Benson Earhart Reverb Combo
The debut of my new Benson Amps Earhart Reverb Combo — cranked, top boost on, tone maxed, absolutely crushing. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Benson Amps Earhart Reverb Combo takes center stage for its channel debut — featuring the Frank Brothers Arcade Thinline with Righteous Sound RAF A4 & A2 Humbuckers, alongside a compact pedalboard covering the Dominion Electric Fuzz, KingTone Vibe 1968, Browne Amplification Carbon, and Meris LVX.
The Earhart is Benson's interpretation of the top boost style of amplifier — not a clone, but a deeply considered evolution. Chris Benson took the tone stack from the original 1960s top boost design, modified it, and integrated it into the Monarch platform, carrying over the Monarch's touch sensitivity and harmonic characteristics into an EL84 Class A circuit. The result is a Benson amp that chimes in a way the Monarch doesn't — the top boost switch adds shimmer and three-dimensional clarity above the midrange, while Normal mode makes the Earhart behave like a well-balanced Monarch. The midrange is very slightly scooped but not as heavily scooped as the original top boost amps — a sweetness that lives in between. The Reverb Combo adds Tall Bird-style tube-driven spring reverb in a completely transparent fashion.
15 watts. 2 x JJ EL84 power tubes. 2 x JJ 12AX7 preamp tubes. 1 x JJ 12DW7 reverb driver. 5AR4 rectifier (default). Mercury Magnetics transformers. Jupiter capacitors. Carbon comp resistors. Point-to-point construction on terminal strips — no PCB, eyelet, or turret board. DC filaments for low noise. 13–18 watts depending on rectifier. This combo is 39 lbs of pure Class A.
Controls are beautifully minimal: Volume, Tone (tilt between bass and treble), and the Normal/Top Boost switch. Volume and Tone in combination control the frequency tilt of the entire amp — many sounds from two knobs.
The Righteous Sound RAF (Righteousness Applied For) Humbuckers — Alnico 4 neck, Alnico 2 bridge — are the vintage-accurate PAF replica set built for this guitar. Period-correct 42AWG plain enamel wire, USA-made butyrate bobbins and pole screws, custom nickel PAF-clone covers.
🔊 Benson Amps Earhart Reverb Combo: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
🎸 Frank Brothers Guitar Company: https://www.frankbrothersguitars.com
🎸 Righteous Sound Pickups: https://www.righteoussoundpickups.com
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🎸 Frank Brothers Arcade Thinline | Righteous Sound RAF Humbuckers (A4 Neck / A2 Bridge)
🎛️ Dominion Electric Fuzz | KingTone Vibe 1968 | Browne Amplification Carbon | Meris LVX
🔊 Benson Amps Earhart Reverb Combo 1x12 | 15W | Class A | EL84 | Top Boost | Tube Reverb
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906
