R2R Electric

The company began under the name Reel to Reel Effects, and its current name comes from combining "R2R," the shorthand for reel to reel, with "Electric," taken from the name of another builder's company, Lamp Electric¹.

From Reel to Reel Effects to R2R Electric

Chris Vincent founded the company in 2019. Along the way he met Tucker Krishock, who had his own pedal company called Lamp Electric. Tucker convinced Chris to start building more of the Treble Boosters, and Reel to Reel Effects was born¹. The name later changed: Chris combined the shorthand for reel to reel, "R2R," and "Electric," from the name Lamp Electric, to create his own brand¹.

With the rename, the company's direction took shape: using salvaged or NOS components from the 1950s and 1960s to create hand-wired point-to-point effects with circuits designed in that same era¹. The company describes a strict quality standard behind its builds, saying it only sells products that its founder would be excited to buy for himself¹.

Known as @djlavalamp on Instagram, R2R Electric has built a following of like-minded musicians¹.

Hand-wired treble boosters with vintage parts

The Treble Booster, a Dallas Rangemaster circuit, is the first effect R2R built and remains its signature effect¹. Each pedal or amp top starts with selecting the right options of transistor, potentiometer, and input capacitors to optimize the tone, and each is built with iconic components from a variety of highly coveted vintage gear, so no two units are identical¹.

The treble booster line covers several models, each with its own vintage parts¹:

All are hand-wired on phenolic terminal strips, with Allen-Bradley or Piher and Allen-Bradley carbon comp resistors and Philips or Sprague electrolytic capacitors depending on the model². The R2RGeMaster, the company's take on the Rangemaster theme, uses the same vintage CTS, Centralab, Piher or Stackpole potentiometers².

A few practical points from the maker:

• The treble boosters work best placed first in your signal chain².
• They can be powered by a 9V battery, which is included².
• Because parts are matched per unit, each pedal is unique in the parts used, but the tone is tested for consistency³.

Beyond boosters, R2R Electric builds a Vintage Wah, a faithful reproduction of the classic "Clyde McCoy" wah pedals of the late 1960s, using NOS and recycled vintage components carefully matched to each individual unit for optimum tone and performance³. It comes as two pedals, an Expression Controller and a Head Unit³. The company also builds vintage British-style fuzzes, including the Supa MKII Fuzz, the MKI Pro Fuzz, and the R2R Time-O-Lite Fuzz, alongside a collaboration, the R2R Electric x Waterslide Guitars Time-O-Lite Fuzz. For players comparing categories, these sit alongside the broader families of boost pedals, wah-wah pedals and fuzz pedals.

Founder Chris Vincent

Chris Vincent founded R2R Electric in 2019 out of a love for vintage guitars, amplifiers, and effects¹. The Treble Booster was the first effect he built, and it became the company's signature¹. His meeting with Tucker Krishock of Lamp Electric pushed the venture from a one-off build into a company, first as Reel to Reel Effects and later as R2R Electric¹.

Affiliations and where to buy

R2R Electric is an independent builder with no stated affiliation with Sola Sound or Marshall. Its fuzzes reproduce vintage British circuits, and Sola Sound itself is a separate British company known for its effects pedals⁴⁵, but the two are not connected in any way the company describes.

The company sells through its own site, r2relectric.com, and can be reached at info@r2relectric.com² or on Instagram as @djlavalamp¹.

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