US MADE
1992
This is my first real guitar amp. It is a very nice 2-channel all-tube amp inspired by the VOX AC30.
It is equipped with 3 x 12ax7 and 4 x EL84 vacuum tubes and has an output rated at 50W. This amp has 2 x 10" 50W each ceramic Eminence speakers. It has a long-pan spring reverb with solid-state driver and recovery stages.
It has an effects loop and footswitch channel switching. An additional capabilty that is unique to this model is the quadra-verb channel and boost switch capability using an optional 4-button programmable footswitch.
I love the clean channel of this amp. At a specific setting recommended in the manual it has a fat and smooth overdriven sound. A Les Paul type guitar can drive this amp into a very nice overdriven sound without using any outboard effects. This amp is also pedal-friendly and it is very easy to get nice singing distortion sound using outboard effects.
Though marketed as a 2-channel amp, I view this amp as a very nice one-channel amp (clean channel) with a fooswitchable cascaded overdrive stage. The first 12AX7 is the preamp, the second 12AX7 is the OD cascade stage. The 3rd 12AX7 is the Phase Inverter tube.
The internal construction is excellent and techies would be happy working on this amp.
It has one well-laid out thick double-sided pcb with most parts on it easily accessible. All wiring connections to the pcb (except one, the on/off switch connection) has push-type connectors and the pcb could be easily taken out completely for servicing. With regards to this issue, this amp is considerably better than even my Fender amps, vintage and pcb reissues and much better than similar VOX inspired amps like the Peavey Classic 30/50 and Delta Blues.
The 4 power tubes are directly installed in the chassis, only the 3 pre-amp tubes are installed in the pcb. The above Peavey amps have their preamp and power tubes directly mounted on the pcb. Considering all the heat the 4 power tubes generate while the amp is "ON", this is another important advantage.
This particular amp model was purportedly designed by Randall Smith of Mesa Engineering for Seymour Duncan. This would explain why the original power tubes in the Seymour Duncan 8450 is a quad of Mesa Engg branded tubes (as also stated in the manual).
Amp Manual
