Artist Spotlight - Surfer Joe

Lorenzo Valdambrini, aka Surfer Joe, aka The International Surf Music Ambassador, is an Italian guitar player involved since the late 90s in the surf music business.

Constantly on tour worldwide with more than 100 shows per year, he definitely plays surf the "traditional way", going from heavy staccato and double picking sounds in pure Dick Dale's style to more melodic and drippy tunes in between The Astronauts and The Lively Ones.

Although he has produced several albums, his focus remains on the live performances, usually as a trio, where he showcases a very dynamic set list the requires a full, powerful and responsive amplifier. He has started using Quilter amps around 2014 with a Tone Block and in January 2016 he was introduced to the Pro Block 200 just a few days before it was presented at NAMM. Since then he has never stopped using it, simply demonstrating how portable the Quilter technology can be. In facts Surfer Joe has toured with his Pro Block in almost every European country, U.S.A., Mexico, Brazil and Japan, plugging it to any kind of speaker and sometimes in very unusual situations.

"When Pat showed me the Pro Block in early 2016 I immediately realised they added all the features I really wanted in the Tone Block. Most importantly the limiter function that working together with the gain and the hi-cut allows me to handle perfectly the sound of my Jazzmaster, removing those annoying trebles, but keeping the tone powerful and dynamic.

For my playing dynamics mean everything: I am used to my 1962 Fender Double Showman on a 2x15" JBL D130s cab and I need to nail THAT sound without compromises. I am not looking for carrying less weight in general, but I am certainly interested in achieving the right sound and I am not happy with most amps out there.

I need to reproduce the kind of tube compression that only a brownface amp can provide, considering that my only effect is a reverb tank. So that compression has to work on a wet signal. Surf music is very unique and I am very picky about my sound :-D Well... I don't know how, but Quilter gets the job done perfectly and it's the best solid state head existing on the market."

At NAMM 2020 Lorenzo had the opportunity to test the Tone Block 202 and once more it was instant LOVE. Thinking by then it was impossible to do better than the Pro Block, he discovered the small changes implemented with the amp voicing, but maintaining all the fundamental features with an even more efficient EQ section.

Lorenzo Valdambrini dedicated his life to the surf guitar sound: he own restaurants in Italy inspired by surf music; he co-organizes the Surfer Joe Summer Festival, which is the largest surf music event; he co-owns Surfy Industries in Sweden, the company producing the SurfyBear, one of the most acclaimed solid-state driven spring reverb tanks; he works as a booker for surf bands in between Europe and U.S.A.; he has been sharing the stage with many surf music legends and bands from everywhere.

Try to keep up with him on Instagram