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Torey Harding loves to play the guitar.
The Elimsport-area native began learning the instrument at the age of 6, and from there he enrolled in the Uptown Music Collective, 848 W. Fourth St.
After graduating from Montgomery Area High School, he enrolled in the prestigious Berklee School of Music, Boston, where he majored in music performance and music business.
Upon graduating in 2014, he took the skills he learned and applied it to his already-formed business: Harding Amplifiers. Now, he’s handcrafting guitar amps with tube amplification, a vintage design popular from the post-World War II era to the 1970s.
Harding became interested in the world of tube amplification in 2010. After being unhappy with his sound and constantly having amplifiers break, he was put in touch with Mick Johns, a former musician from the Washington, D.C. area who now resides in Williamsport.
Johns has toured with the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young and was a founding member of bands Evan Johns and The H-Bombs, an early 1980s group whose fans included Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys. He also studied amplifiers under Cesar Diaz, who was Stevie Ray Vaughn’s amp tech.
“Mick is my current mentor and who I’ve studied under for the past few years,” Harding said. “He has taught me everything about tube technology and building amps.”
Within a few months – and under the watchful eye of Johns – Harding began doing his own repairs on vintage amplifiers, and in 2012, he began building his own. Together, Harding and Johns began designing prototypes that Harding would test with his band, local favorites Clyde Frog, and Harding Amplifiers was born.
Harding Amplifiers’ business model has less to do with mass production and more to do with the quality of the product, Harding said. “The main goal has been to focus on quality and tone,” he said. “Mass production has never really been a goal of mine, but to just try to build the best amplifier on the market.”
To date, the company has been very successful.
“For the past year and a half I’ve been working with Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and the Sensational Space Shifters,” he said. “By chance, I met Plant’s guitar player, Justin Adams, at a bar in Connecticut and we started talking gear. He told me he was really unhappy with his current live sound and wanted a new amp. I called Mick up on the phone, and we decided to send him an amp in the U.K.”
The amp was well received by the rock legend: According to Harding, Plant loved it and said it was the best amp he has ever played. Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters have three Harding Amplifiers behind them at every show and Plant even has his own personal amp that he uses in his home studio when he isn’t on the road.
“It is pretty amazing how everything blew up so quickly,” Harding said.
In December, Harding Amplifiers got their first nod in a major magazine. Premier Guitar magazine did a gear review on the Shifters, and a few of the amps Harding and Johns gave to Adams appeared in print along with a few quotes from his describing how they met. “It was very exciting to walk into a bookstore, pick up a magazine, and see my name in it with my amps,” Harding said.
For all its intial success, however, the company still is seen as more of a hobby to Harding, with his main priority being his performance career. “I’m still young and have the itch to travel and tour. The touring musician lifestyle still has a lot of appeal and glam to me,” he said. “The amplifier business is a close second on my list, though.”
Whether it is making amps, performing with Clyde Frog or just jamming on his own, it would seem as though Harding is on the right path to a successful career in the sometimes difficult musical world. He recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to further his career, performing regularly and joining two new bands. One of the bands, Georgia English and the Jukebox Kids, will be touring this winter and will perform at Franco’s Lounge, 12 W. Fourth St., on Feb. 6 and at Cloud Nine Airport Restaurant, 700 Airport Road, Montoursville, on Feb. 7.
For more information, visit www.toreyharding.com or email toreyhardingmusic@gmail.com.