Monday June 23rd, 2003

Command performance for Goldtone at Joe Perry VIP Party
by Paul Van Name for gibson.com

When Gibson's Custom Shop launched the Joe Perry Signature model with a bash at Boston's House of Blues, Perry had one "must-attend" name on his guest list - a Goldtone amp. Jim Survis, Perry's guitar tech for over 10 years, phoned Gibson Labs to say that Perry would grace the event with a few of his inimitable guitar licks only if we furnished his favorite sidekick - a Goldtone GA-30RVS. Needless to say, Gibson was happy to oblige.

Those in the know already realize that Perry has been playing Goldtones for years and that every lead break on Aerosmith's last studio record, Just Push Play, was cut with a Goldtone. "I wouldn't use 'em if they didn't work," Joe said during a recent Aerosmith rehearsal session. "If these amps didn't rock every night, they'd be on a truck headed back to Boston." So far no trucks have been necessary.

Perry's new discovery, The Porch Ghouls, were the featured act while he signed autographs, posed for photos and met with the press at large. A complement of Goldtone GA-15s and GA-15RVs were sent along to round out the back line. "These amps rock right out of the box," Survis declared. "They just have three knobs, volume, tone and reverb. Since there isn't that much to mess with, you just crank it up and go."

Which is exactly what Joe did when his time came to jam with The Porch Ghouls. Aerosmith's lead singer Steven Tyler joined them onstage for a blistering second half of the set. The crowd lapped it up and nobody went away disappointed. The Porch Ghouls follow Perry's philosophy about what makes a good amp great, and they take their Goldtones along for every gig. "The Goldtones don't homogenize the sound or take away from the identity of the guitar your playing through it," said frontman Eldorado del Ray. "This goes for humbuckers as well as single-coils. With certain amplifiers, the personality of the guitar gets stripped away. The Goldtone amp doesn't do that and they work great for rhythm or lead."

Joe Perry quickly agreed, then promised, "I'll be playing these amps for the rest of my life."

Check out the full line of Goldtone Amps here.

For more information about Goldtone and Super Goldtone amps, call Gibson Customer Service anytime at 1-800-4GIBSON or send us an email.