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Versatone pan o flex copies.... Are they there?

#62
markjazzbassist said:
wait rare vintage tube bass amp? i've never heard of it before? count me in :) lol gonna do some listening to that jack casady clip, i'm interested to hear what "tone" this amp imparts that makes it magical.
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Given the cover art, I'm going to assume that this album was recorded with the Pan-O-Flex.
Monk Montgomery "Bass Odyssey" 1971
 
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#70
Hello;
Lets get this party started!!! I am a 71 year old, old time Pro bass player! I had one of these Versatone amps! Yes! Let me say one thing! NOTHING, I HAVE RECENTLY SEEN OR HEARD (manufactured recently) EVEN COMES CLOSE TO THE GREAT SOUND OF A VERSATONE BASS AMP!!!! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! IT'S ALMOST LIKE MAGIC!!
In my early years I did a lot of session work around LA. Always used that amp (sorry I sold it) It always freaked out every engineer!!! They couldn't believe just how great it sounded, miked, no direct box! How Big! How Warm!, How Definitive!!!
My gig amp is fashioned after my Versatone. Has a 10" PAS speaker with a 56 oz magnet, a 15" PAS speaker built into a cabinet that houses a Stereo power amp and pre amp. I had outputs from my Versatone to plug into the power amp.
But it still doesn't sound like the amp it's self. (Weight; 125lbs!)
I don't gig any more, wish I could, acquired too many injuries while working in the audio visual business for the last 40 years! (plus RA)
I too think that somebody should fabricate these wonderful amps. But I really can't imagine why some newer amp co hasn't thought to bring something like this to their lineup. Maybe because those folks were only a twinkle in their mother's eye at the time these amps were in use and nobody was exposed to the sound of a Versatone.
I think that with all the technology today that something so old just puts the really true sound of the bass guitar out front and nobody can seem to duplicate it without having to take 3 years of college courses to learn how to program!
Versatone= Input, Volume, Treble, Bass, and PAN-O-PLEX (4 knobs) plus an 8" speaker and a 12" speaker enclosed in a sealed divided cabinet about the size of a Fender Twin, HOW DARN SIMPLE!!!!
BTW, I know more but I have said enough.
 
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#71
Bruce Sahroian said:
Hello;
Lets get this party started!!! I am a 71 year old, old time Pro bass player! I had one of these Versatone amps! Yes! Let me say one thing! NOTHING, I HAVE RECENTLY SEEN OR HEARD (manufactured recently) EVEN COMES CLOSE TO THE GREAT SOUND OF A VERSATONE BASS AMP!!!! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! IT'S ALMOST LIKE MAGIC!!
<snip>
BTW, I know more but I have said enough.
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I hope you are just getting started!
 
#73
Happy Face said:
There have been clones built, but of the dual amp into a single 12" version. I cd put you in touch with the builder.

I'm lucky enough to have recently acquired the dual speaker version you described. It is a monster in the studio.
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I've heard conflicting stories about the tone. that's it's clean clear and hi-fi, or that it's warm and breaks up super easy. set the record straight please.
 
#74
markjazzbassist said:
i have a black coily cable i'm set :)

vox retro coil cable, works wonders for tone.
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It seems that you and I disagree on many things Mark. Back in the day, back in the UK, (that’s almost poetry! LOL) I bought many VOX curly cables. All of them failed shortly after purchase. This was back in the JMI era when VOX amps were actually VOX built.
 
#75
BassmanPaul said:
It seems that you and I disagree on many things Mark. Back in the day, back in the UK, (that’s almost poetry! LOL) I bought many VOX curly cables. All of them failed shortly after purchase. This was back in the JMI era when VOX amps were actually VOX built.
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yep not talking about a 40 year old cable Paul, I'm talking about the cable that Vox makes nowadays titled "Vox Retro Coil Cable". Check out the review below for a review from a member on here on cables. for the money they offer low capacitance unlike most cables out there.

Audio Cables Compared and Recommended

this is the cable I'm talking about

Invalid Link Removed
 
#77
I have actually owned two Audio Guild amps for many years. One is the single 12" and one is the 12"+8" version. Mine are the ones described by Twisted wires. (I do not own a Panoflex though I wish I did, I've looked) They only work for bass at low volumes but I love the tone of these things. I love them for guitar, they sound stellar and both have the dual channels, reverb and the Magnatone varister Trem. When running in dual channel mode the controls are all interactive. Twisted wires and I have talked about these before. And I was contacted by Chris Solberg to buy mine a few years ago. I was told Chris and a partner were trying to buy up as many AG amps as they could and might be thinking of bringing a clone of some sort to market. Whether that's true or not I don't know. They are unique amps and pretty rare. They do pop up on the bay from time to time usually for under a grand.
 
#78
There a few on reverb right now. I believe that they are all the 112 version not the 2 speaker version. My 2 speaker version looks visually just like the gut shot of the 220B from the ad @markjazzbassist shared above. From reading most of the ad text on these amps most of these guys know less than has been shared in this thread already.
 
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#79
image.jpeg




Here's a front shot of my 112. Sorry no gut shot right now. Also the knobs on mine are the original knobs some of the amps advertised have replacements.
 
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