Evans Amplifiers got their start in the late ’70s; the brainchild of Jim Evans, a broadcast engineer who applied his background in signal clarity to guitar amplification. His amps quickly found a following among pedal steel and jazz players; folks who needed clean, high-headroom tone that stayed articulate at any volume. Built in small batches and largely hand-assembled, Evans amps were always a bit under the radar; but they’ve developed a loyal following for their precision and reliability.

This is an early JE200 model from 1996; back before they were stamping model numbers on the chassis—just a hand-etched serial number. It pushes 200 watts of solid-state power into an Evans-designed 12" speaker; includes active EQ with separate controls for highs, lows, and parametric mids; reverb and line out are also onboard. Great platform for pedal steel or clean jazz tones; very transparent, with loads of headroom and minimal coloration.