Black Volt Sparrow 5w Tube Amp with P90s — Feat. Wide Sky Guitars P125c
The Black Volt Amplification Sparrow returns — this time with P90s and the Wide Sky Guitars P125C. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Black Volt Amplification Sparrow 5W takes a third run — featuring the Wide Sky Guitars P125C Cutaway with Curtis Novak P90s and Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds, with the R2R Electric x Waterslide Guitars Time-O-Lite Fuzz and Effectrode Tube Vibe.
Watch the first Sparrow demo with the Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul: https://youtu.be/y_IdcyLuOz0 Watch the second Sparrow demo with the 1967 Gibson ES-335 / Humbuckers: https://youtu.be/gQGczTbZIbE Buy a Black Volt Sparrow with R2R Electric Booster Channel: https://blackvoltamplification.com/products/the-sparrow-amplifier Follow Black Volt: https://www.instagram.com/blackvoltamplification/
Giovanni "Gio" Loria builds Black Volt Amplification completely by hand in Los Angeles. The Sparrow was born from a specific Gibson GA5 that Johnny Depp left with Gio for repair — that amp's character, combined with the Fender Tweed Champ and Princeton, became the circuit foundation. 5 watts, one 6V6, one 12AX7, custom 10" speaker on this unit. One Volume, one Tone. Hand-wired in LA.
Three demos, three very different guitars and pickup types. The first covered solid mahogany with humbuckers — the Les Paul's density and output pushing the Sparrow hard. The second covered semi-hollow laminate maple with vintage humbuckers — the ES-335's acoustic bloom and open midrange against a cranked 5W single-ended circuit. This third demo covers a P90-equipped semi-hollow with a solid Spanish Cedar body — the Wide Sky Guitars P125C with Curtis Novak P90s, a combination that brings the Sparrow's GA5-inspired circuit something fundamentally different from the first two videos: the P90's raw, aggressive upper-mid bite and the P125C's acoustic projection working together.
The R2R Electric x Waterslide Guitars Time-O-Lite Fuzz enters from 09:37 — the 25-unit collaboration between Chris Vincent (@djlavalamp) and Waterslide Guitars, built into vintage darkroom light timer enclosures with NOS 1950s and 1960s OC44 or AC107 germanium transistors. Fuzz Face tones with P90s into a cranked 5W amp is a very specific combination. The R2R Electric Booster Channel built into the Sparrow comes on at 18:45 — the Rangemaster-style boost designed specifically for this amp's input stage.
🔊 Black Volt Amplification: https://blackvoltamplification.com 🎸 Wide Sky Guitars: https://www.wideskyguitars.com 🎸 Curtis Novak Pickups: https://www.curtisnovak.com
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🎸 Wide Sky Guitars P125C | Curtis Novak P90s | Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds 🎛️ R2R Electric x Waterslide Time-O-Lite Fuzz | NOS OC44/AC107 Ge | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🎛️ Black Volt x R2R Electric Booster Channel (built-in) 🔊 Black Volt Amplification Sparrow | 5W | 6V6 | 12AX7 | Custom 10" Speaker | Hand-Wired in LA
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Ohma Ribbon | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Ableton Live 12
