Seabreeze A100
5 Watt, Single Ended, Class A, Mono, Tube Amp – late 50s or early 60s?
An astounding blues/rock monster! Lead guitar heaven.
With its tubes, 12AX7 x 1, 6V6 x 1, and 6X4 x1, it has a similar tube complement to a Fender Champ, except for the 6X4 rectifier where a Champ has a 5Y3. The 5Y3 is a bit more robust than the 6X4, I think, and with a guitar input, which the Seabreeze amp was
not designed for, the 6X4 gives
a lot more sag.
A guitar drives things a lot harder than the line out/mic level inputs the amp was designed for so there is a lot of sweet dirt.
It is also a sweet, clean hifi amp for listening to 78s, although I seldom use it for this purpose.
It is still
all original, except for the combo on/off-switch tone-control combination pot which I replaced when the original failed. This was only ever an interim replacement while I looked for a better part. Decades later, it still needs to be replaced for cosmetic reasons as it does not match the original pots’ physical characteristics. The tubes are still going strong despite my abuse.
The amp says stereo, but this is only because it was designed for use with early stereo capable, but natively mono, tape recorders and phonographs that came with integrated mono tube amps. It was also used as a PA and with projectors.
There used to be a lovely Seebreeze cabinet for the amp with a sweet paper-coned 12” driver. There was also a green-bullet-type microphone for it, as well. The amp, the cab, and the mic sounded awesome with harmonica, which is why I no longer have the cab and mic. A harp-playing friend habitually borrowed the cab and mic to use with a 15 Watt tube head he owned. This was his small gig rig. His amp, my cab, and my mic were stolen from him. The rule of lending is that you don’t lend what you can’t afford to give – I understood this. My friend had asked me to sell him the mic and cab a number of times. I always refused. He never thought to ask if I would give them to him. I might have.
Other than the pot/switch replacement noted above, the only thing I have ever had to do to it is clean pots, tube pins, and tube sockets.
I should take it into a shop one day and have it recapped - the cap can restuffing is not something I want to do myself - and have it checked over for safety and have a three prong plug installed.
The wiring is a minor rats' nest point to point tangle:
Afterthought edit - meet the 6X4 Tube:
Hi! After last months huge transmitting triode, this months tube will be at the opposite end of the size spectrum, the 6X4. The 6X4...
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