About
Max Butler built point to point style guitar amps quietly in Eaton Rapids, Michigan for more than 32 years. He definitely chased “the tone” all of that time, and was building custom guitar amps well before the terms “boutique” or “vintage” amps were coined. For those of us that have met Max, and that play and use his amps – there is nothing else. Max has never advertised in any way – on, or off the Internet, and yet he’s friends with some of the biggest names in electronics, gear, and amp building in the world. He’s built amps for some very famous players, and he’s never tried to “cash in” despite his incredible knowledge and talent.
Unfortunately Max passed away on Nov 25, 2014 at the age of 80. My name is John Pratt, and I met Max in 2006 when I asked to service my first Butler amp (the Silver Hammer). After multiple visits to his home he custom built my second Butler amp for me (a Swamp). I created this website for him in 2008 as a resource to help people find him, because other than email he really wasn’t on the Internet.
Max was not an engineer, he was not an electrician, he never even had a job related to electronics. His 9-5 job before he retired was in real estate. Max was a “player”, and his passion is building amps for people. In the many talks I had with him, he told me in no uncertain terms that any amp builder that doesn’t play guitar himself will never be able to credibly “tune the amp”. He built 350-400 amps over those 30+ years. He listened to what you liked in an amp, and if were local he also listened to you play in his basement. Even though he has only 2 main amp models – he would custom tailor a guitar amp to your personal specifications. Because he was a player, the amps he built were tuned “by ear” – something that you will NEVER get from an assembly line guitar amp – made in America or not.
Often people get Max Butler confused with BK Butler (because they both designed amps). BK Butler build the infamous Tube Driver guitar pedal used by Eric Johnson, Billy Gibbons, and scores of others. There was (for a short time) an amp based on that pedal produced also called the Tube Driver. It was a 2×12 combo. BK Butler is in no way affiliated with Max Butler. The only thing they have in common is that they both built something for Eric Johnson.
**ATTENTION eBay Visitors – READ THIS**
Unfortunately there are eBay auctions that crop up from time to time with sellers that are (in my opinion) inflating the truth (and prices), and sometimes outright lying. There is one seller that has been trying to sell his Butler Swamp head since Spring 2015. He started at $9,995 and has come down over the months to (now) $3,995. The claims that are suspect are that it’s in any way like a Dumble (it’s not, the Swamp is a modified classic Fender Bassman circuit), and also that Kenny Wayne Shepherd played one (a complete lie). There’s another auction (currently) that says “think Dumble” in the title and the price is a bit of sticker shock as well. That auction points to this page as a reference, so it was a good opportunity for us to call them out. If you really want a Max Butler amp they are a bit rare, and since he’s no longer with us he can’t build one for you anymore. That doesn’t mean, however, you should pay as much as a used car for one of his amps (unless you really, really want it). You can read more about our eBay rant here. =)
You can fill out the form below to send email, or to submit a picture to us of your Butler Amp for the photo gallery. If you’d like to watch an interview with Max talking about amps and his builds – please visit our video page to hear what he had to say for yourself.
