Help me find Frank Levi, the designer of the Slash AFD amp !

[neikeel]

Yes, sad news, but at least he got the widespread recognition for the work he did, in the end.

[jeffco]

Yes very sad to hear indeed. What a great man with many very awesome accomplishments.
GlennB if you see this post please message me privately.

[dougthechamp]

I first met Frank Levi around '84' at Kenny's Castaway's in NYC. I was 19 at the time and moved to NY and was a young naive heavy rock guitar player. I also met a really good friend the same night, Merrick who introduced me to Frank who was also a guitarist. Us three met the same night. Merrick and I would meet up and hang out with Frank at his work at Rocket Studios on 37th street on many occasions. The studio had Billy Squier's 'Signs of Life' gold record dedicated to Frank Levi hung on the wall. Frank was also a great sound engineer. When I heard a mix he did of Merrick's demo at Rocket, the guitar sound was so amazingly powerful and up front. He knew how to get a great guitar tone from any angle he wanted. He had me try out an amp he modified at Rocket. It was a very unique sound and a very smooth, even gain if I recall, you could turn the guitar volume down and get a clean tone and turn up to a massively amazingly driven sound just with the guitar. It was like a full spectrum of sound, and warm as can be, no noise. This was all pre-Lynch, pre-SIR, pre-Warren mods. He was just continuing his road to success just before going back to LA and those magical years. Even though Frank was famous for all his work including Billy Squier, he always asked Merrick and I to meet up with him at Preacher's Lounge to watch Jeff Golub (Billy Squier) play a set. We all became friends that lasted for years to come. I lost touch with Merrick in the '90's, mostly my fault. But I have been in touch with Frank ever since my last texts this past Christmas into late January. Just in the last 3 years we've been in touch. He wanted to use my early 80's JCM 800 Lead Series 100W to help him create his prototype for his own amp line. He would ask me to send him pics of the circuitry for his planning. He must had knew more about the amp than I did, because he was convinced this would be his prototype. Last time I saw Frank was about 3 years ago. My girlfriend, now my wife took, him out to dinner in Staten Island where he was living. We kept in close contact and I knew soon I would be bringing the amp up to him. I couldn't stop bragging to my wife about Frank and how all the rocks stars needed his creative technological talents to design their sounds. He was an artist. He seemed to approach each mod independently from one another and never over-did anything. I always said having an amp touched by Frank was like having a picture touched by Van Gogh. I lost a big part of my past now. I will always miss Frank and I love him with all my heart and soul.

[blacklabel]

I first met Frank Levi around '84' at Kenny's Castaway's in NYC. I was 19 at the time and moved to NY and was a young naive heavy rock guitar player. I also met a really good friend the same night, Merrick who introduced me to Frank who was also a guitarist. Us three met the same night. Merrick and I would meet up and hang out with Frank at his work at Rocket Studios on 37th street on many occasions. The studio had Billy Squier's 'Signs of Life' gold record dedicated to Frank Levi hung on the wall. Frank was also a great sound engineer. When I heard a mix he did of Merrick's demo at Rocket, the guitar sound was so amazingly powerful and up front. He knew how to get a great guitar tone from any angle he wanted. He had me try out an amp he modified at Rocket. It was a very unique sound and a very smooth, even gain if I recall, you could turn the guitar volume down and get a clean tone and turn up to a massively amazingly driven sound just with the guitar. It was like a full spectrum of sound, and warm as can be, no noise. This was all pre-Lynch, pre-SIR, pre-Warren mods. He was just continuing his road to success just before going back to LA and those magical years. Even though Frank was famous for all his work including Billy Squier, he always asked Merrick and I to meet up with him at Preacher's Lounge to watch Jeff Golub (Billy Squier) play a set. We all became friends that lasted for years to come. I lost touch with Merrick in the '90's, mostly my fault. But I have been in touch with Frank ever since my last texts this past Christmas into late January. Just in the last 3 years we've been in touch. He wanted to use my early 80's JCM 800 Lead Series 100W to help him create his prototype for his own amp line. He would ask me to send him pics of the circuitry for his planning. He must had knew more about the amp than I did, because he was convinced this would be his prototype. Last time I saw Frank was about 3 years ago. My girlfriend, now my wife took, him out to dinner in Staten Island where he was living. We kept in close contact and I knew soon I would be bringing the amp up to him. I couldn't stop bragging to my wife about Frank and how all the rocks stars needed his creative technological talents to design their sounds. He was an artist. He seemed to approach each mod independently from one another and never over-did anything. I always said having an amp touched by Frank was like having a picture touched by Van Gogh. I lost a big part of my past now. I will always miss Frank and I love him with all my heart and soul.

Hi Doug, thanks for speaking to us and sharing your personal story with Frank. While I was reading it was almost like being there with you, i understand how much you loved Frank as a person/friend and as a professional.
You're a beautiful person,
F.

[Scumback Speakers]

I contacted Frank Levi years ago. He had an obscure completion date on converting a Plexi clone to the Slash circuit. It was something like 12-18 months, if he had the time. I wound up not doing it, and in the meantime he passed away. He did great circuit mods for sure, but the timeframe didn't work for me. RIP Frank!