TalismanRich Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 While Brentrocks agonizes over the 57? LP, I've got another "closet classic" story to tell. Late last year, my brother retrieved this from my dad's attic. It had been sitting up there for at least 35 years. It was just a matter of finding it under the boxes of Christmas decorations and other assorted junk that collects in such places. When it came down, it was dusty and grungy. The handle was rotted in two. There was no way I was going to plug it in without it being checked out completely (I'm not into "shock" therapy). So after a bit of searching I came across Terry Dobb's site www.valcoamp.com . He immediately identified it as a 1953 National Supreme. GREAT... It's as old as I am! After a few emails, I made the trip north to Columbus IN to drop off the amp. Terry took a quick look at it, and pronounced it in excellent shape for 50+ years old. I left the amp to have the assorted caps replaced, tubes checked and replaced as needed. A new handle and 3 prong plug were added. The speaker was still intact. No need to send it off for a recone job. Last weekend, I ran up back up to see how it turned out. All I can say is SWEEEET! Its got the smoothest crunch you've ever heard. Not too loud, perfect for a basement or living room. So far I've only played my 157 and 535 through it. Next weekend, I'll bring out the G&Ls and Guilds. I thought you might like to see a bit of amp porn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Holy cow! Nice family treasure, T-Rich. What a blessing! Enjoy the heck out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Great little amp find. It looks like the output transformer is mounted on the speaker. I wouldn't go sticking my hand in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mars_hall Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Great little amp find. It looks like the output transformer is mounted on the speaker. I wouldn't go sticking my hand in there Looks like an electromagnet speaker Ah...I see the transformer you are referring to now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredZepp Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Very, Very COOL.... The kind of tone machine you dream of finding. I just recently dug out an old Vibro Champ for similar fun. Really a piece of art.... great vibe to that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Very cool find. Have fun with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxdx99 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Love those old amps! What a great find, T - that's a keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slider313 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Wow, that's in great shape. The beauty of these old handwired amps is the fact that they can be easily restored and will be good for the next 20 years. Changing a resistor on an amp with a PC board can be very difficult depending on the design. Enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulk1 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Looks like an electromagnet speaker Ah...I see the transformer you are referring to now That's a Field Coil Speaker. Field Coil A wire coil that, when charged with electrical current, produces a magnetic field. Field coils were utilized in early 20th-century loudspeakers, prior to their replacement by permanent magnets. Remarkably, many audiophiles consider field coil loudspeakers to be sonically superior to models using Alnico or other magnets. Speakers are the primary source of distortion in the playback chain. Field coil-based drivers, designed properly, drastically reduce these distortion levels. With this technology, the driver is controlled much more accurately. Drivers vibrate at hundreds and even thousands of times per second. Permanent magnets actually lose strength slightly with each vibration. This causes a loss of low-level information and a blurring of the signal. The more complex the music becomes, the more of a problem this loss of control becomes. The permanent magnet essentially modulates the signal. Field coil drivers, with their own power supplies, do not exhibit these irregularities in strength and so have much less distortion than their permanent magnet counterparts. However, they are significantly more expensive to build into loudspeakers, and that economic fact spelled their doom. A few contemporary manufacturers now build field coil speakers for audiophile sound systems. Neat amp!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 That's a Field Coil Speaker. I believe you're right but I'm also pretty sure that's the output transformer stuck to it. Couple of quotes off the net : "Valco This is an old Valco amp, One 6v6 one 12ax7 and a tube rectifier. It has a 10" speaker with the OTP mounted on the speaker." "This is an early National amp chassis, cabinet and speaker project. The circuit is the same as the Valco made Supro Supreme from the late 1940's, 6J7, 6SC7, 2-6V6 and 5Y3. Includeds the 10" field coil Rola speaker, with the output transformer mounted to it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mars_hall Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Field coil speakers are electromagnet speakers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitArtMan Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Cool! No home is complete without an old tube amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steiner Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Awesome Looking AMP!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Man, those old amps are really something special! Is there any more buried treasure up in that old attic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brentrocks Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! you did find it w. the christmas orniments, right...LOL Sweet lil amp!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TalismanRich Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! you did find it w. the christmas orniments, right...LOL Sweet lil amp!!!! Yes, it was up behind the tinsel, ornaments and those two big candles that used to sit on the front porch (who remembers those?) I asked Dad where he got the amp. He bought it with an old National lap steel guitar for $35 around '64-65. He sold the guitar to somebody else, but they didn't want the amp Terry did an outstanding job. On top of that, we spent a good hour+ chatting. I had to ask him about the Stevie Ray Vaughan story. For those of you who haven't read this, check out this Tonequest report. http://www.cpthorntonguitars.com/TQRAug07.pdf As for other treasures, Dad still has a 1947 Gibson BR4 lapsteel guitar in the case. It's sitting in the basement on top of a bookcase. He keeps telling me to take it. I don't play lap steel at all. I guess they were all the rage back in the 40's and 50's. He never played guitar, he probably thought I might take it up. Instead I played my old black masonite Silvertone. Wish I had that one back... it was the Dano that came with the amp in case. We only had the guitar, not the case. If only I knew I was playing a "classic". I wouldn't have wanted that ES335 so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 As for other treasures, Dad still has a 1947 Gibson BR4 lapsteel guitar in the case. It's sitting in the basement on top of a bookcase. He keeps telling me to take it. I don't play lap steel at all. Tell you dad I'll take it ! Just joking. Looks like the thing is worth a bit of money, here's one that sold for $850 : Gibson BR4. If he's not emotionally attached to it you should take it and sell it, then buy a used Heritage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rude Dog Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 That's a killer lookin' amp! Love the 50s thing! I have a early-mid 50s Silvertone 1x15 combo that smokes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandownunder Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Old School Amp's. Way back in the early 80's I bought the amp pictured below from my local music store. I knew little about it but it was in my price range and a 2 x 12 so I bought it. about 10 years later I got a fender and so the FiSonic retired into the corner. About 5 years ago I figured it might actually be worth restoring and so started the research. I knew it was an Australian amp from approx 1970 but that was it. I had a chat to my local amp tech who is a big class A fan (who isn't?) and I noticed the Fender reissue amps that looked very similar selling for over $5000 aussie dollars. Anyway after checking her over she needed new speakers (I had screwed tho old ones by playing bass through it) so the original phillips were replaced with Eminence legends. all new valves, replaced a blown capacitor, put some new feet on and she was ready to go. Over the last few years I have occasionally googled 'FiSonic' in hopes of finding out more. Last night I found an email address for the man that built it. Sent off a pic this morning and blow me down if I didn't get a reply this afternoon. The Amps were built in Marricksville Sydney between 1959 and 1969. He thinks mine is a 1964 model (so am I for that matter). Its a great old amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golferwave Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 The cool factor on that one is way off of the chart! One of the originals with THE tone! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectrum13 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Talis, great story and one double cool amp. When do we get the sequal where you go back into the attic and find the guitar dad got in 1953 to plug into that amp? Has to be either a goldtop or broadcaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoslate Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Great story! Wonderful amp! Don't give that lap steel away until you've tried to learn to play it a bit. They can really work in a lot of different musical contexts...and they're not exactly a guitar. Great to take out. Played well, people will always be attracted to it. The cool factor is pretty high. There are three good lap steel players here in town. Very cool when any one of them shows up at a blues jam. I play in a band with one of them. He's brilliant. Can do David Lindley to a note.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulk1 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I love that badge: 60 W.G.A = 60watt Guitar Amp? Too cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 both of those amps are sweet....congrats!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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