Portland, OR
Benson Amps
“I started building amps because I wanted something that didn’t exist yet - something that felt alive under my hands.”
~ Chris Benson
We carry pieces that answer one question: "does this make me want to play more?" Benson Amps answered that question instantly.
Plenty of amps sound good. Far fewer feel right. Benson circuits have that elasticity players chase - rich, dimensional cleans that bloom under your hands and transition into overdrive naturally, simply by changing your touch.
These aren’t clones. They’re original designs rooted in decades of tube tradition, built for modern reliability and expressive response.
Founder Christopher Benson is a guitarist first, and many of his designs began as personal tone quests.
Each amp is built in Portland, Oregon by a small team of craftspeople and musicians who understand that an amplifier isn’t just gear - it’s the engine behind your voice.
And in our experience, a great Benson often becomes the one you keep.
Original Circuits, Not Clones
While inspired by classic American and British traditions, Benson amps are not recreations. They’re thoughtfully engineered, original designs that blend vintage warmth with modern reliability and usability.
Touch Sensitivity Above All
Benson amps are celebrated for their dynamic response. Clean tones shimmer and bloom, and harmonic overdrive emerges naturally from your hands - not from pedals or excess gain.
Built by Musicians, For Musicians
Every amp is assembled in Portland, OR by a small team of working musicians and craftspeople. This isn’t factory production - it’s intentional, small-batch building with long-term ownership in mind.
Benson Amps FAQ
Common questions about Benson Amps - who builds them, what makes them different, and where to play them.
Where can I buy a Benson amp near Boston?
The Music Emporium in Lexington, Massachusetts is an authorized Benson Amps dealer. From our showroom near Boston we keep Benson amplifiers and pedals in stock, and players travel from across New England to hear them in person, because a Benson is an amp you have to play before you understand what people mean about the feel.
Who makes Benson Amps?
Benson Amps was founded in 2012 by Christopher Benson in Portland, Oregon. Christopher is a guitarist first, and many of his designs began as personal tone quests rather than product plans. Every amp is built in Portland by a small team of craftspeople and musicians, which is why the line stays small-batch and intentional rather than mass-produced.
Are Benson amps clones of vintage amps?
No. Benson amps draw on classic American and British tube traditions, but they are original circuits rather than recreations. Because Christopher Benson engineers each design from the ground up rather than copying a schematic, the amps pair classic tones with modern reliability and usability instead of inheriting the quirks of a fifty-year-old design.
What makes Benson amps so touch sensitive?
Benson circuits are built around dynamic response, so the amp reacts to your hands rather than to a pedal in front of it. Clean tones shimmer and bloom, and harmonic overdrive emerges naturally as you dig in, which means you can move from clean to driven by changing your touch alone. That elasticity is what players mean when they say a Benson feels alive.
What Benson models does The Music Emporium carry?
Our Benson selection centers on the Monarch, Bellringer, Nathan Junior, Redland 15, Vincent, and Tall Bird+ amplifiers. As an authorized dealer near Boston we typically have a cross-section of the line in stock at our Lexington, Massachusetts showroom, and our staff can walk you through how each one behaves with your guitar.
Does Benson make effect pedals too?
Yes. Alongside the amplifiers, Benson builds a small line of pedals in the same Portland, Oregon shop, and we stock them at The Music Emporium. The lineup includes the STORKN B0ks fuzz, a Tone Bender-lineage circuit developed in collaboration with guitarist and composer David Torn, plus the Deep Sea Diver Fuzz-Echo, the Florist Modulation, the Benson Delay, and the Portable Distortion 424 MKII. They are designed with the same priority on touch response as the amps.