1972 Garnet Randy Bachman’s The Herzog Model G12-H Tube Distortion Unit & Amplifier Head – Rare 1st Gen. Vintage Original H-Zog

– 1972 Garnet Randy Bachman’s Herzog Model G12-H tube distortion unit
– This incredibly rare tube overdrive effect, serial number 7616, is in very excellent 100% all original condition. This is the first version, which is the predecessor the slightly later H-Zog. Both The Herzog and it’s successor have a single 12AX7 and a 6V6. This small head is an amazing sounding preamp, but will also function as a 3w amplifier. Randy Bachman was blowing up Tweed Champs by using them as a preamp, so Garnet effectively reconfigured a Tweed Champ schematic with line out, for proper use as a preamp
– Developed by Thomas “Gar” Gillies, founder of the Garnet Amplifier Company, the Herzog was built in collaboration with The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive guitarist, Randy Bachman. A former violin player, Bachman loved the effect of a sustained hum sound, and often tried to mimic it on his guitar by plugging a small amp into a bigger amp, and cranking the volume. After repairing countless blown amps for Bachman, Gillies built him the tube pre-amp seen here. The creamy overdrive and sustained guitar tone produced by the Garnet Herzog went on to become the signature “Winnipeg sound” heard on tracks such as “American Woman” and “No Time”
– This unit has since been reissued, but nothing comes close to the sound of the original
– Procured from the Indigo Ranch studio collection, this is believed to have been used on many recordings. Indigo Ranch, nestled on 60-acres in the hills of Malibu, California, operated from 1974 until 2006, under the guidance and obsessions of Richard Kaplan. Clients took advantage of his meticulously built studio, hundreds of effects pedals, 400 guitar amps, and rare Aengus console. Artists as diverse as Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Olivia Newton John, Jeff Lorber, Korn, Sepultura, and Limp Bizkit all made albums at Indigo Ranch. Vice published an article on how Indigo became the “improbable birthplace of Nu-Metal,” and Tape-Op Magazine interviewed Richard Kaplan, Ross Robinson, and others about the numerous important albums made at Indigo Ranch over the many decades it actively changed the landscape of both music and culture.