Lockard 187

[myaudiodna]

Anybody know anything about these amps? I've never seen one before but I'm very intrigued by the sound in a YouTube video and his website seems to blame there are some big names using this little guy in the studio. Anything anyone knows would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[cinimod8791]

You couldn't pay me to buy one, but that's not because of the amp. It's because the guy that builds them, or someone that works for him, didn't like my opinion about them vs. other low watt amps. I didn't knock the amp, I just expressed how I liked one over the other. Somehow he found my cell # and began calling, harrasing, and threatening me. So much so that I considered contacting the authorities. I also contacted the admins here on TGP and let them know what was going on. So, ya, I'll pass.

He also called the Music Shop where I demo'd the amp and harrased them, and he found my lead singers# somehow and harrased him about me, too.

It got effing STUPID.

Amp sounded great by the way, a little over hyped, but great.

[Sirloin]

You couldn't pay me to buy one, but that's not because of the amp. It's because the guy that builds them didn't like my opinion about them vs. other low watt amps. Somehow he found my home telephone # and began calling, harrasing, and threatening me. So much so that I considered contacting the authorities. I also contacted the admins here on TGP and let them know what was going on. So, ya, I'll pass.

Amp sounded great by the way, a little over hyped, but great.

scary story based on the name of the amp "1-8-7".

From Wikipedia:

"187 is a slang term for the crime of murder, it refers to Section 187 of the California Penal Code (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Penal_Code), which defines the crime of murder. The number is commonly pronounced by reading the digits separately as "one-eight-seven", or "one-eighty-seven", rather than "one hundred eighty-seven". The number "187" is reportedly used by gangs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang) throughout the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) as a synonym for murder; this usage has been reported as far away as Florida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida)[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/187_(slang)#cite_note-0) and Wisconsin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/187_(slang)#cite_note-1)"

[myaudiodna]

Yikes! Crazy story! Looks like I'll be keeping my opinions to myself!

The 187 murder reference makes sense since the actual company is called Murder By Tone

[myaudiodna]

Anybody else have any info?

[fusionbear]

I had one for a few weeks with the Lockard deep cab. Not my cup o' tea...
Compressed too easily and mushed out at 75% of max volume. Not my style at all. I like direct articulate amps with plenty of headroom...

YMMV...

[lockard187]

Hello everyone out there in tone land.. This is Eric Lockard here to introduce myself and address some issues associated with Lockard Amplification and Murder By Tone in general.There seems to be some misunderstandings ,misconceptions and flat out controversary surrounding me as well as my product ....Before we proceed though, here is a little background about myself..I'll try to do this without sounding to pompous.....I ve been professionally producing in the music buisness for 20 years ...I've produced all sorts of acts both live/studio in ALL genres of music, for the major labels at that time..I have produced shows that have received world wide press......I am also a recording/live mix engineer.....Ive owned 3 recording studios and 2 rehearsal studios ...My flagship studio Gargoyles Rehearsal saw 15 years of the biggest names during the World Wide domination that the Orange County music scene brought in the 90s and early 2000s...
I worked A/R for the largest independent record label of the time ..Going out to clubs to find and sign acts..I also four walled clubs for showcasing notable acts for getting them signed to the major booking agents of the time........I am also published in numerous trade publications in almost every aspect of this buisness, from, A/R to Management to the production and manufacture of guitars,amplifiers,recording equiptment to designing and building studios both live and recording/post production houses as well as my designs in the luxury tour bus market...Designing and redesigning EVERYTHING in the music buisness is my buisness .. ..........I love music and love everything about the creative aspects the music buisness has to offer.....For this reason I find it a need to spend my time and money keeping this art alive..I am also a musician .Playing in bands and being part of the Early days of the Punk Rock scene in Los Angeles and Orange County in the early eighties all the way up till present day..
As a guitar player i went through years and countless amplifiers looking for the HOLIEST of TONES....I literally wanted to kill myself from frustration.that I could NEVER find the tone I personally wanted or that moved me sonically enough to want to write or even play guitar for that matter.......Ive owned ALMOST every kind of guitar and ALL the pedals you can name....Nothing moved me anymore..I really wanted to give up playing
.For this reason I started devolping what i believe to be the HOLIEST OF ALL TONES. .....Around this same time my then 8 year old son Chris wanted to be involved with helping build amps...So we started the company together and he helped build an amp for Jake E. Lee..Our first build...Jake told us "i have a whole room full of amps that wont do what the Lockard will do.." Jake encouraged us to continue to build and posted a picture my son Chris took of him and put it on his website..(.Google Jake E. Lee/Lockard to see the picture).....At that time we had a name for the amp (Lockard) , but didnt have a model name or number or a company name for that matter....Everyone who heard or played the amp said it had a" Killer Tone" or that I was" Killing them with my tone"....So Murder By Tone was born..And with 187 being the penal code in california for murder to support the name ..We finally had our model number , The Lockard 187 was born......Its All in Fun However.....Nothing to be scared of...I promise.....
Lockard amps are manufactured in Orange County California .We are a family buisness..Father and son buisness who receive help of other knowledgable family members adding up to three generations of audio understanding.....People have mistaken us from being from the UK ( I believe since we supplied amplifiers for JJ Guitars for NAMM 2010.JJ Guitars is a UK based company and there is a video supporting this on the internet).......They make some VERY nice instruments....You should check them out...
Now on to the issue and claim made by a felllow forum user.......The fact ANYONE can post ANYTHING for the world to read and believe WITHOUT ANY JUSTIFICATION or UNDERSTANDING of the PRODUCT or TRUTH or verification of their so called facts..ABSOLUTELTY NO RESPONSIBILITY or ACCOUNTABILITY .....I am ALL for FREEDOM OF SPEECH ....But ONLY if it is based on TRUTH and WITHOUT ERROR.... Every story has 2 sides...We heard his side, now here is the part of the story he didnt tell you, or just plain left out....
I sent a Lockard amplifier head to a music store in New Mexico ...I sent ONLY the head and not the Lockard 2 x 12 32 ohm cab.....The cab was NOT finished at the time ......Around this time the forum user comes into the music store and notices the Lockard amp..He had asked the owner of the shop to carry his buddies amp line called EAST in the recent week or so prior...But the owner DID NOT like the sound of the EAST so he refused.....The guy then heard the Lockard 187 head plugged into a marshall 4 x 12 cabinent that the store owner was playing a strat through, Which by the way , i would like to add that the owner told me point blank the Lockard sounded like Jimi Hendrix's tone " ... ...Now for him to compare an amplifier that is complete ( Head and Cab or Combo) against a mix matched pair (Lockard head /Marshall cab) is NOT what a manufacture would call proper and fair test.....The Lockard 187 has its proper sonic image at 32 ohms.The test should have been done with the proper Lockard 32 ohm cabinent, tuned and sonically correct for the design....By the way, the Lockard 2x12 32 ohm load is a first in amplification history.32 ohm yields a FANTASTIC sonic image.NO OTHER COMPANY HAS THIS MATH.....So after he heard the amp incorrectly tested, he went home and gave his review....
Because our family owned company is very young and has little press, i routinely check to see the results of our sales and marketing...And it was at this time i found this forum stating how he heard the Lockard and that the EAST amplifier ate it up tonally...I contacted the store to see if the owner knew this person..he said he did and would contact him to let him know he should not have done a review on an improperly tested amp...After 2 days i did not hear anything from the store owner..So i decided to find and contact him myself....I got his name and band name under his contact info on the forum ..I used the same tactic to find him as i would if i were looking for a band to sign.(.I am sure he wouldnt have been so mad if i were contatcting him for a record deal)..I looked up his band on myspace and contacted the bands leader..I asked for him to leave him a message to call me ,at that point his fellow band member gave me his direct number....I then called him and explained my position in regards to his forum review and that it was bringing harm to our product and was not correct since the amp was incorrectly tested....I asked him nicely to remove the review until the Lockard 2 x 12 cab arrived at the shop for proper and FAIR review by him..He became BALLISTIC almost instantly.
This is the part of the story the guy left out...Hes biased towards my product because his friend owns an amp company too, EAST AMPLIFICATION.I dont have a problem with a friend hyping a friends company..But to do it like that is just WRONG......As i said before.I am ALL for Freedom of Speech and personal Opinions as long as they are based on truth and free of error....He also claims that i called the music shop and harrassed the owner...THATS ALSO ERROR..That Flatly didnt happen.........Now ..He continues to talk about me personally instead of the product, which i would like to add he called "Great ......." I will take what he said one step further....There is NO manufactured amplifier made in this world that beats the Lockard 187 aesthetically or sonically.My last client literally cried after hearing,playing and then purchasing the Lockard 187...He said he had been looking for this tone his WHOLE playing career..Yes he Cried...When is the last time you saw a grown man cry over his tone ??..Ive made a few men cry with the Lockard......... So .Here is the challenge.....I will put 25 thousand dollars (to their favorite charity) up against ANY production amplifier that thinks it would be chosen from a panel of 10 random people.Based on looks,function and tone as well as build quality.NO FOOTPEDALS ALLOWED or REVERB..The amp must stand on its own merit without the aide of any outside effect.Oh and one more thing...The amp has to do ALL this under 103 db.. We dont want anyone to mistake your VERY LOUD AMP filling the room up with VOLUME MISTAKEN FOR TONE ...Ive offered this to many companys..NO ONE YET HAS TAKEN ME UP ON THIS OFFER
My motto..." PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE THE TONE IS" Nothing Looks or Sounds like a Lockard...Its the most unique amplifier ever built.We have clients in ALL genres of music who use this amp and swear by its tone, I will be releasing an updated list of the Tone Junkies who love our flavor ....Listen for yourself...Oh and by the way You can always contact me at lockard187@gmail.com and check our website at www.murderbytone.com (http://www.murderbytone.com)
Hope this helps clarify things and keep the music alive NO MATTER WHO THE HATERS ARE..Peace