Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 15: The 880 Watt Amp Lives, Anaheim Recap, Follow Your Dreams
252 Plays20 days ago
This week, Chris and Bryan talk about the response in Anaheim to Babylon, the 880 watt tube amp they've spent the past several months building. Charles shares stories from Japan and his former life as an ice cube tray magnate. The trio answer a question about a Freaky Friday scenario and following your dreams.
If you'd like Bryan, Charles, and Chris to answer your question on an episode of Amplified Nonsense, call (513) 334-3803 and leave a voicemail.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Voicemail Encouragement
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Amplify Nonsense, a podcast that is mostly about amps, is also driven by your voicemail questions. Your hosts are Charles Henry of Silktone, Chris Benson of Benson Amps, and Brian Sowers of Sowers Sound Transformers. My name is Emily. I'm the producer of this podcast. And before I get too far into the episode, you can call in and leave your own voicemail questions for our hosts 513-334-3803. That's 513-334-3803.
00:00:32
Speaker
three three four three eight zero three that's five one three 334-3803. So how are how are you guys doing? Good. Not sick, I
NAMM Experiences and Burrito Commitment
00:00:44
Speaker
hope, right? How did you guys escape Nam without a without getting Namthrachs? Everyone else I talked to was sick and I was like, oh, I'm pretty sure those guys didn't get sick.
00:00:53
Speaker
I did not get sick. Yeah. I got NAMM baked. I got NAMM baked too, but I didn't get sick. Yeah. I definitely did not get sick, but I was the one weirdo running around masked the whole time.
00:01:06
Speaker
Yeah. You're eating eating food in the parking lot, staring through the window at people, making them feel guilty. Longingly with my burrito in my hand, just staring at Chris's eyes like, buddy.
00:01:20
Speaker
Buddy. Yeah, he kept leaving the restaurants we were eating in to go like eat his burrito by the dumpster. Literally eat in the lot. it was i and It was an experience. I got to say, that that is some good commitment to that bit.
00:01:38
Speaker
I was like, there's no way he's going to make it the whole way. yeah Oh, yeah. my My capability of conviction is strong, man. I mean, hell, I'm still in business after all this time.
00:01:48
Speaker
You mean you just really love burritos? Dumpster burritos? or Actually, every burrito I had down there was fan fantastic. Yeah. Oh, man. It's Southern California.
00:01:59
Speaker
I had a bad burrito after we were driving to a burrito place that Brian picked out, and we showed up, and there was a line around the block.
Mexican Food Adventures
00:02:07
Speaker
I mean, yeah, it's Anaheim. We went straight straight for another quarter mile and then picked a random taco spot.
00:02:14
Speaker
Yeah. And that was that burrito tasted like dog food, honestly. cool Oh, yeah, your food was bad. Mine was good, and you said Ryan's was decent, right? Yeah, Ryan's looked really good.
00:02:24
Speaker
Yeah. It's weird how that works. like Even like Sacramento area, the everywhere, Bay Area, like I have so many different Mexican food spots I like, and they all do one thing really, really, really well, and the rest is just like whatever. like One will do Al Pastor tacos, like best tacos you've ever had, and then the carnitas is trash.
00:02:45
Speaker
Or like the burritos are trash. And there's one that does super good burritos, but the tacos are garbage. Like, I don't know why, but it's it's always seems to be like that. I feel like it's all hit or miss in Portland. So yes.
00:02:59
Speaker
Yeah. It's, I don't, I haven't really had great Mexican food here. Yeah. Not a lot of Mexicans, I guess, right? Not as much as Southern California, I guess. Well, yeah. I mean, what a stupid statement, Charles. don't know. I can find good Mexican food.
00:03:19
Speaker
Yeah. there's There's a couple taco trucks that are really good. that was did i I'm sure I've talked about this on this podcast already, but... I was on a taco quest in Tokyo because there's no way I was gonna live here without finding good Mexican food, because i I'm realistic and i I know I'd get tired of it fast. Are you in Japan?
00:03:39
Speaker
the I was going to put a background on earlier when we were doing the backgrounds of just like a Japanese shrine or something. Just to make you guys laugh, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, yeah I found like the best Mexican food I've ever had. it was wild. The dude was a luchador wrestler. I'm pretty sure I've talked about this. You did talk about this, Charles.
00:04:02
Speaker
Oh, I did. And if you were reading the chat, I said that. Thanks, Charles. For what it's worth, I don't remember you talking about it Oh, ah perfect. old New audience, I'll tell you again. No, there's this spot that does like rolled chicken taquitos and fresh made tortilla chips and guacamole. And they do these roast beef relleno things where it's just like it's roast beef stuffed with guacamole and it's like one of the best things I've ever eaten. They do like, I don't know what he does on top, but the sauce is insane. Like not only is it the best Mexican food I've ever had, but I think it's some of the best food I've ever eaten. And it's just a tiny little bar that sits like 10 people and the bar owner just like hangs behind the bar and makes tacos and burritos and chimichangas and serves tequila. It's like a little tequila bar. Oh, I had a chimichanga. He does Egyptian style chimichangas where it's like
00:04:58
Speaker
The filling is like Egyptian meat. So it's like, it's like ground chicken and beef and rice and beans and pasta. And then rolled in a burrito and deep fried with guacamole and and sour cream on top. And it was so good.
00:05:13
Speaker
And this was in Japan. are You're in Japan. Yeah, yeah I am. i and but The bar wasn't like this food was in Japan. It was. The food is in Tokyo.
00:05:27
Speaker
Dude, I thought you were in Fresno. It looks like it, right? ah i still We still need to make that account so I can send all those photos of the ambiguous landscape shots. The Portland, the PDX bar. Is he like the Portland Brewing? Yeah. What the fuck? I was walking it was like, oh, there's one. I've heard about that place. I've heard about stuff like that. like the the weird Portland obsession yeah over there. So I wasn't surprised by it, but yeah it was definitely like her of but to so blatant, like PBX bar or whatever. Yeah, that's pretty funny.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yeah, right across the street, there was like a New York pizza spot. but Like for some reason, Harajuku is like super Americanized. Like it just, everything is like Montana clothing company. And like,
00:06:19
Speaker
Kansas City barbecue and Portland Brewing and New York pizza. And like, there's just a ton of stuff like that in that neighborhood. It's interesting.
Babylon Amp at NAMM
00:06:27
Speaker
Two out of three of you were just in Anaheim. And so were you.
00:06:30
Speaker
three Three out of four of us, right? Yeah. Sure, sure. But I didn't get to the woodwire vault. However, I heard that Babylon was ah quite the hit. Saw lots of pictures of that on people's social media. was definitely the bell of the ball.
00:06:44
Speaker
I heard you didn't get to play it, though. What the Yeah, we ah decided there's probably too much liability. um um Even if it didn't hurt someone's ears, and i I trust that we could have pulled it off and not hurt anyone's ears, the headline is still, they played the most powerful amp in the world at this public event and it permanently damaged my hearing. Now I'm going to sue.
00:07:10
Speaker
And that's a pretty sexy headline. Yeah, I mean, no press is bad press, right? Yeah, that's like cash signs in the eyeballs. So it was by choice then that you didn't get to play it or that you didn't play it?
00:07:23
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, OK. Yeah, basically, like at the end, like we were loading it out and this guy, Buddy, comes up to me and and he introduces himself.
00:07:34
Speaker
And he's like he's like, hey, I'm Buddy. Hey. Hey, you guys should play this. Let's do it. And I was just like, nah, man, they won't let us do it. And he looks at me so confused and he says, what do you mean they?
00:07:47
Speaker
I'm they. I look down and he's with, you know, Curtis Novak's crew. ah And I was like, oh, Oh, and I turned her around and I, so like, Chris is like having a pleasant conversation with someone and I aggressively interrupted and was like, stop talking, stop talking. And I was just like, dude, we can do it.
00:08:10
Speaker
And his eyes just went huge. And you could see all the legal liabilities going across his eyes, line by line of the the potential lawsuit that he felt like he could be served over at the end of the weekend and was kind of like,
00:08:31
Speaker
ah And it yeah, as soon as there was trepidation, it we just shut it down. We just said no. Oh, yeah. That's rad, though. Yeah, the pictures look crazy. it looked ah It looked awesome in that room. I call it baby lawn.
00:08:45
Speaker
Yeah, me too. Yeah. but that's that's ah That's a flex. That's a choice. We can probably cut that one out, too. Oh, so no, that's Stan. Yeah.
00:08:58
Speaker
No, i I'm honestly unsure. like I spoke to our lawyer this past week and got her got it kind of a rough email from him about the whole idea of bringing this into production. so We're we're kind of weighing our options, but I would be surprised if it actually made it into anyone's houses ever. Reverb.com I'm kind of comfortable with because it's like a controlled environment. They can get people to sign waivers. and Are they just keeping it there?
00:09:30
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, I thought they were going to sell it. No, they're they're that's going at Reverb.com headquarters. So Ryan and I drove it there after NAMM. Oh, rad. i knew I knew you took it there, but I thought it was just to like hand over to them to sell to some client or something. Oh, rad. That's cool.
00:09:47
Speaker
yeah they it's ah Yeah, they have a really big building and ah stage, and there's a venue next door. Wow. So it's up on the stage, and... I plugged it in and played like one note just to make sure it worked and and had made the journey.
00:10:05
Speaker
And then they're not going to like actually play it until they sign a bunch of like get back everyone who works there to sign waivers and like come up with like a legal framework.
00:10:18
Speaker
geez Apparently their ah HR department was pretty bummed on it. Outside of Woodwire Volts and all that, na was
Interactions with Fans at NAMM
00:10:30
Speaker
fine?
00:10:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Nam was just hanging out with Ryan and Brian and then having random people come up and talk to us. And that was great. Got to meet a lot of customers and actually people who listen to this podcast, which I was really thrilled about.
00:10:44
Speaker
Really surprised. Very surprised. A lot of people who listen to this podcast that came up. It's like, oh, dang, we should we should keep doing this. Yeah, that's cool. Oh, that's awesome. Well, it's funny. like Chris introduced me to to Eli which ah um from Two Rock and Divided by 13. Yeah, he brought this up.
00:11:02
Speaker
He brought it up that that he listens to this, and I was like, whoa, other other builders? and i just I'm so surprised. but Oh, that's funny. Yeah, I've talked to Eli about it. I told him we should invite him on, and he was like, yeah, so maybe we'll do that soon. I'd love that. Yeah. that mean we're finally going to have a guest after we keep talking about it? Oh, yeah. You guys are just so dang entertaining.
00:11:23
Speaker
ah I mean, i'm I'm charismatic as hell. Yeah, me too.
00:11:30
Speaker
Emily, you you were there too. What did you do at NAMM? I was at the Seymour Duncan booth most of the time. ah Yeah, helping them film. They filmed a bunch of videos, and those have been going out.
00:11:45
Speaker
But, you know, it was a different experience. I didn't get to walk around very much. I did see Stevie Wonder, though, so that's, you know, one one off my NAMM bingo card. oh that's cool. Oh, hell yeah.
00:11:56
Speaker
i always hear them say that. I saw him the only other time I went to NAMM, which was back in like 2011 2010 or something like that, somewhere around then. And ah I was walking around and Vintage Vibe had just released their Wurlitzer.
00:12:12
Speaker
And all these people gathered around the booth and I walked up and so Stevie Wonder's just sitting there at this Wurlitzer just jamming. just going for it, playing and singing. It was really cool.
00:12:24
Speaker
Damn, that's awesome. I was bummed I didn't get to go to NAMM. I didn't get to do anything near that cool. I was just like, I went out to this like mountain resort at Mount Fuji, and it was super beautiful. And we got like a hotel suite all on cro like credit card points. It was just awesome view with these awesome dinners. And like I was like, oh, I wish I could be at NAMM around 10,000 people.
00:12:52
Speaker
It was intense. Not as intense as what you're describing, but it was intense. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I rode an elevator with Victor Wooten. Did you hug him?
00:13:03
Speaker
No, I ah try not to bother him. He was talking to his agent or manager or something. Did you pitch him? Were you like, oh, I'll do better than that guy? Hey, do you want a bass amp where it specifically says on the website that if you play slap bass, you probably shouldn't get it? Yeah.
00:13:21
Speaker
Hey man, transient response. That's what the headroom's for. It'll be fine. Just give him a baby lung. A baby lung. It really was intense, though. It was so, like, Chris, you didn't go back on on Saturday. I went back, and it was a very different feel than Friday.
00:13:40
Speaker
Like, it was, everybody was so tired and so just over it, but also the facilities and everything were just so much more overwhelmed.
00:13:51
Speaker
Mm-hmm. It was rough. it It was way rougher than Friday. Friday was fun, just also a lot of people. Meeting a lot of people, talking to a lot of people. I don't think I ever... I stopped talking from, like, noon until probably 6 p.m.
00:14:08
Speaker
It was ridiculous. Yeah, I only went for three hours on Friday, and it was just kind of horrible. I just kept bouncing around between NAMM, Woodwire Volts, and... ah What was the name of the Chase Bliss event? Effector Market? Effector Market Place.
00:14:23
Speaker
And that's technically Old Blood, I think. Oh, it is. OK. I think it's both. I want to make sure credit goes to where credit's due. So ah thanks.
00:14:35
Speaker
Thanks, everyone involved. It was great to see the people at Woodwire Vaults and Effector Market. the Those are where my folks are. It's like a big, big old family reunion style.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, I always liked the effector market thing. I was thinking of doing the wood wire volts thing next year. They're not like a... There's one amp room, like satellite amps had a room, and that was super fun.
00:15:00
Speaker
But I'm not sure how they would do multiple amp companies there. Yeah, I was i was wondering about that. um You could certainly only play one amp, you know one company, one amp, one amp in the room at a time.
00:15:12
Speaker
Right. Or i might just I might do it with pedals and stuff and bring your headphones set up. But I know it's Satellite is tied in pretty deep with them already. So yeah, yeah I don't know how that would work.
00:15:22
Speaker
Although I think Adam would actually probably like it if we all just brought stuff and put it on that room just because he he's just there to chill. Yeah. but Yeah, it was good hanging out with him. I liked when it was just the the three of us and he was just showing me amps and showing me guitars. Yeah, like we should just go and then the public can't come in that room and it'll just be a bunch of amp guys playing playing their amps at each other. yeah Nothing but blues scales.
00:15:50
Speaker
Yeah, I still never met Adam. I hear he's hella nice. Yeah, he's great. Yeah, nice dude. He said some really nice things to me, which meant a lot. It's good to see him.
00:16:02
Speaker
Well, do you all want to continue to talk about Anaheim or do you want to hit a fun hypothetical question?
Hypothetical Role Switch
00:16:09
Speaker
Yeah, let's do that. If there was a Freaky Friday scenario and Chris and Charles switched places, what is the first thing you would do with Vince and Charles?
00:16:22
Speaker
And Chris, what's the first thing you would do with Silk Cone? And... Brian, how long do you think it would take for you to realize that something was off between them? Thank you. Great show.
00:16:36
Speaker
Right away. Right away. Chris would start making really bad dick jokes. i would Yeah, I would immediately start making Jack Off Under a Bridge videos. Yeah. like Take down the... Elevate the Benson brand. Charles would would start ah ah calling me out every time I curse on the phone. Yeah.
00:16:59
Speaker
Charles would have so many meltdowns in public. Oh my God, so many. it's So many.
00:17:10
Speaker
all this All of a sudden, Charles would would be like everybody's dad. like He'd be like the band dad at every function. Wait, I'm getting mixed up now.
00:17:22
Speaker
Well, because you're... Me as Chris or Chris as me? Chris you. Chris as you. I'm talking about after the switch. Right, right, right. Yeah, people would be like... Man, Charles seems a lot wiser.
00:17:34
Speaker
Oh. It's like he's almost paternal. Why is Chris obsessed with sushi all of a sudden? I was just going to say, Henson keeps talking about Japan like he lives there. It's weird. is it christian Why is Chris ah in Tokyo all the time now? He seems to be leaving his business behind. Yeah.
00:18:01
Speaker
I would immediately sue Benson. um That's what I was waiting for. So when we switch back.
00:18:13
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I would like ah bring bring a lawsuit that was completely like a terrible lawsuit. Yeah. I would immediately launch butts and pedals as a spin-off. I may have already all re have the domain name to that. Oh my god.
00:18:33
Speaker
I would clone all of the Benson pedals wrong. but So again, I think it's really obvious that it would be realized by everybody very, very quickly that these two idiots swap their brains somehow. I i would launch Bronson puddles.
00:18:53
Speaker
yeah Which is actually, i made a whole business plan once for Bronson Puddles. And so ah this is never gonna happen. And every investor I've told about this has not invested. possibly because of this. So was like, yeah, you know, I think it'd be really funny to like make a fake, like far East pedal brand. That's just, that just rips off my own pedals called Bronson. And then we could just get really upset with them and be like, it's crazy that these guys are cloning my stuff. but its And it sounds so good. Like we're so mad.
00:19:31
Speaker
and then, you know, five years later it comes out that we were behind it the entire time. Yeah. And then they become super valuable and reverb and sell everything. Yeah, no, I would just launch Butson by Benson. Your name would be patched. The new Butts in line.
00:19:49
Speaker
The new ButtonArc. The new ButtonArc+. I mean, if Benson already owns the trademark for it, why you just change the name? Do it.
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah, it would be a slow it'd be a slow crawl. We'd get there. You can't completely abandon the the the history at first, but 10 years from now, yeah. I would i would make the O in Silctone a googly eye.
00:20:20
Speaker
i'd immediately start I'd immediately stop using sour sound transformers.
00:20:27
Speaker
So the Benson amps start sounding like everything else? Or just confuse the public, start putting silk tone transformers a sourset or ah into Benson amps? Oh yeah, totally. I made a Benson transformer one time.
00:20:43
Speaker
Should I say that? Am I not allowed to say that? You made a what? but Nothing. Dang it. You let him make one of my transformers and I haven't made one yet.
00:20:54
Speaker
That actually pisses me off. but You did put a core together. I forgot. Way to get me in trouble. Dang it. What the heck? I've been asking you to do that for years. Just come over and whine with me. Just come over. it was so long ago.
00:21:09
Speaker
it was like the first time I met him. Hey, do you want to make a Benson transformer? Don't tell Chris though, because he's been asking me for a while. yeah i mean let's just be let's just be honest about this you put a core together i mean come on man and that's not a transformer and i put the sticker on and i and i put the the frame on i think that was the old sticker too i hate those stickers i'm not that was the aluminum ones those things suck and i'm pretty sure i signed it and said hi chris so someone has it out there
00:21:43
Speaker
Dang it. Well, I guess that could be like a three-way collab. tactic Yeah, there you go. Slickton, Benson, and Sowers. i drew i think I probably drew a little dick on it. but Yeah, probably.
00:21:56
Speaker
So you won't be able to tell it from any other one. But it will sound better. Sowers, you're in the doghouse, man. Yeah, I'm feeling it.
00:22:06
Speaker
That's funny. You want to get another question? No, I want to have Chris come over and lay some cores for me.
00:22:18
Speaker
This one is from a good friend of ours.
Passion vs. Security
00:22:22
Speaker
Hey, I was just wondering, my question is, is it better to have a secure full-time job, even if it leaves you drained at the end of the day, or should I pursue my passions?
00:22:33
Speaker
um Thank you. Bye. It's too open-ended of a question. What if his passions are like murdering people? I mean, I think it's kind of look at who he's talking to. What what did... Yeah, like I said. did we all do?
00:22:51
Speaker
Yeah, keep the job, bro. Kill on the weekends. Dreams are a bummer. Yeah, I mean, careful what you say to this guy. Like, he could be your competition in a year.
00:23:03
Speaker
That was Jason Mayes, by the way. Does your job have a cafeteria? i Because that matters. no follow your dreams, man.
00:23:21
Speaker
go Got the one life. I'm a big fan. Yeah, YOLO. I'd rather be poor doing what I love than having any amount of money doing something I hate. How do you know that he hates his job?
00:23:33
Speaker
He might be like, oh, the job is fine. It wears me out, but it's fine. He's tired. No, he said at the end of the day, he can hit himself and and like hits himself and stuff, right? Didn't that? don't think he's going to be hitting himself.
00:23:46
Speaker
I figure anyone with a job just goes home and hits himself. Self-flagellates? Whoa, self-flagellates. Yeah, yeah, self-flagellation. Yeah, i I couldn't do it. I can't, I don't care what the job is. If I'm obligated to someone else's time...
00:24:06
Speaker
I can't. I'm borderline unemployable. Yeah. I'm i'm not like a, i so i talk slow and I'm a little erratic. I'm imagining you in an interview hyper and mellow. Do you have any questions for us? Where's the cafeteria?
00:24:28
Speaker
So about the cafeteria. Oh, it reminds me of like a, um I think you should leave skit or something.
00:24:38
Speaker
Yeah, totally. Just obsessed with the cafeteria. So yeah, where's the zip line? Yeah, seriously though, follow your dreams all the time. That's way better. even if Even if you fail at it, it's still a better learning experience than slaving away at some job ever ever could be, I i think.
00:25:03
Speaker
You learn a lot about yourself and what you want to do and what you can do um and That's kind of me. I'm kind of just like I think I'll have silk tone forever regardless of how successful or how how down it is It's always up and down, but it's just me and my company. So I'll be doing it because it's what I love doing so I Guess it just depends on your measure of success. I feel successful because i get to do what I want all the time and make the things I love. So it makes me happy.
00:25:34
Speaker
I think I'll have Benson and Sour Sound forever. Sorry, I just tried to hire Brian again. today Well, you did hire me. well I did hire you. Yeah, yeah. But I want to get married. Yeah, that was step that was step one. Step two. i was I was trying to think, because I was about to say, like, when you were talking about being unemployable, I was like, yeah, me too. Oh, wait. Like, I'm just sitting over here, just like, just sitting on my words, like, what do I want to say here? do I go about this?
00:26:09
Speaker
hello Well, that's the thing. Like, I mean, i don't know. I've been like chasing my dreams and only listening to that for quite a long time. And, um It's tough.
00:26:22
Speaker
Like, i I hear your guys' answers and i and I agree with both of you. But also, I feel like 2026 is so vastly different from, you know, the year 2001 or 2002, whenever I started, you know, doing my own thing. It's it's a lot harder, I feel like. It's kind of like, I think about it like touring these days. Like, being in a band and not making any money and going on tour has got to be so, so, so much harder than it was back in, like, you know.
00:26:50
Speaker
1998 or whatever but uh it's tough like i've been i've been hustling and doing my thing for so long that i feel like in a way i don't i don't know how to approach it any other way but it's exhausting it is so um yeah chase your dreams but like think about it. Like, think about it and have a plan. You know, if you got a job that like pays well, well enough that, you know, you're, you keep doing it and you're exhausted, save some money, save some money before you make any drastic decisions. Like really think about it.
00:27:27
Speaker
Cause it's, it's hard at times, you know, it's, it's hard working, we're getting paid in passion and not in cash, you know, it's, uh,
00:27:39
Speaker
I mean, obviously it has a million and one rewards on top of it, but yeah, just have a plan, you know? And then when that plan fails and falls apart, you know, don't be surprised when it happens. Yeah. I think it just depends on everyone's individual situation. Like, cause you're thinking,
00:28:00
Speaker
You're talking about it from a point where you've been doing it a while now. And part of the hard part of what's hard is when other people start to rely on you, when you start having employees and you have bills to pay and you have stuff like that.
00:28:13
Speaker
But if you didn't have all that, like I think you'd still start the business every time. I think that's just how how you are. You'd still go after your passion. And yeah, it gets hard. Sometimes it's super successful and it's always hard.
00:28:28
Speaker
um But yeah, it does change when you start having people that rely on you um and it becomes a lot more stressful. So I don't think that's a reason not to start it, but it is something to think about. But at the same time, even if that doesn't work out, you've still learned so much that you're still doing both things. You're employed with Benson and you're also doing Sour Sound. But even if you started being a full-time Benson employee, that probably wouldn't have come without Sour Sound, without starting Sour Sound and what the you'd be doing then. Yeah, for sure. mean, I wouldn't be as valuable and sought after as I am if I haven't done the things that I've done. And being serious about it. For me, it's been lot of iterations.
00:29:16
Speaker
and prepare shop and like, okay, i want to make amps, I want to do custom amps, I want to do this and, you know, having a hard time making that a business and, you know, and then, you know, just being only mail in tape echoes, which was, you know, how we kept things going and brought people in. And, you know, that was all like a precursor to the transformer thing, obviously. and you know Doing Transformers is is is and will always be for me like a passion where I'm chasing something and I'm trying to take things like to a love to a new level, like you know make things people have never heard before.
00:29:52
Speaker
But um yes, at the end of the day, you gotta pay bills, you gotta cut payroll. I can't do this on my own. i need people to to to help me make stuff.
00:30:04
Speaker
So yeah, it's ah you're right. 10 out of 10 every single time. Yes, I would start doing what I'm doing and I wouldn't change what I've done for sure.
00:30:17
Speaker
I just so I like the idea of thinking about it in like the context of ah of today, you know, of the modern world. Totally. Yeah. Yeah, and everything is so, so much more expensive. But I also think that the the cost of entry on whatever you're doing, pedals or amps, transformers, whatever, I think the cost of entry is so much higher. you know ah For me to operate doing what I do costs more and I have to buy more than even like two years ago.
00:30:49
Speaker
so and don't know I'm ranting on the same point over and over again, which is like, yes, chase your dreams. Always chase your dreams. Totally. um yeah Just have have a plan and utilize the resources that you have today to plan for that tomorrow. God, when did I get so old?
00:31:06
Speaker
my grand My grandpa always said, what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. So I always agreed with that. But yeah, Chris, i was just going to say, you've been quiet. i want to hear what you have to say. I think i think the trick is like,
00:31:20
Speaker
I think it's good to like, you know, follow your dreams, but I think there's a major asterisk. It's like if Jason's dream is to become the world's youngest female figure skater that wins a gold medal, you know, maybe don't follow that dream because that's impossible.
00:31:39
Speaker
It's too late. But ah if his dream is to become like a successful YouTube fan, demo personality guy. ah I mean, I would just make sure that the dream is aspirational yet attainable.
00:31:55
Speaker
And then don't don't throw yourself into it with abandon. like I definitely had people who thought it was a bad idea that I abandoned my you know master's in education and years of construction experience and you know all these skills that i had built you're like what why are you doing guitar amps that's weird um but you know you're years later they're like i'm really glad you did that man like you you proved me wrong right um i would say that make sure there's an actual like path forward with it um
00:32:40
Speaker
Like, you know, say I know Jason specifically wants to do, you know, freelance marketing or what I think I had a conversation with him at NAMM. Super nice guy. um And that's obviously attainable. People do it all the time.
00:32:55
Speaker
um But you also need to like kind of scaffold towards that goal and not just, you know, make irresponsible decisions, which is probably obvious. But.
00:33:07
Speaker
um I think like doing it part-time until you can do it full-time. Like for me, like, like I was an amp tech, I was working at old town music, which was a Brian's old job.
00:33:22
Speaker
um And I was working 40 hours a week there repairing guitar amps. And then I was working about 20 hours a week at Benson. And then I started getting too many orders starting around 2014 to like,
00:33:37
Speaker
And something had to give. And so when I finally left my job at Old Town, like they saw how busy I was and, you know, people would come to the shop and ask about, you know, is Chris here or whatever.
00:33:48
Speaker
Like it it was becoming a thing and no one was bummed when I left because they were like, oh, this is great. Like you're moving on to something like new and exciting and actually doable, like obviously doable um because you're getting all this interest and you're selling all this stuff. So um that That's kind of the path that that I took in following my dreams. And i think like, but that took putting myself in the right place at the right time and with the right skills and the right work ethic and with the right people and listening to the right you know advice and everything. So it's- I think what you're you're talking about is seizing opportunity.
00:34:35
Speaker
Yeah, that's and I would I would say yes, if the opportunity is there, exactly by all means, jump and take the chance. You know, I didn't set out to be a you know, transformer engineer.
00:34:50
Speaker
i was just working on guitar amps. But, you know, again, opportunities presented themselves. And, you know, I went for it. I have a question that popped up for you
Naming Challenges and Product Undercutting
00:35:00
Speaker
guys.
00:35:00
Speaker
Um, Did you ever consider other names other than Benson amps or Soursound Transformers? No, um i I should have probably. probably um i think we've talked about this. um Like, i thought i I never thought I would have employees.
00:35:24
Speaker
i I always thought this is just going to you know, me just wiring amps and like a detached garage for the rest of my life. If things worked out, but like better than I thought they were going to work out.
00:35:40
Speaker
Like that was like my like aspirational goal. Um, and now that I have like 20 employees, um, I think I would have done something different because now I kind of like, I'm believe it or not, I'm not comfortable being the face of it. I don't like being on camera. I don't like talking about it.
00:36:04
Speaker
I don't necessarily even like having employees, although I love them. It's like just a lot of responsibility that I signed up for that takes me away from like what I truly love, which is like designing stuff and being around my family.
00:36:18
Speaker
And I think, if I had called my amp Silk Tone or something, you know, something a little bit more generic. It would be much more stressful, dude. so um It would be, i don't know. it's It's kind of a lot of pressure to have your name attached to it.
00:36:40
Speaker
My company actually had a different name. What was it? It was Soursound with two S's in the middle. Soursound? Yeah. so Secret Service Soursound? I was in this, this ah what used to be sort of an infamous building in Portland called the Dirty Duck Building. um And I was sharing a space with this letterpress printer named Pete McCracken, super nice guy.
00:37:08
Speaker
And did you ever meet Pete? He's a great guitar player. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's a super sweet guy. I haven't talked to him in years. um Yeah. But he... ah He was ah i think the term is fontographer.
00:37:23
Speaker
he he designed fonts. like well red beside yeah like I think he designed like the Starbucks font or something crazy. I can't remember. But anyway, ah I had him look at some artwork stuff for logos or something like that i don't remember exactly what. and He was like, you should really take one of these S's out.
00:37:41
Speaker
it just It would look so much better without it. and And I was like, that doesn't make any sense. Then it's like sour sound. He was like, no, it's not. Just, no.
00:37:51
Speaker
Sorrow sound. But, yeah, he was right. It looks way better with just one S. Two S. It looks so stupid. yeah i'm I'm so glad I had someone else design my logo.
00:38:04
Speaker
Because I was, I would not have and and understood the assignment had I tried to do it. Yeah, that's cool. That badge is good. It's a good design. Yep. ah Nate Manny from ah Murder City Devils.
00:38:19
Speaker
Back in the day, um he he became kind of a branding guy. And he ah he was a guy that me and my partner at the time tapped to do it. And did a killer job. I mean, we're still pulling from the stuff that he designed. Wow, I haven't thought of that band in a long time.
00:38:36
Speaker
Yeah, names are weird. Nothing's real until I name it. Like products, everything like that. Like it's just an idea floating around. And then as soon as I name something and land on a name I like, I'm like, oh, I'm doing it now. Like now I have to.
00:38:48
Speaker
If I think of a good name, it's... I just go for it. Like with my Ice Cube tray brand, I was like, oh, I guess I have to make an Ice Cube tray brand because I thought of the name Nice Cube.
00:39:00
Speaker
ah Did you say Nice Cube? Do people know, have you talked about that before, that you were an ice cube tray magnate? Oh, God. Yeah.
00:39:13
Speaker
I don't know. I've talked about it somewhere. I don't know. ah Not here, I don't think. Yeah, before Silk Tone, I delivered pizza and sold ice cube trays on Amazon. Magnate.
00:39:24
Speaker
Ice cube tray, magnate. You were the like ah the Amazon ah king of the ice cube trays. Yeah, for a while, for a solid five years until it all toppled over due to ah the way Amazon worked.
00:39:38
Speaker
What happened to your your your you're growing ice cube tray ah empire? Yeah, did you make a really profane video? did You tell people what you put in the ice cube trays, Charles. Oh my God.
00:39:58
Speaker
Remember when we started this and Chris was like, I want this PG 13. So my mom can listen to it. the Challenge accepted. Um, Yeah, no, just the way Amazon works and the way um suppliers overseas are.
00:40:15
Speaker
um When they see something working out, they kind of start to undercut people and sell directly on Amazon and Amazon likes to cut out middlemen. and So even though I designed the trays and did all that, one of my suppliers started selling them out from under me at a lower price and it was just impossible to compete with. and That's normally fine because I had a reputation on Amazon. So even though mine were more expensive, I had more history, but then the competitor reported me on Amazon for stealing their copy, even though it was my original copy. So while it was under investigation, Amazon paused my listing for two months.
00:40:52
Speaker
And then when it when I proved to them that, no, this is bullshit, they actually stole from me. They were like, oh, sorry, we'll put you back up. But then I had no history for two months. So it just...
00:41:03
Speaker
completely fell apart. it's It's so wild how to be successful on Amazon, you have to continually be, as soon as there's like a down moment, you're just in an abyss.
00:41:16
Speaker
So yeah, it's just a really, really volatile marketplace. And um they were made out of silicone, yeah. ah what What was so special about the NiceCube IceCube tray?
00:41:29
Speaker
what made What made them nice? Yeah, what's what's your elevator, bitch? Do you have one in Japan to show us? No. No, they were f***ing stupid. You don't keep your first ice cube tray? You're not like, oh, this is the prototype that started it all. no, no, no. I didn't like them at all. They were... But um it was... Wait, you didn't like them?
00:41:50
Speaker
ah No, I didn't. Wait, they were dumb. Wait, do you like your amps? I do. I do like my amps. No, the ice cube trays were dumb. They were... ah They were I liked the idea because I i always liked little crushed ice. like from There's these old vending machines that would spit out little crushed ice. We're in our forty s We know what we're talking you what you're talking about. Chewy ice. Yeah, like like it at um at the convenience store or at Lawn's Drubs, I would get like 35 cents and a little cup would pop down and crushed ice would go into it and soda. And um how I got into Amazon is a very long story and I don't want to...
00:42:31
Speaker
get into it but i landed on ice cube trays being kind of an open market and for like brandability and stuff like that and i saw a gap and um i thought oh cool i'll do nobody's doing mini ice cube trays so i'll do mini ice cube trays and i i made i designed these trays that it was like 160 little tiny ice cubes and people loved them they blew up um and but they were really hard to get out of the tray so i would get all these crazy reviews like um people dude reading amazon reviews you guys think amplifier reviews are funny like like comments on youtube and if my page is still up i'll go find some of the like really bad reviews on my ice cube trays and uh people like you'd think i like ruined marriage or something like the way they were passionate about these seven dollar ice cube trays and how they were like seven dollars these are the worst things i've ever used in my life i immediately threw them straight in the garbage where they like all caps and like cuss words and like all this oh my god people got heated and i was like dude you just return it like you don't have to you don't have to throw it away but uh yeah or people would get like
00:43:47
Speaker
Like I advertise them as um mini ice tubes, you know, like 160 mini ice tubes in a tray. And I get a review like mini, more like tiny. like These things are way too small. It's like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Yeah,
00:44:05
Speaker
yeah it was weird. But yeah, ice tube trays, nice tube. those That was fun. That was fun. well It was really easy. I know it's like an ah epidemic prop problem where like someone will design something and then their supplier ah in China usually will just take it over yep and start selling direct yeah you know to Amazon. yeah through yeah I've been advised many times to never...
00:44:37
Speaker
Yeah. It's risky for certain. Never get something made in China yeah because you'll just see like the exact same thing. Yeah. I don't know. I really love the Chinese partners that I have with Silk Tone, which is like, just like suppliers and stuff. It's nothing design wise. I'm too afraid to send any kind of design over there because of, because of that. But so many companies I've worked with in China have been so friendly and so fast and so helpful and honestly way smoother than any of the american companies i deal with but there is that risk depending on what you're doing that it'll be stolen so yeah i'm hesitant to do any sort of design stuff over there but because i've experienced it firsthand and i have a friend that designed a coffee filter that was super successful like you know those metal coffee filters um
00:45:26
Speaker
Yeah, the mesh reusable ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My friend designed the first one ah years ago, and it was going great, and it was like on TV, and he got a bunch of sales, and then all of a sudden they were everywhere because his supplier in China stole it from him and sourced it out. Yeah.
00:45:48
Speaker
and then he went out of business because of that. Because he was selling him for probably way too much money and um they were selling him for like $10. Well i have one last voicemail to see us out. I don't think it's really a question but have one last voicemail for you guys.
00:46:07
Speaker
Hey guys, it's
Listener Feedback
00:46:09
Speaker
Dave. I'm sitting in my hotel room in Phoenix on my way home from Woodwire Vault in Anaheim this year. And I just want to tell you that it was really great seeing all you guys.
00:46:23
Speaker
Except for Charles, because he moved to Japan because apparently he hates us. But yeah, the other three of you guys, it was real pleasure. So that's it.
00:46:37
Speaker
Okay, bye. That's awesome. that's all man That's actually one of my biggest regrets was when I was seeing all the stories on on Instagram, I was like, ah, these guys have to deal with NAMM. What a bummer. And then I'd see Dave's stories and be like, oh, I don't get to see Dave.
00:46:54
Speaker
Yeah, dude. He was in using good spirits constantly. yeah it was great to see Dave. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. yeah we're I miss a lot of people.
00:47:06
Speaker
We were supposed to stay like in the back of his like house on the way to Chicago on the road trip. Yeah. Because he has like a fenced off parking lot and I was really concerned about people stealing the Babylon.
00:47:21
Speaker
um But we didn't end up going that way. We went through Denver. aye Where does he live again? Albuquerque. Albuquerque. Oh, that's right. That's right. Good. Good to see that dude. Yeah.
00:47:32
Speaker
It was like, there's, there's like probably a group of 10 or 15 people where it was like, Oh, family, this guy. Yeah.
00:47:43
Speaker
That's awesome. That's always the best. Yeah, for me, it was like, you know, there was like a handful of people that I i knew and had hung out with before Dave being one. um was a lot of meeting new people.
00:47:57
Speaker
And I had a little bit of kind of what you were talking about. You were like well, I actually met a lot of people who play my amps. And I had people come up to me that buy Transformers like on the website and stuff, which was really cool. I was extremely unexpected. i mean, obviously, we sell a whole lot less Transformers than you do amps. So the fact that that happened multiple times was so surprising. But like,
00:48:19
Speaker
Really cool. i' yeah I've met so many people, my brain is still spinning from it. Yep, that was awesome. There were so many times where I was talking to some like amp geek and they were like, you know, and and they we start start talking about Sauer's Transformers. and I was like, oh, Brian's right over there.
00:48:38
Speaker
they were just like peace out so hard yeah you were like pimping me to people you're like you know it's like you were like my barrier at my ah bouncer to entry you know and you just kept coming over and introducing people and i was just like oh okay who's next no happy to do it i mean i feel like you know i met a couple couple of people i didn't know like this time around but like the last like four or five times i've been down to anaheim for whatever Like, you know, I just know everybody already. it was, but when I first went or maybe the second time I went to NAMM and did that whole thing, like I remember, I think it was 2015. I just like, I had a year where I just met all of these people in real life.
00:49:28
Speaker
and how it like And it just opened up these like amazing like business opportunities and friendships and like relationships that I still have. And i it was really exciting for me to to watch that happen to you.
00:49:42
Speaker
Whereas people had heard of me in 2015, but then they wanted to like then we met and we became buds and business partners or whatever. And ah you you were kind of, I think you went at the exact right time and it was it was exciting to see that happen. It was cool. Yeah, I mean, thank you. and And yeah, like everybody wanted to talk big amp, but then, you know, like I said before, you know, people would ah talk about this podcast or, you know, talk about Transformers they bought online and...
00:50:12
Speaker
you know asking me about, like what am I working on now? What's next? And you you know me. It's always like, oh, I've got a wax thing or like i'm designing this you know new variant alloy of permaloy or something. you know I've always got something to talk about.
00:50:27
Speaker
Except that that it was all great until that like Saturday night point when me and Chris Vincent were talking to each other. and That was still funny, man. Can I tell them? Yeah. Yeah, you should tell the story because I was i was the the participant. and I didn't get to observe it like you. Yeah, so r two r I think like Kristen's wife, I'm so sorry, I don't remember her name. but don i believe her name was Kelly, though when she introduced herself, I was not right in the head. No, weren't. So she was like, I got to get Chris out of here. He's about to fall over. Like he's so exhausted. He's he's just done. Like he wants to leave.
00:51:06
Speaker
And then he noticed Brian's over there. and then he And I know how tired Brian is because I've been hanging out with Brian. Brian's done. like He's cooked. Both of these guys are more cooked than any than I've ever seen anyone.
00:51:23
Speaker
And Chris goes up to Brian and they proceed to have like a 45 minute conversation, but they both look like they're about to fall over. but they're But they're both like, you know, pretending like you could see them just trying to like keep it together because they really want to have this conversation. And there's a group of probably 15 people that were laughing at him.
00:51:45
Speaker
It was really sweet. Yeah. Just falling asleep on each other. His wife was like, you guys are like swaying, you know, bobbing and weaving back and forth. Like you're about ready to like literally fall on each other. And I was like, I'm so sorry.
00:51:58
Speaker
ah yeah you guys were both like hunched over. It was like, it was so funny. the the From my perspective, the the hilarious part, though, was that like so yeah his wife came up and was just like, hey, y'all are both done. like Let's end this conversation. Let's let's get out of here. Let's everyone go you know crack a beer or do whatever, chill. And ah so after like we said goodbyes and we said we'd talk later or whatever, then I went up to you and you basically just said the same thing that she told me.
00:52:32
Speaker
That was, for for for my perspective, that was the hilarious part, was that it was so just, like, visually obvious, visually palpable that, like, we were literally about fall over. It was like watching two drunk guys have, like, an intellectual conversation at a bar or something. it was like, everyone knows what's going on. It's like, man, these guys are... And I'd say I was stone cold sober, but the lack of sleep, I don't think, was was considered sober.
00:52:59
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode of Amplify Nonsense. Our goal is to release a new episode every other week, so please subscribe wherever you listen. If you have a question for Brian, Charles, and Chris about amps, pop culture, or relationships, please call five one three three three four three eight zero three and leave a voicemail If you enjoyed this episode of Amplified Nonsense, please leave a rating and review.
00:53:27
Speaker
Thanks again and we'll see you soon.