Private company

Fryette Amplification

Guitar equipment manufacturer

Fryette Amplification of Chatsworth, California is a manufacturer of hand-built electric guitar amplifiers, speaker cabinets, power amplifiers, sound effects pedals and pedalboard accessories. The company was founded as VHT Amplification in Studio City, Los Angeles, California by Steven Fryette in January 1989 and was the first to produce a true three-channel vacuum tube amplifier.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

  • Industryelectronics industry1
  • HeadquartersLos Angeles1
  • Websitewww.fryette.com
  • Legal formprivately held company1

Fryette Amplification of Chatsworth, California is a manufacturer of hand-built electric guitar amplifiers, speaker cabinets, power amplifiers, sound effects pedals and pedalboard accessories. The company was founded as VHT Amplification in Studio City, Los Angeles, California by Steven Fryette in January 1989 and was the first to produce a true three-channel vacuum tube amplifier.2

The story

A few years after moving from Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles, California in 1976, Steven Fryette landed a job as a repair technician at Valley Arts Guitar. Fryette honed his skills doing custom work, repairs, and modifications for the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Larry Carlton, Tommy Tedesco, Ry Cooder, Buzz Feiten, Carlos Rios, Duane Eddy, and many other guitar players.

After several years of building experimental prototypes for an all-tube stereo power amplifier and the first in a long line of multi-channel, multi-featured amplifiers under the PITTBULL moniker, Fryette decided to go launch his business. VHT Amplification officially began in January 1989 on the dining room table of a Studio City, California apartment near Valley Arts.

The VHT brand name is still in use by a different company based in Hayward, California. It specializes in affordable quality amplifiers.

From Wikipedia’s article on Fryette Amplification, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

  • electronic amplifier

Listed on Wikidata.1

Power Amplifiers

Rack mountable power amplifiers formed basis of the company, with customers such as Metallica, Steve Lukather, Alice In Chains, Anthrax (an American band), and Megadeth.

Pittbull Series

The Pittbulls were the second amplifier series created by Fryette, which includes the KT88 powered 120 Watt Pittbull Ultra-Lead three-channel head (introduced in 1993), the Master Built EL34 powered 100 Watt Pittbull Hundred/CLX three-channel head, the award-winning (2) dual-channel EL34 powered Pittbull Hundred/CL head & its counterpart the Fifty/CL head. The series also included the EL84-based Pittbull Fifty series, the Pittbull Forty-Five series as well as the EL34-based Pittbull Fifty series heads and combos.

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Valvulator I

The Valvulator I is a Vacuum Tube Buffer-Line Driver and a Multiple Output Regulated DC Power Supply. It was designed to solve the problems of diminished high-frequency response caused by cable capacitance, decreased signal level and high-frequency response from impedance effects, and signal degradation caused by the design of circuitries in effects devices. The Valvulator I solved these problems using a vacuum tube-based Buffer circuit to transform the guitar signal from high impedance to low impedance.

Deliverance Series

In January 2005 Fryette unveiled the single-channel KT88 powered Deliverance series amplifiers and cabinets. This series includes the Deliverance One Twenty, the Deliverance Sixty, and the Deliverance speaker cabinets.

Sig: X

In January 2007 Fryette unveiled the three-channel 100 Watt Sig: X amplifier, a new design that offers a feature set designed to allow guitar players the capability & flexibility to dial in their own unique or signature sound. The model name Sig: X was in response to the market’s saturation of artist signature model products.

Speaker Cabinets

Fryette manufactures the FatBottom Series & the Deliverance Series guitar speaker cabinets. Both are CNC (Numerical control) milled, constructed with Baltic Birch & front mounted with the Fryette P50E speaker. The Deliverance cabinets utilize the Fryette V-BRACE technology producing a looser feel than the FatBottom cabinets.

Memphis

The Memphis Thirty was the first new product released under the Fryette name. The Memphis also marked the return of combo amplifiers to the Fryette line. The Class A, 2 channel Memphis Thirty 1x12 was the first amp in the new Memphis Series and features EL84 power tubes, 30 Watt & 18 Watt power modes & a unique removable hatch on the front panel allowing users to easily access and change pre-amp tubes.

S.A.S and Boostassio Pedals

Released in 2010, the S.A.S Distortion and Boostassio Boost pedals feature a unique EF86 driven tube design coupled with a variable Bias control to tailor the distortion behavior of the EF86.

Power Station

Introduced in 2014, the Power Station is an innovative product design that couples an adjustable reactive load with an internal 50W, 6L6 power amplifier. The Power Station serves as a power attenuator, power booster, and reamping device with a passive line out and posts load amp effects loop. The internal power amp response can be adjusted using dedicated Presence and Depth controls based on Fryette's original Depth Control design introduced in 1988.

Aether Amplifier

Also introduced in 2014, the Aether amplifier is Fryette's paradigm-shifting take on vintage modernism. In the Aether amp, the preamp, speaker, and reverb unit reside in the speaker cabinet while the power amp and power supply occupy a separate compact lunchbox style housing.

From Wikipedia’s article on Fryette Amplification, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Sources

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