A REAL BLUES AMP! 60'S ALAMO™ HEAD w/FENDER® LOADED HEP CAT AMPS®℠ OPENED BACK 4x10's CAB
ALAMO™ HEAD:
I acquired this Alamo™ head some years ago. I don't know the exact year of manufacture, but it is, especially from the construction techniques and the actual circuit design, most likely, very late 50s to early 60s. It has a wonderful warm Bluesy tube tone. There are 2 channels. One is the original stock circuit. The other channel has had an additional 'color' control added. It is the oddly placed knob in the photo. I did this so long ago that I no longer remember exactly what kind of circuit I used for this control. I only know that as you rotate the knob clockwise, the tone brightens up and some gain is added. But if the buyer really wants to know and can actually understand the technical information I will be giving him/her, then I will open it up before selling it and draw the circuit for the buyer. Both channels are very useable. She ain't pretty, but she sure sounds that way!!
When I received the amp it had no output transformer. I ordered one of Doug Hoffman's (Hoffman Amplification™) custom designed 50 Watt transformers for it. Doug's 50 Watters are built on the same core as his 75 Watt units--extremely beefy. The amp utilizes two 12AX7's, one for each preamp, and a 3rd 12AX7 to drive the pair of 6L6 output tubes. It's been many years since I was inside this amp, but as I recall, it's cathode biased. If requested, I will confirm this for the buyer.
One unusual feature of this amp is that the control panel is at the rear. The power cord exits the cabinet on the same side as the control panel. And the speaker jacks, one at 8 ohms & one at 4 ohms, are in the control panel near the power switches!-on the same panel as the Vol. & tone controls!! For a $30.00 fee I will parallel wire the speaker jacks and install an impedance selector switch. This will enable more than one cab to be used at a time. As it's wired now, only one cab, either an 8 ohm unit or a 4 ohm unit, can be used--NOT ONE OF EACH!!!--though two 8 ohm cabs could be 'y' connected to the 4 ohm jack. There used to be a cover panel just below the control panel to close off the back of the amp. It was gone when I got it. One could easily make a new one if desired--but the opened structure means cool tubes, and cool tubes live longer. There is a grill cloth covered panel on the front (rear) of the amp. I put rear in parentheses, as I always set the amp on the cab with the controls facing forward, which is backwards to the way the manufacturer intended.
HEP CAT AMPS®℠ CABINET:
This Hep Cat Amps®℠ cabinet is opened back for that classic 4x10's combo sound, and it has castors--though it's fairly light weight. It's loaded with 4 early 70's era Fender Special Design 32 ohm speakers manufactured by Oxford & taken from a Fender® Bassman10®. These speakers handle 15 watts, which means that the cabinet handles 60 watts. It's a very warm and round sounding cab, similar in tone to a Fender® Super Reverb®. I once plugged a friend's Super into this cab, and we couldn't tell the difference between his speakers and these! The 32 ohm impedance is also nice because it allowed me to wire the speakers in parallel to get an 8 ohm load, which means that the output transformer is physically connected to both sides of each speaker for maximum ability to control bass movement of the speaker cone. This is much better than either series, series parallel, or parallel series, wherein the output transformer is only physically connected to one side of the speakers (in series wiring of 4 speakers, there would be two speakers that it's not physically connected to at all) and is less able to accurately control bass movement of the cone. Parallel wiring gives tighter, more detailed bass.
PRICES:
ALAMO™ HEAD: I'm asking $275.00. That's a lot of amp for the money--especially considering that the Hoffman output trans cost $90.00 by itself--and that was wholesale to me as an amp builder! An old Fender® with a similar circuit, like say a Blackface Bassman® from the same era, would be well over $400.00 for a head.
HEP CAT AMPS®℠/FENDER® 4x10 SPEAKER CABINET: You may recognize this cab if you've ever done business with CE Distribution. As an amp builder, I never had the space for wood working tools, so my cabs were always manufactured for me by one of 3 makers. In this case it was CE Distribution. The Fender® Special Design speakers made by Oxford™ (Oxford™ 10J4-6) in the cab are rare because of the 32 ohm impedance. These are the same as the Oxfords™ used in Princetons®, but with 32 ohm voice coils instead of 8 ohm. As stated, they handle 15 WRMS @ with 25 Watts being their peak handling. This means that this cabinet handles 60 WRMS. The Alamo head puts out between 35 & 40 WRMS, so this is a good match, BUT, I will sell the speakers separately in pairs for $100.00 @ pair (Got a Bassman® 10 with a blown speaker? ONLY A 32 OHM SPEAKER WILL WORK IN YOUR AMP!). The cabinet separately is $70.00. Or the cab with speakers is only $220.00-which means that if you buy them with the cabinet, you're getting them for $41.25 @ speaker, and while old, they have very low hours, as the amp they were taken from was put in storage back in the early 80's, and the owner hadn't used it much. OR buy the head & loaded cab for $350.00 TOTAL--no matter how you slice it, that's a lot of amp and speakers for very little money. And, believe me, you'll love this tone!!!
I'm selling out a lot of gear, as I'm retiring and have bought a home outside of the U. S. It simply isn't practical to take all my amps with me. It's easier to acquire new ones once I'm moved in. I'm highly motivated to sell, and this amp is being offered for $200.00 less than it's worth. I have many other great deals on amps, pedals, speakers, mics, a large PA system, etc. feel free to call and see if I have something you're looking for. I may be able to save you some bucks!
You may respond to the email link above, or call me at (209) HOW-COOL (469-2665) from within the (209) area code, or toll free from outside the (209) area code at (888) HOT-TONE (468-8663) BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10:00 AM & MIDNIGHT to discuss payment and shipping methods, or to make an appointment to see and play the amp, at any volume you wish, in the privacy of my sound proof studio in Stockton. Ask for Steve, and thanks for your consideration!
- Location: Stockton near Alpine Ave. & I-5
- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests