Cliff Brown
633 Engineering’s main man tells us about the appeal of his bespoke amps and his approach to getting the perfect tone
Tell us about the new Drive King 50. I started the Drive King project two years after playing through various D-type clone amps. I was curious why the cascaded gain topology appeals to many guitarists. There were qualities I liked and some I didn’t but that I thought could be fixed. In this type of amp the tone stack precedes the switchable drive section, so there’s often a compromise. I was interested to see if I could improve this. I think it’s one of the most satisfying design journeys I’ve been on; the amp can do so many things with a simple feature set.
And how about the Jazz & Blues? The combo was built for Kirk Fletcher to use at the Bristol Jazz & Blues festival in February. I figured we would be running between different locations, so it was built as a reasonably lightweight 1x12 combo, with a nod to the 60s Fender ‘Brownface’ amps Kirk is fond of. The front-end loop was something I’d been thinking about for a while, as I’ve always been disappointed with pedalboards killing my tone.
When did you build your first amp and why? It was 1977, I was 12. I’d auditioned for a 40s-style big band on guitar and got the gig, but they didn’t have a bass player and my dad said bass was more important. So, I built a guitar and bass head using a solid-state ILP HY120 power amp module and a preamp complete with fuzz, using Veroboard. I tried my best to make it look like a Carlsbro Stingray or HH Musician. That was my first rig and it got used pretty much every weekend for around four years. It never let me down other than when the cab fell over and the weight of the speaker ripped out the screws holding the baffle to the rest of the cab. After that I used bolts!
What makes 633 amps unique? Firstly, every 633 amp is bespoke, developed from a dialogue with the customer. This isn’t just cosmetics – the feature set, switching options, the voicing and response of the amp and the customer’s playing style, guitars and pickups are all considered. Secondly, they’re designed to last, with a very high level of attention to detail and hours of testing at proper volume levels.
Which notable players are using 633 amps? American blues giant Kirk Fletcher, James Litherland of Colosseum fame, the legendary Micky Moody, Ash Wilson and session player/side man Stuart Dixon.
What are your favourite recorded amp/ guitar examples of great tone and why? Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland (disc 1 track 4) Voodoo Chile, blew my mind when I first heard it. What a huge guitar sound, amazing reverb. That hammer-on at the start is haunting. Larry Carlton with The Crusaders on Those Southern Knights. A beautiful example of a lead tone produced by an amp just breaking up.
What’s your best amp tone tip? Start at the source. Getting your guitar’s nut, bridge and frets cut and profiled properly will have a massive impact. These parts of the guitar define the note’s attack. A good lead, decent strings and lower output pickups coupled with an amp turned up enough to drive the power tubes will help produce a very musical, singing clean tone. When the amp is working like this, the tone controls define the amp’s dynamic response rather than acting as filters.
What exciting 633 products are coming? I’ve had several requests for a 633 amp-ina-small-box and for a drive pedal. I may combine both and provide something with a bit of a twist. I’m also developing a couple of interfacing gadgets, which may prove to be useful additions to many players’ rigs.
What’s your rig with the Cliff Brown Band? My prototype Drive King head and either a 1x12 open-back cab with a Celestion G12-80 or a 4x10 open-backed cab with G10N-40s. For trio gigs, I have a pedalboard with a Boss OC2 octave down and a couple of delay. If I play a different set with a Hammond or second guitarist, I go straight into the amp with no effects, or use just a drive pedal. Guitars are usually my self-built ‘Tele’ with Fender Nocaster pickups, a gold-top Les Paul with mini humbuckers and a Koreanmade Epiphone Joe Pass archtop. www.633amp.com