Earth is it worth it....

Don't know anything of them, so I'm along for some info

 

Some background.

An Untold History of Earth Sound Research Amplifiers | Pedal Haven

 

You know the rules: pics or it doesn't exist.

 

My friend has an Earth amp. Looks like an old Kustom with the padded black plastic material. She has the matching 2x15. Thing is a beast.

 

Don't think it will do.

 

How about some pics of the beautiful tubes Hmmm?? LOL

 

if you pair it with a Sunn cab you unlock special forbidden tones.

 

I remember those amps from the early '70's. They were monsters. I can't speak to the reliability but way back then, I had a Kustom 100 watt bass amp and a guy I knew in another band had an Earth and yet another had a Plush. We felt pretty special not only because of the way our amps looked but because they were pretty effing good for young teenagers to be playing out with!

 

I don't remember much about Earth but for some reason I am thinking they were rip offs of popular makes of the day. I remember Earth amps that looked incredibly like Peavey amps of their day. Kind of how Behringer got their business going in more recent times.

 

That was my first stage amp back about 1980. I was very happy with it - never had an issue

 

I bought one in 1992/3 with a matching 215 cab. I was too young to know what to do with it, and I wish I still had it.

 

Looks like my old beloved Plush head.

 

Wow! Blast from the past that is. Brings back memories it does…

Long time ago, in a universe far away (i.e. the 70s) they were quite the thing where I lived. Decent sound and very reliable. What’s not to like? Congrats on finding one! Play it well!

 

Earth amps were "the poor man's Peavey".
.....except they retailed for more $.........
.....and they weren't as reliable.......
Which is strange, because their solid-state and hybrid amps were total clones of Peaveys. They literally photographed Peavey circuit boards and paths and reproduced them. Perhaps actual component quality accounts for the difference in ruggedness.
They even copied the look of Peavey spkr cabs, using the same grill cloth weave and dual aluminum trim strips. Of course, the aluminum was a much thinner (read flimsier) gauge, the Tolex covering was not as skillfully applied, and appeared to be of an inferior quality.
All this being said, their all-tube models appear to have been solidly built and have garnered a decent reputation, collecting fans of "pre-80's, tube anything".

As an aside, the naked cloning of the Peavey look, and topology, didn't upset Hartley, as much as one would think. During a conversation we had in 1990, he revealed to me that the copying could be viewed as a compliment, an acknowledgment of Peavey's success and popularity. He claimed he wasn't unduly concerned by Earth because he saw their demise written on the wall. Their model was unsustainable. But they didn't have the sound, and that concerned him. As long as the spkr cabs had the big "Earth" logo on them, people knew the score. However, Peavey's look was so iconic, by this time, that the idea of someone removing that logo, and allowing the public to mistake it as Peavey product, with inferior sonics......that irked the man!

 

It looks comfy.

 

The only thing Kustom has in common with Plush/Earth is Naugahyde tuck and roll. Kustom made generic solid state amps while Earth which became Plush made hand wired tube amps that were Fenderish in design.
I've had a Plush since about 1973 and it's a keeper and pretty darn reliable.

I used both channels of my Plush with my Ricky 4001 in stereo so I could pretend I was Chris Squire using tremolo and a dry signal at once though the Plush tremolo circuit didn't sound like Starship Trooper

It is in embryonic form.