Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul - 12/7/10

[Peter Stroud]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Thx BlueDave!
I've been using an 18watt 65 London and 22 Watt Monterey up until recently... now using 65 Tupelo (18watts) and Lil Elvis (12watts) in stereo with Sarah McLachlan.

[Bludave]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Peter do you find it better to have a lot of wattage on stage or is it better to jusyt have good mike placement for a good live sound?

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hey guys, thanks for doing this!

I was wondering if you guys could tell us what might be coming up for 65 Amps in terms of new models maybe next year with the regular line and the new "Pro" line?

Also, since you are both here a tricky question...besides 65 Amps what kind of amps do you guys prefer...if there were no 65 Amps what would you guys use??? New boutique or vintage oldies either way...

[DanBoul]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hey guys.....
Dan.... What do you feel separates your amps from the heard?

After Peter and I living with amps at home, in the studio and on the road for decades, we've learned all the frailties and strengths of all the old amps and we've strived to get rid of the weaknesses and enhance the strenths and combine them into our products with the addition of some 21st century know-how. Thanks!

[Bludave]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

BTW Peter I love your playing.

How much wattage are you using on tour?

[DanBoul]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Great question Joe!

What has helped us the most?

1.Our neurotic determination to make better products!
2. Peter and I's experience and background which is very different that most amp co's founders
3. Over 40 years of road experience between us = real world concerns and desires.
4. Peter's amazing connection inside the industry
5. Good ears :-)

What have we learned and would advise against . . .

1. This stuff costs a lot of money and time to get off the ground.
2. Manufacturing during a recession is not advisable to anyone without a good cushion and a healthy heart.
3. It takes an enormous tolerance for risk.

I hope that comes close to answering . . . I could write pages about all that stuff!

[Peter Stroud]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hey Gear Joneser...wow...lemme think back...

HS... Kustom 4x10 combo, Ampeg VT-40, any Marshall or Orange I could borrow from Keith Roscoe's The Guitar Shop in Greensboro NC
Later years - Gallien Krueger GT300 stacks
Fender red Knob Showman
later in early nineties - VHT Pittbull
mid late nineties went vintage...
Plexi 50 wayy & Dual Showman thru Marshall cabs
Pete Droge, early Sheryl and Henley days...
212 Marshall 50 combo and Super Reverb both heavily modded by me
after that...65's!!!

[Bludave]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hey guys.....
Dan.... What do you feel separates your amps from the heard?

[Peter Stroud]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Thanks for having us Evan! Hey Dan!!!

[Gearjoneser]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hey Dan, this is Joe, the guy who hung out with you and Myles a couple years ago after your open house.

Thanks for agreeing to do this.

My question for Dan….what do you think has helped 65 Amps the most, in terms of making the jump between being a hobbyist amp builder and a growing amp company? What things have you learned that you wish you’d known earlier, and which things would you not advise.

For Pete....do you think you could give us a rundown of all of the main amp rigs you've used over the years, in each band or artist you've played with.....from the time you were a teenager till now?

[Evan Skopp]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hey Dan. You two must be the two most punctual people in rock!

[DanBoul]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hola Duncanites! Dan Boul here!

[Evan Skopp]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hey Peter. Welcome. Glad to have ya.

Who's got the first questions.

[Peter Stroud]

Re: LIVE NOW!!! - Q&A with Peter Stroud with Dan Boul

Hello...Im here

[Evan Skopp]

A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Peter Stroud resides in Atlanta, Georgia, lured by the southern city’s active music scene. Growing up, he listened to bands like The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Faces, and Led Zeppelin, while he copped the riffs of his axe heroes Jeff Beck, Freddie King, Jimi Hendrix and Billy Gibbons.

A firm believer in the “less is more” style of guitar playing, Peter is highly regarded as “a songwriter’s guitarist,” complimenting songs with tasteful hooks, dead on rhythms and memorable solos. Peter gained international prominence in the ‘90s playing with Pete Droge who he met through producer Brendan O’Brien. Their first show was Germany’s Rock am Ring festival. Peter found himself standing in front of 40,000 fans, never having played a note together with Droge. But it must have worked, because over the following three years, Pete Droge & The Sinners recorded two critically acclaimed albums and toured extensively.

It was during this period that Peter met Sheryl Crow. In late 1998, she asked him to join her band in support of her third release, Globe Sessions. This musical relationship has lasted for over eleven years, where he eventually served as Sheryl’s music director. Soon after the conclusion of the Globe Sessions tour, Peter joined Don Henley in 2000 for his Inside Job tour.

Peter remained active touring with Sheryl up until late June 2010. Immediately thereafter and to date, he has taken on guitar duties for Sarah McLachlan’s band, touring in support of her latest release, Illusions Of Bliss.

In addition to his busy touring schedule, Peter is also hard at work on a band and album project intended for release soon. Peter has been interviewed in numerous music industry publications including Vintage Guitar, Premier Guitar and is featured in the July 2010 issue of Guitar Aficionado. His album credits include Pete Droge, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, The Dixie Chicks, Kid Rock, The Wallflowers and Shawn Mullins.

Not content to merely be one of the world’s most in-demand guitar players, Peter is the co-founding partner of 65amps, manufacturer of handmade, boutique tube guitar amplifiers. He started the company in 2003 with longtime friend Dan Boul. Originally the idea was to serve Peter’s personal need for a low-powered amp solution for Sheryl Crow's lower stage volumes. The results were the first 65amps models, loosely patterned on the legendary 18 watt Marshalls.

Joining Peter for this Q&A is Dan Boul. A graduate of Musician's Institute, and a professional guitarist for 12 years, Dan's early career was in Information Technology and Software. Dan applied the same rigor and analysis to amp design that he previously employed in his IT work. Today 65amps offers a variety of guitar and bass amplifier models used by professionals and “pro-sumers.” Dan also does a weekly webcast which has become very popular with tone freaks who draw on Dan's 30 year love affair with guitars and amps. Dan currently does the odd gig with his retro rock band “The Dung Beatles.”


Dan Boul, left, with Peter Stroud

Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Peter Stroud and Dan Boul to the Seymour Duncan User Group Forums!