The maker of the excellent Canadian amplifiers known as Garnet has passed away.

Some excellent sounds came from these cool amps, mostly heard on Canadian releases. I remember staying with The Stretch Marks in the early '80s and they had some Garnet gear, as well as of course The Guess Who and BTO.

Contrary to popular belief, the BTO was not named for the group, it preceded Bachmann Turner Overdrive and stood for "Big Time Operator".

The solo sound on American Woman was a result of the tube-driven fuzz called The Herzog that Gar built.

Gar was a really cool guy. I spoke with him several times about our Garnet amplifiers and visited his shop in Winnepeg. He was a delightful fellow to be around and had many cool stories.

I'm seriously serious in saying if BTO used it, it must have been good. Because they were great.

Strange, I had not heard of Garnet amps before this.

The BTO is looney tunes.

I don't know what that Garnet with the christmas lights in the chassis is called, but that one is looney tunes, too.

You shall not speak ill of the Sound Fountain in this thread.

Show some respect. What have you invented?

zom-zom wrote:You shall not speak ill of the Sound Fountain in this thread.

Show some respect. What have you invented?

"Looney tunes" means good.

I see, sort of how "Bad" used to mean "Good". I don't keep up.

zom-zom wrote:I see, sort of how "Bad" used to mean "Good". I don't keep up.

Were Looney Tunes ever bad?

Anyway, great amps. I'm sad a man with that kind of vision has passed.

vockins wrote:Were Looney Tunes ever bad?

Never.

RIP, Gar.

I've been looking at your amps for months, and almost certainly will have one some day.

Thanks for being a kick-ass amp designer.

I bet heaven is full of old Mullards.