OK another what is this thread.

[wmhill]

Not trying to be contentious, but when was the last time you saw a solid state amp with a "standby" switch?

That ungrounded AC passthru just screams "tube" at me.

No kidding- I'm fully aware of that. I was trying to make the point that it looked like that era of Gibson amps from the '70s. I've seen plenty of their solid-state amps that looked similar, it's not unreasonable to think that a tube amp from the same era might look the same cosmetically.

 

[Bassstud1]

If you buy it you'll likely need to use one of these with it:

View attachment 4326095

I live between Elkhart Indiana (Crowns old home) and Buchannan Michigan ( Electro Voices old home) , Kalamazoo ( Gibsons old home ) isn't that far away, so I'm lucky enough to see a lot of vintage stuff for cheap. I just never saw anything like this before. The more and more the results come in I'm thinking it's just another Franken-cab.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I'm wondering if it's a powered extension speaker for some sort of portable organ / Rhodes / electric piano, or possibly guitar. Definitely not a bass amp.

Most of these instruments had the tone controls on the instrument, so the amp in the speaker cabinet was pretty basic. The guitar versions used the tone controls on the master amp. I'm not confusing this with a Leslie.

Maybe "Lowdown" will pay big bucks for it to end his search for an amp with only one control!

 

[yodedude2]

I'm wondering if it's a powered extension speaker for some sort of portable organ / Rhodes / electric piano, or possibly guitar.

my first thought: a tube-powered organ speaker, some sort of lower-end competitor to the ubiquitous leslie speakers.

 

[Jonathan C]

I had a collection of SRO B 15" that my ex-wife destroyed when we were going through our divorce. She put all 10 of them cone up and walked through them. But they were not the "can" type. Almost needed a lawyer for something else after that one.

My first ex-wife took all of my high end stereo gear and CD collection, broke every CD, cut any wire she could get to, ripped the speakers to shreds, and threw them out on the lawn in the rain. Scorned women! I was able to repair my 500 watt Hafler power amp. That was it.

 

[Redbrangus]

I'm with @Plain Old Barry -- it looks like a powered extension speaker of some sort. Perhaps for a PA rig. A few forward-thinking folks arrived at that solution. WEM, in the UK, made a real reputation for themselves with their 100-watt, tube-powered PA columns, for instance. I think it's a "manufactured" product -- otherwise, why bother with the pointless metallic trim, or with painting the power amp chassis. I don't interpret the absence of finish washers as a sign of homemade -- it's not the first non-DIY cab I've seen without them, plus they sometimes get lost or dispensed with over the years. It's kinda too bad we won't have an opportunity to look more closely at that amp to winnow out a few more clues. OTOH -- absolutely, positively not worth anything like $300 - 400. Not even half that. The SROs (are there 2?) are kinda worth something, but not as much as people seem to think, IME. I tried to sell a couple a few years ago for $100 each and didn't get much action. I think I still have 3 out of the 4 I was trying to move...didn't even get any lowball offers. As was mentioned -- great tone, but low-powered and ancient history.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I think it's a "manufactured" product -- otherwise, why bother with the pointless metallic trim, or with painting the power amp chassis. I don't interpret the absence of finish washers as a sign of homemade

I agree. The finish washers may also have been removed for service and lost.

The aluminum trim strip along the top front may have had a metal or plastic brand / name strip that snapped into the slot in the back of the strip. It may even have been an OEM device sold under different brands. Companies like Westbury and Unicord often OEM'd for others.

 

[Slevage]

Probably part of a Cordovox or Duovox rig.

 

[2tonic]

No kidding- I'm fully aware of that. I was trying to make the point that it looked like that era of Gibson amps from the '70s. I've seen plenty of their solid-state amps that looked similar, it's not unreasonable to think that a tube amp from the same era might look the same cosmetically.

True enough......

 

[iiipopes]

Cab looks home made.
If it came from a factory it would have finish washers under the screw heads...
and maybe a better design.

Not necessarily if it were a prototype, and I have seen many cabinets of that era that did not have the finish washers.

 

[40Hz]

it looks vaguely reminiscent of late 60s Selmer badged speaker cabinets or the like. theyre most commonly used for stacking broken record players on at the thrift barn

Precisely my thought too at first, although I don’t think they ever made a 2x15.

Selmer! Blast from the past, hey?

 

[40Hz]

Not trying to be contentious, but when was the last time you saw a solid state amp with a "standby" switch?

That ungrounded AC passthru just screams "tube" at me.

^This. You’d see ground switches since all the power cords on that era’s amps were 2-wire. But I don’t recall any vintage solid-state that had a standby toggle.

 

[40Hz]

I'm wondering if it's a powered extension speaker for some sort of portable organ / Rhodes / electric piano, or possibly guitar. Definitely not a bass amp.

I’m guessing organ or accordion. But I don’t think it’s a Selmer or Cordovox extension cab.

 

[John Webb]

117 VAC...is that odd?

 

[Plain Old Barry]

117 VAC...is that odd?

That was pretty common labeling in the 50's-70's.

From: Power line voltage

"USA Standard Residential Voltage

Although voltage has changed over the years, residential USA power mains have maintained a single phase 60 Hz frequency. Standardized power mains voltages started as 110 and 220 VAC systems. Around the end of WWII, standardized mains voltage increased from 110/220 to 117/234 VAC.

117/234 VAC remained the residential voltage standard for a few decades, changing to 120/240 VAC in the 1960’s.

In the 1970’s, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) set current 120/240 specifications through ANSI Standard C84.1-1970. This standard specifies two voltage ranges, Range A and Range B, which included both service voltage and utilization voltage. Service voltage for this situation was usually interpreted to be at the meter, and utilization voltage was at the terminals of the utilization equipment. Electric supply systems were to be so designed and operated that most service voltages would be within the limits specified in Range A. The occurrence of service voltages outside Range A was to be infrequent. Range A service voltage was to be 120 V (+/-5 percent), which would be 114 to 126 V. Range A utilization voltage was specified to be between 110 and 126 V.

The current line voltage, since the late 1960’s in most locations and since the 1970’s by written uniform standard ANSI Standard C84.1, is 120/240 + - 5%. After 40 years or more of being 120/240, it is probably time we stopped calling it “220”, “117”, “115”, or “110”. In the USA, it is 240 volts or 120 volts."

 

[two fingers]

I'm wondering if it's a powered extension speaker for some sort of portable organ / Rhodes / electric piano, or possibly guitar. Definitely not a bass amp.

Most of these instruments had the tone controls on the instrument, so the amp in the speaker cabinet was pretty basic. The guitar versions used the tone controls on the master amp. I'm not confusing this with a Leslie.

Maybe "Lowdown" will pay big bucks for it to end his search for an amp with only one control!

That's exactly what I was thinking. I appears to be a very early powered keyboard speaker.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I'd not take it unless it's free.

 

[blastoff]

I'd not take it unless it's free.

even then….

ok i feel like im getting close here:
Teisco Checkmate:

 

[blastoff]

its more of a Check than a Check-Mate
but it seems like it possibly came out of the same factory.

 

[Bassstud1]

Thanks for all the information and thoughts guys. I have a much better idea of Value now. If I get it I will dissect it and try to figure out what it is /was?