Silvertone 1482 Love?

I know a bunch of you have this amp and everyone has nothing but great things to say about it. So, I've been shopping and picked up a great 1482 off Ebay. I don't like buying amps and guitars from Ebay, but took a real chance and got lucky.

The description said it would lite up but there was no sound, so I got it for a pretty decent price. When the amp arrived, it was really dirty but I was surprised at it's overall good condition. The tolex and grill cloth were in great shape with no tears, cuts or burns. The only dating I could find was on the pots and they were all '64. It had all original Silvertone labeled tubes and original speaker. I took the tubes out, sprayed the socket and the pins, seated them back really well and bingo!!...it fired up. Good gosh, what a tone monster. I'm having some fun now!!!:shock: :lol:

Have fun with that baby. I love my 1481.

Congrats on an easy fix. I have the 1472 which is the early version of the 1482 and a few watts less the 1482 is rated at 15 watts the 1472 is rated at 12 watts until the last year they made the 1472 which was a transitional year and they made that one 15 watts. Good amps Some say they are dark sounding but I found a way to make them come alive using a digitech multi pedal like a PR series the eq brightens up the amp and you can add reverb then if you wish or other effects. My amp was modded with a preamp line out so I can run that amp into a larger amp for more stage sound. My origional speaker still sounds great and my amp was made in 62.

No one is home but me right now and I'm crankin' this thing with a P-90 Melody Maker. It may be a tad dark as compared to a my Deluxe Reverb but any guitar with a hot bridge pickup is pure rock n roll grind through this amp.

This is fun!!

The first thing my 15 year old twin girls said when they saw it was "it looks like an old TV"!!

I passed up one of these at the local thrift store quite a few years ago for $35 or some ridiculously cheap price. It was a bit dirty, but in great shape and all stock. At the time, I hadn't started playing guitar, so I had no need for an guitar amp - I was into tube audio real big at that time.

I rethought it, went back a day or two later and it was gone. Now I'm still kicking myself....and it's been like 6 or 8 years at least.

They aren't built real well compared to a Fender, but would still be fun to tinker and play with.

Chris

I'm big fan of the 1482... when I got mine, it needed power tubes and a little attention. I was in the only (small) music store in a little town north of where I live, played through the thing for a few minutes with a '52ri tele. the guys hanging out there were like "no way that's a silvertone". and another gave up on the SF vibrolux reverb he was trying. negotiated about 1/3 off the asking price, and walked out of ther with a lovely little amp. has the jensen c12r, which only came in some of the 1482's from what I understand. mine sees pretty limited use - still has the 2 prong plug. but sometimes, it's just right.

I don't have a 1482 but I did find a Silvertone/Sears 5XL or 1020 model real cheap for $25 bucks. I did a recap job and now its my main bedroom amp ,the volume and tone are always up to full it has nice overdrive growl .

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/P1010699.jpg

I've been looking for a cheap 1482 or 1481 for a while now as my next inexpensive project amp . I'd like to see some photos of TDPRI members Silvertones ...

I did a full length record in a well kown studio with a great engineer and for almost all the overdrive sounds it was the 1482, all day long. sounds so good!

I don't have a 1482 but I did find a Silvertone/Sears 5XL or 1020 model real cheap for $25 bucks. I did a recap job and now its my main bedroom amp ,the volume and tone are always up to full it has nice overdrive growl .

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/P1010699.jpg

I've been looking for a cheap 1482 or 1481 for a while now as my next inexpensive project amp . I'd like to see some photos of TDPRI members Silvertones ...

1472 with A "new" cab made out of Vintage WI Whitepine. Boards were one full inch rough cut and 16 inches wide when I found them at a friends house. I sure wish he would have had more of it. Trimmed down to 3/4 inch on a planer and cut to 10 inches wide so I can put in a wider speaker with a ceramic magnet if I ever decide to go that route. Cab still retains the picture frame style front like the origional cardboard cab. Same size overall except two inches deeper in width like I stated to accomodate a wider speaker if need be. Mods are the preamp line out I had installed when it was serviced and I fixed a plate with two jacks in the back off the OT so I can plug in the 4 ohm speaker that is onboard or plug in an external 8 ohm or 4 ohm cab. So this way the speaker plugs into the 4 ohm jack on board or I can unplug it and run it to an other speaker of either impedence.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v454/jh45gun/Silvertoneampfrontview.jpg

I did a full length record in a well kown studio with a great engineer and for almost all the overdrive sounds it was the 1482, all day long. sounds so good!

Got a link or any sound clips of that record? I'd love to hear it. I also am really impressed with the tremelo on these amps. I'm tempted to say that it sounds better than Fender's?

i'm lovin' my '62 1482..... especially paired up with one of my Archtops !

Here's my 1481:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f396/uncle_han/BBA-Silvertone.jpg

Refurbished and rehoused by The Blues Box.

Here's a link to the project gallery:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563189548DcypGy

And here's a couple of clips:

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6710290

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6708277

I buy every one I can find. Dirt cheap tone monster, and thanks to Valco thriftiness, every one sounds different, but they all sound great. Weak point is the cabinet and baffle board. Responds well to speaker changes. Find some RCA blackplate 6v6's and a P-90 LP and cut loose.
No, on second thought, I hate these amps. You will too. Tell everybody you know that they s**k and send them to me for disposal.:wink:

I buy every one I can find. Dirt cheap tone monster, and thanks to Valco thriftiness, every one sounds different, but they all sound great. Weak point is the cabinet and baffle board. Responds well to speaker changes. Find some RCA blackplate 6v6's and a P-90 LP and cut loose.
No, on second thought, I hate these amps. You will too. Tell everybody you know that they s**k and send them to me for disposal.:wink:

So how many do you have?

digging up this thread -

pulled my 1482 back from possible craigslist sale, put some new JJ power tubes in - and took it with me to band practice today. used it with my old LP jr, no effects. we've got a moderately loud drummer, so this thing was really pushed on the louder stuff. turned it up to about 8, used the volume on the guitar to control the amt of dirt. nearly a little bit of a neil young - amp on the edge of blowing up - type tone...

really sounded great on most of the songs - really cut through, mid-range o-rama. was a bit boxy sounding sometimes. I've got the c12r jensen... can you even fit larger a(deeper) speaker in the super-shallow cab?

screwed up one of the songs that I sing (beyond repair, had to start over) in the first verse, 'cause was too distracted listening to how cool my guitar sounded. :-)

I'll surely try this again - the thing is a heck of a lot more portable than my 5F4 clone, and overdrives at just the right volume. not sure it's got quite enough umph to gig with, but it's darn close.

http://a9.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/51/l_28d8351b80dd3e9a3c1ec71d46b59728.jpg

I have this little beauty... A 1481 not a 1482... Tiny, ballsy, crunchy and so much fun!!

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u116/march68/Silvertone-1.jpg

No more than these things cost, I can't imagine not keeping mine, even if it only sees limited use. I just like looking at it. But, I've used mine a few times at small gigs and jams and it holds it's own. Good gosh they have killer tone, and it is really close to my 54 Tweed Deluxe, plus it's got Tremelo.

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/PICT9906.JPG

the real weak point with these 1482's is the paper baffle....
i pulled the stock 10" and 1/8" paper baffle outta mine, replaced it with a 3/4" 7 ply birch baffle and a 12" Jensen, an' it's sound is mucho improved !

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb37/maestrovert/62Silvertone1482resized.jpg

i'm jumperin' the channels too btw....

i'm jumperin' the channels too btw....

What does this give you as opposed to not jumpering the channels?
Is this a clean/drive channel amp or are you just talking about multiple inputs?

Here's mine. I had to re-cab it after I got it, as it had obviously sat in a puddle in someone's garage for years and the bottom had turned to mush - ergo the nickname "SpongBob." I considered a few different layouts, but in the end I just went for a slightly revamped version of the original layout - so it's ALL plywood, rather than the original particle board. I confess I didn't do such a really pro job on the white tolex (first time to try working with that), but with the new hardware and slighty "modernized" styling, the look is more than passable (for me). I assembled it so that the baffle could easily be replaced to accomidate a different-sized speaker.

http://www.deaf-eddie.net/amps/spongebob.jpg

It came to me sans speaker, so I just threw an old no-name 12" that I THINK I had pulled many moons ago from a mid-sixties Traynor PA cab - very old and lightweight speaker, probably a twenty-five watter. You can see the tiny voice coil diameter in the pic.

The e-friend I bought it from had modified it with a master volume and a new tone stack (whatever that means) to get a more "Marshall-esque" tone out of it (he's a hobbyist amp hot-rodder).

It's a neat little amp, but doesn't see much duty with me - I wish it had more preamp gain, that would make it so much more fun. Perhaps my tastes in tone will change and I will appreciate it more in the future - it happens! Maybe I will eventually pull the speaker for something a little more toneful...

At our last annual reunion/jam, it got used as the harmonica amp, and the harpist raved about it - he usually uses a 1484 hideaway-head 212 that he loves, but was glad not to have to drag it down from San Francisco just for a freebee. He sez with its master volume (and mic-ed through the PA with effects), he didn't miss the 1484's reverb. Worked great.


http://deaf-eddie.net/tdpri-drawings/whole-crew.jpg

I had a Silvertone Twin 12 back in 1961.
I ordered it from the Sears catalog store in Falmouth Ma.

I used that thing for about 20 years and repaired it 4-5 times.
Gave it to my son and he sold it.
I wish I could get it back.

I think it cost around 169.00 at that time.
The smaller one was around 99.00.

I was in the USAF at the time and going for the more expensive one was a stretch at that time.

One on Ebay right now.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sears-Silvertone-Twin-12-reverb-tremolo-Jensens-1963_W0QQitemZ180307162516QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item180307162516&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318

so here's a question: if I like the 1482... how much more might I like a 5e3 deluxe? any meaningful improvement?

seems like a better cab and speaker would really promote this thing to a gig-worthy amp; might just start saving my pennies for a 5e3 kit? plus it avoids some of the less-common tubes (rectifier, trem) found in the 1482. hmmmm...

who needs headroom, anyway? (not much to be had w/ my LP jr, that's for sure)

beck still tours with at least one 1484 (plays the black sparkle amp-in-case type guitars, too).

What does this give you as opposed to not jumpering the channels?
Is this a clean/drive channel amp or are you just talking about multiple inputs?

it's jes' got two channels, mic and instrument....
as to what jumpering 'em does, you'd jes' hafta hear it, give it a try....all i can say is: it's a bit more of everything....

jes' mho, ymmv

so here's a question: if I like the 1482... how much more might I like a 5e3 deluxe? any meaningful improvement?

seems like a better cab and speaker would really promote this thing to a gig-worthy amp; might just start saving my pennies for a 5e3 kit? plus it avoids some of the less-common tubes (rectifier, trem) found in the 1482. hmmmm...

who needs headroom, anyway? (not much to be had w/ my LP jr, that's for sure)

beck still tours with at least one 1484 (plays the black sparkle amp-in-case type guitars, too).


Side by side I cannot see much difference between my Tweed 5e3 build and my Silvertone 1472 (same thing as a 1482 except 12 watts instead of 15) To my ears they pretty much sound alike. Consider the 1472/82 family of amps a POOR Mans Tweed Delux. Only with Tremlo :)

I had a Silvertone Twin 12 back in 1961.
I ordered it from the Sears catalog store in Falmouth Ma.
I used that thing for about 20 years and repaired it 4-5 times.
Gave it to my son and he sold it.
I wish I could get it back.
I think it cost around 169.00 at that time.


I had one in '65 and thanks for this post as I don't want to start so many new posts[being a new member]; but I was gonna start one on the smell of a Twin Twelve when the tubes got hot and blue. I have 2 new amps [hrd and v18] and neither put off that aroma that the twin twelve did. What is it? The casing, or what? It was a smell that brings back teenage memories of sx/chemies/ and Rock and Roll.

The 1482 is a regret in my life. Before I became the wise tele player I am now, I found and bought a great condition (but not working at the time) 1482 at a garage sale for $5. This was 10 years ago.

I sold it to a guitar store for $75 bucks. I should have kept it and fixed it. The tubes glowed but there was no signal.

Damn!!!

Sadly as in UK getting a Silvertone cheap (or at all) is not possible, but I was so taken with the following soundclips that I did some research and here are my links that I am sure you will enjoy.

First, two excellent YT soundclips - the first gets better the longer he plays so stick with it! - 1474 model:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23PCQpWK1MA

-1482 model
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzK8rKQbW6A

AND, historic data, schematics and pics: (follow *all* links or you'll miss out!!)

http://www.silvertoneworld.net/schematics/div57.html

pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11903466@N08/sets/72157604666386985/show/

http://www.larryjohnmcnally.com/Teisco/index.html

Now if you will excuse me, the courier has just arrived with my new Tweed Deluxe!!

Good grief! I'm scared now to go on to ebay.
What are You Guys DOIN'???!!!
Shhhhhhhhhh.

Side by side I cannot see much difference between my Tweed 5e3 build and my Silvertone 1472 (same thing as a 1482 except 12 watts instead of 15) To my ears they pretty much sound alike. Consider the 1472/82 family of amps a POOR Mans Tweed Delux. Only with Tremlo :)

thanks, that should help keep the GAS in check for a bit.

had a little time last night to experiment w/ some misc tubes that I had lying around. the only reliable pair of 6v6's I've got right now are JJ's, though I have a bunch of RCA gray plate singles that I'll see if any are close enough to run in the amp. Have to admit I kinda like the JJ's 6V6S in this amp: the more 6L6-like crunch suits it (haven't liked that much in BF/SF amps so far).

only swapped in the V1 12ax7 spot: tried a good list of mostly old stock tubes, used that test strong. my fav in this amp was one of the GE's, though the other GE's and the telefunken were all very good. any of the rest would have been fine, too, but the one I picked just pushed the little amp into a really lovely overdrive.

mullard 7025
telefunken smooth plate
3 different GE
raytheon long/black plate
sovtek LPS

fun stuff! I'll try to lay low after this, stantheman :-)

Hay Endzone, congradulations on the good find. I'm with you all on the 1482. It was my first amp in the 60's which is long gone now but here in my old age I've got two others---#1 is completely stock and #2 is mod city. Here is a link to an old thread that outlines my mods if anyone want to take a look.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-central-station/71683-platefires-1482-2-mods.html

I love to run my Hwy 1 tele through them. Happy 1482ing. Platefire

BTW-My all stock 1482 sounds great with all its original parts, so you don't have to mod it for it to rock. You may need to replace some parts if they have gone bad and causing problems.

Heres my 1481 with a new cabinet I made.
Gator baby!

Lonesomedave-

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/Lonesomedave/silvertone1481FrontRS.jpg

Nice! Can you post a back side shot? What speaker do you have in it?

I really dig my rehoused 1481 with a 12 inch Weber Alnico.