Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
AWA was one of the big names in Australian electronics for decades. Formed as Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) in 1913, it went on to build everything from radios and communications gear to TVs and commercial audio equipment, so by the time this PA1003 was made in the 1960s, AWA was already a very familiar name in … Read more
This is an interesting little valve PA amplifier that I picked up today, probably from the late fifties or early sixties. I don’t think it will need too much work, but I’ll find out soon enough. It’s a little tight on space compared to some others, but not it’s not as bad as some other … Read more
I did a layout for the Hudson Sidecar a couple of years ago, and I retraced my steps recently and found a few things that needed to be updated. The Sidecar is a progression of the 999 Overdrive, which is Hudson’s version of a ‘green box’ overdrive, made for people like me that don’t like … Read more
Ok – next level nerd alert. Apart from being distracted by valve amp related things, I’ve recently started to use cable lacing to keep the wires looking tidy. Cable lacing was how it was done before cable ties appeared, and I believe it’s still used in some areas of aeronautics and space programmes. Sure you … Read more
Valco made, Supro single-ended valve amp, very much the same as the Gretsch 6150 / 6151 SUPRO SUPER SIX, MODEL S6606 12AX7, 6V6, 5Y3 8″ Jensen speaker, 3.2 ohm OT 2640 PT 3036 B+ 300v 4.5w
SELMER CORVETTE SELMER LITTLE GIANT MKI & MKIII SELMER MERCURY 5
Two great little guitar amps made by Valco for Gretsch – probably best to describe them as direct competition for the Fender Champ, but with some fancier appointments for the time. Pretty sure there’s a Supro equivalent that was also made by Valco for these two as well. Supro 1606 for the 6150. Both small … Read more
I’ll start with the Fender 5F2A Princeton, as this is generally considered to be “the one” for a lot of people. Basically take a tweed Champ, and add the classic Fender one knob tone control, which has no insertion loss, and you’re in business. It’s hard to go wrong with this formula, which is why … Read more
I know these are everywhere, but humour me – this is mainly for my own reference. FENDER CHAMP-AMP, 5C1 (WIDE PANEL TWEED) Note: The Fender Champion 600 and 800 are said to use the same schematic (or at least extremely similar). Preamp: 6SJ7 pentode, grid-leak biased (no cathode resistor) Inputs: two jacks, each 75k in … Read more
Following on from the Rola post, I thought I’d split the posts, as it was getting a tad long. Long story short, Plessey bought Rola in the mid-sixties and the line evolved into the seventies. For a while they carried Rola and Plessey names. PLESSEY SPEAKERS The Plessey C12P is the go to for … Read more