Dean Markley Spectra 80A

Have zero experience. Looks like typical 80's era SS practice amp. But - I did come across an advert that seems to imply that Nancy Wilson advocated for the use of this amp.


that being the case, you now have full permission to locate and purchase the matching appropriate telecaster:


...you're welcome!

 

You may be pleasantly surprised if you put a decent speaker in that old SS amp. There are not that many chips around so many amp builders go with a decent chip which isn’t that expensive. They go cheap on the speaker.
So put a decent speaker in it and you may be surprised at the sound quality. I’m talking about a SS amp for acoustic or clean low powered electrics.
Good luck,

 

Cool project. I am a sucker for people rocking out with little old SS amps rather than dismissing them as starter junk. So of course I checked this thread out when it popped up.

I still have my first amp from Junior high school...an early 80s Peavey Audition 20. I still use it for certain just-past-clean electric guitar sounds, and it sounds great with my six string lap steel too.

Good luck on your project; please post updates and maybe some sound clips!

I’ve posted this here before so don’t shoot me, but if it serves as inspiration, here’s me and a band I used to be in on a rough demo recording where I was having fun with the Audition 20, a pawnshop DOD compressor pedal and a ratty Melody Maker:

https://alonetone.com/benniven/tracks/bleach-bald-snow-tires

 

I had one a few years ago that was in w/ a bunch of stuff that a local shop was going to toss. It was as mentioned a typical ‘70s practice amp. Not that is necessarily bad, sometimes a straight ahead amp w/ a pedal or two is just the ticket.

 

Love your cab design!!! ... The amp might not be worthy of such a swank abode ... Or it may sound glorious ... Are you feeling lucky ???

 

I don't have any experience with your particular amp but I have a Dean Markley K75 50 watt solid state amp that I bought for $40.

I really like that little amp and I have used it at small gigs and band practices. My bass player has one and his was my first experience with one. We were doing a gig in his home town with some guys we weren't familiar with so a few hours before the gig we met up at his house to run through a few songs. So instead of unpacking my amp, a classic 30, I just ran through his little Dean Markley K75 and I couldn't believe how good it sounded, even better than my classic 30. So I asked if I could take it to the gig and I did and loved it. So I was on the hunt for one and found mine at a thrift shop for $40.

Sure a PV Bandit is a great solid state amp and I have one but that Dean Markley amp is all over it in my opinion. Great little amp. Using it tomorrow in fact!

 

The first amp I ever bought was a Spectra. It was a tube amp though, with white tolex. It wasnt a bad amp at all. I have no experience with the ss variants.

 

10 years ago or so they/somebody reissued a couple of their small tube combos. While not high on my wish list I always regretted not picking one up.

There was a laundry list of players who used the DM tube amps back in the 80s. Even Eric Clapton and Gary Moore.

While not a DM amp I think Gary Moore originally recorded "The Loner" with a solid state Gallien Krueger amp.

DM built amps here in Salina Kansas once upon a time and I'm not exactly clear how it happened but in the early 90s there was a guy putting together some of the last solid state models in Chanute, Ks (home of Kustom). I tried to get a job for him but he told me once he used up all of the parts his job was completely done. That is where my bass player acquired his.

 

I had one of those around 88 or 89. I really liked the sound of it.

 

I had a Spectra 180 (12" combo, w/ on board Chorus effect) back in the 80s. It was great a great workhorse.

Have fun with the new project - it looks awesome!
Hope to see what the final version looks like.