Custom 1481 Silvertone Combo

[HNB]

Returned a broken guitar and picked this up with the refund.

Silvertone 1481
Mid-60s.

Refurbished and rehoused by The Blues Box (Louisiana) in 2008.
Lightweight pine cabinet. Solid. No rattles (unlike the original pressboard cabinets).
12" Weber Alnico Sig12S speaker.

Recently serviced by Dave Smith of Dabeck Amps in Richardson TX.

5-6 watts. Sweet breakup. Not too loud. Great recording amp.

Weight: About 25 lbs per bathroom scale.

[marqueemoon]

Pretty cool. Where are the transformers hiding?

[Singlebladepickup]

I like that cab! My silver tone 1482 has a Weber alnico sig12, so I have some idea of how awesome this must sound.

[Kent]

What of the original amp is left?

[Con-Tiki!]

Pretty cool. Where are the transformers hiding?

there may only be one, and it's probably on the reverse of the chassis.
I just bought something similar, and need to get it sorted before I get electrocuted.

Yay, little amps!

[HNB]

Pretty cool. Where are the transformers hiding?

The underside of the plate where the tubes are. With it mounted the way it is, the tubes and transformers point forward towards the front of the amp.

What of the original amp is left?

The circuit is original. Just has had the electrolytics updated and it is in a more sturdy container with a bigger speaker. All good things to me. The stock boxes were thin particle board that is about as strong as cardboard and the stock little speakers are ok, but I prefer a larger speaker with these amps. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it hit all my wants with an amp like this.

[HNB]

Seller's demo of the amp. (He was actually demoing a pickup, but he used this amp.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG_aGfBMRZg

[marqueemoon]

Seller's demo of the amp. (He was actually demoing a pickup, but he used this amp.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG_aGfBMRZg

Very nice!

[rhythmjones]

Neato!

[wproffitt]

Nice! That sounds like a lot of fun!

[countertext]

Seems like a real "secret weapon" kinda amp.

[HNB]

I think the Silvertone sound is pretty cool. Low tech in a good way. I was really happy that all my concerns were already taken care of. (Weaker small speaker in a 1481 changed to a bigger one, capacitors and resistors all checked and updated, weak cabinet updated to more sturdy material.) I know that makes it less of a collector item (if these are that sort of thing) but it makes it much more how I would like it to be.

[HNB]

Pictures!

20170609_184201 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

20170609_184214 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

20170609_184258 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

20170609_184312 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

20170609_184232_HDR by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Picture of the those tubes and other parts that had been asked about that you normally don't see because of how the chassis sits.

20170609_180202 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

MATCHES MY DESK FOR BONUS POINTS!

20170609_184614 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Demo of the amps natural overdrive and distortion. It distorts around 50% volume with single coil pickups and about 25% with single coil or lower resistance pickups. Cool thing is at 50% it doesn't seem to get louder to me, but more distorted which is pretty awesome. I was able to dime it without the wife complaining it was too loud. Another really awesome thing is the tone knob. I was a little nervous not to have a treble and bass pot since this just has the one tone knob, but it is actually really good. With full treble it isn't ice picky and with it all the way down, it still sounds very good and you can hear all the notes in chords. No muffled blanket over the amp sound like I was worried about it having and also plenty of treble even with a 12" speaker. The Weber speaker is very nice with this amp. No complaints at all. Only negative is that putting tubes in is kind of tricky, but it isn't like I have to do that all the time.

https://youtu.be/I9uIkN_QfnY

[HNB]

Another demo of the amp cranked. No effects.
https://youtu.be/LTkB4KCuPUE