Gand Music & Sound in Northfield IL has teamed up with Red Plate Amps of Phoenix AZ to produce the Red Lite amplifier for professional guitarists. The grab and go amp will be sold exclusively by Gand Music & Sound in their retail showroom and online.

The compact amp measures 17" x 17" x 8" and weighs 32lbs. The concept is to give pro players an amp with the tones they need, in a small enough package to be carried in one hand along with a guitar in the other, and walk several blocks to the gig.
The circuit design is based on the legendary Deluxe amp, which is favored by players like Neal Young, Stephen Stills, and Mark Knopfler to name just a few. Gary Gand, president, said: "My go-to amp has always been a Deluxe in any of its forms from tweed, to brown, to black faced. Henry Heistand at Red Plate and I wanted to make the best sounding dual 6V6 18 watt amp on the planet."

Leaving off the often-unused channel one of the standard Deluxe allows the Red Lite to come in a smaller package while still retaining the popular single 12" ceramic magnet V30 style speaker configuration.

The amp includes improvements on the original tone circuitry to enhance the tonal character and provide more flexibility found on many premium boutique amps of today. Features included, but not found on the original Deluxe are:

• Three position Bright switch
• Midrange tone control 
• Presence control with click OFF bypass position 
• Master  volume control 
• Front mounted Standby Switch 
• LED pilot light 
• Foot switchable BOOST and MIDS 
• Buffered Effect Send and Return jacks for outboard reverb and pro effects
  

Utilizing all of these features allows the modern pro player to achieve myriad classic vintage tones from tweed to black and later style D tones. The Bright switch goes from stock plain Jane to American to the famous Texas steely tone that many players swear by.

• With the added bonus of BOOST you can achieve the legendary British Woman Tone or simply a lead punch to those who want the ability to goose up the level to get on top of the band.
• MIDS changes the capacitor value of the Treble control and lets more midrange through to give a meatier CaliforniaÌ sound.
• BOOST and MIDS together in use with dual coil pickups can get you a popular Latino style sustained tone heard on many hit recordings.
• The MIDRANGE control can by cranked up to add more beef to the tones, for single pick up fattening or double coil howl.
• PRESENCE allows the bottom end to be gently rolled out while top is sweetened for a more Blond sound as used by many West Coast musicians.
• VOLUME and MASTER can be used to get just the right amount of gain for long sustain or break up for a more Brown sound as found in the early 60s amps. All at a reasonable SPL, to keep your band or house mates happy.

The amp does not contain reverb, distortion or any other effects. The buffered SEND and RETURN jacks allow the use of many popular pedals and effects devices without the need for line drivers or matching pre-amps required by several other popular boutique amps.

The Red Lite is hand built and does not contain any printed circuit boards at this time. The power cord is standard IEC detachable style. The dual button foot switch is optional (not included-add $39) and has LEDs to indicate when buttons are engaged. The amplifier does not have channel switching and has one instrument input matched to popular guitar impedances. The amplifier has one speaker output which is connected to the internal speaker with a removable ¼" metal plug.

The Red Lite is priced at $1995 and is available exclusively from Gand Music & Sound, 780 Frontage Road, Northfield, IL 60093, or at Gand.com. Standard covering is red. Amps are available in black for $50 more. A head only version is available for $100 less. Black grill is standard. Cane or F style wheat grill is available at no extra charge. Black marshmallow knobs are standard. Cream marshmallow or chicken head style knobs are available at no extra charge.