Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

MetalManiac

MetalManiac

Li'l Junior Member
Montgomery Wards! Wha???Right, from the day when major department stores sold tube amps and there wrere tubes and tube testers at radio shack! I got at the right price! I'm pretty sure its working probably, even though they fired it up with no load to check it. I'll just to the obligatory cap job and screen grid resistor replacement. Those look like possibly RCA Gray or Blackplates too. I did the Space-ship space age design influenced lights on the toip front.
Its bound to sound pretty good. I'm thinking its i a Valco /Supro amp made for Monkey Wards ( some of you kids don't even remember Montgomery wards I'm sure), and the possibly the exact same circuit, or with minor variations that one Mr. James Page played Zepp 1 through his tele with. Or it could be a Japanese import. Either way it can't be all bad. What can you get for 127.00 now anyway?


http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e1100...em=250675118514&ssPageName=ADME:B:BCA:US:1123
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

Speaking of Page, I just did a quick google search and found out a lot real quickly. Basically there is some debate as to whether Page used the Supro Thunderbolt on Zepplin I, even though he said he did, and I concur with the doubt about it, because I have played the 1x15 Thunderbolt and its more like a poor mans Bassman to quote another guy, and does not have the gain of the Zepplin 1 sound. Plus Page says that he used a Supro with a 12" speaker. Does that account for the difference (?), because the Thunderbolt has a 15" speaker, and thus Page would have had to be using an extension cabinet, not remebering correctly or flat out lying ( or a combination of both ala Eddie Van Halen apparently) to keep his tone a mystery. Who know.
Albert Lee, his buddy, says page used a Supro Atlas, which seems from all accounts to get more of a gainy real Zepplin 1 sound form the 10" open backed speaker and the 6v6's.
This seems to be the way things stand currently from what I understand, with regards to the Page /Supro Zepp 1 matter.
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

I think I saw that same amp in an old sears catalog. Nice find. I'd rock it!
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

I know for a fact it was NOT a Thunderbolt...I;ve seen pics from the recording of LZI (they are out there if you dig around the net long enough) and the amp Jimmy used was MUCH smaller than a Thunderbolt plus having used one more than once the tone is all wrong...

Jimmy has only reportedly owned 2 Supro amps, one was smached and the other given to the RNR HOF...the one that is still around is modded a fair bit...the 2 10's were swapped for a single 12 long ago and the other that w2as smashed has a single 12 to begin with...

Also, I have never seen mention of an extension cab ever being used by Page on LZI...

As for the extra gain...it's simple, NO amps then had that kind of gain, it's a Tonebender...trust me on that.

With a Tele and my MK II I can get all the LZI tones on any number of small amps...my Ampeg Jet does VERY nicely...just add a little wah and echoplex and I'm there!
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

Ask Kevlar3000, he's very knowedgeable about the rare/pawnshop stuff.
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

ginormous said:
Ask Kevlar3000, he's very knowedgeable about the rare/pawnshop stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks you very much Ginormous! I would bet you have been in a Montgomery wards a time or two before, but can you still remember when every Radio Shack had a big tubetester for free use? That might be before your time.
About the Jimmy Page tone. Thanks so much for that TGWIF. I am going to grab a Tonebender ( not a real one- gawd can you believe the prices??) as soon as I can. I heard clips and its definitely Page in a Box!!
So about Pages Supro, guys are saying at the time he recorded Zepp I,, it had to either have been the Atlas 1x10 2x6v6 Supro amp, or a T-Bolt with a Modified extension speaker ( the more unlikely it would appear).
The 2x12 amps didnt exist apprently at the time of LZ1
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

MetalManiac said:
About the Jimmy Page tone. Thanks so much for that TGWIF. I am going to grab a Tonebender ( not a real one- gawd can you believe the prices??) as soon as I can. I heard clips and its definitely Page in a Box!!
So about Pages Supro, guys are saying at the time he recorded Zepp I,, it had to either have been the Atlas 1x10 2x6v6 Supro amp, or a T-Bolt with a Modified extension speaker ( the more unlikely it would appear).
The 2x12 amps didnt exist apprently at the time of LZ1
Click to expand...

Benders are great but like anything else that old, originals are expensive.

Back to the Supro...I never said 2x12, Jimmy gave a Super amp to the RNR HOF...stock it was a 2x10 set up but Jimmy pulled the 2 10's and the baffle and made a 1x12 baffle for it and used it as a 1x12...

The other Supro was destroyed by Jimmy a long time ago but rumor has it that it was a 1x12 already, which would explain why he modded his 2x10 into a 1x12!

As for the Atlas deal, I;ve never heard that until this thread...

Thunderbolt, no way it was a 1x15...

The ext cab deal, never heard that until this thread either and pics of them in the studio for LZI show Jimmy plugged into a grey Vox wah, a Tone Bender an Echoplex and a Supro combo with the internal speaker being miced...just saying.

As for the no 2x12 Supros at that time...garbage! A friend of mine has 2 different 2x12 Supro combos BOTH from the very early 60's...they did exist, however neitehr of those amps have the LZI tone!
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

The 2x10 amp that was converted to a 1x12 is right here...

jimmy-page-supro-coronado.jpg
 
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Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

MetalManiac said:
Thanks you very much Ginormous! I would bet you have been in a Montgomery wards a time or two before, but can you still remember when every Radio Shack had a big tubetester for free use? That might be before your time.
Click to expand...
Oh, quite the contrary. I had a set of Radio Shack 7027A tubes in my old Ampeg.

When you get it up and running, post a clip of yourself rockin' it like a devil!
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

I'm sorry, I didnt mean the Supro "Atlas", I meant the Supro "Trojan".;
http://cgi.ebay.com/Classic-Supro-T...w-Tremolo-/370415277521?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

The Triojan is the Amp some guys are saying it had to be.
I have a few questions. So its being said that page used that modiofeod 2x1o Supro w/ the 12" speaker.. deos that mean that that is the LZ1 amp? Could that amp, probably a Coranado, be the LZ1 amp?
Then, saying that the 2x12 Supros are not the tone of Lz1, but saying you can pretty mcuh reach the tone with any number of amps with a Tonebender MKII confuses me. Why couldnt, then, the amp have been a 2x12 Supro if they were around at the time, with a Tonebender?
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

MetalManiac said:
I'm sorry, I didnt mean the Supro "Atlas", I meant the Supro "Trojan".;
http://cgi.ebay.com/Classic-Supro-T...w-Tremolo-/370415277521?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

The Triojan is the Amp some guys are saying it had to be.
I have a few questions. So its being said that page used that modiofeod 2x1o Supro w/ the 12" speaker.. deos that mean that that is the LZ1 amp? Could that amp, probably a Coranado, be the LZ1 amp?
Then, saying that the 2x12 Supros are not the tone of Lz1, but saying you can pretty mcuh reach the tone with any number of amps with a Tonebender MKII confuses me. Why couldnt, then, the amp have been a 2x12 Supro if they were around at the time, with a Tonebender?
Click to expand...

I thought you meant Trojan...Atlas was a Gibson Bass Amp. As far as I know the name Atlas was never used on a supro but I could be wrong for sure...

The Supro thats been converted to a 1x12 is NOT the LZI amp...Jimmy claims to have destroyed that amp some time in the 70's...

What I said is that I could get the LZI tone wiht a MK II and any number of small amps NOT all small amps...the issues with the tone(s) of the 2x12 Supros my buddy has is that they are not small amps...the low end is bigger, the headroom is higher (they are about 35 watts a pop) and those things just make the tone wrong for those early Zep tones...

I believe that Page used a 1624T on LZI...it's the right size and shape to match the pics form the studio, it is a 1x12 and the power is about right. Page always said that his studio Supro didn't have a lot of power...

However I have no real proof of that, it's just what I htink after doing a lot of research...
 
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Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

let me know if you decide you don't want it. i'll pay $25 more than you did and shipping :smokin:
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

I'll do better than that. I'll keep on the Lookout for one and send you the link if i see one. Wow Ginormous, didn;t know you went back that far, although come to think of it, they still had tubetesters in Rat Shacks up till the eraly 80's I think?

Now as far as the Page Amp. Absolutely the Dual Tone 169(4?)! from he clips I just listened to. Nails it, plus wiht a Tonebender?? Littel doubt in my mind! Thanks Tgwif!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1qN4GixSxg
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

One last thing, and sorry, I meant the 1624 dual tone Supro.
Does anyone have any specs on this amp? Tubes used, power, speaker..etc?
What do they cost now on the vintage used market? Are there any replicas being made?
List of amps that can cop the tone ( ampeg jet being one ). Thanks.
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

Those amps freakin scream, found one for a good friend and also owned a Ward's for a long time myself. Great tones in there for sure.
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

Empty Pockets said:
let me know if you decide you don't want it. i'll pay $25 more than you did and shipping :smokin:
Click to expand...

Do you remember Montgomery Wards department store Pockets? It was same as Sears, everywhere..but went belly-up about ,what, 10-12 years ago?
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

kevlar3000 said:
Those amps freakin scream, found one for a good friend and also owned a Ward's for a long time myself. Great tones in there for sure.
Click to expand...

I'm guessin another poor mans Basman, but now that I have an original Clark gainster to push the front end, Im thinking I can get some convincing early Twed Basmmaesque sound.
 
Re: Wow Fellas look at this old Amp I just picked up off Fleabay just now

MetalManiac said:
Sorry, I meant the 1624 dual tone Supro.

Does anyone have any specs on this amp? Tubes used, power, speaker..etc?

What do they cost now on the vintage used market?

Are there any replicas being made?

List of amps that can cop the tone (ampeg jet being one)
Click to expand...

-Gotcha, I think so to...others come close but the 1624 is the ticket...

-Yeah, 2 channels (each with a BASS and TREBLE input), each with a single volume and tone and tremolo on channel 2. 5Y3 rectifier tube, 3 12AX7's, and 2 6973 power tubes (these are GREAT tubes that are often overlooked in guitar amps, I LOVE 'em!). Single 12 inch speaker, likely a Jensen C12R...

-Last one I saw for sale sold for nearly $2400, last one before that was beat to hell and back and still brought in over $1800!

-Yes, there are a few kits out there and lots of info on the WWW about DIY versions...it's a fairly simple amp but can be a pain in the butt due to the funny power tubes, and getting a chassis and so on.

-Other amps, I have done fairly well with a plain old 5E3, my Jet, even my 2x10 Super Clone, maybe even a few other small name obscure pieces, however a 1624 (which I have tried) is the closest and is what I think Page really used
 
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