About Black and White Amplification
Black and White Amplification, based in Adelaide, South Australia, began its journey with a passion for creating boutique, premium quality, handmade, custom voiced guitar amplifiers and effects pedals. Our story is one of dedication to crafting amplifier and pedals designs that possess outstanding audio characteristics and through-life reliability. We achieve this by the application of rigorous electronic enginnering principles and industrial design. Our schematics are refined via circuit simulation (SPICE) then hardware prototyping and extensive listening tests.
At Black and White Amplification, we stand out for our commitment to delivering exceptional guitar tone. Our focus is on providing a range of guitar amplifiers and effects pedals, including the M5-Hotblack, and M15-Trillian amplifiers and the Nemesis overdrive, Pandora clean boost, Orpheus compressor and Prometheus uVibe effects pedals. These are crafted to cater to the needs of discerning guitarists. We aim to create a space where musicians can find their perfect sound and effortlessly express their creativity through our exceptionally engineered products.
''The sound quality of Black and White Amplification's amplifiers is simply outstanding. It's a pure delight to play through their custom-made amplifiers. Highly recommended!'' - Julian F.
''I've been using the Pandora clean boost pedal from Black and White Amplification, and it has significantly elevated my guitar tone. Couldn't be happier with the purchase!'' - Brendan W.
''Black and White Amplification's dedication to handcrafting amplifiers and pedals is truly commendable. Their attention to detail and sound customization options are unmatched.'' - Paul
About Black & White AmpLIFICATION
The company was founded in 2008 by high school buddies Chris Wood and Dean Stilo in Beaumont, South Australia (around the corner from the Hilltop Hoods DJ).
At Black and White Amplification, our story is rooted in a lifelong passion for music and craftsmanship. Chris Wood and Dean Stilo began their musical journey as teenagers, picking up their guitars at 13 years of age. By the late 1970s and early 80s, they were playing gigs across Melbourne, Australia, honing their skills and developing their unique sound.
Back in those days, high-quality amplifiers were out of reach. Chris and Dean made do with affordable models like Yamaha and Golden Tone, but they always dreamed of amplifiers that could truly bring their music to life. This dream stayed with them, evolving over the years into a vision for creating boutique, handmade guitar amplifiers and effects pedals that deliver unparalleled tone and performance.
Several decades later, and after long careers in engineering and aviation, Chris and Dean decided to design and build the best possible amplifier regardless of price to achieve the ultimate sound quality and user experience. This commitment to excellence and innovation led to the birth of Black and White Amplification.
Black and White Amplifiers are designed to have a unique sound and tone that does not emulate or compare to any other amplifiers in the known universe. The criteria were clear: the clean channel would deliver the cleanest tone with the most headroom and a near zero-noise floor. The drive channel would be meticulously crafted to produce a silky smooth, highly compressed overdriven sound with a distinctive tone control—the "awesome knob," designed to be turned up to 11.
Fast forward 12 years of painstaking research and development, and the M5 Amplifier was a groundbreaking achievement, a 5-watt pure Class-A SET amplifier capable of competing in volume with a 40-watt Fender valve amp. This innovation exemplifies our dedication to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in amplifier design.
Today, Black and White Amplification stands as a testament to their dedication and expertise. Every amplifier and pedal is handcrafted in Adelaide, with meticulous attention to detail and a commitment to premium sound quality. Using high-end components like Susumu resistors, Wima capacitors, JJ and Tungsol valves and Celestion speakers, we’ve designed a range of custom voiced amplifiers and pedals to meet the demands of professional musicians and tone enthusiasts alike.
Our journey began with a love for music and the determination to craft amplifiers that inspire creativity. Now, we invite you to join us in pushing the boundaries of sound and performance.
Besides guitar amps, Chris has been involded with ProphesySound Systems on custom guitar pedal designs (Pi Phase) one sent to Steve Vai and The Red Hot Chili Pepper's Josh Klinghoffer (custom 8 channel delay).
Studio Excellentiae... "the pursuit of excellence".
Chris & Dean.
Our Resume - 40 years of MUSIC and engineering
1977-1985
Foreign Agents (Rock Band)
Melbourne Australia
A 5 piece Rock band featuring Chris on guitar Tony on drums, Mick on keyboard, Roger on bass and Telani on vocals. The debut single was recorded at Studio 250 in Noble Park, a suburb of Melbourne Australia. Lots of pub gigs in St.Kilda & Richmond playing covers and originals.
1980-1984
Electrical & Computer Systems Engineering
Monash University, Melbourne
Chris graduated with Honours as part of the new wave of computer engineers. He learned electronics and computer programming in the early days and still remembers programming servers the size of a room using paper punch cards.
1984-2024
Engineer, Director and Programmer
Hong Kong, UK, USA & Australia
Progressing from a telecommunications hardware design engineer, to being chairman and founder of pioneering ASX listed Internet of Things company (Xped Ltd), to working on classified military technologies and founding director of Broadleaf Hemp. Chris has had a diverse career in business and engineering. He is also a founder of US based FinTech company Shomei and Black and White Amplification.