tube amplifiers

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Fender Champ 12

Fender Champ 12 amplifier

The Fender Champ 12 was launched in 1987, the first of a new series of USA made tube amps. This was one of the first product released by the new Fender Corporation following the purchase from CBS. The Champ 12 was small in size and was designed as a practice amplifer. Production was moved to Mexico in 1990 and the Champ was discontinued a few years later. The earliest ones had black control knobs - these were soon changed to red.

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65 Amps

65Amps is a boutique amplifier and effects pedal company based in Huntington Park, California. 65amps was the product of Sheryl Crow's guitarist, Peter Stroud, needing to find a low powered solution for Sheryl's low stage volumes. With in-ear monitors getting better and better, many artists were looking for lower and lower stage volumes to allow for vocals to be and clean as possible on stage. This created the need for a low-powered solution that still sounds as rich and complex and larger tube amps.  Peter and long-time friend Dan Boul came up with an amp that would be robust enough for his gig with Sheryl Crow and from there the requests for more amps started coming in from all over. Within a few months of creating the first amp, more than 25 artists had requested one for themselves.
 

Source: 65 Amps website (archived 2018)

Sola Sound

Sola Sound is an effects and amplifier brand of Macaris Musical Instruments. In 1964 Larry and Joe Macari founded Sola Sounds Limited to develop a range of products made for and sold by the Macaris Musical Exchange shops, as well for distribution nationwide. The product range started with fuzz and effect pedals, but later grew to include amplifiers, mixers, spring reverbs, and microphones. Sola Sound also made Colorsound effects & amplifiers from 1967 onwards.

Source: The Tone Bender Timeline (10 November 2018)

Source: Macaris website (10 November 2018)

Osborne (Guitar Co. & Sound Labs)

The Osborne guitar Company was established in the mid 1970s by jazz guitarist Mary Osborne and her husband Ralph Scaffidi, a jazz trumpeter. Scaffidi had previously worked as a sales rep for Mosrite and also founded his own company,  Rosac Electronics which made fuzz pedals. The Osborne Guitar Company was founded to make solidbody electric guitars and basses. They hired experienced guitar builders and Mary Osborne was involved with the design of the instruments. They had trouble breaking into the electric guitar market so Scaffidi took a new direction and focused on making amplifiers and PA systems and the company became Osborne Sound Laboratories.

Source: Vintage Guitar Magazine, Mary Osborne - Charlie’s Angel. By Jim Carlton. February 2011
 

Linear

Linear Products Limited was founded in the early 1960s in the Electron Works building in Armley, Leeds, UK. Linear made amplifiers that were sold through the R.S.C. chain of shops, as well as direct to the customer (sometimes as mail order amplifier kits) and also rebadged for other retailers (e.g. Goldenair amps for Sona Electrical). An offshoot of this company was Futuristic Aids Limited (FAL), who made budget solid state DJ equipment.

Source: Champ Electronics - Linear Products Ltd (29 October 2018)

FAL

Futuristic Aids Limited (FAL) was a company in Leeds founded in the 1970s, UK who specialised in budget solid-state PA and lighting equipment, aimed at the moble DJ. There were also FAL instrument amplifiers and in 1979 FAL aquired the Roost guitar amplifier & cabinet company. The FAL company was founded as an offshoot of Linear Products Limited of Leeds, both companies sold their products through the RSC chain of shops as well as Sona Electrical in Leeds.

Source: Andy Duke - Roost history (29 October 2018)

Source: Champ Electronics - The Linear Products Company (29 October 2018)

Noble

Don Noble was an accordion player in pre-war Chicago who founded Don Noble and Co. Inc. a musical instrument distribution company in the late 1930s. As an importer of Italian accordions he was in an ideal position to import Italian made guitars when many of the accordion companies switched to making them in the early1960s. Intially Noble distributed Crucianelli made electrics but by 1963 the company had agreed a deal with Wandré to make Noble branded guitars. By the mid 1960s Noble guitars were being made in Japan. There were also Noble branded amplifiers

Source: Don Noble catalogs 1966 - 1967

NIOMA

The National Institute of Music and Arts (NIOMA) was founded in 1932 by Harry Baxter and Mary Strnad in Seattle, Washington. Another branch was opened in Los Angeles in 1934. NIOMA was a music school offering classes in music and the performing arts, they also distributed instruments, accessories and sheet music. There were at least seven NIOMA branded guitar models – three acoustic guitars, two resophonic guitars, and two electric lap steel guitars. There were also NIOMA amplifiers. NIOMA was closed in 1952.

Source: Nioma Guitars. Peter Blecha. Vintage Guitar Magazine. January 2014.

Nanyo

Nanyo Boeki Company Ltd was a Japanese distributor of microphones, amplifiers and musical instruments.  In the mid 1980s Nanyo aquired the Sexton Guitar Company and manufactured SGC Nanyo basses and launched the Guitar Collection and Bass Collection brands. Nanyo Boeki went out of business (at least the musical instrument part) in the early 2000s and the Bass Collection brand name was aquired by the Bass Centre in London, UK.

Source: SGC Nanyo Bass Collection catalog 1993

Nady

Nady Systems Inc was founded in the 1970s by John Nady who developed and refined wireless mircrophone systems for musicians. Although best known for their hugely successful wireless systems, Nady also introduced Nady Lightning guitars and basses in the 1980s with built in wireless transmitters - these were initially made in Japan by Fernandes. Nady also produce guitar amplifiers (with built in wireless receivers) and a wide range of effects pedals.

Source: Nady Systems Inc website (16 July 2018)

Murph

Murph Guitars was founded by Thomas Patrick ‘Pat’ Murphy. Murphy was born in 1920 in Illinois and was an air force mechanic in the US Navy during World War II. By 1960 he had moved to California and had a family of 5 musically talented kids - they had a family singing and dancing group called The Murphys. The oldest two boys played the guitar. It was their guitar teacher who convinced Pat Murphy to try his hand at making a line of electric guitars. Murphy Music Industries began in 1965 in San Fernando in 1200 square foot building at 1817 First Street. By 1966 Murphy had a range of solid body guitars and amplifiers and had 22 workers. At this point Murphy Music Industries received a ‘cease and desist’ letter from CBS -Fender  which claimed that the body shape of the Murph Squire guitar was too much like the Fender Jazzmaster & Jaguar.

Farfisa

Farfisa is an Italian electronics company established in 1946. Farfisa is best known for its organs made from the 1960s until the 1980s but they also produced guitar amplifiers and effects. Farfisa also sold acoustic and classical guitars under the Fuerstenberg and  L. Mozzani brand names. The musical division of Farfisa was bought by Bontempi.

Mojotone

Mojotone is a supplier of vintage electronics and maker of custom and vintage reproduction speaker cabinets, and pickups. Mojotone also provide OEM services to boutique amp and guitar brands but also supply hobbyists & DIY buidlers. Mojotone was founded in part by Andy Turner who started out with a small repair shop in Winston-Salem, NC.

Source: Mojotone Pickups website (11 June 2018)

Boogie

MESA/Boogie began in the late 1960s San Francisco with Randall Smith who developed a novel “cascading” tube preamp circuit housed in a compact high power combo amplifier (by modding Fender Princetons). Carlos Santana tried out this little high gain amp and concluded “This thing really Boogies!” - and so the amp was named. After modding 200 of these Princeton amps by 1971 Smith had to start making his own amps in his garage workshop to meet the growing demand for the Mark I Boogie model. In 1980 MESA introduced the Mark II Boogie - the first channel switching amplifier. 1986 saw the introduction of the Mark III with its clean, crunch and lead modes, and in 1989 the 85W Mark IV was released.

Musicraft

Musicraft was a San Francisco company established around 1967 by Bert Casey (President) and Arnold Curtis (Senior Vice-President). They introduced the Messenger range of guitars and amplifiers,  built around a patented aluminum chassis. This aluminum chassis was tuned to resonate at 440Hz and extended throughout the guitar's length - allowing a thin fast playing neck. The fingerboard was located outside the sound chamber for unobstructed access to all frets. The Messenger had electronics equipped for both mono and stereo signals and the bass and treble signals could be amplified separately. Finish options included yellow, red, black and sunburst and there was also a 12-string and a fretless bass model.

Source: Musicraft Creates New Guitar Neck. Billboard. 13 May, 1967. Page 62.

Source: Musicraft Messenger catalog 1967

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