Eli Lester couldn’t bear to see Two-Rock disappear, so he bought the company. He tells us how he resuscitated the brand and turned it into one of the hottest names in boutique amplification.Two-Rock Amplification emerged into tube-amp consciousness like very few brands in past decades. Not only are their amps regularly tagged “best” by countless players and influencers, but even those decrying the lofty price tags admit their impossibly clear tones and soulful dynamics. That’s how Two-Rock co-owner and CEO Eli Lester wants it. Preferring to let others do the talking, he stays focused on the brand’s mission with an intense tonal obsession, resilience, and refusal to compromise.Two-Rock’s journey hasn’t been without turbulence, however. Founder, Bill Krinard had sold the brand to Premier Builders Guild in 2010, and by 2016 it was teetering on collapse. That’s when Lester, already a long-time Two-Rock devotee, alongside his partner Mac Skinner, took a leap of faith to rebuild it from the ground up.“I was probably the biggest Two-Rock fan in the world,” he explains. “I was doing some R&D stuff with them back in the day, and it was my favorite amp company. I don’t have an answer for why I wanted to buy it. I just couldn't let it die.”Two-Rock in hand, Lester’s vision was clear: Build the best tube amps possible and let the cards fall where they may. However, it wasn’t a total shot in the dark, as Lester had spent his life surrounded by amplifiers and playing with some of guitar’s genuine icons. The man knows guitar tone.“It's all I’ve ever done,” he says, matter of factly. “I did guitar repair in the back of shops since about 18. And I was buying old Bassmans when they were 300 bucks and modifying them. I was also a full-time player, blessed to tour with Robben Ford, play with B.B. King, a bunch of players.”“We’re definitely inspired by his amps, and I’m honored that people put us in that same camp, but we don’t make Dumble clones.”Nearly a decade after purchasing the company, Lester’s commitment is as potent as ever. From his California workshop, surrounded by a literal wall of vintage amps (including Danny Gatton’s personal 1963 Vibroverb), he balances the roles of CEO, designer, and player. Alongside Skinner and Two-Rock original founder Bill Krinard, he's steering the brand into the future with the same vision that he started with.Now at the helm of one of the most in-demand amp companies, Lester’s reluctance to chase the spotlight is still obvious. But, generous with his time, he shared the story of Two-Rock’s rebirth, its place in the tube-amp world, and where he hopes to take it next.What was it like buying a struggling amp brand? Were you confident you could turn Two-Rock around?Well, Mac knew how to run the company because he’d been running operations since 2004, and I knew how to build amps and was the player. But it was kind of, “I hope we don't lose too much money here.” [Laughs]We literally started all over. We threw away chassis, transformers, and all the old inventory. We said, “We don’t even want to make any of these models,” and started from ground zero.Why buy a company when you want to throw most of it away?It was my favorite amp company. I was so emotional about it, so connected to it, and still believed they were the best amps I’d ever played. And Mac and I were both really aligned and wanted to see if we could revive it. It was just something I was really passionate about keeping alive.You’ve found a lot of success since then. Are you still able to stay hands-on with everything?It’s still a pretty small company. We have about 30 employees between the amp factory and the cabinet shop. I’m the CEO/owner, so I do all the amp design, voice every amp, and do artist amps. I also do the sales and marketing and pretty much run the place. Mac runs operations, part procurement, what’s being used, what models we’re making, how they’re being built, and deals with my OCD.We also brought back Bill Krinard, the original designer and founder, to help with some design work. It’s a collaborative group between Bill and me, going back and forth, bouncing ideas off each other.Two-Rock is often compared to Dumble. Do you think that’s an accurate comparison?We’re definitely inspired by his amps, and I’m honored that people put us in that same camp, but we don’t make Dumble clones. I get asked to do it quite often, and I don’t, out of respect. Drew [Berlin] and Mark [Swanson] [co-owners of Dumble] are good friends of mine. I got to know Alexander before he passed away and was invited to the funeral. He’s one of my biggest inspirations in the world, one of my heroes.Sonically and circuit-wise, we have models that are obviously inspired by them, especially aesthetically. But we’ve been able to carve our own voice. I’m equally inspired by Leo Fender and kind of morph the two things together to make our amps.Leo Fender’s influence is apparent, especially with the Vintage Deluxe. What is it about vintage American amplifiers that attracts you?Besides the fact that all my favorite players have played most of those amps, if I have a black-panel Fender and I take it to a gig, plug it in, put everything on noon, I’m good to go. Plus, those amps have a bit of artifacts and schmutz in the sound. They’re not too sterile, clean, or hi-fi sounding. They have some character to them.That’s what I was trying to capture with the Vintage Deluxe. You take an amp, plug it in, turn everything to noon, and it sounds and feels great.In my opinion, a lot of the Dumble clones or Dumble-inspired amps are sometimes too sterile. They don’t have enough character. So, I pull some of that from the Fender side.A lot of your amps follow a lineage. The Bloomfield Drive is an evolution of the Classic Reverb Signature, and the Joey Landreth Signature is an evolution of the Bloomfield. Would you ever branch into something like a plexi-style or high-gain design?I love playing, and I have a JTM45 and a ’63 Bluesbreaker behind me. I still love playing those amps, but trying to have a cohesive product line where everything fits together is definitely a main goal of ours.That’s a good transition with our Divided by 13 acquisition. A lot of the reason for buying it was, every time I’ve tried to do an EL84, EL34, or Marshall-inspired amp, people go, “That’s not what Two-Rock does. They're trying to be something they're not.” That was always a problem.Fred [Taccone, founder of Divided by 13] is a friend of mine. When he mentioned he wanted to get out of the business, I thought, “This gives me the outlet to do those kinds of amps without cannibalizing and diluting the Two-Rock thing.” It’s its own thing, and Two-Rock is its own thing, too. They don’t compete with each other at all.You brought Divided by 13 in-house with Two-Rock, and the same team builds both amps. Why not use the opportunity to grow and gain market share?Mac and I are both very aligned that we want to keep Two-Rock a small company. Like, Sweetwater has wanted to carry Two-Rock for so many years, but I just don’t think it fits with what we do. It’s a great financial move, and they’re great, but I still want to be able to touch every amp and make sure it’s built exactly the way it should be. I don’t ever want to lose that quality. With Premier Builders Guild and other amp companies, we’ve seen what happens when people try to blow it up too big.Two-Rock Amps definitely do things your own way. They’re all-tube, many of them are 100 watts, and they use a cascading gain-stage design that can take a while to get used to. But it all works somehow.I’m a clean-headroom guy. My goal is to make the biggest, most three-dimensional, clean amplifier you can. Back in 2016, the small amp thing was really popular, but we started building 100-watt amps because that’s what I love to play. Everyone thought Mac and I were absolutely crazy.But we use that wattage for bandwidth, not sheer volume. You can use [our amps] at bedroom volumes. I put a lot of work, as well as my team, into it. We have a very usable master volume and a proprietary transformer. That’s why you see people playing our 100-watt Classic Reverb and Bloomfield in small venues.And our amps do have a lot of tone options, but the controls are laid out the way you use them. We’re not doing a bunch of crazy switching. It makes sense, at least in my brain.Two-Rock players like John Mayer, Joey Landreth, and Ariel Posen are all known for their soulful playing and beautiful tones. Eric Johnson is even playing your amps. Why do you think they all gravitate toward Two-Rock?You get out of an amp what you put into it, that extra little five percent to 10 percent. Eric, Joey, Ariel, Josh [Smith], Doyle Bramhall [II], and Ben Harper are all looking for that extra five percent to 10 percent. We can tweak the amp and get it to where they want it, but they pull that stuff out of them.I don't know anyone that has the artist roster we have, and it’s 100 percent organic. We don’t do artist endorsements. All our artists pay for the amps. It’s just because they love them. I’m so blessed to have that; I can’t even tell you.YouTubeWatch Rhett Schull’s now-infamous video on why his Classic Reverb Signature changed his mind on Two-Rock amps.You don’t have a paid artist roster, and you don’t put out a ton of video content. On top of that, a lot of people claim tube amps are dead. Still, you’re one of the most talked about brands in the industry. How did you make that happen?It was extremely organic. There was no marketing plan. I was flying all over the country with the Classic Reverb Signature, going to dealers and artists, saying, “This is what the new amps are going to sound like.” It’s a horrible business model that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone, but it forced us to build the best amp we could.And I think the fact that I’m a player first helped. I’m still obsessed. As the market has gone away from vacuum tubes, I’ve gone backward. My rebuttal is, “We’re just going to make them even more badass! We’re going to make them more high-end and tweak the components even more!” I think a lot of the players we have gravitate towards that.Guitarist/YouTube influencer Rhett Schull recently released a video on the Classic Reverb titled, “The Best Guitar Amp I’ve Ever Owned.” That’s a bold statement, especially from someone who makes a living in the industry. What’s it like when players drop words like “best” to describe your work?It’s funny, but Rhett was a Two-Rock critic for a long time because he never played them. He was saying, “These are overpriced. I played these other ones, and they’re just as good.” Then he got a chance, tried one, and said, “Okay, I get it. This isn’t like anything else. This is a different thing.” We’re so blessed to have guys like that who are brand ambassadors that carry the torch for us.But I don’t ever sit here and say my stuff is the best. Actually, guys go, “I have a black-panel Deluxe Reverb and a plexi. What [Two-Rock] should I get?” I’m always saying, “Dude, you’re good. What else do you need?!” I’m the worst self-promoter in the world. [laughs] You guys have defied the odds so far, but where do you see the tube-amp market going in the future? Will people still be playing Two-Rocks?I wake up in cold sweats about it every single night. Just getting tubes is hard, and for a long time, people wanted quantity over quality. Now, at least for my generation, it’s like, “No, I just want one or two really nice amps that sound good, play good, and feel good.” So there's a nostalgia and a vibe with it that I don’t see going anywhere. There’s too much love for it.With that in mind, where do you want to take Two-Rock in the next 10 years?Sustainability is a big thing. This is a very cyclical business. I’ve been in it my whole life. I’ve seen things go up, seen things go down. People, amps, and guitars are trendy and cool, but then they fall off. You try to reach too far, and then it doesn’t work anymore. So I think it’s just staying steady, keeping course, and sustaining what we have. We just want to build really good guitar amplifiers, work with cool artists, and keep going.It seems to be working. Everybody is talking about Two-Rock right now.Thank you. That’s where Josh [Scott, JHS Pedals] is on my ass so much. He’s like, “The successful companies have a face behind them. We need to put you out there and start letting people know you’re the guy doing this.” I’m very uncomfortable with that. That’s not my thing. I just like to build amps.
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