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Did I remember it wrong or did I just not know what to look for?

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  • Did I remember it wrong or did I just not know what to look for?

    Two amplifiers that I had years back are driving me nuts. Sadly, all I have is recollections of them and no pictures, because I ended up needing to sell them.

    One is a Sears Silvertone head I bought for $25 around 1976 that looked, for all the world, like a Silvertone 1484. Same row of jacks along the bottom, two channels, big knobs, etc. But I remember it as being light and not having a massive transformer. Did Silvertone make anything during that late 60's to mid 70's period that was visually similar to a 1484, but solid-state?

    The other is a Gibson amp I bought around 1986. I paid $50 for the amp plus a Schaller wah/yoy pedal at an auction. The wah was what I really wanted, so I used the amp for a little while, fixed the reverb, then sold it. I remember it as being a single-channel amp of modest wattage, with a 12" speaker, reverb and tremolo, and a sloped front visually identical to a Gibson Falcon. Did Gibson actually make any solid-state amps fitting that general description, or did I let a collectible slip through my fingers?

    I've learned much in the intervening years, but I knew the difference between tube and solid-state amps, and their relative value, back then. I've poked around on the net to see if there were any SS amps fitting those descriptions, but to no avail. So I figured I'd ask the experts.

    Did such solid-state amps ever exist, or did I simply overlook and misremember them?

  • #2
    Any of these gibsons look familiar?

    https://www.google.ca/search?q=gibso...SSAcwQ_AUIBigB
    Originally posted by Enzo
    I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


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    • #3
      For the Silvertone, any of these look familiar?

      https://www.google.ca/search?q=Silve...+state&imgrc=_
      If it ain't broke I'll fix it until it is...
      I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous...

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Mark Hammer View Post
        Did Silvertone make anything during that late 60's to mid 70's period that was visually similar to a 1484, but solid-state?
        1464 or 1465??? It looks a bit similar to the 1484 at first glance. At least this what I thought of when I read your post.
        https://www.google.ca/search?q=silve...gbv=1&tbm=isch
        When the going gets weird... The weird turn pro!

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        • #5
          I think you guys have nailed it. The 1464/65 is as much of a dead cosmetic ringer for the 1484 as you can get. So I imagine that's what it was. I honestly don't remember how powerful it was, largely because I never really turned it up all that much. I do remember it wasn't puny...but there are a lot of alternatives to "not puny".

          As for the Gibson, I have to say that the only thing in that Google image search (which I did as well, a while back) that seems to correspond exactly to what I had seems to be a Falcon. It was one channel of a single row of controls, on a slanted chassis top/front with a silver-grey finish. That said, the Gibson Starfire has the same style of grey tolex and knobs, 12" speaker, medium power, and single row of controls with reverb and tremolo. I remembered the top as silver-grey and the Starfire has what appears to be a black top. But everything else seems to check out, so I'm beginning to think that's what it was. And, given that I had to open it up and get inside to change the cap that was undermining the reverb tone, I would have noticed if it was tube or solild-state.

          So, I think we have a winner in the Starfire.

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