Two-Rock unveils Cardiff guitar amp head

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New EL84-based 15-watter tweaks British tones

See the name Two-Rock and you're more likely to think American stages, contemporary blues and John Mayer rather than Gavin & Stacey, rugby and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, but the name of the company's new guitar amp pays tribute to Wales's great capital city.

We're not quite sure whether the 15-watt head's name signifies a particular brand of Welsh tone - Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Funeral For A Friend? - but we do know that the Cardiff pairs British heritage with Two-Rock performance engineering.

Inside, two EL84 power valves have been tweaked to offer less compression, a fuller midrange and tighter bass response than what you'd traditionally expect from this valve line-up.

Controls are kept simple, with bass, treble and volume, plus an active contour control sweep, which maintains preamp tone control settings and allows for quick tonal tweaks to adapt to different guitars and venues - handy if you're playing Clwb Ifor Bach one night, St David's Hall the next. A passive effects loop rounds off the spec.

The Two-Rock Cardiff is out now for $1,595, and a matching 1x12 speaker cabinet is also available. Tidy.

Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.