Alamo 2574 Reverb +

I have the solid state version which is a real short spring operated one. The panel has a mix ,contour and reverb knobs.The reverb knob is also the on and off switch (clock wise on-etc). There is no foot control input. It just has one input for your amp, one input for your guitar. No biggie, just turn the mix down and you have no more reverb. I won it on ebay for a $102.00 bid. Now the person that own it before me I suspect was just trying to get rid of it because it mush have sounded bad to him. So why? Because the dummy just screwed the tank right into the wood! Of course you will have uncontrollable feed back and heavy springy sounds with no "RUBBER FEET"!. He re tolexed it so it looked nice. I added the rubber feet to the reverb tank and presto ...problem solved. Now it's usable. But remember you have to adjust your treble on the amp too. Too much treble and to much high contour and reverb will make it feed back. So adjust it accordingly.
You can get the treble in your amp pretty high but you first must figure out the balance of the controls on the reverb tank and your amp. Once you get the hang of it you can find some pretty cool reverb choices from a slightly lite hall sound to all out cave dwelling reverbs. Surfs up with this thing.

Well - it's a reverb sound alright. Put all the knobs all the way up and your way back in that cave or some gigantic hall. It's too silly to use that much reverb but it's there if anyone should want to.
( remember to adjust your amps treble, less is better for this affect sound.) Also it better to put the unit on the ground next to your amp or on a milk crate. Placing it on top of your amp can affect the spring sound if you have an amp that really powerful and vibrates from loud playing. You really can find some very useful playable reverbs with this thing. Mark down your favorite settings. I was able to find at least 3 I liked. A mild one. A more wet one and a hall one that was not over exaggerated. For a solid state ? ...well it's not a Fender tube unit. But sound wise it sure doesn't suck. It has a descent quality to it. And for 102 dollars, what a bargain!

Well folks the Alamo company is dead but many of there products that are well over 30, 40 even 50 years + old are still working or just need some repairs and cleaning and there up and running. Like this reverb tank that's 30 years old...so what's that tell ya?

Remember the Alamo......

I play a lot of classic rock and blues. And this reverb unit can do a good job with a lot of those old songs that had reverb tones on the guitar. This thing can sound like pipeline or even get a rockabilly tone, not quite the slap back delay but a tone that will fit the rockabilly attitude. For you SRV lovers, it not a Fender tone but it will do a good job for you if you really can play Texas Flood. And if you can find one of these solid state units in good working order for cheap...buy it. At least you will have a reverb unit you can use at open mikes and leave your Fender or Guyatone units home for your real gigs.

*update to previous entry*
never could get the reverb to sound right, never found a schematic. i think the circuit was just weak, originally built around a profit margin. i stripped and modded the chassis, and built a fender 6g15 into it, minus the tone control. cosmetics are still stock, but a much better circuit lies within.

the sound: muy bueno. i never had the problem of too much reverb before but i saw her face, now i'm a believer.

sure- i built it.

www.alamoguitars.com cannot help you with vintage alamo gear. there really is no good internet resource for this stuff.

if you've got one and it works fine/ sounds good, enjoy. if not there are options- a total rebuild was the only option left for me.

This is a 1966/1967 stand alone reverb unit that has been upgraded; rotting electrolytic caps were replaced with new nichicon components and the single (!) diode rectifier was replaced. Tubes are one 12ax7 and a 6eu8 (pentode), both original and testing good. 2 spring hammond-style tank, single controls for volume and mix. Light tan grill cloth and "peppered" gray tolex. One input, one output, and a footswitch jack on the back. Easy to use, connects like any signal-level device between the instrument and amp.

Connected between my ibanez PRS knockoff and a 5f8a tweed twin clone the sound is decent with nothing else in the signal chain. Lots of noise comes through when the reverb signal is mixed in and poor shielding cause intermittant radio reception. Set totally dry the clean boost is exceptional. Various dry capacitors on the board are in the process of failing, literally crumbling off the board, so a more thorough overhaul will be needed soon. I'll try to update this post at that point, as this reverb would probably sound really nice once necessary maintenance is performed. Totally usable as is, though only a glimpse of what could be.

Now that the caps and recto are replaced (the two most common failures in a device of this vintage) reliablity has increased. Unlike other Alamo equipment, this seems to have a solid wood enclosure. I'd use this without a backup because if it died I'd just unplug it and play on. Strange folk that would pack it up if their doodad box quit. I'd need at least catastrophic amp meltdown to pry me loose. "Gigable", but nowhere close to "roadworthy".

Alamo went out of business in the early 1980s so customer service is gone. I couldn't find a schematic of this circuit ANYWHERE so if anyone browses this and wants to make a donation to my drawing collection please feel free. Other than that, draw what you see and find a good tube amp tech.

I play a wide variety of electrical music and a quality tube reverb unit is a classy addition to any setup. Many vintage amp companies made similar units and can be found for a fraction of the cost of the (ripoff) fender 6g15 reissue; in my experience they all sound better too. If lost or stolen I'm not sure I could find another.