My mint Silvertone 1482 - poor man's Tweed Deluxe

[Riffraff12571]

This summer I was on the hunt for a Deluxe Reverb. I was searching Craigslist night & day hoping to see one come up. I just missed a silver face version nearby selling for a ridiculously low $200. I spotted it right away but the seller didn't list a phone number. I emailed immediately but someone else still managed to beat me to the punch. I was on fire trying to find another and began constantly searching. My persistance paid off, one morning I came across a listing for a Silvertone 1482. Lucky for me it was listed in the electronics section so it was missed by all the vintage amp hounds. I wasn't familiar with the model but had heard that the old tube Silvertone amps had some major mojo. I did a quick search to find out what it was and discovered that it was Danelectro's take on a '50s Tweed Deluxe...dual 6V6 powered, 15 watt, tube rectified with a tube driven tremolo. It seemed to be basically the same thing that I was looking for so I contacted the seller. He told me he had found it while cleaning out the home of a relative that had passed away. He said it was in a spare bedroom that was used as a storage area. He said he grabbed a box thinking he could use it to pack and found the amp inside it. I told him I was very interested and would be by in the morning to see it. What I found when I got there was even more than I hoped for.

This is the box he was talking about.

How often do you see a vintage piece of equipment in it's original packaging? I never have up until this point.
The amp looks like new. I have to keep reminding myself it's 46 years old.

Point to point wired......

....with pride, I wonder where "JB" is today.

Fresh Silvertone labeled RCAs throughout

It sounds just as good as it looks too. Here are some clips of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6QOhUHi6U0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgxY7D5n5_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLrdF4s44Nc

The amp basically sat in it's original box for the last 46 years. It's definitely not something you find very often. The TV style box is so different and cool looking and the amp sounds amazing. It's the perfect little backseat jam amp. It's got two channels too. That last clip was with them jumpered....crazy huh? I’ve got to say, I'm REALLY enjoying it. Here is the craziest part of all, it's dead quiet and as punchy and alive sounding as a brand new amp.

 

[JimmyJam]

That is an incredible find! Serious congratulations are needed!
Thank you so much for the wonderful pics. That is so freaking awesome!

 

[Piotr]

That's faaantastic, what a find! Now, why can't we find deals like that in Europe...

 

[Telenut62]

Sure looks as if it's been in a time warp, great find. I have one in a pine cab with a P12Q it beats a 5E3 IMO

 

[CyanideJunkie]

Damn that looks dead mint! Good score!

 

[jglenn]

Awesome!Nice find.

 

[imsilly]

Amazing amp!

Sounds really good in the clips.

Grats!

I've been looking for one here in the UK for a while, but I still can't find one.

 

[uriah1]

Ultra cool...nice score

 

[musicmatty]

 

[mitchfit]

Riffraff12571,

great sounding amp. many people migrating back to the olde school dead simple circuits these days, including itself here. i just had a new amp built lately from a schematix drawn in 1952 that can use 6V6, or 6L6 with any "5" series rectifier tube that'll fit the socket. the speaker ohms numbers range of safe usage change with these mods also. so don't try this trick at home, the builder has assured me that the circuit can handle those mods. have a competent tech verify the same for the 1482 beforehand. the changes from just a different rectifier are obvious, with different output tubes the gain, tonal, different ohm speaker performance, and wattage possibilities are vast.

ALL WITH NO PERMANENT MODS TO THE AMP!

the utter lack of tonal coloring from these amps seems to make the slight changes of every guitar feeding them seem more pronounced. and as i saw you have already discovered for yourself, the same holds true for pedals.

the beauty of these are when they die, most any tech with a little bit of savvy can get in there to find the component that has gone south and replace it with ease. this translates to a low number repair bill for the owner. you CAN run into problems on some models finding schematix from "back in the day".

not true with yours, however. pls see:

(link removed)

if i were in your shoes, i'd save that link ~AND~ print out some hard copies in case the free hosting of same ends.

just my <$0.02!!!

mitchfit

 

[GMAN715]

Congrats! what a stroke of good luck

 

[FendrGuitPlayr]

Nice score!

 

[robt57]

Congrats, is it really the same circuit as the Fender ?


Damn, that sounds nice...


What pickup(s) on the demos ?

 

[Riffraff12571]

I think it's more a Tweed Deluxe inspired circuit than a direct knock off but I'm no Silvertone expert. This 1482 version is 15 watts where the Deluxe is 22 watts. It's a nice little grab and go amp though, that's for sure. It's a little dark but get's bigger and meaner sounding the more you throw at it. It's dark nature helps it take boost pedals really well too. I REALLY like this amp, it's got some serious mojo. The date codes on the power tube, the baffle board and the Fisher speaker all indicate that it's a '65.

I was looking for a little jam amp to cover modern country stuff which it does nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UMVslwn1Vs

I have tried several pedals with it and it gets down and dirty too. Here's a little classic rock with OD > fuzz > EQ > Delay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-uwTKVmsZI

The ONLY issue it has is some styrofoam residue stuck to the tolex in a few spots from sitting in it unmoved for decades. I picked most of it off but haven't tried getting the residue off. I'm not sure what to use on it. The tolex is fabric and I don't want to put any wear marks in it by scrubbing it too hard.

 

[TeleV]

Hey I remember you from another Forum...did you ever change the filter caps?

 

['56Teleman]

I think it's more a Tweed Deluxe inspired circuit than a direct knock off but I'm no Silvertone expert. This 1482 version is 15 watts where the Deluxe is 22 watts. It's a nice little grab and go amp though, that's for sure. It's a little dark but get's bigger and meaner sounding the more you throw at it. It's dark nature helps it take boost pedals really well too. I REALLY like this amp, it's got some serious mojo. The date codes on the power tube, the baffle board and the Fisher speaker all indicate that it's a '65.

I was looking for a little jam amp to cover modern country stuff which it does nicely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UMVslwn1Vs

I have tried several pedals with it and it gets down and dirty too. Here's a little classic rock with OD > fuzz > EQ > Delay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-uwTKVmsZI

The ONLY issue it has is some styrofoam residue is stuck to the tolex in a few spots from sitting in it unmoved for decades. I picked most of it off but haven't tried getting the residue off. I'm not sure what to use on it. The tolex is fabrick and I don't want to put any wear marks in it by scrubbing it too hard.

A blackface Deluxe is 22 watts, a tweed Deluxe is generally rated at 12 watts.


Also, fantastic find...Congratulations!

 

[Riffraff12571]

Hey I remember you from another Forum...did you ever change the filter caps?

I bought them but I haven't touched it yet. I was a little concerned about tearing into it since this one has some collector's value due to it's time capsule like condition. I showed it to a tech and he said it's a tough call but if I'm not gigging it and it continues to perform as it is he would leave it alone. I still wasn't sure so I showed it to a few vintage amp gurus and they all said they would leave it alone too. A few of them offered to buy it on the spot. I certainly don't want to risk the OT so I'm conflicted. It shows no signs of bad caps but conventional thinking is you have to change them on an amp that has sat in storage for a while. This one was definitely packed away longer than a while. It's quite possible this amp was never used. The chassis is made of rather soft metal and there isn't a mark on it, not a single scratch.

 

[jglenn]

How many of those shipping boxes are left?Amazing find.Can I ask what you paid?I had one of these in the 60s,but ended up cutting down to a head.

 

[TheRumRunner]

You are certainly one VERY lucky fellow. I'm happy your persistence paid off - BIG TIME

DW

 

[alnicopu]

You could probably get 100.00 for the box. Score of a life time......Til you find your next score of a life time. If you decide to replaced the speaker to put back in if you sell it, be very careful removing the nuts and don't go with a huge magnet ceramic speaker, you stand a chance of damaging the baffle and pulling the screws right through.

I haven't seen those red Planet "lytic" caps since I worked an old Airline. Real beauty