60's tube half-stack, head made by airline

Jeff

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Not particularly cheap or compact, looks heavy, loud & interesting. About 30 miles South.

lafayette 15 inch and two 6 inch speakers

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/msg/420925040.html

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capnjuan

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Without model #, hard to find schematic; hard enough to find Airline / Montgomery Wards schematics. No access to Schematic Heaven this morning. Canadian site says they have Airline schematics : http://www.justradios.com/PA.html but want the model / chassis # - keeps them from having to thumb through dozens to find 6L6 / reverb / trem ... also hardcopy not electronic.

Given that functionally comparable Silvertone 1484s go in the $350-$500 range and the cab doesn't match (hence justifying top dollar), $650 seems a little rich and pics don't suggest premium condition; might be but just going by the pics ...

Teisco - part of the 'Asian Invasion' - made guitars and amps under its own name and made stuff for others the way Valco did. Their guitars fall somewhere between collector stuff if pristine and curios if beaten. More on Teisco: http://www.teiscotwangers.com/

Unlike some Guild and Silvertone 6L6 amps, this one has separate muti-section can caps, a good thing - some of these amps have a rectangular multi-section, oil-filled cap that is no longer in production presenting ... ah ... challenges in the updating process.
 

capnjuan

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Bump: Schematic Heaven finally got out of bed ... :shock: Wards/Airline 9131a Schematic Looks to be same amp; 2X6L6, reverb and tremolo. Interesting; uses another 6L6 in the reverb section; tank coupled with a transformer (Fender-style). Should be a footswitch; C/L post didn't mention.

Reference: at Schematic Heaven
Twin 6L6, no trem/reverb: Airline: GIM 9111A; Silvertone: 1483
Twin 6L6, trem/reverb: Airline: GIM-9131A; Silvertone: 1484
Quad 6L6, no trem/reverb: Airline: GIM-9151A; Silvertone unknown/none ??
Quad 6L6, trem/reverb: Airline GIM-9171A; Silvertone 1485

All these schematics can be found at:
http://www.schematicheaven.com/ "Bargain Bin"
 

Jeff

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Thanks CJ, this one seems to be a relatively large example, haven't received a response from the seller as yet. Hopefully an opportunity to actually see it & play it will come up.

This old gear doesn't sell cheap in these parts. Price is approaching that of a recent vintage used Fender twin.

Just for grins I demo'd a Fender Blues Jr yesterday, Black, about 15 watts? Way plenty loud enough for my needs, 5 or 7 year warranty; $450.00.

Surprised me how cool my T5 sounded thru the thing. Bluesy for sure.
 

capnjuan

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For those not comfortable under the hood, there's a lot to be said for new and a warranty card. I haven't played any of the current tube-driven, price-competitive makes; Crate, Peavey, Carvin or, for that matter, Fender.

'Worth'; the monkey and the football. If you pay mid $400s for it and the retailer gets his cut, then the retailer paid $250-$300 for it; said another way, it's a $300 amp; 2XEL84, 12" speaker, reverb - a pretty nice formula - or, about the same money as a 40 year-old Silvertone 1482; add the $$ necessary to get the Sivertone stabilized (power supply, speaker, bits and pieces) and you have rough financial equivalence. While the old stuff can exude charm and generally bring what you paid for it, it cannot exude a warranty card no matter how hard it tries.

At the end of the day, it will cost what a stabilized 1482 costs (BTW no reverb); without A/B'ing, no way to tell which is the more pleasing to you or more in synch with the T5. 15 watts is more than enough and I'd have to say that the EL84 is one of the more versatile output tubes out there; well-supported w/ history back to the 60s.
 

Jeff

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Well, lets see, I posted this thread up on Wed, Sept 12, & this morning received first response from my email to seller, what's that, 5 days???. Seller tells me he's disappointed in the response to his ad. Hmm?? Mebbe I can work in some time to go look at in about a week.

Seller tells me the speaker cab is about the same size as a 4/12 speaker cab maybe a bit smaller & the amp head is "About Average" same size as a JCM 800?? What's a JCM 800, a Marshall?
Whatever, this thing surely isn't a petite apartment amp.

He did send me some better pics of the control panel, interesting looking amp, I think not $650 interesting, but interesting

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capnjuan

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Jeff said:
...same size as a JCM 800?? What's a JCM 800, a Marshall? Popular 1980s Marshall amp; sold as a 'combo' (integrated head and cabinet0 or as a head; 50w to 100w.

Interesting looking amp, I think not $650 interesting, but interesting. Agree. Depending on the power transformer, 2X6L6 usually amounts to 35 - 50 watts; enough to show off the amp for your family and everyone on the block... :shock:
The only other comment I have is that this amp might not break up or distort until 5-7 on the volume pushing to volume to perhaps annoying levels. One of the pleasures/trade-offs with the less powerful 6V6 amps is that they break up at a lower volume; you get the crunchy, warm, gravelly thing at managable listening levels. The off-set is that 6V6 amps do distort; can't get a 'clean' chord past '5' if you want one.
 
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