| Ken Luker Guitar Amp Builder |
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| Ken is a life long musician And an experienced guitarist With a repertoire that spans many genres He's played thousands of gigs And understands music and sound His quest for the right sound And his aptitude for engineering Have driven his passion for the "perfect" amplifier |
For over forty years Ken has played electric guitar. He's worked with hundreds of
musicians and befriended many great and not so great guitar players.
Ken began learning guitar at age 6. He got his first electric guitar in 1965 at age 10.
“My first amp was a Magnatone with an 8” speaker and the Hawaiian grill cloth. My
uncle gave it to me and it sounded great. I had it apart within days and even got
shocked a few times. I found an old Bell 20 watt 6V6 PA head and converted it to a
guitar amp. I used the Magnatone to run a reverb tank and my dad made a combo
amp cabinet.”
By the time Ken was 13 he was working a 1965 red Fender Mustang running a
1961 Blond Fender Showman amp in Portland Oregon in a band called the Boot Hill
Express.
“We played covers from Blues Project, Grand Funk Railroad, West Coast Pop Art
Exp, Savoy Brown, Ventures, Grateful Dead, CTA, Iron Butterfly, Lou Reed and the
Doors. We did a lot of gigs for being so young. That Showman 1-15 was loud and I
played it at full volume on many occasions. Later I traded it away and got a ’63
Fender Pro. My guitar at the time was a 1964 Gibson ES335. The Pro didn’t get
quite the sound I wanted so I traded it for a 1965 Fender Pro Reverb and that, with
a matching 2-10 Tremolux cab under it and a ’59 Vibrolux sitting on top, made that
335 sing. I toured with that rig for many years.”
Since then he's owned repaired and performed with a '67 Super reverb, 1985
Seymour Duncan 100watt convertible, vintage 50watt Marshall, Silvertone 2-12
and 6-10, 1965 Bassman, Polytone Mini Brute, Groove Tubes Solo 45, Crate
Vintage Club 30, 1970 Twin Reverb, 1967 Twin Reverb, Sunn 100s, Sunn 1000s,
Magnatone 2-12, Supro Thunder Bolt, 1964 Tremolux, 1965 Vibrolux, 1966 Deluxe
Reverb, 1965 Deluxe and a Evans JE 150watt combo, to name a few.
He's studied and performed Classic Jazz, Rock, Acoustic Folk, Ethnic Roots, Free
Form, Rock and Roll, Surf, Blues and Hawaiian music. In all this time, there is one
thing he has learned about playing electric guitar; the amp makes all the difference
in your tone!
musicians and befriended many great and not so great guitar players.
Ken began learning guitar at age 6. He got his first electric guitar in 1965 at age 10.
“My first amp was a Magnatone with an 8” speaker and the Hawaiian grill cloth. My
uncle gave it to me and it sounded great. I had it apart within days and even got
shocked a few times. I found an old Bell 20 watt 6V6 PA head and converted it to a
guitar amp. I used the Magnatone to run a reverb tank and my dad made a combo
amp cabinet.”
By the time Ken was 13 he was working a 1965 red Fender Mustang running a
1961 Blond Fender Showman amp in Portland Oregon in a band called the Boot Hill
Express.
“We played covers from Blues Project, Grand Funk Railroad, West Coast Pop Art
Exp, Savoy Brown, Ventures, Grateful Dead, CTA, Iron Butterfly, Lou Reed and the
Doors. We did a lot of gigs for being so young. That Showman 1-15 was loud and I
played it at full volume on many occasions. Later I traded it away and got a ’63
Fender Pro. My guitar at the time was a 1964 Gibson ES335. The Pro didn’t get
quite the sound I wanted so I traded it for a 1965 Fender Pro Reverb and that, with
a matching 2-10 Tremolux cab under it and a ’59 Vibrolux sitting on top, made that
335 sing. I toured with that rig for many years.”
Since then he's owned repaired and performed with a '67 Super reverb, 1985
Seymour Duncan 100watt convertible, vintage 50watt Marshall, Silvertone 2-12
and 6-10, 1965 Bassman, Polytone Mini Brute, Groove Tubes Solo 45, Crate
Vintage Club 30, 1970 Twin Reverb, 1967 Twin Reverb, Sunn 100s, Sunn 1000s,
Magnatone 2-12, Supro Thunder Bolt, 1964 Tremolux, 1965 Vibrolux, 1966 Deluxe
Reverb, 1965 Deluxe and a Evans JE 150watt combo, to name a few.
He's studied and performed Classic Jazz, Rock, Acoustic Folk, Ethnic Roots, Free
Form, Rock and Roll, Surf, Blues and Hawaiian music. In all this time, there is one
thing he has learned about playing electric guitar; the amp makes all the difference
in your tone!
Read On......
| Visit Ken's website at kenluker.com |