Purchased from: pawn shop
Features: Made in the U.S.A., Santa Clara, CA in the early 80's, this is a small 15 watt solid state amp with low, mid and high controls and a presence and volume knob, with a push button switch for distortion. The amp features an 8 in speaker and is blonde tolex covered. For a basic beginners amp, or practice amp, it has the standard features that you would expect. // 6
Sound: Okay, this is where it gets fun, the clean channel is not bad, your basic clean, the 8 in speaker actually sounds pretty good. If you go crazy with the distortion, it's a little buzzy. With the distortion turned down to about 2 or 3, it gets fun. This little amp gets a glassy, swampy, snappy tone that is killer for blues, power pop and good old southern rock boogie. For a 10 dollar purchase on a lark, this is a fun practice machine. // 6
Reliability & Durability: It's still working, for 10 bucks, hey I ain't complaining. It's just a toy for when I'm sitting outside and want to practice a little bit. At 15 watts, it wouldn't be used for gigging, but then again, it is also a little to noisy to be used for recording, but that may just be the jack input and a dirty volume knob. I plan on cleaning the amp up, but it works now, and for the one tone I can get out of it, it will get some use. Reading online, Dean Markley amps run the gamut of pro and con for how well they are built, but like I said, for 10 bucks, this amp is fine. // 8
Impression: Overall, it is a fun little practice amp, that get one particular sound that is really cool. If this tone was in a pedal, I would buy it in a heartbeat. You can find these amps cheap (about 20 to 30 bucks), and for just practicing, you can't beat it. At 15 watts. It ain't a gigging amp. // 7
