Your First Amp

[jdr1014]

I first played through some kind of radio amp I hooked up to a larger speaker but it was so long ago, I can't remember much about it. I was desperate to find some way to make sound with my single pickup Kay electric guitar. Got playing in a band (through my bandmate's amp) and eventually managed to get my first real amp - a 1965 Ampeg Gemini 1. Soon after I got a 1965 Fender Mustang guitar. Loved them both and thought I was on top of the world!! Happy days!!!

 

[swivel]

My first amp was a 60 Brown Deluxe.

 

[senojnad]

Late '50s/early '60s Gretsch 6163. Wrap around grille, fridge handle, 15" Jensen + 5" tweeter.
I suspect it was a Valco, with something like 18 watts.
Got an Ampeg B-18X flip top w/ reverb/echo to replace it.

I had one of those (1961-62?). It is visible (sort ot) among the clutter here:


I loved that amp but I think I died a painful death due to overuse, being banged around, tossed into travel vehicles...........

 

[senojnad]

My VERY first amp was an early version of this:


I think I got it late 1951 - early 1952.

 

[ChloeDogsDad]

My aunt gave me a guitar that my grandparents had bought her in the 70's sometime, that had no brand or logo of any kind (fairly certain it was a kawai G-Holiday), and one of these little Checkmate 10 amps. the whole rig sounded like crap, but as a 10-year-old, it was the coolest thing in the world.

 

[GreTschocaster]

My first amp back in 1965 was a Magnatone Starlet. Picture isn't of my amp but it is exactly the same.

 

[tommyhawk13]

I got an amp just like this one around 1982. It was thrown in with the purchase of a Memphis Les Paul copy with a bolt on neck. Neither survived.

 

[J Bird]

I got this in 1997. Just sold it a couple of months ago. It probably had a huge influence on my preference for clean tones.

 

[Londoner]

I got this in 1997. Just sold it a couple of months ago. It probably had a huge influence on my preference for clean tones.
View attachment 204472

With JBLs? That must have weighed something!

 

[Humpblock]

A 4w Barclay, 60s Australian brand. It sounded great. I gave it away after selling a 50s Gretsch that I still wish I never sold.

 

[J Bird]

With JBLs? That must have weighed something!

It was right at 90 pounds. As a younger man, I would take it up and down narrow staircases by myself. At a point around 10 years ago I stopped moving it altogether.

 

[Stingray70]

My first amp was a Sears Silvertone 2x12 with a separate cab and head from the late 60s early 70s. You could store the head in the back of the cab below the speakers. I don't remember the wattage but it was solid state and had built in reverb and tremolo effects. It was a hand me down from my brother that I got as a Christmas present in the early 80s. I traded it for a drum set in the 90s. I still have the drum set..

 

[offstage]

 

[larryr]

1st amp was a 64 Fender Tremolux with 2x10 cabinet. Painted a black light peace sign on the front.
Graduated to a Traynor BassMate with the 6 x 10 cabinet. I needed more louder!

 

[speedicut]

My first Amp was a 1969 Fender Vibrolux that only had one channel working. The previous owner (a good buddy) had tried to wire in a master volume and made a hash of it. It was noisy, reverb channel didn't work, torn Tolex...a mess!
But, I still bought it for $100. (He also helped me pick our my first electric guitar, my Stratocaster).
After using a few different amps in my long gone gigging days, I sent the Vibrolux out to be rewired to its original condition.
It's a fantastic Amp now and apparently worth a lot
more than the $300 I have in it.

 

[Chmason85]

little solid state Marshall MG15-cdr, very skritchy rough sounding amp but it’s what I learned on and had it for years until I moved to tubes.

 

[Jim Krause]

My first amp was this big ol' Kustom tuck'n'roll. I still have it. I've never gigged with it because the speaker cabinet weighs almost as much as I do. And loud? Holy smokes!

 

[JohnnyLaw]

 

[All Thumbs]

Gibson Thor bass amp. $10 at a yard sale. I'd already spent $150 for my '66 Fender Jaguar, didn't have much money left for an amp. It looked like this.

 

[drmilktruck]

When I started playing again about 15 years ago, picked this model up at Guitar Center (not mine, that's long gone.)

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