Carlsbro 60 TC Twin

A wooden, leathered box with an ugly aluminium front (with an advertisement saying "75 watts twin channel amplifier").
As far as I know, it`s rather rare and a slightly modified 60 TC Twin
top/head amplifier with two seperate channels - first one for ampflification of "bass guitar" (so the manual says), the second for "guitar and organ". High and low sensitivity inputs on both.
First channel has pots for treble, bass and volume only and sounds rather dark and bassy without enough brilliance and higher mids for electric guitar.
Maybe that was what a bass guitar was supposed to sound like in 1974.
The second channel has additional controls for presence, limiter and "response", the latter shifting the crossover point of treble to bass, somewhat like a parametric eq. Quite useful!
The limiter control is meant to produce distortion without turning the amp up to the maximum, lowering the overall volume level at aproximately 50%.
Presence and limiter affect both channels.
No effect loop, no real master volume, two output jacks for the loudspeakers, one switch for impedance.
For a 30-year old amp, it offers quite a lot of features.

I play blues-based rock (Hendrix, Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and the Carlsbro is quite good for that on the second channel.
I play it through a 4x12 cab with 75-watts Celestions.
Generally it is a low-gain amplifier with a terrific clean sound up to high volume levels. Only when you turn it up to the max you get some moderate distortion which sounds quite good and warm, but it isn't enough for real lead playing.
I use various distortion/boost-devices as pre-amps to get some more overdrive and they all sound fine with it.
Of course it isn't versatile, but once you've got that one good sound you were looking for, you won`t care too much for versatility.
The amp responds quite sensitive to the guitar volume pot, so that I actually get clean, crunchy and also heavily distorted sounds using only a simple disto stomp box in front of it.
When I got it, it had the original preamp tubes and sounded rather quiet, after I had them replaced (4x Sovtek 12AX7WB), the amp now is about four times as loud as before and really shows its qualities:
Sparkling and dynamic clean sounds all the way, quite related to the better known Hiwatts or SoundCity amps.

I think the quality of the parts built in is not as good as with other brands (especially Hiwatt or Sound City).
I had to replace three pots, which are all made of plastic and look rather fragile, compared to the standard ones made of metal.
I had to resolder a lot of connections, especially at the capacitors.
One of them broke off the board during a car-transport, rendering the amp mute, fortunately I had a back-up with me to play the gig.
I guess the amp has never been carefully looked after before I got it and finally has become unreliable due to misuse.
Recently I worked it up, and last weekend I played it at a five-hours-concert without any probs.
I think from now on, I can rely on it.

Unbelivably good !
I sent an email to Carlsbro, asking for a wiring diagram.
Two days later it was in my mailbox, along with a manual - for free!
Great support !

Simple British amp from the 1970ies, obviously built as a copy of old Marshalls ("plexi"-style: four inputs to be cross-linked). Sounds sweet and dynamic. Quite easy to get a useful sound without fiddling around with the controls too long.
Not as loud as my 50-watts Laney of 1988, but loud and powerful enough for clubs.

The aluminium fronted version is the one we're talking about here. It has two seperate channels; one channel has volume, treble, middle and bass - the other channel has volume, treble, middle, bass and response. Both channels share limiter and presence. Each channel has two inputs; one high impedence and one low impedence. Thankfully there is no master volume! Response and limiter are the trump cards here. There are two versions of the aluminium fronted models. The early one is embossed with the silhouetted figure of a guitarist in front of a stack. The later version has the familiar Carlsbro Sound Equipment logo. There is no internal difference to these versions. Not a prerequisite feature available in those days it would have benefitted from channel switching.

I bought my first amp in 1974 when it was a brand new facelift 100TC - influenced by the fact that Bill Nelson used two of them. However I soon found that the 100TC was far too loud for any practical use outside of anything smaller than the Albert Hall so I progressed on to the much more versatile 60 TC that we speak of. This was a discarded pre facelift model at the back of a music shop in Doncaster. How they wished they'd charged me more than #30.00 when they heard what I could get out of it!
I have used loads of other amps along the way - Peavey, Orange, Fender, Hiwatt, Vox and the highly overrated Marshall - and none have come close to what these amps deliver. Guts! Not the underpowered copout, distortion/overdrive, just guts and bucket loads of it! Response high up and limiter at around 1/2 to 2/3 and the power delivered is sensational. A 60 TC will easily out gun any other 100 watt amp and will definitely take on a Hiwatt 200. I usually use a Gibson SG or Les Paul split leaded into both channels. This trick gives better tone allocation.
What's better than a 60 TC? Two of course! I now run two amps with a channel selector so that one is dedicated to lead guitar bursts whilst the other emits uncompromising rhythm. These amps will handle anything from Joan Bias to Twisted Sister and beyond. Think a woofer in tweeters' clothing.

Bear in mind the earlier amp has gigged to oblivion and back and the circuit board is not the most rugid of designs and you can appreciate it once blew a fuse because a supply capacitor became dislodged. Not to be deterred I removed the whole circuit board, drilled and brass nut and bolted every component hole then hard-wired each track before re-assembling the components and re fitting the board back to it's rightful place. The bomb-proof case would shatter before the amp would ever let me down again! If you are blessed with owning one do the same!

I recently contacted Carlsbro - the first time I have ever needed to - to ask them if it was possible to fit a studio output to the amps like the 100TC has. Within two days I received numerous circuit diagrams explaining how to convert it and how to set the grid bias properly etc. Nuff said!

Overall they're brutes! They do what they say on the tin - they amplify. If you want distortion, overdrive, scoop, whatever, add it with pedals. Let the amplifier do what its payed for. You should here the AC/DC tracks. Angus Young could only dream of such a sound!
It they were damaged or stolen and unreplaceable? I would build my own seeing as how Carlsbro are too stubborn to unleash a reissue into the world.

I bought mine in 1979. Its been run flat out, kicked around, dropped, left in a damp garage for years, brought in & kicked & abused some more. I used it to play in church last Sunday (They'd only ever seen me play acoustic before.) Brilliant, what a sound but it was bearly ticking over. Never gone wrong apart from the odd valve dying over the years. My clever dad added a master volume control many years back and also some sort of electric leak thing coz I nearly killed myself when I touched inside it when it wasn't even plugged in. My only critisism is the sound could be a bit dirtier. Very clean a LOUD!!

Humbuckers. Not noisy

Never needed any

A pre transistor all valve amp that is used to amplify and nothing else, and man does it amplify! I have a 2x12" 60 watt cabinet for it and if i turn it up more than half way not only does it kill your ears, smash your windows, and blow your roof off, the speakers also distort a little. I dont think this is 60w at all more like 100 at least! It has two channels, one clean and the other for lead (it has a little more grunt!). It has no built in gain but i use effects pedals anyway so it doesnt bother me. High and low inputs on each channel, 2 speaker outputs, and thats it. But what else do you need!

I use a Yam. Pacifica 112 with a boss ds-1 and the sound you get is amazing. The sound does distort at VERY high volume but only at very loud volumes. If you turn the bass up fully, you feel it, you turn the treble up you get a clean rich sound. You cant fault it on sound quality.
I also use it as a vocal amp when my band practices at the same time as a guitar amp and still have no problem, i even had two guitars and vocals in it once without so much as a wimper.

Completely dependable, ive used it at many gigs without any backup and never had any problems with it. Ive even used it as a bass amp once when pushed and it handled it a treat,

Ive had it about a year now and havent had ny problems, not even after it falling of the back seat of my car when a silly sod pulled in front of me which sent it flying onto the floor, i just picked it up, carried on driving and it played an 2 hour gig without a problem!

Never have done other than to get a copy of the original 1974 manual for the thing from carlsbro and they got that to me in 2 days!

I dont know what else to say. If you have the chance to buy one get it! Mine looks battered to hell on the outside, a previous owner had spilt something on it and a decade old stain stares at me everytime i use it. Then i switch the bugger on and looks no longer matter.

A model from sixties. This thing was built before transistors, and It won't include any effects. Anyone figured out what "top cut" means,(weird button) i think that it's broken. It's bit too loud for me (60+60 watts). It has 2 inputs, a Mono thing. Anyone seen Celestions 12" 30W loudspeaker elements?

I should have change it's tubes, but haven't done it yet. But even with old tubes it sounds GOOOD. Clean channel keeps itself clean over volume 9 , and starts then get bluesy distortion. I just would like to it have a reverb, but what you can do about it...

The tubes are over ten your old, so i would trust it in gig. It haven't never done anything nasty.

never had to use it

i would Definetly buy it again.