The Electra Forums

I've got this little tube amp,as basic as they come- 2 inputs,volume,on/off. Not marked anywhere,8" Rola field coil speaker,tube lineup is 6N7,6C5,6V6,5Y3. Any ideas?
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/ad13 ... hb_009.jpg
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/ad13 ... hb_010.jpg
http://i929.photobucket.com/albums/ad13 ... hb_011.jpg
One of my best amps,back off the volume and it gets silky smooth,dime it and it turns into an angry little monkey!
Joe

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"If it ain't been in the pawnshop,it can't play the blues" R.L.Burnside

'Angry Little Monkey' good one. With a Field Coil speaker, it's probably from the 50's, or earlier. Love the Crackle Finish, 40 years before Charvel would use it. I would guess its a good Harmonica amp too. Would love to hear a sound clip man, too cool.

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Agree that it's 50's or earlier. Probably came as a set with a lap steel. A popular brand was Oahu, capitalizing on the Hawaiian music craze. Of course, most of the Oahu line was made by Valco, but Valco made these things for anyone who wanted to slap their own label on it, so it could have been nearly any name brand.

But almost 100% likely made by Valco.

As a matter of fact, check out the chassis in the second amplifier on this page:
http://www.valcopages.com/Amps2.html

I bet it sounds awesome.

here's more to look at for comparisons.... Valco and others...



http://cgi.ebay.com/Oahu-Vintage-Tube-A ... 19c2d6eea7

http://cgi.ebay.com/OAHU-HAWAIIAN-GUITA ... 35af521cc8




http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Operadio-4- ... 1c18fa19e3

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-48-Recordin ... 415660a21b

http://cgi.ebay.com/1940s-VINTAGE-USA-T ... 4aa82cf8fe

http://cgi.ebay.com/vintage-tube-electr ... 2560d5cb7f

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPRO-VALCO-1948-Mc ... 35af9577bc

http://cgi.ebay.com/magnatone-varsity-v ... 1e613211da

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-rare-Magnat ... 3cb3f956d3

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Thorny might know - he's the amp guy around here;

John what do you say?

RCSBlues

I agree with Valco and awesome sounding. 4 or 5 watts of sonic splendor. Face it in a corner with a room mike and I bet it would be very nice for recording.

Could be valco - but could be something else too (not sure). That IS an excellent guess though. A lot of amps had that look back then and has no markings. I would guess it is from the 40s. I have seen projector amps and lectern amps (small PA like an auctioneer might use) similar to that too - and conversions. I have one a little larger in pieces right now that appears to be a conversion.

Watch out for the field coil speaker leads. Those wires take full voltage (300+) and when they get frayed (and old ones do) they can light you up in a bad way. The field coil acts as a choke/electro magnet.

Glad it sounds good! Careful with that speaker. Cones and coils made to could reasonable wattage often can't handle anything when they get old and brittle. If it goes you might be stuck with a choke and conventional speaker combo - and for safety reasons that would not be a bad thing.

Enjoy it!

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Thorny