blues pearl
- Thread starter newking70
- Start date
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: blues pearl
Here's the story.
Robert Hudson was a power section designer for General Electric back in the 70's. He's an extremely knowledgeable guy when it comes to anything tube amp related. A master at designing and reverse engineering. His specialty was always Fender/Marshall type stuff.
In the 80's, he was Jeff Cooke from Alabama's guitar tech. He started an amp company called Stinger with Cooke. Robert Hudson's weakest point is business. He's incapable of running an amp company by himself. Things got tangled up with his friend, Cooke, and Stinger fell apart. Jeff Cooke no longer cares about Hudson because I think Hudson lost a lot of his money, which was invested.
In the mid 90's, Hudson started Blues Pearl Amp Co. which was a boutique competitor of Victoria and Holland, making mostly blackface and tweed amps. Blues Pearl amps IMO are the best Fender clones out there, and in the mid 90's, I was in a band similar to Black Crowes called The Kinship. I had an endorsement with Blues Pearl, and used a bunch of their amps, and played in their NAMM booth. I wrote many of the harmonycentral reviews you can find. The amps were beautiful in navy blue, white cloth, and white chickenhead knobs. Very cool looking onstage!
Toward the late 90's, Hudson was in over his head and ended up burning a lot of his suppliers and even customers. He owed me $800, and I threatened to sue him until he sent me the amp I'd ordered. Soon afterward, he became a pain pill addict and had a lot of financial problems. I really felt the sorriest for his wife, because she did as much as she could to fix his business problems.
I recently heard a rumor that Robert Hudson was in prison, but have no details at all.
I really want to know what happened from 2003 till now. I'm assuming he had terrible financial problems with lots of people suing him. He may have done something that landed him in trouble.
As for the amps. They're some of the greatest Fender type amps ever made, on par with Victoria, Mission, Tone King, Divided by 13.
Here's the story.
Robert Hudson was a power section designer for General Electric back in the 70's. He's an extremely knowledgeable guy when it comes to anything tube amp related. A master at designing and reverse engineering. His specialty was always Fender/Marshall type stuff.
In the 80's, he was Jeff Cooke from Alabama's guitar tech. He started an amp company called Stinger with Cooke. Robert Hudson's weakest point is business. He's incapable of running an amp company by himself. Things got tangled up with his friend, Cooke, and Stinger fell apart. Jeff Cooke no longer cares about Hudson because I think Hudson lost a lot of his money, which was invested.
In the mid 90's, Hudson started Blues Pearl Amp Co. which was a boutique competitor of Victoria and Holland, making mostly blackface and tweed amps. Blues Pearl amps IMO are the best Fender clones out there, and in the mid 90's, I was in a band similar to Black Crowes called The Kinship. I had an endorsement with Blues Pearl, and used a bunch of their amps, and played in their NAMM booth. I wrote many of the harmonycentral reviews you can find. The amps were beautiful in navy blue, white cloth, and white chickenhead knobs. Very cool looking onstage!
Toward the late 90's, Hudson was in over his head and ended up burning a lot of his suppliers and even customers. He owed me $800, and I threatened to sue him until he sent me the amp I'd ordered. Soon afterward, he became a pain pill addict and had a lot of financial problems. I really felt the sorriest for his wife, because she did as much as she could to fix his business problems.
I recently heard a rumor that Robert Hudson was in prison, but have no details at all.
I really want to know what happened from 2003 till now. I'm assuming he had terrible financial problems with lots of people suing him. He may have done something that landed him in trouble.
As for the amps. They're some of the greatest Fender type amps ever made, on par with Victoria, Mission, Tone King, Divided by 13.
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: blues pearl
It's actually a bummer that I sold off the 4 Blues Pearls I had. Those are amps I would have kept, but I didn't have enough money to keep them AND buy new stuff.
I just started gravitating back toward British inspired amps at the time.
Shreadhead. Used 6L6 or EL-34 and was somewhat like a Dumble
Bluesmaster. 2 6L6 and was sort of like a Vibroking in head version. 3 knob reverb.
Texas Tornado combo. The best Deluxe Reverb ever made. 3 knob reverb.
Brittone 50. A 68 Plexi clone. I really wish I had that one back, along with the Shreadhead.
It's actually a bummer that I sold off the 4 Blues Pearls I had. Those are amps I would have kept, but I didn't have enough money to keep them AND buy new stuff.
I just started gravitating back toward British inspired amps at the time.
Shreadhead. Used 6L6 or EL-34 and was somewhat like a Dumble
Bluesmaster. 2 6L6 and was sort of like a Vibroking in head version. 3 knob reverb.
Texas Tornado combo. The best Deluxe Reverb ever made. 3 knob reverb.
Brittone 50. A 68 Plexi clone. I really wish I had that one back, along with the Shreadhead.
Fresh_Start
New member
Re: blues pearl
GJ - you don't have schematics for any of those amps, especially the "Texas Tornado", do you?
Chip
GJ - you don't have schematics for any of those amps, especially the "Texas Tornado", do you?
Chip
Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Re: blues pearl
No, I don't have anything except a brochure and my endorsement contract. It was basically a cost deal, where I way paying around $650 for amps that were normally around $1400.
I never had any schematics, but his amps were very stripped down and basic. He was a purist to the core. I used to love talking tone with the guy, and he would even talk about how reverb circuits were a tone-sucker and he hated adding any bells/whistles to amps because he knew that tube amps were best when left extremely simple.
On some of the Blues Pearls, there were 2 inputs. One that would bypass any reverb or FX loop, and one that would include them. As a power section designer for GE, he knew that tube amps should be nothing but pure signal path. He'd actually tell me that a tube amp shouldn't have anything but pure signal path. If I even brought up features, he'd tell me I'm robbing my tone. If I even said the word "Mesa" he'd scream "that's gargabe.....F'in garbage amps.......are you tonedeaf???"
I became a tube snob because of him, and I thank him for it! LOL
No matter what problems Robert Hudson has gotten himself into, I fully respect the man. He's one of the greatest amp builders of all time. I used to love talking to him. Any problems he's had in life truly make me sad. He was the real deal.
No, I don't have anything except a brochure and my endorsement contract. It was basically a cost deal, where I way paying around $650 for amps that were normally around $1400.
I never had any schematics, but his amps were very stripped down and basic. He was a purist to the core. I used to love talking tone with the guy, and he would even talk about how reverb circuits were a tone-sucker and he hated adding any bells/whistles to amps because he knew that tube amps were best when left extremely simple.
On some of the Blues Pearls, there were 2 inputs. One that would bypass any reverb or FX loop, and one that would include them. As a power section designer for GE, he knew that tube amps should be nothing but pure signal path. He'd actually tell me that a tube amp shouldn't have anything but pure signal path. If I even brought up features, he'd tell me I'm robbing my tone. If I even said the word "Mesa" he'd scream "that's gargabe.....F'in garbage amps.......are you tonedeaf???"
I became a tube snob because of him, and I thank him for it! LOL
No matter what problems Robert Hudson has gotten himself into, I fully respect the man. He's one of the greatest amp builders of all time. I used to love talking to him. Any problems he's had in life truly make me sad. He was the real deal.
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Hot _Grits
Buttery Toneologist
Re: blues pearl
Cool stories. I remember a cowhide covered model being reviewed very favourably by Guitar Player in a boutique shoot out sometime in the 90s...
Cool stories. I remember a cowhide covered model being reviewed very favourably by Guitar Player in a boutique shoot out sometime in the 90s...
louthunder
New member
Re: blues pearl
I don't have any first hand stories about the man himself, but I did used to own a Texas Tornado w/ an alnico Weber in it. ( 12") A great amp! Like someone said," the greatest Deluxe Reverb ever built" It had the best reverb I ever heard.... 3 knobs. I've heard srories of Robert getting into financial trouble and doing some bad things ( like fixing someones amp and ending up selling it out from under him etc. ) It is too bad, bacause I do believe the man was one of the true amp building genius's of all time!
I don't have any first hand stories about the man himself, but I did used to own a Texas Tornado w/ an alnico Weber in it. ( 12") A great amp! Like someone said," the greatest Deluxe Reverb ever built" It had the best reverb I ever heard.... 3 knobs. I've heard srories of Robert getting into financial trouble and doing some bad things ( like fixing someones amp and ending up selling it out from under him etc. ) It is too bad, bacause I do believe the man was one of the true amp building genius's of all time!
