César Carrillo Díaz (July 13, 1951 - April 26, 200

was a Puerto Rican born guitar amplifier technician and guitarist who worked with a number of high-profile musicians, most notably

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

, as well as

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

, and others. ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'' dubbed him "The Amp Doctor" for his work in

tube amplifier A valve amplifier or tube amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that uses vacuum tubes to increase the amplitude or power of a signal. Low to medium power valve amplifiers for frequencies below the microwaves were largely replaced by so ...

repair and modification.

Biography

As a native of

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, Díaz was playing guitar by age six. Listening to records by

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...

and

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occas ...

sparked an early love for blues music. At 12, he was guitarist for The Hungry Men, where he would remain until 1969, when he came to the mainland with

Johnny Nash John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican art ...

(of "I Can See Clearly, Now" fame), before moving on to join Frijid Pink. In 1970, he met G.E. Smith, and they were friends ever since. During the seventies, Díaz played a major role in the then- developing market for vintage tube-powered guitar amplifiers. In 1979, Díaz befriended the as-yet-unsigned

, and ended up as his amplifier technician. By the early eighties, Díaz was designing and building prototypes that would become his own line of guitar equipment. The early eighties also saw many partnerships with companies such as Angela Instruments and John Sprung's American Guitar Center. In 1984 he met Eric Clapton through a member of the Rolling Stones' camp; he worked with the Stones and

from 1982 to 1987 and would continue the relationship until his death, locating and restoring vintage amplifiers for Clapton and Richards. Díaz served as Clapton's technical adviser on the ''

Journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

'' album. In 1988, G.E. Smith, who had just joined

's band, brought Cesar on board to tend to the two guitarists' gear and tone. After G.E. left the band, Díaz played some 50 dates with Dylan, including a show for the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Dylan won in 1991, and in 1993 left Dylan to devote his time to his amplifier business.

Diaz Amplifiers

Díaz began to manufacture amplifiers and guitar effects—hand-made, in small production runs. His amplifiers are built in the Fender tradition; the Classic Twin-100, for instance, is a 100-watt two channel amp inspired by the

Fender Twin The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characterist ...

. Effects include a

spring reverb A reverb effect, or reverb, is an audio effect applied to a sound signal to simulate reverberation. It may be created through physical means, such as echo chambers, or electronically through audio signal processing. The American producer Bill ...

unit. His Tremodillo tremolo pedal is highly sought after. In 1992 Cesar performed in and helped to design "The Ultimate Guitar tech" film. The film was a very well received guitar tech industrial training film teaching the best way to change and tune strings on the guitar, to fixing tube amplifiers. Filmed, produced and edited by Leonard J Eisenberg, the Jimi Hendrix photographer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Cesar 1951 births 2002 deaths American rock guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians