We are here with Tris owner of www.songworks.com builder of products such as the Little Lanilei amps and reverb pedal.
MGS - First Tris thanks for taking the time to speak with us.
Tris - No problem, I love to talk about this stuff.
MGS - How did you get started into electronics and at what age?
Tris - first time I tried anything electronic was age 11, I made my own guitar amp from an old reel to reel.
Later when I went to high school I spent all my time in the electronics lab. I kept telling my teacher all the ideas I had for amplifiers and he thought I was nuts. I was looking for that crazy overdrive sound I was hearing on records. He (my teacher) couldn’t seem to understand why would any one would want distortion in an amp. He was an old guy so his ideas where to make it as clean as possible. The “variac” came in mighty handy to experiment with in those days .I learned a lot about tube theory from him. They don’t even have those classes anymore in schools it’s a shame. From there I went to college and entered into the Southern California electronics boom, and played in bands at night.
MGS - Did you ever gig professionally or has the focus always been with electronic tinkering?
Tris -Yes, I was in many bands in the 80’s’ we played all the usually rock clubs in LA and Orange County, the most successful band was called STRIKER we had a record out and got a lot of air play on the old the KMET, and KLOS stations in LA.
MGS - What was your first succesful musical electronic build?
Tris -In about 1976 Frampton Comes Alive came out, I started building talk boxes for the local music store, I was only13. I didn’t sell many but it was fun.
MGS - Where did you get the idea for the Little Lanilei ? Inspirations?
Tris - The idea for the amp came from the Fender super champ, I love the portability of the amp. My thought was to make a very powerful little amp that would be able to fine its way in the studio or take it right to the gig. The circuit design was all the things rolled into one that I had learned from modifying Marshalls and Fenders. With the Lanilei 3350LT you can play at whisper bedroom levels or take it right to a gig, its only 8” x8” x7” and 10lbs. Most people’s jaws drop when they hear it. Its all hand made from top to bottom. Total power tube type over drive is the secret. Its killer!! It can be as quite as a church mouse or roars like a lion. You can get cranked amp over drive crunch at ANY volume.
MGS - The embroidery on the amps is beautiful. Can you tell us about it?
Tris-Yes, Darcey Stubblefield , a good friend of mine is an artist, we had the name but we needed the image. She gave a sketch to me and I was sold. So happened she had an embroidery machine in her house too. Her husband James did the original wood work on the amps..
The first ones made have little funny messages written by Darcey on them I don’t know if any body has ever look to see this. It’s on the speaker baffle. It’s hilarious stuff. If you have an old one check it out.
MGS - Why would anyone want to buy an all tube amp with a 6 and a half inch speaker? I guess im asking this because i haven’t tried one yet and the idea definitely interests me. Too many years or hauling half stacks.
Tris -Right! I thought the challenge of all would be to make something very small and capable of taking it from the studio/bedroom right to a gig. The little amp has so much power you can drive up to (2) 4x12 cabinets at stage volume, think of it as a amp head, but it has this incredible speaker built inside too. It really can replace your heavy all tube monster amp. I have an old Marshall 50 watt and never use it. What gig can’t be done with the internal 6” speaker can absolutely be done just by talking another cab with you. You are still way ahead of the game for sure.
MGS - Have the amps been used on any popular recordings or any high profile players buy them?
Tris -I hear story’s all the time, I will get a call from people telling me the amps have been used on everything from major motion pictures to television shows, in all country’s too. I don’t have the permission to tell. Most top players have arrangements worked out with the major amp builders so they cant promote mine, I can tell you who owns them though. See my web site for the list of a few.
Our customers are the common players like you and I to the pros:
Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam), Randy Bachman , Peter Frampton, Jan Akkerman, Pete Townsend, ZZ Top , Oasis, Dave Meneketti (Y&T), Barry Goudreau, Joe Perry, LIVE, David Gilmour,just to name a few.... these amps tour the world on the tour bus (boats) and airplanes. These players trust our bulletproof design and construction.
MGS - Tell us all about this reverb pedal youve designed.
Tris -I made this as a joke, I took it to the NAMM some years ago and all these trade show people said it was really cool. The whole idea of a spring tank in a foot pedal seemed stupid. I tweaked the circuit to assure the best spring tone that would not be sensitive to a lot of vibration, it took awhile but the end result really hit the mark. I have sold 100’s of these. Another manufacture tried to copy me but theirs fell short, I kind of felt good about that. I need every sale I can get. I am a small mom and pop shop every sale means diapers on my kids butts and food on the table.
MGS - Looking your site over i noticed the rotating speaker cab. Thats got to sound cool! Please tell us about it if you will.
Tris -Yes!! A lot of the stuff I build is because I wanted one too. The Rotary Wave was no exception. I never liked the sound of chorus pedals so the best solution was to create the Doppler effect. The Rotary Wave does this by simply spinning a cone above the built in Jenson C10Q speaker. It really sounds amazing. Once you have had one of these you cant live without it. Also, it only ways 15llbs (12”x12”x18”) you can get the LESLIE warble perfectly too.
The speed can be anything from a slow crawl to a fast spin and comes with a foot switch to switch between any two settings, its simple but very effective.
MGS - Have you had folks report back that they use the amps live?
Tris - All the time, you can gig any where with the Super 50 or the 3350LT, I tell everybody the same thing. Buy the 3350LT and get the 10” Rotary Wave to go with it and you are done.
You can play anywhere with this set up, the guys with the big amps wont no what hit’em!
All this together weighs less than 25 lbs.
MGS - You seem like you have a great sense of humor. Any funny stories from your years in the music biz?
Tris -Well I’m absolutely nuts so look out!! Just kidding……funny story???…hm…ok.
The first time I met Peter Frampton I was invited to bring up the amp (3350LT) and Rotary Wave so he could try them out. I met up with his tech Mark early. We set the tuff up on the stage on top of his Marshall cabs. When Peter showed up he took one look and said wow this is cool lets plug in! After about one minute of playing he looked at me and said “ what do I need all this other stuff for” True story. Add a mic in front of this stuff and you can play the Forum for sure.
MGS - What has been the highlight of your career?
Tris -I’m still waiting, I think when I hear from Paul McCartney that would do it
Although knowing that Joe Perry and Steven Tyler’s are shipping this month is pretty frickin cool!!
I have to pinch myself sometimes. (Yes that was name dropping folks, sorry bout that )
MGS- Ok is open mic time. Any specials currently from Songworks? Special thanks? Parting words? Let er rip.
Tris -Well, just this, there are not very many people out there trying to make a go of building hand made gear. Those of us in the boutique amp/pedal businesses, take this very seriously, I know I do. I spend long hours building products and helping customers. I can speak for myself that I can’t sleep if I have an unhappy customer, I will try everything to insure their respect and happiness. Lead time are dictated by our full time jobs and families. But we always come though!
These products take time to get but they are ALWAYS worth the wait.
Support your Local Tube Amp Maker!!!!!
MGS -Well Tris thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it and it was great fun.
Tris - You bet!! Hey want to buy an amp? :>
