Carlsbro Sidewinder

Made in England Nottingham, ( Rare i think )it`s a 60 watt all valve Twin Channel amp, it has 2 x EL34 and 1 x Ecc83 Valves in the power amp side and 4 x Ecc83 Valves in the preamp section although i think one is for the reverb ( 7 Valves ) made i think in the mid to late 1980`s. Controls are. Low input + High input, Gain ( which is a volume pot for the clean channel ) it is a pull - push pot to add Brightness. Pre Gain + Post Volume Gain ( for the distortion channel ) Bass- Middle- Treble- Presence- . Then a Reverb that has a volume and 2 x push switches + remote switch \ footswitch for the seperate channels- Master volume- Standby and ON.
All the Valves are upright so they don`t hang like convensional valve combos and they are very hard to get at as well, the amp splits in 2 parts, The Power section is seperate from the Preamp section. 4 x screws hold the facia pannel \ preamp section ( be careful when pulling out as you can damage the ECC83 valves as there is no headroom) also there are wires \ plugs attatched to the power amp section, a real pain ( carefull for electric shocks )these are short as well. the power section is 4 x screws that hold it in then pull out ( again the wires are short BE CAREFULL ) Don`t ask wich way round you do it as it is a problem both ways, ( mark the connectors before pulling them of the boards) If you need to change the preamp valves go front way ( Facia ) in, Power valves back way in.
Rear panel is :::a power fuse - 2 x Speaker outs 4 Ohms, - headPhones - D.I - line out - Return and send. there is a Ohms switch that gives you 4 - 8 - 16.
The Speaker is a 150 watt Celestion Sidewinder 8 ohms, great if you want to play loud because it can handle it.

The amp is very loud and what you would expect for a 60 watt Valve amp. The clean is where the amp sound is great, reminds me of a cross between a Fender and Peavey classic and leaning towards the American sound rather than British. The eq`s all work quite well good bass very good mids ( with a pull pot for more boost ) and the treble blows your socks off, in fact the amp can get rather bright and i play mine with the treble and presence about 2 and 4 pot levels, i also turn the middle off when i want that UK British sound. The clean volume which is marked ( Gain ? ) has a pull \ push option to give you more brightness, ( i think the designer must have had muffled hearing !!!! ) it also has a lot of head room and i don`t find it distorts when up loud it stays clean. The Distortion channel is footswitchable from the front, The pre-gain gives you the dirt, keep it low for good blues sounds and way up for rock, Don`t expect a Metal 80`s sounding amp but it does your 70`s rock ok. the post gain is the distortion volume but ( it has a push \ pull pot as well ) which smooths out the distortion and makes it less brittle and more American sounding, smooth when you add an overdrive pedal to it like a sturated tube sound. the good thing about this amp is that the clean and distortion channels have their own volume. The Reverb is just great and lush, very fender twin sounding. The Distortion channel when engaged with a distortion pedal can sound over the top and the notes no longer stay defined just mushy! back off the drive or get a good overdrive pedal if you want to create good solos. I use this amp in a rock`n`roll 50`s style band but have used it for blues too, i don`t use it for rock as i have my Marshall JCM 800 head for that and i have been back and forth buying amps over the years and i always come back to it.
The Sidewinder speaker is a great speaker and they are quite sort after but i think for this amp at low volume levels and small gigs it is too harsh and does not have enough bass for me, ( sounds great loud, or if you don`t mind perferated ear drums ) Whip that bugger out and out and put in a Vintage Celestion 30 in there!!! it transforms this amp into a great warm clean rock`n`roll \ blues amp, gives it another dimension with bass end thump.
Guitars i use is a vintage USA Strat and a Gibson flying v also an epihpone wildkat semi, the amp can do jazz well, beautiful cleans and blues, rock will need fiddling with the eq`s but you can get there.
It is the only one i have ever seen and i don`t know anyone who has ever owned one so i think they are extreemely rare.

Very reliable but I had the power Valve blow once and the fuse, pain in the arse when gigging don`t bother taking spare valves, Bring another amp as backup, takes about half hour to fit. the power valves are mounted to the circuitboard so be aware of overheating or damage to the tracks, also poor ventilation design for the power valves.

Good to contact Carlsbro uk, no problems.

Hi have been playing for over 30 years, had many hairstyles and fashion changes, amps guitars too, I am a vintage Marshall man for sound but i also like the Fender \ Mesa boogie too, i have never found 1 amp that can do everything great, they all have their unique sounds, my Favourite gigging amp at the moment is my ENGL Soverign 100 watt valve combo, it is good with clean \ overdrive \ rock \ and over the top distortion, a very reliable well balanced amp.
If this Carlsbbro Sidewinder amp could do a superb modern distortion \ solo it would be very versatile. But saying that it was built in the mid 1980`s and has a lot of features for it`s time and present, good sounds, Rare, heavy little valve amp.