RAD (Refurbished Amp Day)

[bobmeyrick]

The Sessionette was a popular solid state combo produced in the UK in the 1980s, a good little workhorse with a decent sound and two channels. Apparently Dave Gilmour used to have one as his "pub" amp, and Roy Buchanan was also known to use one. They've long been out of production, but Stewart Ward (the designer) at Award Session has come up with an upgrade which he calls "RetroTone", the details of which are here.

 

I got a Sessionette off eBay a couple of years ago, and it's a great little amp for taking along to jam sessions. Mine was looking a bit shabby - the grey tweed type cloth covering was on its last legs, so I decided to send off the amp for "Retrotoning" and re-cover the cabinet (with beige snakeskin leatherette - tasteful!) and replace the rather utilitarian knobs with some Fender vintage ones. I've had it back for a couple of weeks and I'm very impressed - there's a quick demo here, done with my H150CM VSB with the Bare Knuckle "Stormy Mondays". It starts with the Clean channel and then the O/D channel with gain on 2, 4, 6 and finally 8.

 

The recovering is OK provided you don't look too closely. I'll do a better job next time...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very few Sessionettes made it to the USA, and those that did were badged "Steward" as I believe Peavey had dibs on the "Session" name. Any UK HOC members who have a Sessionette lurking in a cupboard or in the attic could do a lot worse than to get it RetroToned. Sessionettes crop up on eBay n the UK fairly regularly and sell for around £100 - something of a bargain.

[Vanschoyck]

Great detail on your post and I really like the demo. This should spark a debate whether to tube or not to tube. Is the sound of a solid state amp "authentic?"

[bobmeyrick]

Thanks for the comments. Interestingly Stewart Ward's first amp was the Session 15:30 (here and here), a valve/tube combo switchable between 15 and 30 watts, designed for studio use. These are much rarer and might have been one of the first "boutique" amps.