Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

The beauty of pine is that it takes stain really well.

It's soft so it works easily and it's light and resonant. For guitar amps and speaker cabinets, pine sounds better to me than any other wood I've used. All of the 50's & 60's Fender amp cabinets are solid pine.

But Marshalls and Vox amps are usually made out of plywood, and those old cabinets sound great too. The Bluesbreaker cabs and the AC30 cabs are classics.

It's why I have these Matchless cabinets to plug into. One has Celestion G12 alnicos and the other has a G1265.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!



Komet 19 FTW

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Komet 19 FTW

Very classy!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

One thing I know I want is the controls on the front of the amp.

I used to have a Matchless SC30 exactly like this. I got it thinking it was a more portable version of an AC30, but I found that the AC30 sound requires two 12" speakers.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Here's my '66 Princeton Reverb and my MIJ Tele Custom. Bruce completely redesigned the Princeton circuit. It also has a 12" Celestion G12 alnico speaker. We're going to base the new amp on this heavily modified old Princeton but I want more of a British look to the amp.

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Not a combo, but still

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

I like the wood Boogie's and the Hiwatt's looks the best of those posted. You don't necessarly have to use black tolex either.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

I also liked the Gold Rush Blues Junior

 

[Bludave]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

I'm going to count Portaflexes as combos here, and nominate the Ampeg B12XT:

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I'm also really keen on my own newest amp, a custom-ordered Mesa Express Plus 5:25:

I also have a '68 Princeton Reverb that I think looks awesome:

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I think that was the only year they used the metal piping around the grille. It looks nice.

I have a 68 Super Reverb & Deluxe Reverb with the same "Drip edge" If you ever decide to sell the Princeton PM me and we can talk....

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

I have a 68 Super Reverb & Deluxe Reverb with the same "Drip edge" If you ever decide to sell the Princeton PM me and we can talk....

Thanks for the offer. Wish I could help you complete your collection, but this is a lifer. My dad bought it used in the early '70's, and it was his main amp up till he died in 2007. That, and it's just a great amp. It's bone stock right down to the original power cable. The only thing is that the speaker has been reconed several times. He always reconed, rather than replaced, the speaker.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Nothin' like a good-ol' black-faced Twin Reverb! I was waiting for one to show up.

Edit: Where did it go!

 

[bluesbend]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

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[Gearjoneser]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Besides being a great sounding amp, the new Matchless Avalon 30 combo has a look I love. I like the way the speakers are separated from the chassis too, so it can be an open or closed back. I also like seeing all the tubes and transformers through the plexiglass. I know Matchless and H&K are known for this look, but it's a good one.

And the vents on a 65 Amps combo gives it a unique look. Something similar might be cool, such as vented front/sides, since your controls will be on the front

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

What? No love for Silvertone?







I'm still kicking myself for ever letting go of my old 1484. That thing was a monster!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

What? No love for Silvertone?

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I'm still kicking myself for ever letting go of my old 1484. That thing was a monster!

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I am a Silvertone fan. Owned several Twin 12's but this is my favorite:

It's probably the same as the one in your top photo.

Bruce went through one of these a couple years ago, redesigned the circuit, and when he was finished with it I liked it as much as my 5E3 tweed Deluxes. Great, undervalued amps, but not what I'd call the "best looking"!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Besides being a great sounding amp, the new Matchless Avalon 30 combo has a look I love. I like the way the speakers are separated from the chassis too, so it can be an open or closed back. I also like seeing all the tubes and transformers through the plexiglass. I know Matchless and H&K are known for this look, but it's a good one.

And the vents on a 65 Amps combo gives it a unique look. Something similar might be cool, such as vented front/sides, since your controls will be on the front

I'm a Matchless fan too, GJ. I still have my 1 x12 & 2 x 12 Matchless speaker cabs and love the look. Sold my Matchless amps because I needed the money and felt more at home with the sound of my old Fenders.

What I'm going to go for is kind of a Matchless look but with the sound of my heavily modded blackface Fenders.

And we're going to build two amps: one a 1x12 and one a 2x10.

I like the idea of vents. (And I like those 65 Amps, too!) Heat rises and some passive cooling would be nice. Might not be as much of a concern with the 20 watt amp we're going to build as with a more powerful and hotter amp tho.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Not a combo, but still
View attachment 35196

Trying to find the right word to describe that.....hmmm? Ugly! :eyecrazy: Kinda creative though!

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

View attachment 35196

Trying to find the right word to describe that.....hmmm? Ugly! :eyecrazy: Kinda creative though!

How about "if that sounds as good as it looks, might be time to get a new amp."

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

How about "if that sounds as good as it looks, might be time to get a new amp."

That look would give me nightmares. Looks like Freddy...

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Post a photo of the best looking combo amps of all time!

Been thinking about these two designs. Heat rises and when the tubes are mounted under the chassis, as they are in all Fenders and in the Matchless SC30 below, the heat is rising and baking everything on the circuit board and inside the chassis. So the design of the Matchless Avalon results in a cooler running, possibly longer lasting amp.

But it adds height to the cabinet that I don't want to add.

To me, the regular Matchless cabinet is basically a Vox AC30 cabinet but with front mounted volume & tone controls instead of rear/top mounted.

I'm going to design a 2 x 10 cab and a 1 x 12 cab that can use the same chassis.