My prototype passive EQ was first put into service in January of 2010, which means I probably started building it in December of 2009.  In the beginning it was a passive EQ filter with no amplifier for makeup gain, no output transformer and the incorrect input transformer, but even then it sounded great.  Since then I have occasionally modified, tweaked, added on and taken away from it, until 2013.  In '13 I stared hitting it hard with lots of R&D time of which the most was conducted in the first few months of 2014.  Yesterday I finally got the EQ sounding so great its breathtaking, which means I'm done.  The actual production model will be somewhat different, but it will be strongly based on the prototype.

• The prototype features Carnhill input and output transformers, a Jensen interstage transformer and an Edcor power transformer.  With 3 transformers in the audio path per channel, its clearly a tone machine.  
  
• The prototype filter section is a modification of the Pultec EQP1-A program equalizer.  It features independent controls for low boost, low attenuate, high boost, high attenuate and a Q control for the high boost.  The prototype has more than twice as many EQ frequency choices as a pultec and with the combination of overlapping frequencies and independent controls, its vastly more versatile.  All of the filter caps are paper in oil (of course) and the inductors are my very own hand-wound creations.  I even managed to make some of the paper in oil caps by hand.  
  
• The amplifier section uses a single 12AT7 per channel in zero-negative feedback push/pull configuration.  I tried many tubes before settling on the 12AT7, which I favored for its wide frequency response and warm "single-ended sounding" tone.  Plus, the 12AT7 has just the right amount of gain for this circuit.  
• The power supply is onboard in the prototype, but will be external with the production model, due to limited space.  The supply puts out 500v through a 6X4 rectifier tube and some very big audio-grade filter caps for DC smoothing.          

March 1st marks the end of instrument FX pedal production for Lightning Boy Audio and signals the start of a new era for LBA.  I will be building pedals for the next week or two as I complete the last orders and get them shipped out.  After that I'll be starting on some long awaited projects.  The very first thing I'm going to work on is a new plate reverb for my recording studio.  The new reverb will take all I've learned from working on vintage EMT 140 reverbs and all I've learned from building hi-fi tube amps and combine them into the most badass analog plate reverb to ever grace the Earth.  I am literally setting out to create the best sounding reverb processor ever.

After I conquer the reverb, which will be no small feat, my next project will be a stereo passive EQ.  This is something that I've wanted to do for many years.  Thankfully I held off for as long as I did because now I have spent over 4 years of R&D on my prototype, which is so impressive sounding its just plain ridiculous.  I'm very excited to finally be building this equalizer because I know how epic it will be.  Words can't describe how beautiful the prototype sounds AND the crazy thing is the prototype is made out of spare parts and salvaged junk.  It looks ugly as hell, but it works great and sounds even better! 

After the EQ is complete I will be building a very limited run of super high-end rack mounted studio guitar amps.  I'm probably only going to make 5-10 amps. I already built a prototype which blows away anything I've heard before.  Its a 30 watt singled ended class A hand wired tube amp.  Its going to have a killer tube powered spring reverb (which may be optional, but I haven't decided yet). I already built a standalone rack mount tube reverb for a very faithful LBA customer, which this amps reverb will be based on.