Silvertone 1474 Twin Twelve --- anyone know anything?

[Gravity]

I also posted this in the amp forum, but I don't think this amp has enough gain stages for any of them to show any interest

 

 

 

I just jammed on one at a local music store and wanted to do some research before making any kind of move.

 

I dug the way it sounded ... very AC/DC

 

 

Know anything about them?

 

Street price?

 

 

Problems ?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

this isn't the one I saw, but here's what it looks like

 

[utsapp89]

Jack White plays that model, so it'll be more expensive than what they used to be. I still see the heads go for about 300-500 on eBay. The tremolo doesn't work on at least half of the ones I've seen. Most of them come with cabs, but I hear the cabs fall apart REALLY easy since apparently they're made of particle board and jizz.

 

That said, they do sound really cool.

[rhat]

 

Originally posted by utsapp89 Jack White plays that model, so it'll be more expensive than what they used to be. I still see the heads go for about 300-500 on eBay. The tremolo doesn't work on at least half of the ones I've seen. Most of them come with cabs, but I hear the cabs fall apart REALLY easy since apparently they're made of particle board and jizz. That said, they do sound really cool.

 

 

 

Unless you are a collector ,, i think i would pass. back in the day silvertones had about as much mojo and a 4 door rambler. rat

[Gravity]

Originally posted by rhat Unless you are a collector ,, i think i would pass. back in the day silvertones had about as much mojo and a 4 door rambler. rat

 

 

HAH! - that's what I suspected of this line of amps.

 

I'll admit ... I've got random GAS just because I haven't bought anything big in a while.

 

I think that I am going to resist and hold off for something more suiting.

 

 

Putting aside its background status, it does have an odd mojo to it.

 

For instance, the handle is made of hard plastic and is permanently fastened to the cab i.e. it's not cloth and there are no hinges, you could never stack anything on top of it. And even if you could stack something on it, the jizz holding the cab together might fail!

 

Also, it has a weird power section setup where each pair of 6l6's has its own output tranny.

 

Plus it has a tube rectifier ... which I've never had in an amp ... albeit a novelty.

 

 

But it did sound cool. I had no idea Jack White used one ... I can see how he gets his tone out of it.

 

When I played it, it just had this nice, thick crunch ... like you would expect from an old Marshall

 

 

But I bet that's mostly just the GAS talking.

 

Apparently, it's been there on consignment for a VERY long time.

 

Maybe I'll offer $200 and see what happens.

 

 

 

 

[favata5]

comparing that old amp to a new Epiphone valve junior is like comparing a brown turd to a dark brown one with chunky peanuts,,they both are pretty cheesy!!

[m90guy]

 

Originally posted by rhat Unless you are a collector ,, i think i would pass. back in the day silvertones had about as much mojo and a 4 door rambler. rat

 

 

 

 

Many blues tunes were recorded on them old silvertone amps.

10 years ago you could get em for nothing. My buddy paid $50 for his(1484 head and cab) 10 years ago. I usually see em around for anywhere to $200-300 now.

IMO those amps sound great! I have been fighting the urge to purchase a 1484, but it sounds so damn good...

[Gravity]

 

Originally posted by favata5 comparing that old amp to a new Epiphone valve junior is like comparing a brown turd to a dark brown one with chunky peanuts,,they both are pretty cheesy!!

 

 

 

ouch

[rayspang]

These amps were mostly made by danelectro in the U.S. I had one of the twin 12 piggyback versions about 40 years ago. Back then everyone wanted a vox super beatle (pre Martial stack) but if your family wasn't loaded you couldn't afford one. The alternative was to buy one of these. They were fairly powerful for the time, the one I had put out 120 watts. The sound was decent but it was certainly not a fender twin reverb. It was a tube amp. tremolo and reverb were standard. They looked really cool too, with red rubber coated toggles. Sears sold a ton of them at $159.00 a pop. A twin 10 Vox Berkley 2 cost $389.00 then. I know cause I wanted one real bad but that was big bucks at the time. Anyway if you were in a garage band with a wall of silvertones behind you, you were way cool.

[rhat]

 

Originally posted by m90guy Many blues tunes were recorded on them old silvertone amps. 10 years ago you could get em for nothing. My buddy paid $50 for his(1484 head and cab) 10 years ago. I usually see em around for anywhere to $200-300 now. IMO those amps sound great! I have been fighting the urge to purchase a 1484, but it sounds so damn good...

 

 

 

I dont think you would have found too many studios with silvertones in them. Over the years the reputation of the silvertone has been inflated a good deal. We had a bass player that had a silvertone. He had to go buy a fender bassman,, the silvertone wasnt cutting it. I doubt that a silvertone would take the kind of punishment that you expect an amp to take.

 

Now do i think a electronics guy could scarf off the amp part and use the parts to build a decent amp ,,, thats a possability. The cabs were really chincy and the speakers wouldnt take alot.

rat

[HEPNOTIC]

The silvertone is just another example of cheap gear getting its price skyrocketed due to a rock star using it.

 

ala kurt cobain and fender mustangs and univox hi flyers.

[hardtdc]

You don't want it for the cab, you want it for the head. It's a poor man's Vox or Fender bassman. Turn the thing into a nice head with a great cab with some Celestions. Like someone said, the reverbs are puny and don't hold up. Everything else is simply a great vintage tube amp with 6L6's. I've been thinking about looking for one of the Twin-Twelve 50 watt heads. Remember, Jimmy Page recorded with one of these old Silvertones back in the day too.

[guitarcapo]

I'd buy more old amps like that if there was some local tech who could service them here in town. I cant even find a decent tube amp repairman in Miami.

[Gravity]

 

Originally posted by hardtdc You don't want it for the cab, you want it for the head. It's a poor man's Vox or Fender bassman. Turn the thing into a nice head with a great cab with some Celestions. Like someone said, the reverbs are puny and don't hold up. Everything else is simply a great vintage tube amp with 6L6's. I've been thinking about looking for one of the Twin-Twelve 50 watt heads. Remember, Jimmy Page recorded with one of these old Silvertones back in the day too.

 

 

 

Turning it into a head is actually what I was thinking ... and ebaying the Jensens that are in it to recoup some $.

 

 

I think my GAS has subsided ... but I'll through in a low-ball offer just to see what happens. A deal is a deal any way you look at it.

[VIP]

In 1961 or 62, I joined a six piece band in Cape Cod and needed a bigger amp.

 

I ordered the Silvertone 1474 from the sears catalog store in Falmouth ma.

 

I was nervous because it was the more expensive one in the catalog. I think it was 159.00.

 

That thing was awesome. I used it until the late 70's

Repaired it a few times and my son sold it to some friend.

 

I would love to have it back to restore.

 

Got lots of compliments on the sound. I played an old Gibson Es225t through it all those years.

[HanSolo]

Those amps were pretty much muddy sounding in the day. By the time you got them loud enough to hear they sounded like a wet fart. I have an SS version. It isn't any better. I use it as a place to set my beer down while I play through my Vox.

 

[Johnny Z]

Sucky Reverb, some oddball tubes maybe hard to find for these amps. Sounds good for Blues and R&R. You've be better off with a used 8 track Stereo with the head removed and a input jack installed, playing it through your car speakers.