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BUYING TUBES FOR YOUR VINTAGE AMP

 

PORCH WEASEL AMPS

 

VIEW PHOENIX'S LIVE RIG!

 

HOW TO BUY A VINTAGE AMP

 

SPEAKERS & SPEAKER E.I.A. CODE

 

 

 

faini

 

     As always, I want to thank Vince for hosting us at his great interactive site

www.our-mission-possible.com Clink here after you are finished at The Altar and check him out!

May 2007

  Welcome again to the Altar Of Amps!
  For those of you who may not know me, my name is Phoenix… and it is my pleasure and honor to be the curator and keeper of The Altar. As always, here is where you will find my monthly column on vintage amplifiers, as well as numerous periodical news items such as:
A)    Our monthly featured tech, craftsman, or collector
B)     A featured vintage amp of the month
C)    A featured video of the month
D)    Ebay buyers’assistance and advocacy:
Helpful tips on how to purchase a vintage amp on the global Ebay market, with recommended dealers, and a Hall of Shame list of dealers to avoid.
  Other useful items remain static to serve your day-to-day needs as a reader and user/buyer of vintage amps… such as our extensive lists of tubes, speaker EIC manufacturer and date codes, tranny/pot/cap codes, serial numbers, and everything else you might need to assist you in making an informed vintage amp purchase. Rather than traveling about to several sites to garner this information, we will now be just one click away.
  Navigation here is designed to be easy, with links to whatever you might need on a moment’s notice in the left-hand column of every page. It is our hope that you continue to find these pages useful and entertaining.
  You perhaps have already noticed that we are under construction? Our illustrious vision of an all-inclusive site is ambitious indeed, and we will be adding and upgrading pages as time passes: please be patient with us if a page seems temporarily incomplete or inadequate to your immediate needs. Be assured that, upon checking in again in a week or so, you will find those upgraded items posted… and many columns, charts, and graphs improved or finished.
  We will be re-adding our blog site soon… your responses have overwhelmed our initial installations, and so we are beefing that up substantially. We want to further encourage an interactive dialogue between all of us, and an exchange of ideas and experiences. We hope you too will be compelled to participate, adding your own insights to this particular arena. We will gladly feature any shop, amp, or endeavor of yours which our readers will find interesting!
  The Altar is NOT open to the public… it is a small and private organization dedicated to improving the overall vintage amplifier buying market for all. We fund all our efforts ourselves, and owe no allegiance except to you, our readers. We will continue to serve in this manner as long as you continue to come. Feel free to share with us your own experiences… especially your experiences in purchasing your vintage amp. Is there an Ebay dealer with which you have had a good experience, maybe standing up a bit above the crowd? We would love to post your comments on them for the benefit of future buyers. Is there, in contrast, and Ebay dealer who has performed irresponsibly or fraudulently? We want to hear those stories especially, and investigate the circumstances which might lead to posting their names on our list to avoid. Obviously, none of this works without the participation of you, our readers. We thank all of you for your continued support and repeated visits to us.
  Stop by next month to see our special photo shoot of paired stereo rigs… two great amps together being even better than one!
  Again, if you are new here, allow me to welcome you to the Altar of Amps!
 My very best regards,
Phoenix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Better take a real close look, because you are not likely to see another one of these anytime soon... much less a pair! The Excelsior line of amps were made by Sano of New Jersey, a company better known for their production of accordions. This particular model, the Excelsior Americana Stereophonic, was made for only a few months in 1968, and ceased production just as abruptly late that year when the company moved to Italy. They are rare in the extreme sense of the word… and currently valued in the 2007 price guide at $1100.
  These amps resemble an Ampeg somewhat, with inputs for both guitar and accordion… but this is where the resemblance ends. These Stereophonics have FIVE (5) speakers: One 15” Utah, two 8” Alnicos, and two 3”x10” speakers projecting the stereo tremolo out of the long narrow grills on each side! This, combined with the lush spring reverb, creates a wonderfully spacious sound.
  These amps are about 40 watts in power output, one utilizing EL34’s while the other is set up with 6L6’s. The tube line-up is rounded out with two 12ax7’s, one 6BQ5, and one 6AN8A. They also both came with GZ34 rectifier tubes, but we have had to swap those for two solid state rectifier plug-ins to gain some headroom; these amps start breaking up almost right away, which is a bit surprising for an “accordion” amp… some of the best power tube distortion you will ever experience!

 

 

 

 

Below you can use this audio device to

listen to the interview with the person

that you see shown in the picture above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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