The History
Established in 2002 by Wayne Jones and Jessica Winterbottom, Headstrong Amplifiers has become one of the premiere replica amp companies in the industry offering dead-on Blackface and Brownface era amplifiers, as well as developing several cutting edge original designs used by pros in many genres of music.
Headstrong Amps initially offered dead-on Tweed amps as part of it’s now discontinued Blue Lamp Series. These amps were chosen due to Wayne’s preference of Tweed amps during his years as a professional musician. The Blue Lamp line proved to be a good fit in the market and allowed Headstrong to establish itself quickly in a burgeoning industry. Dealers were established and a small ad campaign followed and the business started to grow slowly over the rest of 2002-2003.
Jones worked hard the first 2 years establishing a small dealer list and loyal customers around the world. Feeling ambitious, the next move would put Headstrong on the map...
In 2004 Wayne developed the idea to produce the first in what would become a series of Blackface style amps. The Lil’ King reverb amp became the world’s first replica of the 1964 Princeton® reverb-Amp. In late 2004 the first of the Lil’ King’s rolled off the line and were instantly received with critical acclaim from players, dealers and press.
Not resting for a second, in early 2005 Headstrong continued to develop the Blackface line, now referred to as the “Royal Series” with the addition of the Royal Reverb, a replica of the famed AB763 Deluxe Reverb-Amp®. Another hit across the board.
With these two popular amps established and several new blackface models on the market, the next year became a blur. Between building every amp chassis and cabinet himself and Jessica handling all of the cabinet covering, there was little time for R&D.
2006 brought many new things to the table at Headstrong. Several goals were achieved, working with several artists that were on the list was taken care of and finally after several years of circuit design and cosmetic conceptual work:
In Mid 2006, Headstrong launched the first in a series of original designs inspired by several vintage amp models. The new Prima series amps captured a vintage look, feel and sound but offer several very modern features that were very player friendly. The Prima line was originally designed with the pro level player in mind where volume levels are rarely restricted. The Prima amps have been a hit in a multitude of genres on the professional touring level.
2007 brought a new website and saw the release of another first; the 2X10 Brown Verbrovibe amp from Headstrong, was the world’s first hand-wired replica of the 1963 Vibroverb®. This was the first Fender® amp to feature on board reverb added to the circuit. The Headstrong version became a hit with many owners of the original, that had decided not to gig with a $7,000 amp.
2008 brought tremendous growth and progress at Headstrong. With the chore of filling orders, it took 9 months to launch the new Lil’ King-S. The LK-S hit the market with a fury.
The Now
In July 2008, Wayne’s brother Jesse took over the cabinet shop on a full time basis. This was the middle of tour season and Jesse more than proved he was up for the task. Look for Jesse to take a stronger roll in Headstrong in the future...He is the real deal. With his eye for detail and workhorse mentality, this was a welcome addition to the company.
2009 was a year to refocus and set new goals.
These goals will be realized in 2010 so stay tuned for more from Headstrong.
