What we do:
Pitcher Amplification specializes in building
high quality vacuum tube guitar amplifiers. I believe the
best musical instruments are built by people who actually have
the talent to also play them. Pitcher amps are born from a
mix of equal parts musical talent, electronics wizardry, and a
lifelong pursuit of the ultimate in guitar tone.
How we got here:
My name is Alexander Whitaker Pitcher.
Please call me Whit.
To understand what really goes into a Pitcher amp, you have to
know something about me.
During my formative teens, my mom used to say
“Whitaker, if you don’t stop talking about amps and guitars
all the time, you will never get a girlfriend”. I worried
that she might be right about that so I followed her
exhortations to become more “well rounded”. To that end, I
started taking things apart to see how they worked (including
my Silvertone 1484, and a very expensive Baldwin electric
guitar which ended up with pickups scrounged from an earlier,
cheap Kent guitar). I built electronic projects and learned
how to work on cars. Later I built a chopper out of an old
1956 Harley Pan Head. I was getting pretty “well rounded”.
Somehow, I don’t think that is what mom had in mind.
Since those fateful words from mom, my life
has been full of almost nothing but music related activities
and the inevitable heartbreak when some girl dumped me (too
much amp talk, I suppose). At 16 I built a fuzz tone (it was
true-bypass before it was cool!) out of an old tape recorder
after seeing “Strawberry Alarm Clock” and "Buffalo
Springfield". For about 15 years I played in many working
rock, country-rock and variety bands touring throughout the
USA. I established the sound production company,
WHITSOUND, in the mid 80’s where I built my own
ported sub woofers and electronic crossovers to match, and
mixed hundreds of touring acts with that system. In my spare
time, I got a degree from Auburn University. I worked
full-time for several years as house engineer at Ziggy’s,
one of the South’s most successful night clubs. I have
engineered studio projects and for a few years, repaired and
modified guitars. I have hacked every guitar and amp I have
every owned, wound my own pickups and tripped a few breakers.
I am immune to electric shocks (just kidding, that shit can
kill you)!
The point is I have experienced music and
electronics from all the angles necessary to produce solid,
reliable amps that deliver uncompromising tone. When you get
a Pitcher amp, you are getting my entire life with music
expressed as a vacuum tube amplifier. Currently, I build
every amp from start to finish. My buddy, Ken Jones (also a
consummate bassist and tone fanatic) builds the shells, cabs
and covers to my specs.