TOAST OF THE TONE: Hottie Amp. Circuit benders love to transform ordinary household devices into electronic noisemakers. When Jean-Claude Escudie spied a stack of broken vintage chrome toasters at his local thrift shop he knew they’d make perfect amp cabinets. And so the Hottie Amp was born. While on the outside the Hottie Amp may look like a normal Sunbeam or GE toaster (our favorite a Roto Broil toaster oven), lurking inside are a six-inch Jensen speaker and a nine-volt battery-powered solid state amp.

Escudie recently started offering the Hottie Custom Amp, which features candy, pearl, and metalflake finishes like those on custom hot rods. My test example came with awesome red and yellow pearl flames on a black candy base, but Escudie also offers the solid color GT model with wheels (?!), as well as two-tone flame models.

The Hottie Amp is as simple as it gets. Its feature sets consist of a single input and an output that lets you connect the amp to an external cabinet – there are no volume ot tone controls to contend with other than those on your guitar. As you might expect, the Hottie Amp’s tone is warm, and when overdriven produces a satisfying crunch. (Chris Gill)