The Morris Philosophy

I believe there is a place for the beautiful clean twang of a Tele through an old Tweed style combo.

I also believe there is a place for a hi-gain preamp distortion built into a powerful amp.

I have my preferences - but I appreciate a lot of different kinds of music and players.

One thing that I don't really care for is an amp that only sounds like that amp, no matter what guitar you use.

The guitar(s) you've chosen should come through the amp for what they are. Your hands have a lot to do with your signature sound - and the amp should let them speak. Yes, I like my amps to have a MORRIS sound - but not to overpower the guitar and the sound your hands get from it!

My amps have particular sounds and tones, but are quite transparent. They will track your 'touch' and guitar even in the hi-gain channels. You will hear a difference when you change picks, guitar cables, and speaker cables. I am very proud of this. They are very 'organic'.

It all started back in 1961 with a Kent mahogany body electric guitar and a DeArmond Combo amp - 5 watts and one 10" Jensen alnico speaker. (Actually there was a Supro Hawaiian lap steel before that.) Still have the Supro and the DeArmond. Little did I know how much tone was actually in there back then.

As I progressed in years, learning Beatles, Johnny Winters, Deep Purple, Santana, Jeff Beck, Hendrix, etc. - all the top bands at the time - I started checking out the equipment they used. Of course, like everyone else, I kept looking for that signature sound of my own. I can't think of any amp or guitar I didn't try out. By this time it's the late 70s / early 80s, and hi-gain tube amps had just come out. So had instrumental jazz/rock fusion music - which I fell in love with.

I ended up travelling across the country to play in a band on the west coast. In my search for amps I came across a '55 Fender Bassman that had been brought up from California. That was it!! For years that was my main amp. Still have it. I love it - that's why I make one like it!

Around 1985 I decided to officially study electronics, since I had been dabbling in it already. I went to George Brown College in Toronto, Canada, and completed their Electronics Course. The timing was right - I was there for the last two years that a teacher from the Ukraine taught there. He started with tubes. All applications - from TV to radio to audio. I got to study with a teacher from the old school. I bounced a lot of ideas and questions off him, I'll tell you.

After 6 months, I started repairing electronics for the music stores in the area. I picked up all makes of amps and started modding them for myself and musicians around the area. When I finished the course I went to work for a major music store in the Niagara Area for over 14 years as an electronics technician. During this time I became an authorized Warranty Tech for Fender, Marshall, Yamaha, Yorkville (Traynor) and others.

At the beginning of this journey you could find different makes of amps with MORRIS MODS plates on the front. Sometimes you would see a complete hand-built custom-ordered MORRIS amplifier, designed by me. Some of these you can see on the main page animation.

In 2000 I left the music store and started MORRIS CUSTOM ELECTRONICS and MORRIS AMPLIFICATION. In 2005 I decided to start a production line of amps. Now you are reading this, and they are available.

If you think you are interested - send me an email!

Thanks,
Glen C. Morris