Alamo Capri

Its old and was made in San Antonio,TX. It has two channels and tone and volume knobs.I have it at home as a practice amp.

It sounds great only has clean its supposed to be 40 watts but sounds like it has less.When i put the overdrive pedal it sounds superloud. It is good for playing any kind of music and it dosent rattle at all but wish it would be loudder.

it has not had any problems and everything in is original.

I think they whent broke or something.

I've been playing for 3 years ,I own a Marshall amp (wich is way better) and a Ephiphone Speciall 2 ellectric guitar.
IF i lost it or if it got stolrn i would buy it again if i could find one because it sounds great and has a cheap price.

This was first amp I purchase used for $25.00 along with Japan made guitar. That was back in 1977. I put it away for few years and brought out of retirement in bedroom at my parents house in 1999. I put a fender speaker in it and had new tubes put in it at local T.V. repair shop. I have been using it for small gigs since 2001 playing with my band which includes my two sons. The sound is great for a smaller amp and the natural destortion is great.

Fred, Floyd and the Unemployed

The sound is again great for a small amp.

Has never not turned for me since I took it out of retirement.

Never need for it.

Have always been happy with it.

Real basic,no bullshit amp here..late 60s 3 tiny tubes,2 small transformers..3 inputs that all sound the same,no verb..tremolo or any other clutter...5 watts all American amp,,,homely but loveable!!

hmmm...well,,this amp is a winner flat out across the board,,playing a Strat through this cranked,,think Clapton early days...similiar to a Fender champ..with a little less sparkle and treble,,but with nice tone..now....with a Les Paul..hehe different animal..think Led Zeps first album,,and AC DC crank it up!!!

well the damn thing is as old as I am and still works and is in better shape than me!! hehe..its so basic I love it really,,3 simple tubes hand wired soldered,simple is good!!! very good!!

what support??? the company is long gone....who cares I like this amp!!

bought this from some good people..Parkway music in Clifton Park Ny,,have been swapping stuff with them over the past few years,,they dont bullshit anyone and they actually give a damn!!I dont get paid or get any bonus from saying this,but they deserve all the good fortune this new year can bring!! this amp makes me smile from ear to ear,,to hell with spending more money on fancy amps and all that jazz,,blues is simple but sometimes complicated also and this amp and me are gonna nail it!!I rate this amp a solid 10,,for tone tone tone!!

Same as previously mentioned..volume and tone, about 5 watts, radio -tubes. I run it through an external 1-10" closed back cab with a fairly generic but decent sounding speaker. I play a squier supersonic w/ 2 hums through it.

I was quite surprised by the quality of the sound, it breaks up nicely to give a warm overdrive. If you want clean, it's not going to give you Fender shimmer or anything, but for bluesy overdrive this is a great amp. Not too versatile, but very good for a specific purpose.

I've been playing it at practices and in my apartment for 2 years now, it's very reliable...hell, what is there to break down, it's so simple.

Alamo has long since fallen by the side

I bought this amp as a $20 yard sale special that I bought with a blown speaker, I can't be much more satisfied. I've never actually heard the original speaker, but I would imagine it'd be worthwhile to run this little amp through a decent speaker setup to bring out it's full value.

Old small tube amp made in Texas 40 or 50 years ago. Two knobs, one for volume and one for tone. 3 input jacks with no discernable difference in tone. One small 8" or 10" speaker. I would estimate output at no more than 5 watts. Very compact and lightweight, and looks cool, too!

Great home practice amp if you want power tube compression and overdrive at low volume. It is not very versatile in the tones available but you can get that tube sound anytime you want because it's not too loud. I used to play it at full volume late at night in the kitchen & not disturb anyone else in the house, in a small house!

Never had any trouble with it, does what it does with no problems.

The Alamo company has been out of business for a long time.

it's noisy, like all old tube amps with ungrounded cords, but it's tube tone at low volume more than makes up for it. For home practicing or home studio use this would be all most folks would need.

I just bought an Alamo Capri, plan it for use at the house, small gigs, and probably mic through a p.a. in a larger venue. It's some beat up and had cobwebs inside, but no mud dauber or paper wasp nests inside. I think the speaker is original, i has an alamo sticker on it. I like simplicity, and this one is just that- has a volume and a tone knob and that's all. It's also light, which i like a lot- ever dragged a bassman or a classic 50 up a flight of stairs or out a catwalk to a floating restaurant?? I have used a tremolo amp for many years which, unfortunately, had to go to pawn last year. I would like the warmth a tremolo provides, in a package this small. The tubes i have not identified past that they are 2 rca's and 1 ge.

This is being used as a harp amp. With something this small i expect the volume to be up all the way most of the time, and the tone will probably vary once i learn more about it. So far i have played it a short time here at the house, i am taking it out to a jam tonight. There is no hum at idle and feedback hasn't been a prob- but we'll see when i get it out next to some other amps and a p.a. It gets a 8 so far sound-wise. it is fairly full and warm, breaks a little bit when i get wailin on a harp.

No idea about dependability but it has been around a lot of years, and friends in the past who have used Alamo's had no complaints. I will still wait and see.

No idea here....

I been harpin for about 25 years. Have owned several different amps, currently this is my only amp. I am using a vintage E-V mic with it. If this one were lost, i'd try a bigger model Alamo i think, 2-10"s or even 2-12"s, and maybe tremolo or reverb if available. It does have good tone and is simple which i love- too many knobs mean major feedback for a harper like me. Dislikes- well, i don't have any yet but of course i'd like it to have a bigger sound. I will mic to the p.a. when the occasion warrants though. It gets an 8 overall, for tone, portability, and simplicity.
Any info on wattage, replacement tubes, etc. would be appreciated.

I don't know when this amp was made. I'm using the Capri category because the descriptions best match what I have. It is an Alamo and it is much the same as the other reviews here. It uses radio tubes 50C5, 35W4, and 12AU6. It has a volume and a tone/on/off switch with three instrument inputs. It doesn't have anything else, but like the other Alamo amps in this section....it has excellent quality sound. It has exactly the power you would expect for an amp this small. I use it in the house for recording and on the front porch for just jammin with friends and I have been told to turn it down many times.
I purchased it from a guy on e-bay who replaced all the weak caps, the tubes, and made sure all the joints were solid. I replaced the two wire cord with a grounded one and changed out the old light magnet speaker with one from a crate GX-15. I suspect that with a good speaker it would even be better). If I were to have anything added, I guess it would be a line out and a headphone jack. If i wanted it to have two channels and all that, I suppose I wouldn't have bought it.

The amp has very little noise for an old tube amp. I plugged in an Epiphone Sheriton hollowbody straight and with the amp volume and tone in the middle it produces very clean jazzy lows and highs at a volume that carries very well alongside an upright piano and trap set (brushes, of course). Kick all the volumes to max and single out the aft humbucker and you get what you hope for.....it will break up nicely and the sustain is wonderful. I wouldn't say it has real large distortion, but it's enough. Put a tube screamer in front and it just plain sounds bad ass. I am blues oriented and it transitions from clean to broken pretty nice indeed. The tube screamer will steal your clean away, of course, but it has excellent low end and if you wanna rock, it does pretty well miked through a PA, thank you. I traveled through a full set with it at a high school do in that config and we did all the latest drop-D down and dirties like Staind, Creed, and Nickelback and I was very happy with its tone.

It isn't the amp you want for gigs, of course. Not even worth answering that question. I did use it through a huge Mackie PA and it sounded excellent, but it wasn't my PA and the sound guy isn't in my employ, heh heh. I haven't had it for more than 5 months, so I can't say how dependable it would be if I was really using the hell out of it. It is; however, probably 30 years old and it still works great, so for that I will give it an 8. I would use it for low key gigs, i.e. coffee houses and parties with a suitable PA to keep the drums where they belong, no problem. But it's a practice amp, so...well, there it is.

N/A...I don't even think Alamo exsists anymore, so that is all mute.

I've been tripping over, knocking over, and playing with guitars all my life. I'm no Chet Atkins or Roy Buchannon, but I fake it pretty good. I bought a Peavy Bandit a few years ago (did I mention I was married?) and it has served me well enough for an all around amplifier. My Epiphone and my Aria-Pro are all that I have ever owned, apart from whatever toys I can get my hands on. If this amp was stolen I would be royally pissed and I would immediately start shopping for another. I love it's simplicity. I hate that it isn't a VOX AC30. I wish it did have a line out and possibly a reverb, but if you see the thing you wouldn't expect much either. I guess, for 129.00 you might be able to scam a better deal on e-bay for a Silvertone or even a Gibson tube amp....and you could even buy one of those Pignose amps for jammin in the woods, but I think it was great deal. I took the nasty old vinyl off, sanded it and stained the wood a deep redish color and I would be glad to sell it for like twice what I paid.

This is my second response. I left out that it doesn't have reverb or tremolo, which is a real drag. Lacking these features keeps the price down I imagine. I have been searching for a good outboard reverb for this amp.

This amplifier sounds good with the volume turned up. At low volume, best have a good overdrive/pre-amp in front.

Well it only has 2 knobs, but I like that. Keeps things simple. There's a tone/on knob and volume knob, which is invariably at 10, maybe 11! Not sure, no numbers. I really like that it is tall and light. It has three instrument inputs, which is kind of odd for a little amp like this. I think its kind of cute. This amp is estimated at 30 years old. I have a feeling at the time it was pretty shabby in comparison to the Fenders, etc.

I use a humbucking pickup mainly. It is very quiet in this position. I play Sonic Youth style, distortion on and off. A little overdrive in front of this baby, and you've got a rich wall of sound. At any good volume, the "clean channel" is crunchy and bright, sounds excellent. I do wish it was louder.

No idea about this, I know the company is long out of business. I imagine it is going to be solid due to its simplicity. Somehow I stumbled upon mine in MINT condition with original box.

hah, funny.

I've been playing for about 10 years. I'm very happy I found this amplifier. I shopped around for other small vintage tube amps at a good price, this one was just too sweet. I wish it was louder, but I like the fact that you can max it out without bugging everyone in the building. It replaced a great Fender Blues Deville 4x10, which was virtually useless for me when not playing out-- it never got over 1.

This is a followup review...
My Capri was made in 1967. It comes with "radio tubes" (50C5, 35W4, and 12AU6). "Radio tube" amps are typically transformerless and have a tendency to shock persons playing through them, who are protected by only the integrity of the "death cap(acitor)".
My Capri has a power transfomer and - thankfully - no "death cap". All elctronics - cap, transformers, and pots date to 1967 as does the original 10" CTS speaker (that still has the "made for Alamo" sticker on it).
The volume control is stacked atop the tone control and there is a separate volume control. No reverb or tremelo.
This is a very simple amp meant for one thing and one thing only - tube overdrive. The amp puts out about 5 or 6 watts which lets me get "stack-like" overdrive at a tolerable volume. Even on "10" it is too loud for my wife, kids, and gerbil though it sounds A-Ok to me :)
This amp is for practice and small jams. It weighs about 10 pounds with the original 10" speaker (very small magnet), yet it sounds like a mini-stack.
I still give it a "1" for it's GREAt simplicity.

I am using the Alamo with a dual humbucker Aria TA-62 (ES-335 copy). As I said, the alamo is a R&R or blues amp, not jazz or country. It breaks up too easily (which is godd for R&R).
Idling, there is some hum. I had the 4 filter capacitors changed as well as the tubes and put in a new Weber speaker, but i still hums some. You can't hear it when playing though - even at low volume.
The compression on this thing is unreal. With the new Weber speaker it sounds like a stack. It is really unbelievable.
It does not have 'verb so I usually put my Zoom 505 in front of it, but it needs NO overdrive pedal. in fact, an OD pedal robs the tone.
On 10, the amp is PERFECT for Lynyrd Skynryd and Molly Hatchet!!!

This category does not apply to this amp as it is a hand-wired, point-to-point tube amp that is serviceable by any competent tech.
I paid $115 to have the caps replaced, a chassis mounted fuse added, the 2 prong cord rpelaced with a 3 pronger, and the tubes replaced.
The amp tech there were no other problems and that the amp was typical inside - no bad surprises.

N/A

This amp is a great value. You can't buy amps like this anymore. the compression is so full and rich that you feel like you're playing through a stack.
The original CTS speaker is like new, but the new WeberVST C10Q gives the tone more girdth and makes it sound bigger!!!
You can pick up these Alamo amps on EBAy for cheap ($50-$80), but you'll pay $200 to get it working like it should.