The Black Keys Fan Lounge Forum

I can tell you that Dan used a lot of Fulltone SoulBender Fuzz on Thickfreakness album. Not too sure on the amps though. The US Tour Manager told me that The Big Come Up involved a decent dose of Maestro MFZ fuzz and Thickfreakness had a lot of Soul Bender Fuzz.

Hope that helps some.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Really? How else does he get that smooth and fat overdrive on Hard Row?

Marshall Plexi? Bassman?

Any other imput? I remember some guys on the old forum got ampeg gemini's for some reason.

Used to have a 1965 Ampeg Gemini 1. Favorite amp I've ever owned. INCREDIBLE reverb and good tremolo/vibrato too.

Sold it because I rarely ever got to play it loud. What's the point of having a great amp like that and not being able to play it over bedroom volume? I live in an apt in Chicago, with bitchy neighbors.

My buddy and I used to rent a practice space and there we could get loud as we wanted 24 hrs a day. Once we stopped doing that, it didn't take long for me to sell the amp.

It's a great amp, but if you find a nice used one like I did, you still have to go get the filter caps replaced (and possibly tone caps, etc) plus a 3-prong cord is a must for safety. So you're looking at a hefty bill from your local tech/shop, unless you're good at that kind of work. Also need NOS tubes because Gemini's use some tubes that aren't made anymore. NOS tubes aren't impossible to find but it's getting harder.

Ultimately I'd rather have a more modern/dependable amp, but that's just my opinion. If you like the sounds on The Big Come Up, get yourself a Gemini.