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Weird Amps Nobody Remembers

#24
Pablo504 said:
Yes, my Heathkit amp was certainly looked down on but I was just a kid and it was all I could afford. It did teach me a lot, though, about transistors and resistors and soldering...
Kinda wish I had it back.
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Often when you are in a position that you can't afford much, you learn more, and are more driven to overcome the handicap of a lack of money. Some of the most amazing musicians I've had the pleasure of hearing started out dirt poor and with less than average instruments.
 
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#27
Lo-E said:
Heathkit made a whole host of electronic equipment from guitar amps to hi-fi to test gear. One of my tube testers is a very high quality, laboratory grade Heath tester and two of my vacuum tube voltmeters are heath. I also have some old Heathkit audio stuff awaiting restoration.

My 15” Riviera (NOT Rivera, but Riviera; a budget 1960s Canadian brand) bass cab is probably the most obscure piece of bass gear I’ve got but I have several rather obscure guitar amps. I’ll have to check through the pile to remind myself of the names.
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Heathkit was kind of like a paint by numbers in the electronics realm. Their stuff wasn't bad, but wasn't top notch either. My dad gave me a Heath shortwave radio kit when I was around 10 years old. I still have it, and it's not an overly sensitive receiver, but I had fun with it when I was a kid.
 
#29
byacey said:
I never saw any Herzog product.
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The Herzog was/is a Garnet tube overdrive built in a cabinet like a small amp head. You'd stack in on top of your guitar head and the controls were dials in the front. The Gar Gillies book probably contains diagrams for one in it. Being in the States we don't usually get to see these products often, if ever.
 
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#30
jamro217 said:
The Guess Who used to use Garnet amps from Canada. Kurt Winter and Bill Wallace even wore their promo shirts. Never saw one close enough to check out (the amps, not the shirts). They sounded good on the records. The Herzog was what made Randy Bachman's "American Woman" guitar tone.
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Garnet produced many "Stencil" amps as they are called, with numerous different brand names, sold though different mail order stores and independent shops. I have a Garnet-made "Raven" branded 15 watt guitar amp that honks.

My video seems lost but here is an example, this one with the "Mann" label:


 
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#31
Phud said:
In High school I had an Alamo Fury bass amp (Wish I still had that thing). A Kalamazoo amp.View attachment 4637492 <-----Not mine, web pic
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Cool, Phud. My first amp as a HS Freshman was an Alamo Challenger amp. I think it was 20 or 25 watts with a 10" speaker (I think...). It was what it was, but I thought it was cool just to play through an amp.
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#35
Ok, that’s maybe not so weird. But I had one of those for a brief period in the mid-90s when it was already ancient, and again for even shorter time about 4 years ago or something. (That’s not mine, pic found on Audiofanzine)
522290B0-F1D2-4D64-BF8F-D3AE317DD3EB.jpeg


In case you wonder about the vertical rectangle between EMINENT and Dynacord- that’s a “Macical Eye” tube, a greenish input vu meter. Very hip. This is a four channel unit with inputs switchable for mic/line sensitivity, kind of a PA amp with built in mixer. I also dig the horizontal tone controls and I can’t remember what the pot in between them was for.
It puts out about 65 watts, is capable of some wicked gnarl, but ultimately I didn’t dig it enough to really play it.
Best
Sidecar
 
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#37
mike buzzetti said:
View attachment 4637550 I had a Heathkit stereo amp , cant remember the watts but I ran it with 2 Karlson 15" cabs weighed like 300 lbs lol , I sold to a bass player buddy of mine he STILL has it. that was a killer rig for the 70's

Or this Sunn Sentura II 60 watt tube with a 1x15" Jbl D140
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Plenty of people knew about Sunn, they were major players for at least a few years. Granted, that amp displayed is a guitar model; they started out as a bass amp company with some unique for the time innovations, and the guitar rigs were just trickle down afterthoughts. But you you could always use the ‘guitar’ models for bass to great effect.
 
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