Hi all,
I've been told that this is the place to come for guitar and amp wisdom, so hoping someone can help me out...
Being a tragic eBay addict, I picked up an old valve head last week, and I'm struggling to find out any information about it or the company that made it. It's a basic 50W single channel, non master volume head, no reverb, with two ECC83 and two EL34. It was being sold as a bass amp, and apparently came with a 1x18 cab, but there's nothing about the amp itself that seems bass-specific. Controls are on/off, Volume, Treble, Bass and Mid, and there's a Presence control which is a six-position switch. It sounds great in a sort of Sound City / Hiwatt vein.
To judge by the cheesy front panel graphics, it was made in the early 70s. It is badged 'Center', and a label on the back says it was made by Center Electronics of Rayleigh, Essex. The model number just seems to be 'Mk 2 50'. There is a serial number, and the whole thing looks like a production amp rather than a prototype or one-off.
It has been suggested that it looks a bit like some of the early Roost amps, and I discovered that Roost apparently bought a defunct local electronics concern called Centre (or Centre?) in about 1975. However, it doesn't seem to be identical with any Roost model I know of. So my best guess is that earlier on, Center made their own amps in small quantities (presumably!), perhaps using Roost cabinets and some parts. Anyone ever come across one of these before?
A few photos -- sorry, haven't had a chance to get inside it yet:
http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u364/stuckfast/front.jpghttp://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u364/stuckfast/back.jpg http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u364/stuckfast/chassis.jpg
Comments
Aha! You have arrived! I had given you up and primed the pump. When are we going to get a gutshot?
Dave (I am ecc83 here)
Many of these amps were built by subcontractors for various different brand names, some by Triumph Electronics but also others… I can't remember whether the Carlsbros were or not.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The Carlsbro Top 50 does look quite similar, but did they ever have a Presence control? Come to think of it, did any other amp have a switched Presence control? I don't recall seeing that before.
Hopefully I'll be reunited with it on Wednesday or Thursday, so I'll try to get some inside shots then.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Anything spring to mind?
The unsupported bare junction in the red wire running over the top of the middle tag board is dangerous - that's the primary feed to the output transformer and will be at 450V or higher. The taped junction of the two red, yellow and black wires is not too clever either. Both these should at minimum be properly heatshrinked over, and ideally mounted on isolated terminal strips.
Really it should have the Bulgin socket removed and a modern IEC fitted too, and probably not a bad idea to replace the electrolytic capacitors. The mains fuseholder is also wired backwards - the live connection should be to the end terminal not the side one.
I don't recognise it as any particular company's work though, in fact it looks quite DIY. It could well be a small subcontractor build though.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192023254471
There's a name of Barry Meade given in the description but not any actual evidence or detail I'm afraid.
Good luck with the search
IIRC the cab that was being sold with this amp didn't have a logo, so I'm not sure if it was original or not. It was a very tall 1x18 with a Goodmans Audiom speaker.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein