The Legend of Cesar Diaz - DIAZ CD-100 #1 OF 2
In 1994, after recording the album Throwing Copper, guitarist Chad Taylor of the alternative rock band LIVE assembled a team to ensure that the guitar-centric tones of the band’s multi-platinum hit album were represented on bigger and bigger stages. This led to Taylor hiring Cesar Diaz as a tonal advisor, overseeing the guitars, amplifiers, and technicians of the TC tour.
By 1995, Diaz was already a world renowned amp repairman and guitar technician, having worked directly with guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughn - from his early days as an Albert King protégée - to his glory days as the world’s greatest sounding guitarist.
Diaz and Vaughn worked in tandem to unlock the tonal secrets of past greats like Hendrix and The Beatles. This led to an obsession with vintage gear and equipment long before collectors and players had any clue about the vintage market. What Diaz and Vaughn developed was a wide range of gear and knowledge that countless future players would describe as the ultimate blues-rock tone.
Diaz carried forward working and performing with Bob Dylan, and later helped to increase the tonal vibrations of the amplifiers of Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Lou Reed, G.E. Smith, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards.
Diaz Amplifiers was launched shortly after Taylor hired Diaz for the TC Tour and subsequent recording of the #1 album, Secret Samadhi. For Taylor, Diaz modified his signature Marshall JMP heads, and custom built multiple CD-100 amp heads, 4x12 stacks, and a recovered and modified a SRV played Fender Vibratone as the world’s first Diaz rotating speaker.
In addition to the amp mods, Diaz built the only SRV replica Fuzz Face circuitry into Taylor’s blue, off the shelf, Dunlop pedal. The next amplifier to be modified by Diaz was Taylor’s 1964 Fender Super Reverb. By combining the modified Fuzz Face, Super Reverb, Marshall JMPs, and Diaz Amps with his 1962 Fender Jazzmaster (purchased from Diaz) Taylor was awarded the title of “The New Titan of Tone,” by Guitar Player magazine in 1997. Taylor wrote the music to “Lakini’s Juice” which scaled the Alternative charts to reach #1.
Taylor’s touring pedal board for the global Secret Samadhi Tour included a Diaz Square Face, a custom Diaz Tremodillo with gain adjustment, and a Diaz modified Vox wah.
Taylor is a founding member of Tone Tailors, a boutique guitar shop located on the 108 acre Rock Lititz campus. Nearly all of his Diaz created and modified amplifiers, FX, and cabinets are on display and for sale to the discerning few who seek out the legendary sounds of SRV, Gibbons, Dylan, Clapton, Richards, and Taylor.
It is fair to say that Cesar Diaz and Howard Dumble had a longstanding friendship and professional rivalry, after Cesar introduced SRV to Dumble. The Dumble Overdrive Special amplifiers frequently fetch values between $70,000 and $150,000, however, as Diaz would often boast, “Dumble was never a member of Dylan’s band,” and the famous SRV sound was, in fact, “a Diaz modified amplifier.”
Taylor’s Diaz CD-100’s and Marshall JMP’s (JMP's SOLD) are in excellent working condition considering that these amps toured the globe in amphitheaters, arenas, and stadiums from 1995-2019. The fabulous sounding glassy high end is a signature sound only a Diaz can make. The tone is breathlessly apparent on each amplifier head. Each CD-100 will be sold with Taylor’s Tremodillo FX pedals included as a bonus.
There are four Diaz 4x12 cabinets that were disassembled with an intention to restore the grill cloth. The “as-is” cabinets were destroyed when fans at an Australian festival covered Taylor and his speaker cabinets with volumes of mud. Anyone purchasing a Diaz or Marshall head will have the option of also purchasing the Diaz cabinets and road cases for an additional $1,000 each (limit, two per head). There are two tops and two bottoms.
Diaz passed away in 2002 and Howard Dumble in 2022. Their highly sought after amplifiers will only become more and more collectible and rare.
Don’t miss the rare opportunity to own gear with an unparalleled prestige and historic provenance.
The CD 100 is a single channel amp with -HI and -LOW gain inputs. The signature red control panel and white knobs consists of Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb, and Master. Also found on the control panel are the Pilot Light, Standby Switch, Power Switch, and the Half Power / Full Power Switch. There are three pull switches found on the control panel as well: Bass Cut, Mid boost, and Bright. The head is covered in dark green textured Tolex and in excellent condition given that the amp toured with LIVE and Taylor for 25 years over hundreds of shows and for millions of concert attendees throughout the globe.
Each Marshall and Diaz Amp comes with a notarized certificate of authentication.
Specs: 100watts @ 4ohms
Dimensions: 23" x 9 1/2" x 8 1/4" Deep
Weights: 36lbs
