Alligator Combo Info

[UKKennyK]

I'm completely new to playing instruments of any kind and after deciding to save a little and get a Squire Precision Special and 50w practice amp, i've just been given an old combo amp for free and ive been offered a Fender Precisoon Lyte fro a pretty good price i think.

Anyway the Combo is made by Alligator and is pretty much identical to this one on Ebay apart from the fact my one has a 5" or so gap between the top of the speakers and the controls unlike this one.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALLIGATOR-100-WATT-BASS-COMBO-AMP-SUPERB-CONDITION_W0QQitemZ330240756647QQihZ014QQcategoryZ58719QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Does anyone know anything about this brand or what i have?
Any information would be really helpful

Thanks
Dean.

 

[UKKennyK]

Has nobody heard of this manufacturer?

 

[62bass]

I haven't. But I live in Canada. A lot of UK stuff never gets heard of here. Have you done a thorough Google search?

 

[UKKennyK]

Yep, google searched it to death and found nothing. There was a thread on here started by somoene a while ago asking the same questions as me and he drew a blank.
Only info i have is from that Ebay item i found...

 

[62bass]

Well, it certainly is "rarely available" as the sales pitch states.

Just from the look of it, I'd say it was a very small company that never got into serious production. Maybe made a few of them and then gave up. There was a company in Canada, based in Vancouver like that, started by a bass player friend of mine. He made some nice solid state amps and speaker cabinets and even got himself a well equipped shop. But I don't think he sold more than a few units and the time soon came when he couldn't pay the bills, so he quit. Called them Gunn amplifiers. I don't think you'll find one anywhere. But they were every bit as good as many of the amps on the market at the time.

 

[UKKennyK]

That give me a little hope on its ability. The guy i was supposed to be picking the bass up off of today has decided he doesnt want to sell now, so im back on the hunt for another. As soon as i get one i'll report with my findings!

 

[BassBod]

I had one for a few years - very good quality amp. Surprisingly good bass response for two 8" speakers and some very useful eq presets. The speakers were by Volt (usually make hifi stuff?). The downside - it was very heavy, volume was limited without an extension speaker and mine only had a jack line out (but I'm sure an XLR was an option). Also had a noisy fan that you could'nt turn off, but it really wasn't a problem on gigs.

They were made in London, and were about £500 new in '88 ...but no interweb presence, so I guess they're long gone now.

BB