Patrick Hodgkins, of New Orleans’ own Empress Hotel, spoke earlier of his Rickenbacker bass. Now he chats about what he plays that bass through--his Acoustic vintage 370 head. This head is a 70s era head that is a great sounding, durable workhorse. You hear about it less than some of its compatriots from that decade and thus you can sometimes find them for less than other vintage heads (SOMETIMES).

“I use the Acoustic 370 because it once saved my life in a barroom brawl. I had an Ampeg SVT head but the tubes kept getting knocked out of it on the road, bouncing around in the trailer, being thrown off the stage, etcetera,” says Hodgkins. “The 370 has a cool, futuristic (for the 70's) simplicity, like something out of a Kubrick film set. It's sturdy and solid but light enough to carry with my one good hand.”

Hodgkins must be pretty strong. These things weigh as much as a small refrigerator. Hodgkins plays a 1981 Rickenbacker 4001 through the amp.

“I play my Rickenbacker 4001 through it because it resonates for eons if you let it. I melted 3 of the speakers in my 8x10 with some sub-octave feedback/abuse that I let howl for a little too long. It sings expensive noise and shatters wine glasses.” Says Hodgkins.

Hodgkins points out that the head is likely to appeal to players with different styles and from different genres.

“I've seen it all over the place- Possum Jenkins played one in Andre 3000's video for Hey Ya! That's what did it for me,” he says. “Pete Quaife of The Kinks used to rock one, and Cordell "Boogie" Mosson from the P-Funk camp put a little funk on the one. Rick James posed on the cover of Street Songswith one because he thought it looked cool, but didn't actually record with it.”

And this is a simple amp to use. Not a lot to worry about according to Hodgkins. Although he me be heading toward an intervention himself.

“It's the easiest amp in the world to operate, ever. Especially if you've been into the moonshine. It only has four knobs: volume, bass, mid, treble,” he says. “I don't like to stand around fiddling with fucking knobs all during soundcheck, trying to dial in a 'signature tone' through a bunch of unnecessary effects and features. I keep everything at the 12 o'clock position and the tone comes out of my fingers. My SansAmp takes care of the rest.”

Hodgkins has used the amp on the road for over six years and played hundreds of shows. He has not had a single maintenance issue.

“It is the most reliable piece of equipment I've ever owned. One time I took it apart to see how it worked and there was nothing inside but a dead cockroach, an ouija board and some glitter.” he says.

We expect the tone comes from the dead cockroach while the glitter indicates it was once owned by Bootsy Collins.

Hodgkins has always used the same cabinet.

“I've always used an Ampeg 810 cab because anything less is emasculating. The 370 is on par with the SVT in terms of power,” he says. “I've never plugged it into another cab, because that would seem disloyal and I wouldn't want to break my amp's heart. It vibrates at the same frequency as my soul.”

Empress Hotel will be touring the East Coast in February and playing dates at SXSW. They also have plans to do some recording and then tour Europe in the fall.