About Us

Blues City Music is located in East Memphis, where we are proud to call our home and the birthplace of delta blues and rock and roll. It is owned and operated by James Burke who is a full time Boeing 727 Captain/Check Airman for FedEx. What makes this business so different is that James makes his living flying for a living and NOT by selling guitars, amps, or effects.

Blues City Music has been a work in progress for quite some time. James has been playing guitar since 1976 and started this business in 2005 by flooring his product lines at a local Memphis guitar and amp store. At that time, his lines included Soldano, Bad Cat, and Bogner guitar amplifiers with Samick acoustic, electric, semi hollow body, arch top, and solid body electric guitars. Due to issues that could not be rectified, James went out on his own, and hasn't looked back since.

As a certified, STOCKING dealer for Soldano, Diamond, Splawn, and 65 AMPS, you have the ability to buy from a large selection of products, or can create your own amp from model, color, or modifications as per the manufacturer, with a purchase order from Blues City Music. Regardless of application, we still see the Soldano SLO-100 as the finest amplifier ever produced, with the rest of their entire product line based upon this fabulous circuit, the Diamond line as the most intense and well versed hi end EL 34 amp available anywhere, the Splawn line as the most versatile “Marshallesque” style amp with many different variations, and the 65 Amps line as one that is more organic and three dimensional than any Class A amp line we’ve ever heard.

Our payment and shipping options are first class and can easily meet your expectations, so when you decide on the amp of your dreams, have no worries, your order will be processed and shipped right.

Some may ask what kind of experience do we have with comparing other amp lines to either Soldano, Diamond, Splawn, or 65 Amps. That's a very fair question, so to answer it, I'll say, I've owned or played through Crate, Acoustic, Sunn, Lab Series, Marshalls (new and vintage including plexis or Super Lead Tremolo's), THD, Star, SMF, Fender, Bad Cat (MiniCat, Cub, Trem Cat and Hot Cat), Bogner (Metropolis, Shiva, Ecstasy, Uberschall), Diezel Herbert and VH4, Carr, Budda, and a host of others. Regardless of application, we still see the Soldano SLO-100 as the finest amplifier ever produced, the Splawn line especially the Quick Rod as one of the most versatile amps you'll ever play, and the 65 Amps line definitely as the most organic and dimensional amp to ever grace a stage.

Currently I practice what I preach by playing either my #1 or #2 serial numbered Soldano 44 Blues City Music Signature model combo amp as my main rig, or depending on venue size, I switch between a 65 Amps SoHo with matching 2 x 12” cabinet (Celestion AlNiCo Blue/Heritage 30), or my custom “one off” Soldano SLO-100 in proprietary burgundy and black snakeskin tolex, configured with a billet aluminum custom “Avenger” front grille, ARS JJ 6L6’s, ARS 12Ax7 in V1, RCA/Phillips (JAN) NOS 5751’s in V2, V3, and V5, Warren Haynes, Mid Scoop, Depth, ½ power switch options, no effects loop, through a matching Soldano 2 x 12” cabinet with Jensen Electric Lightning 70 watt Ceramic/Warehouse Guitar Speakers 100 watt Alnico Black Hawk. I can also count on my Diamond Amplification “one off” Custom Shop serial #001 Spitfire II, housed in a 4 AAAA flame top maple head shell running through a Diamond Decada 2 x 12” cabinet with Celestion G12 H30’s.

All of these amps sound fabulous with any of my primary guitars including a Gibson Custom Shop Gary Rossington Signature Series 59’ Les Paul, Tom Anderson Cobra S, or a vintage 77’ Fender Strat.

A Big Thank You To:

Mike Soldano, Bill Sundt & Sean Ballou
at Soldano Custom Amplification

Diamond Amplification

Tommy Beard of Fat Tone Pickups

Bill Hudson of CircleIIcircle

Mike Inez of Alice in Chains

Metal Blade Records

Thank you for your patronage!