Amped: The Illustrated History of the World's Greatest Amplifiers

210 Pages·2012·63.36 MB·English

by  Dave Hunter

Contents
Introduction 6 1957 Maestro GA-45T 44
1937 Rickenbacher M11 10 1958 Fender Twin 5F8-A 46
1946 Masco MAP-15 12 1958 Magnatone Custom 280 52
1946–1947 Fender Dual Professional 14 1958–1960 Fender Bassman 5F6-A 56
1949 Silvertone 1304 18 1959 Ampeg Jet 12 62
1950 Oahu 230k Tone Master 20 1959 Fender Deluxe 5E3 64
1950s Flot-A-Tone 22 1959–1960 Fender Super 5G4 68
1952 Gibson GA-50T 24 1960 Vox AC15 72
1955 Danelectro Twin Twelve 26 1960 Fender Tremolux 5G9 74
1955 Fender Pro 5D5 30 1960 Vox AC30 78
1955 Gretsch 6169 Electromatic Twin Western 32 1960 Fender Showman 6G14 82
1955 Montgomery Ward 55 JDR 8437 34 1961 Gibson GA-79RVT 86
1956 Ray Butts EchoSonic 36 1961 Selmer Truvoice Selectortone Automatic 88
1957 Fender Champ 5F1 40 1961 Ampeg M-15 90
12/19/11 10:30 AM
(Fogra 39) Job:12-27525 Title:MBI-149852 Amped
(Text)(RAY)
#175 Dtp:204 Page:4
1962 Fender Princeton 6G2 94 1968 Hiwatt Custom 50 DR504 150
1962 Marshall JTM45 96 1968 Kustom 100 1-15L-2 154
1963 Epiphone EA-50T Pacemaker 100 1968 Rickenbacker Transonic TS100 156
1963 Fender Vibroverb 6G16 102 1968 Marshall JMP50 “Plexi” 160
1963 Vox AC10 106 1970 WEM Dominator Mk III 164
1963 Gretsch 6156 Playboy 108 1970 Marshall Model 1959 Super Lead 168
1963 Fender Twin Reverb AB763 110 1971 Orange Graphic Overdrive GRO100 174
1964 Vox AC4 114 1975 Park Lead 50 178
1964 Sonola Reverb 98-RT 116 1977 Mesa/Boogie Mark 1 180
1964 Fender Super Reverb 118 1982 Dumble Overdrive Special 186
1964 Selmer Zodiac Twin 50 122 1986 Trainwreck Express 190
1965 Vox AC30 Top Boost 126 1990 Soldano Super Lead Overdrive SLO-100 194
1965 Supro Model 24 134 1990 Matchless DC30 198
1965 Airline 62-9015A 138 1994 Matchless Spitfire 200
1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb 140 2000 TopHat Club Deluxe 202
1965 Marshall Model 1958 144 2011 Dr. Z Carmen Ghia 204
1965 Vox Pacemaker V-3 146 Index 206
1966 Supro S6651 Big Star 148
12/19/11 10:31 AM
(Fogra 39) Job:12-27525 Title:MBI-149852 Amped
(Text)(RAY)
#175 Dtp:204 Page:5
n
o
I
t
c
u
d
o
r
t
n
I
A 1964 Rickenbacker 360 rests atop a 1964 Vox AC30 six-input copper-panel model.
12/19/11 10:31 AM
(Fogra 39) Job:12-27525 Title:MBI-149852 Amped
(Text)(RAY)
#175 Dtp:204 Page:6
In a world where technological progress for the sake of “the product”
seems to outstrip genuine cultural and social advancement, it’s refreshing to still be
able to fire up a chunk of archaic technology and make some rock ’n’ roll.
Seemingly daily, our lives are depleted of depth and dimension as new devel-
opments in the name of convenience and speed disguise a steady decline in pure
quality—camera phones over cameras, ear buds over speakers, MP3s over CDs—even
CDs over vinyl. And it is all heartily accepted, so long as it’s faster, sleeker, newer.
But however much digital technology has made inroads into guitar amplifica-
tion, offering thirty-two amp emulations, sixteen effects, and twelve cab sims at the
twist of a menu dial, this apparent new world order will never really make a dent in
a technology that is rooted in the early part of the last century and that still delivers
up the goods simply and virtually by its very nature.
In addition to their pure sonic beauty, vintage tube amps hook many of us for the
window they provide onto an era when rock ’n’ roll was young, when life was simple,
and when the world as we know it today was really just forming.
An “Accordion” input on an old Ampeg or Sonola combo? You betcha. Indepen-
dent channels for “Instrument” and “Mic” on your 1950s tweed Fender? So much the
better to cover that sock hop gig in style.
Of course, these amps also had a major hand in shaping popular music, in addition
to having been shaped by it—even as the guitar gets louder, the band gets smaller,
the sound gets rattier and more aggressive, and the saxophone fades from center
stage. These amps forged the sound of an era of popular music that, despite the
Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber, has remained consistent in its core
sound and instrumentation longer than any era of popular music before it. And it’s
all thanks to that beat-up little electronic suitcase over there in the corner—that’s
where the tone came from, and that’s why we still love it.
There are many, many great modern amps, and we honor several of them here,
too. The early successes of what has become known as the “boutique amp move-
ment” were produced by makers who were among the first to perceive and accept the
glory of vintage amplification and to seek to recapture that in reliable, contemporary
formats suited to the modern guitarist. The tube amp is, thankfully, not a dead art,
and great designers are introducing better and better examples all the time.
Alongside these, this book also celebrates a handful of vintage solid-state guitar
amps that have attained at least a modicum of “classic” status.
Still, few things can or ever will surpass the sheer sonic beauty of a great vintage
tube amp in good condition. Fire up an exemplary 1959 Fender Bassman, 1965 Vox
AC30, or 1968 Marshall JMP50, plug in, and attack it with some attitude, and you’ll
still discover worlds of tone that can’t really be bettered, only altered.
Now, if they could just bottle that vintage tube amp smell, we would really be
getting somewhere.
12/19/11 10:31 AM
(Text)
n
o
I
t
c
u
d
o
r
t
n
I
The amps make the band. The Beatles onstage in Germany in 1960 with a varied back line of great amps. Paul McCartney’s Selmer Truvoice Stadium
amp is on the far left. (This amp originally belonged to George Harrison, who sold it to McCartney.) Harrison’s Gibson GA-40 Les Paul is in the middle,
with John Lennon’s Fender 5E3 Deluxe on the right. The band mates include, from left, McCartney, drummer Pete Best, bassist Stuart Sutcliffe,
Harrison, and Lennon. Astrid Kirchherr/ K & K/Redferns/Getty Images
12/19/11 10:31 AM
(Fogra 39) Job:12-27525 Title:MBI-149852 Amped
(Text)(RAY)
#175 Dtp:204 Page:8