, a town in Tompkins County.*Lansing , New York, a village in the town of Lansing....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
company which designs and modifies guitar amplifiers.
History
Trace Allen Davis first went into business in the mid 1990s with a small shop in Ithaca, New York, repairing and modifying production guitar amps with his own custom circuits. In time, his high-gain circuit mods became in such high demand by guitar players that production line amplifiers based on these custom circuits were released.Voodoo Amps are hand-wired, point-to-point circuits. As such, their amps are often cited
among those brands of high-end guitar amplifiers termed "boutique" amplifiers. The company backs their commitment to outstanding tone with rock-solid customer service.
Noted users of Voodoo's production amps and circuit mods are (according to the manufacturer) include Vivian Campbell
Vivian Campbell
Vivian Patrick Campbell is a Northern Irish rock guitarist who is a member of Def Leppard and was, from May 2010 to November 2011, a member of Thin Lizzy. Prior to joining Def Leppard in April 1992, he had been a member of Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs, and Shadow King...
and Phil Collen
Phil Collen
Philip Kenneth "Phil" Collen is the co-lead guitarist and one of the backing vocalists for English rock band Def Leppard. He joined the band in 1982 following the departure of Pete Willis.-Early years:...
(of Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
), Doug Aldrich
Doug Aldrich
Doug Aldrich , is a Los Angeles-based hard rock guitarist, since 2003 a member of Whitesnake. He founded the band Burning Rain with Keith St.John in 1998 and has played previously with the bands Dio, Lion, Hurricane, House of Lords, and Bad Moon Rising...
(of Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
), Michael Wilton
Michael Wilton
Michael Wilton is an American guitarist for the progressive metal band Queensrÿche. Wilton attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle where he met future Queensrÿche drummer Scott Rockenfield and began recording in 1981...
(of Queensryche
Queensrÿche
thumb|250px|right|Queensrÿche's classic line-up performing at the [[Sauna Open Air Metal Festival]] 2011 in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]. Left to right: bass Eddie Jackson, lead vocals Geoff Tate, drums Scott Rockenfield and guitars Michael Wilton....
), Kip Winger
Kip Winger
Charles Frederick Kip Winger is an American rock musician, both a member of the hard rock band, Winger, and a solo artist.-Early days:Winger was born in Denver, Colorado to parents who were both jazz musicians....
, Jack Frost
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
, Richard Fortus
Richard Fortus
Richard Fortus is a professional guitarist who is most famous for being rhythm guitarist in Guns N' Roses.Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Fortus cut his teeth throughout the Midwest with his band, The Eyes. The four-piece alternative band independently released "Freedom in a Cage", which was...
(of Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
), Buz McGrath and Ken Susi (of Unearth
Unearth
Unearth is an American metalcore band from Winthrop, Massachusetts. Formed in 1998, the group has released five studio albums. Their fourth record, The March was released on October 14, 2008 meeting with high positive reception by many...
) and famed producer Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener
Michael Wagener is a music producer, mixer, and engineer from Hamburg, Germany, best known for his work with many top hard rock and heavy metal bands in the late 80's. Wagener's works have sold over ninetyfour million albums worldwide. Wagener was the original guitarist for the German band Accept...
.
Current Models
Voodoo Amps currently produces a number of amplifiers which are a mix of modern- and vintage-inspiried designs. Most models are known for their variation on Voodoo's high-gain circuits.V-Series
Voodoo's first entry into their "V-Series" was their V-Plex model. This amp was designedafter the best sounding 1968 Marshall "Plexi" guitar amplifier that had come through their
shop for repair. Voodoo purchased the amp from its original owner, then reverse engineered the amp down to exact specs. The Voodoo V-Plex model is the result of those efforts. The amp has been very positively reviewed in major guitar magazines, and is available in 50wt and 100wt head configurations, as well as a 25wt or 50wt 1x12 Combo.
The second entry into the V-Series was the V-Reck model. The Voodoo V-Reck is a custom circuit amp that aims to capture the essence and vibe of the original Trainwreck amplifiers, which were created by the late Ken Fisher in Colonia, New Jersey. The V-Reck captures the essence of the original amps by allowing guitarists to go from shimmering clean tones to raging distortion — simply by manipulating the guitar's volume knob. The V-Reck is available as a 50wt head or as a 50wt 1x12 Combo.
The third entry in this series was the V-Rock
V-Rock
V-Rock may refer to:* WSTB, a radio station in Streetsboro, Ohio which used the "V-Rock" brand during the 1990s* V-Rock, the name of a fictional radio station featured on the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories soundtracks...
model. The Voodoo V-Rock is a 100wt amplifier whose inspiration came from the original high-gain modification circuit designed by the late Jose Arredondo. The V-Rock faithfully replicate the guitar tones of the top players of the 1980s, including John Sykes
John Sykes
John James Sykes , is an English rock guitarist, who has played with Streetfighter, Tygers of Pan Tang, John Sloman's Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder, in addition to having a notable solo career....
, George Lynch
George Lynch (musician)
George Lynch is a hard rock/heavy metal guitarist best known as a member of the band Dokken, his own bands Lynch Mob and Souls of We.-Pre Dokken:...
and Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
. The V-Rock is currently offered as a 100wt head, although a 50wt combo model may soon follow.