1963 Alamo Paragon Amp Head

[theaxeman]

I picked up a 1963 Alamo Paragon Amp Head on Monday from my local CL, and I think it sounds awesome.

I read the two part article at Vintage Guitar Magazine several times, and what I'm saying here does not coincide with what the article has to say. According the article, the "Piggy-Back" amps didn't come out until 1965, but this amp is a Paragon Piggy-Back with the side buckles and I got the head only.

The CTS pots are dated 1963, the power transformer is dated 1962, and the output transformer and choke are dated 1963. That along with the chrome steel handle, gray silver covering all lean to the amp as being manufactured in 1963.

I love the sound of this amp. Gets loud enough to have plenty of clean headroom, and gets downright crunchy without breaking your ear drums.

I saw in another old thread that some of you have both the Paragon head and cabinet, and I have a question.

What is the Ohm rating of your original speaker, and which jack do you use when hooking it up?

There are two speaker jacks. One is in the lower left corner, and one is in the control console labeled Ext. Speaker.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of mine. I've got gut shots too, if you'd like to see them.

 

[jondanger]

Righteous. I have always wondered about these. This looks to be an early one. Of course we want gut shots!

Cool score.

 

[theaxeman]

Righteous. I have always wondered about these. This looks to be an early one. Of course we want gut shots!

Cool score.

Thanks!!

Here's a few internal shots:

The preamp tubes aren't original, but I think maybe the power tubes are.

OT and Choke:

Power Transformer:

The chassis is two shots to get it all in and still see detail:

Someone has already put in the 3 prong cord and disconnected the polarity switch along with replacing the filter caps:

These are the tubes laid out on the bench. I had them all tested yesterday.

Pots are a bit scratchy, and the tremolo is very weak, so I'll have to look into that if I want it to work properly.

To my ears, it is fabulous. I had my buddy come over as soon as I got it home and we plugged in to a Jensen C12N here that I have never really cared for, but it took a shine to this amp, and we had some nice tones coming out.

I told my buddy that the internet all talks like these were "Bassman" like amps, but he said the tone he hears was pure "Plexi".

 

[joeford]

i was eye-balling this amp pretty hard on CL myself. his asking price for it was really low. glad it went to a good home... and glad i didn't have to shell out the money to see the gut shots!

i saw a guy sell a blackface tremolux head for $350 tonight. $350!!! i've had friends that moved from this area... and they all agree that they missed the STL craigslist haha

 

[theaxeman]

i was eye-balling this amp pretty hard on CL myself. his asking price for it was really low. glad it went to a good home... and glad i didn't have to shell out the money to see the gut shots!

i saw a guy sell a blackface tremolux head for $350 tonight. $350!!! i've had friends that moved from this area... and they all agree that they missed the STL craigslist haha

Yeah, I saw that thing last Thursday and started researching to see what it was I was buying.

I've been watching CL for about 3 years now waiting and hoping to find a nice vintage amp that I could afford, and once I made contact and heard it, I jumped on it.

It's dirty, grungy inside and out, but it's got mojo.

Thanks!!

 

[theaxeman]

I sprayed all the pots today to try and get the scratchy out and ended up replacing two of them.

The tremolo is now working, but still very weak. I may end up taking it to a tech to figure that out.

I had the tubes all tested yesterday, and all were good, but one preamp was a little noisy on the test, so I replaced it.

It's all quiet now, and still sounds great.

 

[joeford]

I sprayed all the pots today to try and get the scratchy out and ended up replacing two of them.

The tremolo is now working, but still very weak. I may end up taking it to a tech to figure that out.

I had the tubes all tested yesterday, and all were good, but one preamp was a little noisy on the test, so I replaced it.

It's all quiet now, and still sounds great.

sure would be nice to hear that thing... maybe a sound clip or a video?

 

[Wally]

Nice score...I have reworked one of these. I didn't hear a tweed bassman or a Plexi Marshall there, though. Clue to check....is that a big bias resistor and a bypass cap tied to the cathode of the power tubes?? IF so, you can eliminate the circuit as being a 5F6A /Marshall thing because it is cathode biased. (;^)
Fwiw and regarding the dating of that amp...
AS you know, those transformer and potentiometer codes don't actually date that amp. I am not saying that the article in VG is correct, either, though. IN fact, I stopped taking VG some years back after being a 'charter' subscriber way back a quarter of a century ago because of a gross misstatement about a 1938 Gibson Advanced Jumbo I owned vis-a-vis Gibson's reissue of that AJ.
Anyway, those date codes indicate that the amp can be no older than the latest code of original parts in the amp. That is all those codes prove. IF this were a Fender amp, we would accept that those date codes are not usually found in an amp that is built two or three years later than the date codes...but Alamo didn't build the number of amps that Fender built. The Alamo folks could have bought a large supply....and it took a while to build the amps and use up the supply of parts.
OR....the writer of the article in VG might not have had good and complete info.and your amp may very well be a 1963...or a '64....or....a '65. Hard to tell...and it is of no consequence. Mid-'60's...no doubt.
One sure thing I can say about them...they all get that burned looked to the front grille cloth due to the heat of the power tubes, right? IF they don't have that discoloration, the grille cloth has been replaced or the amp has not been used.

 

[theaxeman]

Nice score...I have reworked one of these. I didn't hear a tweed bassman or a Plexi Marshall there, though. Clue to check....is that a big bias resistor and a bypass cap tied to the cathode of the power tubes?? IF so, you can eliminate the circuit as being a 5F6A /Marshall thing because it is cathode biased. (;^)

I'll see if I can figure out where to look and check the circuit as you suggested.

EDIT: Thanks for the tip!!

Fwiw and regarding the dating of that amp...
AS you know, those transformer and potentiometer codes don't actually date that amp. I am not saying that the article in VG is correct, either, though. IN fact, I stopped taking VG some years back after being a 'charter' subscriber way back a quarter of a century ago because of a gross misstatement about a 1938 Gibson Advanced Jumbo I owned vis-a-vis Gibson's reissue of that AJ.
Anyway, those date codes indicate that the amp can be no older than the latest code of original parts in the amp. That is all those codes prove. IF this were a Fender amp, we would accept that those date codes are not usually found in an amp that is built two or three years later than the date codes...but Alamo didn't build the number of amps that Fender built. The Alamo folks could have bought a large supply....and it took a while to build the amps and use up the supply of parts.
OR....the writer of the article in VG might not have had good and complete info.and your amp may very well be a 1963...or a '64....or....a '65. Hard to tell...and it is of no consequence. Mid-'60's...no doubt.
One sure thing I can say about them...they all get that burned looked to the front grille cloth due to the heat of the power tubes, right? IF they don't have that discoloration, the grille cloth has been replaced or the amp has not been used.

I would agree with you entirely about the pot and transformer codes.

I was not only basing my opinion on the codes for dating. Again, referring to the article, the writer said the the chrome handles, the white logo plate with black lettering, and the grey silver leatherette were gone by 1965 and replaced by dark vinyl, vinyl straps for handles, and black logo plate with white lettering.

But your right, it doesn't make any real difference and I would agree it could be a 64 or 65.

It is still a nice 50 year old amp that sounds fabulous to my ears.

 

[Wally]

tehaxeman, in your 5th picture in the 'gut shot' post, you can see that black electrolytic cap sitting next to that long green resistor...likely to be a 250 ohm resistor. There is a black wire connected to the contact point that those two components make with each other on the end facing us/the camera. That black wire runs to pin 8--the cathode--- on the visible power tube, and there is another black wire that runs from that pin 8 to pin 8 on the other 6L6 that is off-screen. That large green resistor is the cathode biasing resistor...and that black electrolytic is the bypass on that bias resistor.

 

[theaxeman]

tehaxeman, in your 5th picture in the 'gut shot' post, you can see that black electrolytic cap sitting next to that long green resistor...likely to be a 250 ohm resistor. There is a black wire connected to the contact point that those two components make with each other on the end facing us/the camera. That black wire runs to pin 8--the cathode--- on the visible power tube, and there is another black wire that runs from that pin 8 to pin 8 on the other 6L6 that is off-screen. That large green resistor is the cathode biasing resistor...and that black electrolytic is the bypass on that bias resistor.

Ah, I see where you are talking about.

I'll snap another pic from up high and a little more detailed and post it in a bit.

Thanks!!

 

[Wally]

Yes, an overhead would let everyone see it....but that is what is going on there. I can see the layout of the power tube wiring in that #5 pic...one can even see the locator pin slot right to our right of that cathode where the black wire connects, right?
power tube...pin 1 is empty. pin 2 is the heater filament. Pin 3...plate....you can see the wire from there to the OT primary coming through the chassis.
I have a big Alamo from some time earlier....in the wood cab with the 'A' speaker cutout cab with the push button tone section. It may be a 1958. Does your VG article name that as a Paragon, too. I have always thought that was the model name of it.

 

[theaxeman]

Yes, an overhead would let everyone see it....but that is what is going on there. I can see the layout of the power tube wiring in that #5 pic...one can even see the locator pin slot right to our right of that cathode where the black wire connects, right?
power tube...pin 1 is empty. pin 2 is the heater filament. Pin 3...plate....you can see the wire from there to the OT primary coming through the chassis.
I have a big Alamo from some time earlier....in the wood cab with the 'A' speaker cutout cab with the push button tone section. It may be a 1958. Does your VG article name that as a Paragon, too. I have always thought that was the model name of it.

Yes, the VG article labels it as a Paragon, and in the first post, there is the inside label with Paragon written on it.

Let's see a pic of your 58. That must be a fabulous amp too!

Here is the overhead shot of the power tube section:

The big black capacitor is a Sprague Atom and if I'm reading the writing which is on the bottom side through a mirror it says 100mf. I can't make out the writing on the big green resistor.

 

[Wally]

good pic. Can you see the locator pin...about 45 degree to the right of 'top dead center'?
The cathode///pin 8...is just to the left of that....and you can see an '8' right by that
pin. That pin is connected to pin 8 on the other power tube...shared bias resistor circuit...usual thing. The circuit is connected as I described...it is cathode biased output section.
The amp has been recapped. I am not a big fan of some of the work there--like those resistors sitting right on top of the filter caps with little or no air space in between....but whadahey, right? I see it has a ground power cord...good.

 

[theaxeman]

good pic. Can you see the locator pin...about 45 degree to the right of 'top dead center'?
The cathode///pin 8...is just to the left of that....and you can see an '8' right by that
pin. That pin is connected to pin 8 on the other power tube...shared bias resistor circuit...usual thing. The circuit is connected as I described...it is cathode biased output section.

Yes, I can see it clearly.

The amp has been recapped. I am not a big fan of some of the work there--like those resistors sitting right on top of the filter caps with little or no air space in between....but whadahey, right? I see it has a ground power cord...good.

Yes, I would agree, some of the work is pretty sloppy, and I am happy that a lot of the recapping has been done already.

So it's definitely not a Marshall type circuit?

What kind of a circuit would you think that it is?

I got this diagram from a poster on the music electronics forum. He had posted it some time ago, and it was no longer available. I contacted the author who had been an amp repairman, and had since retired and sold his business. He agreed to look through his files and it showed up in my email yesterday morning. I don't vouch for his work, but he seemed to know what he was talking about when I talked to him on the phone. I share it here for all to enjoy.

According to the diagram, this amp gets it's NFB from the 16 Ohm output.

Would that account for the difference in sound?

 

[theaxeman]

I have a big Alamo from some time earlier....in the wood cab with the 'A' speaker cutout cab with the push button tone section. It may be a 1958. Does your VG article name that as a Paragon, too. I have always thought that was the model name of it.

I misread your question above earlier and answered incorrectly.

Here is an excerpt from the VGM article talking about the late 50s lineup:

Aloha
In the ’50s, Alamo also did a lot of O.E.M. manufacturing. One of its primary clients was Aloha, the Hawaii-based guitar and amp company. Many Aloha amps and guitars were made by Alamo. As Eilenberg recalls, Aloha bought only the AMP-3 Embassy amp and guitar. The Embassy was a tapered, roughly triangular, hardwood lap with a German carve top. Later examples were finished in Alpine White, with black and red aluminum fingerboards, chrome handrest, extended range adjustable pickup, volume and tone, and Deluxe Safe-Ti string machine heads. Presumably, Alohas were similar.

In about 1956, Eilenberg helped Aloha start it’s own amp-making operation, but the company continued to buy Alamo products, as well. Aloha acoustic guitars were sourced primarily from Chicago-based Harmony.

Alamo production was limited to amps and lap steels until 1960, when the company had to relocate again to a 25,500 square-foot factory at 926 West Laurel Street. Alamo occupied the majority of the site, but leased part of it. In 1960, Alamo increased the size of its woodshop and started making electric Spanish guitars.

Transition
A good snapshot of the maturing Alamo line (and reflection of the old offerings) can be gleaned from an undated catalog from about 1960. It combines the old “birch A” amp cabinets with newer styling, and features Alamo’s first solidbody Spanish electric guitar.
With an occasional exception, Alamo guitars and amps were all built in San Antonio, Texas. Pickups, as would always be the case, were also made by Alamo.

By this time, the Alamo amplifier line had expanded to include seven basic models, all but one of which existed prior to this catalog. Most were offered in a choice of coverings, either in the old birch cabinet with the A cutout on the grill, or in a new, more modern “grey lite” leatherette, offset with two vertical lines of dark grey beading on either side of the grille, and a dark grey plastic grillcloth. The handles were long, rounded, chrome-plated steel. Prices were identical for either the birch A option or the leatherette.

Still in the Alamo line were the Embassy, Challenger and Jet amplifiers of yore. It’s not known whether they underwent any upgrades. The Embassy featured three tubes (6SL7GT, 6V6GT, and 5Y3GT), a 10″ Alamo speaker and 6 watts of output power. The No. 2563 came in leatherette, whereas the No. 2463 came in birch, both for $82.50.

The Challenger amp also had three tubes (6SL7GT, 6V6GT and 5Y3GT) with two inputs, volume control, 8″ Alamo speaker and 5 watts of output power. The No. 2562, in leatherette, and No. 2462, in birch, each cost $62.50.

The No. 2561 Jet also had three tubes (including one 6SL7GT), two inputs, volume control, 6″ Alamo speaker, 4 watts output power, in leatherette only, for $59.50.

Above these three was the Montclair, which had five tubes (12AX7, 6SLGT, two 6V6GTs and 5Y3GT) with four inputs, tone control, 12″ Jensen speaker and 15 watts of output power. The No. 2565, in leatherette, and No. 2465, in birch, cost $124.50.

Top of the line were two Paragon amplifiers. The Paragon had seven tubes (unidentified), four inputs, two volume controls, a pushbutton tone control (bass boost), 15″ Jensen Concert Series speaker and 25 watts output. The No. 2567, in leatherette, and No. 2467, in birch, cost $234.50.

The Paragon Special was a bass amp version with a 15″ Jensen bass speaker. The No. 2569, in leatherette, and No. 2469, in birch, cost $259.50.

 

[Wally]

tehaxeman, that was kind of you to post that piece of the article. I miss some things about VG....but I couldn't stomach giving them money when the writer of that article wrote what he wrote in a 'vintage guitar' publication. I let him play a monster of a 1938 AJ in 98% condition. The guitar would rattle your ribcage with its power. HE compared the current RI AJ guitars as equal...and that just wasn't so even though I have played some AJ RI's that were excellent instruments. His take on things made it sound like Gibson was paying him!?! NOte: his comments didn't 'kill' the market for that 1938 Gibson. It, a few other pre-WWII Gibsons and some pre-war Martins are the only things that have continued to rise in value after the collapse in 2008. That Advanced Jumbo has doubled in value in the last 7 years.....and it brought a lot back then when I had to sell it. I wish I had kept it, though...lot of money there.

So, yes, I have a Paragon in the birch plywood 'A' cab....Md. 2467 according to that article. IT is apart right now awaiting work....what a rat's nest it is in there!
I have seen and worked on all of those smaller Alamo amps....a harmonica player got into them before he moved back to Australia.

 

[Wally]

As to that diagram, that shows only the OT, the beginnings of the NFB loop and the output jacks. I don't think it makes any difference where one taps that OT's secondary for the NFB....that is all one winding with 3 'tapped' points along the winding for the 3 impedances.

 

[theaxeman]

As to that diagram, that shows only the OT, the beginnings of the NFB loop and the output jacks. I don't think it makes any difference where one taps that OT's secondary for the NFB....that is all one winding with 3 'tapped' points along the winding for the 3 impedances.

I understand.

I also understand about the magazine and what they wrote about your Gibson, it would make me angry too.

This article about the history of Alamo Electronics is pretty lengthy, and is in two parts. He writes with the memory of the founder as his source and several catalogs which he admits some are undated.

But it is a good read if you like reading history even if it's not quite totally accurate. It does get us in the ball park.

I've got some friends who I'm going to ask to help me put together a schematic. It may take some time due to everyone's schedule etc., but I think it would be nice to have something for posterity as there seems to be some interest in these old amps.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[Paul G.]

Don't know if it helps, but my 1963 Alamo Paragon came with an 8-ohm 15" Jensen Speaker. It was a combo and there was no external speaker jack, the speaker was hard-wired directly to the OP.

P.