Hi Lilttlesongs; not sure I have much to offer but we have another BBer who knows Sano amps and has nice things to say about them. This is a Sano-made, Gretsch-branded reverb/tremolo amp on eBay now. Two channels, standby and polarity switches and hum balance on the chassis.littlesongs said:Thanks John. I am gonna have to pick your brain about Sano amps sometime.
Busy place back here ... the seller garbled the auction text ... says he thinks it's 35 watts ... later it's 30 watts and bungled the power tube ID; they look like 8417s but the text also mentions EL34s and, for confusion's sake, an EL84. I think it's 62-65 or so mostly because of the handle and about when 8417 came and went ... if that's what they are ... could be EL34s ... no thanks to the seller. I guess the amp-to-the-left is the original layout but the power transformer is on the same side as the 15" speaker ... all the weight on one side ... unless you are Pop-eye, would be awkward to carry. Huge output transformer on the right end of the lower chassis ... about the same size as the ones in the 50W Guild heads.
View of the control panel; in reasonably good condition:
The webkeeper of the Sano flame is Larry John Macnally his webpage here including some discussion, list of models, and a few linked schematic; I didn't find a link for the auction amp. Some more discussion of Sano Amps at Ludlow Guitars, a link to a very interesting Sano Flicker show here, and a Craigslisted Sano in Washington state here.
The discussion in the links frequently mentions the hi-fi orientation of these amps; the seller mentions the auxiliary stereo channel, the fact that the speakers are crossed over shunting the high frequency signal to the small speaker and the mids/lows to the 15" speaker, and I think it's interesting that the OT is so large considering that the amp has a tube rectifier.
Do you have a Sano or thinking about buying one?
John