My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

[kmcguitars]

The thing sounds KILLER ! Pure vintage tone. It's a Magnatone 440 1x12
combo w/t 2 6V6's and a bunch of pre and a recto tube I never heard of?
It has that true Vibiroto. It nails the tone of Buddy Holly's into to `That will
be the day' And CCR's `Born on a Buyou' nailed the intro and solo? ( they
must have used one of these?) I'll see if I can get some sound clips? The
amp is 20 watts,And from around 62' or 63'. Also looks to have all the original
tubes? I think the 6V6's where Mullards?

 

[chill]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

Check out the Maggie info at www.vibroworld.com, they even have a page on the 440: http://www.vibroworld.com/magnatone/440.html

And the schemo: http://www.prowessamplifiers.com/schematics/misc/magnatone_panaramic_440.pdf

Cathode bias 6V6's, a concertina PI, non-NFB...when cranked it should sound 5E3 Deluxe-ish.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

Check out the Maggie info at www.vibroworld.com, they even have a page on the 440: http://www.vibroworld.com/magnatone/440.html

And the schemo: http://www.prowessamplifiers.com/schematics/misc/magnatone_panaramic_440.pdf

Cathode bias 6V6's, a concertina PI, non-NFB...when cranked it should sound 5E3 Deluxe-ish.

Thanks! for the schematic. I've dealt with Vibroworld (Zakk) before. He's got
some good stuff. looks like this baby is gonna need a Power tranny some time
soon. It looks like it's been on a BBQ and my buddy said he saw it dripping :saeek: The Filter cap looks like a oddball? I think it's like 5 or 6 caps
in a can. (Should be fun trying to track one down) Tone wise I'd say it falls
somewhere bettween a 5E3 and a old Ampeg?

 

[Robert S.]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

You can leave the old cans and re-cap the amp from the other side with new caps of proper value if the originals can't be found.

 

[chill]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

The Filter cap looks like a oddball? I think it's like 5 or 6 caps in a can. (Should be fun trying to track one down)

Ask Zack about that, he has some oddball caps on his caps page. IIRC he has them custom made and can probably get you a replacement with the proper uF/ V. If not, Robert S hit it: re cap on the inside.

 

[schecterplayer]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

I just got my hands on a vintage magnatone lyric 115 with a 12 inch speaker. It is more of a hi-fi mic amp than a guitar amp and doesn't distort at all unless REALLY cranked hard but it has the most fantastic clean tone on the planet. The first time I plugged into it I was playing stairway to heaven for ages afterwards because the clean is so much better than my main amp. I actually like it better than the vintage fender princeton that I got at the same time. More character I guess

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

Weber has a bunch of multi-cans as does obsololete electronics. A couple of my old heads have 4 of em loaded in a cap. It gets tricky to try and find space for all that stuff if the chassis is small . Prices were not bad and suprisingly it was easy to track down those odd things. My Valco PA had two sets of em and the Weber caps did the trick.

Very cool amps. A couple are hear locally and I really like the tone.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

You can leave the old cans and re-cap the amp from the other side with new caps of proper value if the originals can't be found.

YUP! I've done that trick before on a old Premeir reverb unit I had. It looked
like a lil' pack of hot dogs taped together. :laugh2:

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

http://www.tubesandmore.com/

Here is the site with all the vintage goodies. You can save tons o bucks just getting the separate caps but if vintage spec is the goal this place has a bunch of fun stuff.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

What did he give for that amp? Can you tell? Some say they have better mojo than the same era Princeton. What's the comparison IYO?

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: My Buddy Just got a old MAGNATONE amp !!

What did he give for that amp? Can you tell? Some say they have better mojo than the same era Princeton. What's the comparison IYO?

He traded a stand up bass for it. i'm not sure of the monotary value of the bass? But the Maggie is worth $500+. A model 260 maggie 2x12 just whent off on ebay for $1025. The amp has lots of mojo. In a A/B comparision to
my princeton. I'd say the Maggie has a very Crisp and full tone. The Vibrato
is overated IMO. (It sounds best when used sparingly) The verb sounded O.K. but to soon to tell Cuz' one of the driver tubes is bad. Althought it was
singing with vintage tone. I'd say my Princeton has it beat for Blues tone.
Not that the maggie sounded bad with blues licks. It's just that the maggie seemed a Lil' (For lack of a better word?) HiFI.Where as the princeton Breaks up with those familar overtones accociated with good Blues tone.