3
Design Notes from the Builder
Thank you for choosing the Sugarland amplifier. This amplifier represents the culmination of
nearly 30 years of research and development in amplifier design. It is by far the finest work I’ve
produced in all my years as an amplifier designer/builder. The Sugarland was conceived as a
craft made, masterbuilt product in which every aspect of production work is performed either
myself or by an assistant under my direct supervision. This includes all woodworking and
upholstery operations, all electronic assembly operations, and also many custom fabrication
operations as well. By developing the Sugarland as a masterbuilt product (as opposed to a
traditional production-line product), I had the freedom to consider impractical production
methods and to select the finest components regardless of cost. The result is an
uncompromising and unique amplifier that goes beyond traditional “boutique” amplifiers in
terms of sound quality, build quality, artistry, and design innovation.
The Sugarland’s finely tuned cabinet
produces a tonal response with exceptional
depth, clarity, dynamics, and balance. The
cabinet body and the baffle board are
constructed from a combination of solid
woods (not plywood) and are glued up as a
unified resonating body so that the entire
cabinet participates in the acoustical
behavior of the cabinet. This type of design
delivers a deep, rich, dimensional sound with
a uniquely natural and unconstricted tonal
response – like an acoustic instrument.
This cabinet design is quite different from
traditional guitar speaker cabinets, which use a
plywood baffle board attached to the cabinet with
screws and wooden cleats. By comparison, the
Sugarland’s unified solid wood construction is
significantly more difficult and time consuming to
build, but the results are quite extraordinary – an
example of impractical methods that help the
Sugarland move beyond the performance of typical
“boutique” amplifiers.
