Friends, clients & cool shit...
Frankie Ballard with THE Rev. Billy F. Gibbons & Billy’s Del Rio...the coolest cats in ANY room!
when Rick Neilsen digs your stuff, prepare to do some custom work! I am honored to have my amps used for 95% of the guitars and a bunch of the bass tracks on CHEAP TRICK’S new record.
Vince Gill…shit! The man. he owns this Bar Fly and a matching Del Rio. in addition to studio duties, both frequently serve as his “Time Jumpers” amps. When designing these, I wasn’t exactly thinking “Western Swing”…I’ll be damned, they kill it!
My old pal TOM BUKOVAC at soundcheck with the great JOE WALSH. great gig! tom has gotten so good, he doesn't even have to fret notes anymore...he just thinks about 'em.
The incomparable Frankie Ballard's pair of touring amps...the only two "EL RIO" models, built for frank & named after his fabulous album of the same name. I really love this cat & his band...they're the shit. go see them!
How did I know that Rick would want a b&W checkerboard Del Rio?
Tom Petersson came in for overdubs with this stuff…was not supposed to be a photo op, but C’MON…too cool.
Tom Petersson dialing in the Fat Basstard at Love Shack
the RRB rolled out another great record and hit the promo circuit, appearing on "the Tonight show", "late night with david letterman", and a bunch of other stuff. Geoff was gracious enough to use (and prominently display) his new del rio on several of these shows.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the back of a bus, willie nelson was tuned in to watch his homies doing their big tv thing. after the broadcast, he called Randy & co. to offer congrats, and find out where he could get one of those amps. a couple days later, I got a call.
Our pal Josh Cross rockin’ this Del Rio in LA for a Kimmel taping with Justin Moore.
Willie with Steven Tyler at farm aid 25 in Milwaukee, 2010
Radney Foster's "Revival" record release show at the exit/in, possibly his first show with that amp. it appears to be hangin' just fine with the hippie's old AC30...no small feat!
Eugene Rice from American Mile (formerly Brothers Collective) with his custom Del Rio combo with reverb & custom cab in "Eugene Green”…the first one!
Willie and Lukas in Dayton, oh.
Willie, Ray Benson, & Mickey at Willie's annual 4th of july picinic in Austin.
this was fun...the "Ebo Booth" at Cedar Creek Recorders in Austin (another favorite of mine!), tracking a new record with Johnny Chops & the Razors, spring '17. we cut the whole thing live in three days, old-school rock&roll style. the Del Rio got a ton of action...way more than I expected. that verb...
this was a picture I sent to late, great echoplex designer mike battle after one of our many long, geeky phone conversations. I had mentioned the amp I was just finishing up for rad, and he wanted to see some pics...he dug it! mike was a great old-school electronics guy who was always happy to share his knowledge and experience with me...I learned a lot, and heard some great stories from "back in the day.”
the "ebo Booth" at dockside studio in Maurice, LA (coolest studio on earth), tracking the RRB's self-titled third album (possibly my favorite!).
radney and I made some really great records (and had some really great times!) with the randy rogers band over the years. RRB guitarist extrordinaire Geoffrey hill and I had a blast getting totally guitar-stupid every time we hit the studio together (see photo...!), bringing in as much cool old stuff as we could possibly use. after one such adventure, geoff got a hankerin' for a del rio of his own. I was happy to build him one, which he put to good use immediately...
Another day at the office…