Stu-Daddy amplification

[Kmaz]

Not alot of info out there on Stu-Daddy, so I'm wondering if there are any owners or players who have experienced Stu-Daddy's tweed amp builds? The Deluxe tweed in particular.

Thank you!

[riker4208]

He's the dude that does the ebay deluxe reverb mods?

[Kmaz]

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's him. He builds tweeds as well, so I'm hoping to hear from others who have experienced his work.

[frets]

Hey everyone,

I have heard and played Stu's amps many times .Stu builds all his own cabinets with the correct round overs and does all the covering from the blkface/tweed to the marshalls with the beading and every one ive seen is perfect.Let me also say this about Stu daddy Hopkins .He is a craftsman at everything he does including gutting and rebuilding his home .
Let me get back to the amps he builds.I heard the BF vibroverb at the Detroit guitar show and a major amp builder who was at the show was playing on the v-verb and said it was the best sounding bf vibroverbs he has ever heard , it had a real 15in jbl in it.His makeover delx reissues and made from scatch bfdr are sweet .He built one with chann 1 voiced tweed sounding like marshall and chann 2 stock ,what a useable amp.His marshall plexi 50 and 100 are second to none in the industry. I have heard people ask how he has such resonable prices and i have told him he could easily raise his prices compared to what clark ,victoria and other builders charge.I heard stu amps side by side with both vics and clarks ,hands down the s-daddy won,you just have to hear the note bloom on stu's amps .
he built a trainwreck clone that i just love and and has just about tweaked it to perfection and the merc mag trannies he had built to his specs sound so much better than the other ones which i think were hayboers .I cannot keep up with him as every time i see him he has something new that he is doing .I think that he just has great ears in that he is a fine guitar player in his own and knows what to listen for .I play blues ,classic rock and country ala tele wacker and i find all his amps appeal to me and what i do ,it would be hard to select favs here but i would say the trainwreck ,which by the way is not that loud as the original trwrecks were not that loud,the plexi 50 ,the dr with the tweed chan 1 bf chann 2 ,the tweeds with the added 3 knob reverb he adds on especially the bassman and deluxe tweeds oh, and he is making a 30 watt with i think el84 which sound like matchless /vox i heard the prototype of that .Well that just about includes about all of them .One more thing check out stu's strats if you see him at one of the shows ,he has built 3 strats and a bass and all are like on par with any custom built guitars . i asked him if he would build me a tele and maybe eventually he can ,one thing i know his price would be alot cheaper cause he does all the finish work himself incl the spraying.Iguess i could go on and on and tell you About all my bf fenders and such and thank stu for taking his time to fix my amps when they need it but when you meet someone with special skills you need to tell people about it and stu is that type of person .Give his amps a try you wont regret it .
He built 2 bfdr for johnny lang even bill lawrence ordered one .I hope this helps .

Frets

[Kmaz]

frets, thanks for posting this. There's not alot out there on this guy and it's encouraging to hear such good stuff.

[Topcat]

I had Stu pop off the back of his high powered Tweed Twin at he recent Michigan guitar show and I can tell you that his wiring/guts of those amps are outstanding. A thing of beauty in there. I'd buy one if I didn't own a bunch of the originals.

Terry

[The Pup]

Hey everyone,

I have heard and played Stu's amps many times .Stu builds all his own cabinets with the correct round overs and does all the covering from the blkface/tweed to the marshalls with the beading and every one ive seen is perfect.Let me also say this about Stu daddy Hopkins .He is a craftsman at everything he does including gutting and rebuilding his home .
Let me get back to the amps he builds.I heard the BF vibroverb at the Detroit guitar show and a major amp builder who was at the show was playing on the v-verb and said it was the best sounding bf vibroverbs he has ever heard , it had a real 15in jbl in it.His makeover delx reissues and made from scatch bfdr are sweet .He built one with chann 1 voiced tweed sounding like marshall and chann 2 stock ,what a useable amp.His marshall plexi 50 and 100 are second to none in the industry. I have heard people ask how he has such resonable prices and i have told him he could easily raise his prices compared to what clark ,victoria and other builders charge.I heard stu amps side by side with both vics and clarks ,hands down the s-daddy won,you just have to hear the note bloom on stu's amps .
he built a trainwreck clone that i just love and and has just about tweaked it to perfection and the merc mag trannies he had built to his specs sound so much better than the other ones which i think were hayboers .I cannot keep up with him as every time i see him he has something new that he is doing .I think that he just has great ears in that he is a fine guitar player in his own and knows what to listen for .I play blues ,classic rock and country ala tele wacker and i find all his amps appeal to me and what i do ,it would be hard to select favs here but i would say the trainwreck ,which by the way is not that loud as the original trwrecks were not that loud,the plexi 50 ,the dr with the tweed chan 1 bf chann 2 ,the tweeds with the added 3 knob reverb he adds on especially the bassman and deluxe tweeds oh, and he is making a 30 watt with i think el84 which sound like matchless /vox i heard the prototype of that .Well that just about includes about all of them .One more thing check out stu's strats if you see him at one of the shows ,he has built 3 strats and a bass and all are like on par with any custom built guitars . i asked him if he would build me a tele and maybe eventually he can ,one thing i know his price would be alot cheaper cause he does all the finish work himself incl the spraying.Iguess i could go on and on and tell you About all my bf fenders and such and thank stu for taking his time to fix my amps when they need it but when you meet someone with special skills you need to tell people about it and stu is that type of person .Give his amps a try you wont regret it .
He built 2 bfdr for johnny lang even bill lawrence ordered one .I hope this helps .

Frets

http://www.alephconsulting.org/consult/old-site/news_images/enter_Key01.jpg

[Kmaz]

I'm thinking I might go for a Stu-Daddy tweed Deluxe with reverb.

[riker4208]

I talked to the guy on the phone. Totally knows his stuff. A bit too much of a SRV freak, but I don't hold that against him (I just don't use that as a bench mark). The guys wiring is as artful as it is though-out. If I hadn't found a silverface deluxe for cheap I might have considered using him.

[Kmaz]

bump

[Kmaz]

I ordered the Stu-Daddy this morning. Went with the '59 tweed Deluxe, Celestion Blue, and 3-knob reverb.

[frets]

drooling!
wow with a blue and verb that is going to be cool .i love blues and what a great combo.let us know

Frets

[Relicula]

I have owned a tweed pro built by Stu, top notch parts, exquisite workmanship, and he is a totally cool guy. Gets it right for you no matter what, and knows his stuff.

[fish78]

LinK? The google gods are not playing nice with me tonight...

[fast ricky love]

His web address isn't working...

[Kmaz]

I can't get there either. Was working earlier today, though. I hope the build works out as well. It was Stu-Daddy or Clark, and I chose Stu. :)

[newking70]

his name on ebay is http://pics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/s.gifbiasedmullard (http://myworld.ebay.com/biasedmullard/).

[Kmaz]

His site is back up this morning.

[Wayne]

i found the site, but i can't get it to load :(

www.stu-daddyamps.com (http://www.stu-daddyamps.com)

Try this one:

http://www.stu-daddyamps.com/servlet/StoreFront

[devilrob1979]

Try this one:

http://www.stu-daddyamps.com/servlet/StoreFront

Great prices on head and combo cabs too!

[ScioBro]

Since I'm in MI and he's in MI, I been interested more than usual.

Liked what I read about his DRRI makeovers via auction on ebay.

Went to the Det Guit Show. Saw and played the 57 hi powered twin.
Wow, aged laquer on tweed was superb. He had a t. wreck and a M. HC-30 clone and sumpin' else too.

Sold an item at the show and emboldened by the fresh cash in pocket, I ordered a BFDR from Stuart.
It'll be tweed deluxe-ish on the RH channel and stock on the LH channel. RH and LH channels will be in phase (jumpering). RH channel will go thru reverb and tremelo also. MM Fat output and power trannies. MM all the way. Stu's pine finger-jointed cab with stock black tolex and aged grull cloth. Not sure where he'll pickup the chassis and faceplate.
Decided to go with a C. Rex spkr (I've got a broken in one). At 50W rating, the C.Rex seemed to be a better bet than a G12H30. Weber recommended his 65 watt ceramic (based on me saying I like G12H30s), but I wondered about the 22 watt amp pushing a 65 watt speaker.

Couple more weeks. < fidgety impatience>

I thought about other coverings for the cab...brown tolex....laquered tweed...but stock with the basic black.

[gsf]

This guy looks good - thanks for the heads-up.

[Kmaz]

He does look good, eh? I've gotten a good feeling about him through my transaction as well. My little rockin' tweed is going to say Stu-Daddy.com on it. :)

Thanks for letting us know about him, mad dog.

[riker4208]

Could you a/b the different channel voices. For instance use the tweed voice for leads and the reverb side for rhythm?

[ScioBro]

Yes Riker4208.

1) DR ch1 and ch2 are out of phase in stock form. So you can't jumper them. But I think you could use and a/b pedal to switch, but they'd sound the same cept for reverb and trem.

2) Stu-Daddy's neat trick of having the LH be tweed and in-phase with the RH channel allows jumpering AND you can also toggle back'n'forth with an a/b pedal...thats what I plan to do with mine.

I played a converted DRRI he had at his shop this week. Not quite a from scratch DR build but it had the chassis set-up as noted above. The tweed RH channels sounded great. This combo had an old P12N in it.

[Kmaz]

Got an email this morning from Stu that he is closing in on my tweed Deluxe clone. Should be ready early next week.

'59 tweed Deluxe with Celestion Blue and 3-knob reverb.

[riker4208]

Anyone that's played one of his deluxes post some reviews if you get a chance.

Let us know how it sounds KMAZ>

[Kmaz]

That I will, riker.

[Kmaz]

Picked up the Stu-Daddy Deluxe yesterday, and I must say it is an awesome little amp. 15 watts with a Celestion Blue and onboard reverb which I find to be a nice touch. Warm and clear with beautiful tone at low volume and that classic tweed gain when you crank it up. Again, the option of reverb really adds to the joy of playing this amp for me.

I think someone mentioned earlier that Stu would "talk your head off," well can't agree more on that. We were there for 3 hours and covered alot of different topics with Stu doing the brunt of it.

A good time, though, and I do love the amp. Stu even engraved my name on the inside of the top back panel which was a nice surprise.

A real funny guy, too. I will highly recommend him and his products for sure.

[Kmaz]

Btw, he has built for Johnny Lang (as mentioned earlier) and has also built a couple of tweed Deluxe amps for G.E. Smith as well.

[Kmaz]

I have owned my Stu-Daddy '59 tweed Deluxe replica for about a month now and am very happy with it. One of my top purchases ever, I must say.

This little amp rocks and is a joy to play with a Strat, Tele and a Les Paul. I really enjoy my R8 through it. The onboard reverb certainly caps (no pun) it off, IMO.

I am now in the camp where I feel everyone should know the happiness of wailing through a tweed Deluxe amp.

Should you ever decide to try a Deluxe tweed with reverb, or no reverb, check into Stu-Daddy Amplification. I was looking into a Clark tweed Deluxe with reverb and then found out (here!) about Stu-Daddy and am very glad that I did. Got a wonderful sounding tweed and saved $1000 + in the process!

Any other owners?

[Vegas Bob]

I have a Stu-Daddy JTM45. Amazing build. Point to point impeccable solder job as neat a layout as they come. Sound quality is astounding. I got mine used. Stu made it to the original owners specs so it's tuned for EL 34's. I swapped out the 12AX7's for some old Telefunken's and the sound is staggering. Best amp I've ever owned.

Also had a great conversation with Stu...felt like I've known him for years. He definitely knows his craft.

[Kmaz]

Vegas, mine is very neat as well. He even engraved info inside the top back panel, my name etc...

He also mentioned that I was the first to pick the amp up by its handle. It was a virgin handle!

Based on my experience, I'd purchase from him again.

[ScioBro]

The plan is to pick up my BFDR (+) build Saturday.
Played through the finished chassis this week.
Sounds great!
Cabinet with thick tolex looks awesome. Wiring layout was superb.
MM trannies

Added features:
ch 1 & 2 in phase
ch 1 also goes through reverb / vibrato-tremelo
ch 1 has pull pot treble boost (a Johnny Lang thing)
ch 1 is voiced as tweed deluxe
master volume (knob on front...using up a chassis hole for either ch1 or ch2 #2 input jack)(only visible clue that something is different about this "BFDR")

C. rex speaker.(broken in and previously used in my DRRI.....anybody want to buy a DRRI?)
...starting out with a pair of Tung Sol 6V6 re-issues.

The attention to detail and reasonable prices should be bringing this guy a ton of business.
he says his tweed builds are his #1 requested item these days.
I'm gonna have him do some TLC on a 71 Super Reverb I have (including new cab/baffle board)

Can't wait for Saturday.
I'll report out and try to post pics too.

[Kmaz]

Yes bluesowl, let us know about the amp and your visit. Also if Stu had any interesting builds on the go?

[Vegas Bob]

Couldn't take it anymore...
Ordered a Trainwreck clone from Stu.
Now I'm patiently drooling everyday.
I love talking to Stu. He's hilarious and serious at the same time.
By the time I'm done I'll probably own all of the amps he makes.

[Kmaz]

Just checkin' in for a great amp builder from Warren, Michigan. My Stu-Daddy tweed Deluxe replica is one awesome amplifier.

Wonderful tones no matter how I use it!

www.stu-daddyamps.com (http://www.stu-daddyamps.com)

[ScioBro]

The DR is crankin'...sounds better & better
www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-central-station/123191-stu-daddy-amps-bfdr-build.html

[bbigsby]

Checked his site and he is no longer building amps. I wonder was it too much competition or to many queries from tire kickers.

[Carmen Ghia Pet]

Too bad, I was planning on buying an amp from him in a month or two.

[BDUNN]

I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned that he was going to take the summer off and he was not going to take anymore orders until he returned. I think he is just taking a break.

[BluesLou]

Check the link below for a previous post about Stu-Daddy Amps.

I have his Deluxe Reverb Clone and his Over Drive Special.

His work is meticulous. As others have said his builds are a work of art, cabinets, wiring, soldering everything.
A great guy to deal with. I also believe he is one of these people that have great ears and the amps I have at least show that to me.
His website isn't great, doesn't do his stuff justice. You are best just calling and talking to him.

He doesn't advertise and almost everything is word of mouth and he is busy. His shop and home are as meticulous as his craftsmanship.

Enjoy your Stu-Daddy amps guys. I sure love mine.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=855090

[Carmen Ghia Pet]

I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned that he was going to take the summer off and he was not going to take anymore orders until he returned. I think he is just taking a break.


That's good news!