Bennett Custom Audio Lighthouse featuring Wide Sky Guitars P125c
Bennett Custom Audio makes its channel debut with the Lighthouse — Mark Bennett's Amplitude Modulating Amplifier, and one of the most fully-featured tremolo pedals ever built. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
The Bennett Custom Audio Lighthouse pairs with the Wide Sky Guitars P125C Cutaway with Curtis Novak P90s and Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds, into the Benson Amps Monarch 2x12" via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander. The Echo Fix EF-X3 and Meris MercuryX Reverb run in the effects loop.
Bennett Custom Audio builds in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada — every Lighthouse hand-assembled by Mark Bennett.
The Lighthouse is a contemporary, pedal-sized take on vintage tremolo-equipped tube amplifiers. What separates it from every other tremolo pedal is the all-analog signal path that includes a discrete preamp with Gain, Presence, and Volume controls — this isn't a modulation pedal with a drive stage bolted on, it's a preamp with a sophisticated modulation circuit built around it. The Gain, Presence, and Volume shape the core tone. A separate Tilt EQ then acts only on the wet signal — allowing the modulated and unmodulated signals to have different tonal characters simultaneously, explored throughout the demo.
Two tremolo modes with separate, individually-tuned signal paths: Harmonic mode modulates bass and treble frequencies out of phase from each other — the lush, vibey sound of a brownface-era Fender amp where the frequency content swims rather than simply pulses (explored from 10:26). Bias mode uses an additional long-tailed pair and push-pull amplifier stage to push the signal in and out of distortion — the LFO drives the amplifier circuit itself, like a vintage tube amp's bias tremolo, producing a rougher, more characterful throb (explored from 02:32).
Six total tremolo flavors: two modes combined with three waveforms — Square (in Bias mode activates "Chop" mode where Intensity controls duty cycle rather than depth), Sine (explored at 04:43 as a personal favorite slow Sine setting), and Sawtooth. Rate, Intensity, Mix controls. Tap tempo with three subdivisions: quarter notes (1x), eighth notes (2x), triplets (3x). Tap-and-hold ramp function: hold left footswitch to ramp rate down, hold right to ramp rate up — returns to original setting on release. Proprietary high-voltage internal power circuitry. Powered by 9-24VDC.
🎛️ Bennett Custom Audio Lighthouse: https://www.bennettcustomaudio.ca/lighthouse 🎸 Wide Sky Guitars: https://www.wideskyguitars.com 🎸 Curtis Novak Pickups: https://www.curtisnovak.com 🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
Subscribe for more boutique tone explorations.
🎸 Wide Sky Guitars P125C | Curtis Novak P90s | Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds 🎛️ Bennett Custom Audio Lighthouse | Bias + Harmonic Tremolo | Preamp (Gain/Presence/Volume) | Tilt EQ (Wet Only) | Tap Tempo | 3 Subdivisions | 3 Waveforms | Hand-Built in Ontario 🎛️ Also: Echo Fix EF-X3 | Meris MercuryX Reverb 🔊 Benson Amps Monarch 2x12" | Boss Waza TAE
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Ohma Ribbon | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R121 & R10 | Ableton Live 12
