INVENTORY MAY 2022: SMALL COMBO AMPS
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Selmer Little Giant, c.1965 - Small, basic combo in the classic Selmer crocodile finish, putting out about four watts from a single EL84 into the original Elac 8" speaker.
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Sound Projects/Lectrolab R200, late '50s/early '60s US combo. "Obscure but cool" as the fan site says. Weird valve selection but think soundwise in the same ballpark as a tweed Champ. Eight inch speaker and around five fairly inefficient watts.
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WEM Clubman, 1974 - Another single-ended five watt combo dating from 1974. Unusually for a small amp intended for practice use this is fitted with a full sounding Fane 12" speaker! Great overdrive at low volume.
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Savage Audio Macht 6 from 2005, a single-ended six watt amp with tremolo and a 12" Mojotone speaker. Gloriously simple with hi and lo inputs, volume, tone and trem speed and depth. It has a GZ34 valve rectifier which adds a touch of compression at higher volumes. Very pretty too, in it's red tolex. Savage, in case you didn't know, have some high-profile users including Beck, Sheryl Crow and Peter Buck (REM), who uses this very model!
Fender Champ, 1976. A silverface Champ putting out around six watts which, as everyone knows (or should!), has exactly the same circuit as the blackface models. Now fitted with a nice Jupiter eight inch speaker in place of the old CTS.
Dallas Rangemaster, c.1966 - Simple combo amp with two inputs, each with volume, a single tone control and a great throbbing tremolo with speed and depth controls. Around ten watts output from ECL86 valves into two 10"x6" elliptical speakers. Very "Beat Boom" sound at lower volumes but a bit "fizzy" when cranked.
Fender Musicmaster, 1976 - A Black Keys tone secret! Originally designed as a twelve watt bass practice combo amp but, after some minor mods and a change of its speaker to a vintage 12" Fender/Utah, much better for guitar.
Fender Tweed Tremolux clone - Alright, I know it's not covered in tweed but, utilising the Fender 5E9A circuit, this is essentially a tweed Deluxe combo with the added fun of bias modulating tremolo, delivering around 14 watts into a vintage Jensen 12" speaker. Neil Young or Bo Diddley? Your choice!
This little brother to "The Sheriff" (see the large amps section) has been christened "Lester", being a clone of the late '50s Gibson GA-40 Les Paul amp with the 5879 preamp valves and bias-modulating tremolo. It shares the colour scheme of its big brother and runs about 14 watts into a Jensen alnico 12" speaker.
Selmer Rotary Selector-Tone, c.1961 - A true vintage 15 watt combo amp in classic "bIood and custard" livery with the ubiquitous tremolo and a Goodmans 12" alnico Audiom 60 speaker. Apparently the Selectortone switch was an attempt to match the tonal range of the Vox AC15. Not sure it was successful, despite the brightness and drive of the EF86 preamp valves, but still a great sounding amp.
Selmer Diplomat Reverb, 1962. Another classic small combo, manufactured for one year only, these had the luxury of a Hammond reverb spring together with tremolo making it one of the most versatile small amps on the market (outside of Fender) at the time. Also fitted with a Goodmans Audiom 60. Sounds fantastic.
WEM (Watkins) Dominator Mk II, c.1970. Same circuit as the classic V-front model, still with tremolo but with 1x12" Goodmans speaker rather than 2x10" Elacs. The controls are identical to the earlier model, even keeping the phono footswitch socket!
WEM Dominator Bass Mk I, 1975. Another variation of the Dominator. No tremolo on this one but better EQ. Same circuit as the Mk III guitar amp, has more gain than the Mk.II with a treble boost switch on channel 1 and a Celestion 15" speaker instead of the Greenback 12 of the Mk.III. Don't dismiss the 15" for guitar (see Dave Hunter's book "Amped" for validation) but I've installed a jack so you can connect an external 16 ohm speaker of your choice.
Sears Silvertone 1482, c.1965 - You want that Jimmy Page or Jack White sound? This could be the amp you need. Two channels, each with volume and tone, and great tremolo. A pair of 6V6 valves drive a 12" speaker mounted in a ludicrously lightweight cabinet. (Remember, these were cheapo amps in their day.)
Trace Elliot Velocette 12R, 1997 - Combo with switchable triode/pentode output mode (6/15 watts) and reverb into a vintage Celestion 12" Greenback. Apparently a favourite amp of Keef's - and for good reason.
Traynor YGM-3 Guitarmate, 1974 - Their equivalent to the Fender Deluxe Reverb and the biggest of my "small" amps. It's a single channel 20 watt 1x12" combo amp with reverb and bias-modulating tremolo for that lush sound. This one has an Eminence fitted in place of the original (and poorly rated) Marsland speaker. True to Traynor's reputation, these are solidly built (i.e. heavy!) and sound great.
