Silvertone Twin Twelve

[zsprankle]

So, I kinda remembered that I had this in my garage today. I never really knew what it was until I researched it and now I really want to get it in tip top shape.

All I know about its history is that a family friend's uncle had passed and had this amp. I helped do some stuff around his house and said family friend asked if I wanted it about 7 years back.... needless to say, I took it home and forgot about it. It was in the same state then as it is now, dirty and dusty. The cab was not present when I acquired it.

Furthermore, I would like to hear any and all things about what this silvertone is. Compared to other silvertones I've seen in my research, there are some slight differences. I.e. there only being one speaker output, the chassis no. plate, two lamps on the front panel, etc. I do know that it powers on and the tubes start warming but I didnt have a cab connected so I shut it right down (I know, that's a no no). How should I go about cleaning it, etc.

I'll post more pics when I take the chassis out of it's cab.

Thanks in advance!

[xtian]

Welcome to TAG. That amp is in excellent cosmetic shape! The Silvertone cabinets are made of particle board, so it's too common to see them warped and ugly. Yours is nice!

So, what's your level of experience with amp repair?

[sonicmojo]

I've got one and have worked on a couple. Looks like your red lens pilot lamp was moved to a new hole on the top and a yellow one moved below where the red one used to be. Wonder why.....

You should first install a three prong cord to make it safer and go from there. You may need a few caps and resistors to make it sound better after all these years but the one I have now still has original parts and sounds good still. Watch cranking it too much as the power transformers on these are a little undersized and notorious to die but don't worry too much and play it, they sound very nice and the reverb is very funky if not a bit touchy at high levels. If you turn down volume all the way and reverb up, you should just get reverb!

[sluckey]

Hey, it's got a pair of Realistic lifetime 6L6s. Probably take 'em down to the local Radio Shack and get a new pair.

[M Fowler]

I sold mine in 2003, it was a great amp with years of playing by my old aged neighbor that sold it to me. 212 cabinet.

[Roe]

looks like a 1484

[Stevem]

One of the biggest flaws in theses amps besides the too light OT and not enough bias to idle down a really good testing set of output tubes is the dam 1/4" Masonite baffle board the 2 12s are mounted on !

At first for a few years I cut short triangles of 1.5" pine and wood glued them around the perimeter of the speakers to stiffen the board , after that I just did the hard thing and made a new 1/2" baffle board for the thing!

About this same time from playing it near cranked all the time the stock OT went south so I installed a 50 watt Hammond .
You can only use 3 of the 4 mounting bolts but it's strong enough.

These amps with good filters and output tubes can do 32 watts of clean output so it's no surprise the stock 25 watt OT burns up

Should the stock OT be bad Mercury magnetics now offers a replacement, not as cheap as a bigger and better Hammond , but it's a drop in.

Since both channels are the same it's nice to make one into a brite channel and then jump them so you can blend them.

The stock power supply filters ( red tube types and one small can) are likely all near being toast so don't expect the amp to sound good cranked up even if it does not hum too bad at idle!

If that amp still has the original Jensen P12Q speakers there worth a good amount of money!

The peizo pickup reverb tank is pure crap and sounds kinda ok when you add just I little verb into your sound and but not much more .

The voltage doubling type power supply these amps have can be confusing to a newbie , but just time your time and when in dought ask questions here.

By the way those Radio shack output tubes are relabeled clear top GE brand and sound great in that amp if they are still good!

The amp cabinet itself tends to come unglued with time since it's not Dove jointed so check that once you slip the chassis out.

You can get the proper red pilot lamp jewel from a monotone or tubes & more .

[sonicmojo]

BTW, those knobs are unobtanium. Hang on to those!

[Stevem]

That's certainly true, oceans of water will be found on the Moon before replacement knobs are found for the 1484 and other model Sears amps that use that style knob!

[DenDanger]

Neat find. Lots of mojo there. Enjoy it!

Denny

[ER]

That's certainly true, oceans of water will be found on the Moon before replacement knobs are found for the 1484 and other model Sears amps that use that style knob!

Or the grey wallpaper "tolex" for that matter!

I have one on the bench (1484 head) that I got off craigslist for $50, cheap enough to keep if I like it, or flip if I don't. My game plan is to recap the power supply, add a three prong plug, add a master volume, and build a new head and speaker cabinet for it out of pine and paint it the Galaxy Sparkle Black you see on some of the silver tone guitars. The original cab was 2x jensen C12q for a 4 ohm load. Not sure if I'm going to go with 2x heppner hammond pulls or 1x12 with a jensen p12n. Most likely the 2x12 since I'd like to keep the "piggyback" feature and a 24" ID wide 1x12 doesn't seem worth it.

The "standby" isn't a true standby it simply disconnects the signal path at the phase inverter. So my plan is to make the standby a true standby switch, move the pilot lamp to the ground switch hole (It seems weird to me to have it near the input, and have the "standby" that carries signal near the power supply and switches), put a 1 meg pot in the pilot lamp hole in the same place in the circuit as the old "standby" switch to serve as a master volume that will be the original circuit when cranked, and possible move the old ground switch and use it to internally bridge the inputs. I have a knob from an old HK reciever that is pretty close to the originals to use for the master volume.

I think those would be some useful updates that would make it lighter, quieter, and safer, without ruining the original vibe and sound.

-ER

[zsprankle]

Sorry yall, didnt see all these replies. I thought I had that notification set up. Anyways, I took the chassis out of the cab, and everything looks original except the tubes, obviously (they all work). I soldered a 1/4" end on the speaker out wire and ran it through my friends Port City 2x12 and it sounds awesome. There is massive amounts of hum though. I foresee a recap in its future. They are all the original planet lyticap capacitors. I do have some electrical experience but I've never messed with a tube amp before. I am aware of the danger involved with these high voltage caps and I really do want to try the repair myself. I really don't want to mess with the original can due to it seeming like a real PITA to replace. Should I be able to get away with just replacing the big caps in the chassis and not mess with the can? And does anyone have any tips, tricks, pointers to help me with this job?

[Stevem]

A tube amp is just as safe to work on as a SS amp once you discharge the power supply thru a 470k 1/2 watt resistor.
If this amp had a normal type standby switch you could just set it to the on position and wait 3 minutes and it would then be safe to work on.
You can just leave the stock filter can there, and install new seperate filters but ground the new ones back at the old can filter.
Use silicone glue to mount the new filters where you can and just extend the wires as needed,

[zsprankle]

Well, I have gotten every cap except for the can caps replaced! It was much easier than I was expecting. I'll finish up the filter cap replacements tomorrow after work (unless there's a massive water main break to fix...) I guess I need to find some wire and heat shrink and some glue for the relo. Can't wait to play this thing!