Carmen Ghia

“I could play an entire show with one guitar and my Dr. Z amp alone…” – Walter Becker, co-founder of Steely Dan

Specifications

General Information

At first glance, the Carmen Ghia looks rather, well, modest. Is this why, over the past 35 years, the Ghia leaves so many people floored from the first note? Or is it the notes spilling out with a warmth, complexity, and sustain that one would never expect from such a small amp. Each pluck has a hugeness to it that belies it’s 18 watt power section. All this before the amp really starts to sing. As you turn the Volume clockwise, the clean tones resonate even bigger than they were. Sustain rolls out smoothly, as musical as you have ever heard it. Notes seem to hang in the air forever. Rich, harmonic overdrive is easily coaxed just by digging into the strings. Just seconds into playing it, you’ll have trouble putting your guitar down as the hours pass like minutes. The Carmen Ghia interacts with your guitar, your touch is in complete control of the amp, it’s dynamics, it’s distortion, it produces a sound that is as uncanny as you.

Early in the company’s history, Dr. Z would visit Ohio area guitar shows with the Carmen Ghia in tow. A seemingly diminutive 18-watt amp was a curiosity in the 1980s, a musical era marked by the mantra of “more, more, more.” More watts, more channels, more knobs, but backbreaking weight, headaches from complex signal routing, and frustration from multiple points of failure. Dr. Z had a unique package with 2 knobs, one channel, all hand-wired; a striking concept. During the hours before these events were open to the public, other vendors would have the opportunity to peruse each other’s gear and to his surprise and amusement, the majority of the sales he would make during these shows would be to the guitar shops and luthiers that were exhibiting alongside him! The typically jaded vendors who had thought that had “heard it all” found the Carmen Ghia to be the perfect vessel to exhibit the various guitars they were selling, as it was a no-frills, plug-and-play amp that sounded great and demonstrated the genuine voice of the guitar and player that were plugged into it. This experience birthed Dr. Z’s credo: “volume, tone, what more do you need?”

This amp has become a favorite with discerning tone aficionados around the world, from the smallest bar backroom stages, to hit-making recording sessions. The Carmen Ghia turned 35 in 2023 and with this milestone, Dr. Z outfitted it in identical fashion to his personal amp, including a post-phase inverter master volume in this classic circuit. The amp’s characteristic voice is now attainable at all volume levels, from bedroom to stage. Turning the control to it’s most clockwise stop effectively removes it from the circuit, allowing the player to experience the Ghia’s “vintage” voicing: loud and proud. To top off our 35th birthday with a “cherry,” Dr. Z has hand-selected his favorite EL84 variant for this amp, a pair of NOS 6n14n power tubes, matched and tested in our shop, making the amp ready for years of rugged reliability and rich tone.

Magazine Reviews

Guitar Buyer magazine provided us with a review of the Carmen Ghia.