New Amp Day! '66 Silvertone 1484

[mikeehairdo]

I've had my AC30 head on the block for a while now, and I finally managed to make a deal I was happy with.

Behold!



It's got a nice set of heavy duty 6L6s in it and the OT has been upgraded to one from Mercury Magnetics. The speakers are the original Jensens, and are in great shape. The whole thing's in great shape, actually, especially considering it's got 50-year old pressboard for the head/cab boxes.

It's got a great, janky character to the sound with that interesting midrange thing happening that everyone talks about. It stays surprisingly clean with my Jazzmaster, and with my SG's bridge pickup it gets just the slightest bit of snarl with the amp volume at 50%. So far it works great as a pedal platform. I'll be gigging it Friday, so we'll see then how it holds up in a live setting.

[TagoMago]

Oh, that looks NICE!

[therizzla]

That’s so awesome! If been passively looking for a clean 1483 for awhile now.

[mikeehairdo]

Thanks folks! It's in great condition, I'm really looking forward to opening it up tonight! Will report back with post-gig findings.

[hulakatt]

I love mine! I maintain the 1484 is the perfect living room amp, between the power level, the tone and the questionable cabinet construction. Of course, it's real party piece, besides the midrange growl, is that tremolo! I had a 1484, sold it and could not get that trem sound from any pedal I tried and I went through piles of them. Ended up buying another 1484.

[BoringPostcards]

That looks gnarly in the best possible way!

[mikeehairdo]

I love mine! I maintain the 1484 is the perfect living room amp, between the power level, the tone and the questionable cabinet construction. Of course, it's real party piece, besides the midrange growl, is that tremolo! I had a 1484, sold it and could not get that trem sound from any pedal I tried and I went through piles of them. Ended up buying another 1484.

All of this! Funny enough, I did end up moving it along recently pretty much exclusively due to the cab construction. Living in one of the dampest parts of Canada doesn't spell a good time for that pseudo-cardboard cabinet. Fortunately, I landed a great trade for a Traynor YBA-1 MkIII and an MIJ Jaguar Special HH. I think another NAD and NGD posts are in order!

[mikeehairdo]

That looks gnarly in the best possible way!

And gnarly it is! I just didn't like the risk of trashing it by taking it out in these brutal Nova Scotia rains, so I ended up swapping it for an old Traynor and MIJ Jag.

[therizzla]

That looks gnarly in the best possible way!

And gnarly it is! I just didn't like the risk of trashing it by taking it out in these brutal Nova Scotia rains, so I ended up swapping it for an old Traynor and MIJ Jag.

Let's see the Traynor!

[mikeehairdo]

That looks gnarly in the best possible way!

And gnarly it is! I just didn't like the risk of trashing it by taking it out in these brutal Nova Scotia rains, so I ended up swapping it for an old Traynor and MIJ Jag.

Let's see the Traynor!

I'll be making a new post after work!

[hulakatt]

You'll be back. That tremolo will haunt your dreams.

[OffYourFace]

I did like mine, that tremolo was sweet. I got it for $40 in 2008-09 but I actually bought it for the tubes, it was filled with Amperex 12ax7s and had black plate RCA 6L6s that I used in a '72 Super Reverb for a bit.

When the OT died, i let it collect dust in my garage. fun fact: I ended up giving it away to Colleen Fazio... and I think she was able to use it to fix my friend's 1484 so that was nice.

[BoringPostcards]

That looks gnarly in the best possible way!

And gnarly it is! I just didn't like the risk of trashing it by taking it out in these brutal Nova Scotia rains, so I ended up swapping it for an old Traynor and MIJ Jag.

Good stuff. I used to live in Antigonish, so I know all about those NS rains.
Old Traynors are awesome. So are CIJ jags. Can’t go wrong.

[mikeehairdo]

You'll be back. That tremolo will haunt your dreams.

I always go back haha

[mikeehairdo]

That looks gnarly in the best possible way!

And gnarly it is! I just didn't like the risk of trashing it by taking it out in these brutal Nova Scotia rains, so I ended up swapping it for an old Traynor and MIJ Jag.

Good stuff. I used to live in Antigonish, so I know all about those NS rains.
Old Traynors are awesome. So are CIJ jags. Can’t go wrong.

I've had a few of those old traynors over the years. They're really hard to beat from a price-to-sound-to-reliability perspective. This one needs a bit of work, but my buddy and I are gonna open it up soon and get it shipshape. The Jag is rad, but I'm having that a hard time adjusting to the neck/bridge radius mismatch. It's not something I'd ever have noticed when I was younger, but these days I'm having a hard and harder time getting past it. Cool as it is, this one may end up on the block as well before long.