Dean Markley Signature 60

Mine is an early 80's model, not sure of the orig mfr date. It's got beige vinyl skin and a black metal face with cylindrical knobs. Not a really pretty thing. Like the other guys have stated, it's a single-channel all-tube 60-watt head. Surprisingly, it has four resistance options for speaker output pairs in the rear, ranging from 2 ohms to 16 ohms. Mine does not have reverb. What it does have is active level and gain with 3 bands of EQ and a presence control. It has a 10-dB booster button next to the input jack. And (very cool) it also offers two voicing options via a rear-mounted rocker switch.

I usually put a Strat with Duncan Antiquity Texas Hots through this amp. I have also run my Les Paul Studio through it. Both axes can get limitless tones and levels of cheese out of this head. What you have to remember with older Markley tube amps is that the EQ is highly sensitive to even small tweaks, so a heavy knob hand will literally miss some great tone and distortion options. The snarl/bark that this amp gives my Strat is totally satisfying, with that legendary tube shimmer, and despite what some reviewers have said about this unit, you absolutely CAN get super-smooth distortion out of it without the help of a processor. You need to roll off the presence and push the treble up a little, noon the bass, and push the mid up, using the 10-dB booster and the #1 voicing position. The cabinet you use will also vary the sound greatly. I use a 2x12 Celestion cab running stereo (separate) 8-ohm speakers. If you use a 4x12 you will get a much throatier and bassier tone. This machine can give you anything from sensitive blues to biting rockabilly to shred-metal crunch and is capable of massive volumes for only 60 watts.

After twenty-odd years the tubes are only just now starting to hum. I have also found that the input jack has a rather bendable tongue contact and I have had to get in there and bend it back in a few times. But other that these simple issues the amp has been a solid workhorse and has never given me a major problem, even after a number of drops - once off the back of a truck.

I have never had to talk to Markley Tech Support.

I am a 32-year veteran player and a working musician. I have several great amps, but my Dean Markley Signature Series 60 is the only one that is totally irreplaceable. I don't think I could find another one, but I would try like hell. Of all the electronic patches and process options that are available to me today, none can match the original and incredible sounds that this amp can produce. If I had my druthers, it would have two channels and reverb, but it is still a jewel just as it is.

This amp was manufactured in 1984-1985. I am a Jack of All Trades/Master of None, rock, jazz and fusion, and this amp is a great, straight up tube amp. One channel only so no channel swithching obviously. I personally prefer two channels w/foot switch. There is an effects loop but I've not tried it yet. There is no headphone jack but who uses them anyway? I use this amp to play rock and it is unbekievably loud for just 60 watts. Active controls assure a myriad of tones.

Loud id the answer here. You can have it loud and crystal clean or a nice blues/rock crunch that has that familiar speaker fatigue distortion. So real. The distortion from this amp is not that hi-gain we all love to solo with so if you want that you will need a RAT or some other distortion unit. I use it with a 65 Reissue Stratocaster with Texas Special pick ups and an Ibanez Steve Via w/Humbuckers. Both guitars allow me plenty of tonal variety and combined with this amp I've as many tone choices as Eric Johnson! When you crank the Pre-amp the rig can get a litte noisy so a Hush might be the ticket.

I've not had this amp for very long but I have been playing/collecting as many Dean Markley Amplifiers as possible for the last 25 years so I know if your DM begins with a RM or a CD they are reliable.

Dean Markley has put me in touch with Terry Laul , the builder/designer of these amps so the customer support is great! Terry has been nothing short of amazing with his help and advise.Would Peavy or Marshall give you their guys home phone? NOT!

I've been playing for 29 years and I own a wack of gear but the only amps I will play through are the Dean Markleys for the 80's. I wish I could find something newer that satisfies but I've not found it yet. If any of my DM's ere stolen I would take out a contract on the poor loser.I only buy DM. Thank god for eBay! The reason I chose this one is I did not have one! I have several RM-40-DR's, RM-40-SR's, RM-80-DR and SR's, RM-100-MT and Preamp-DR so I really love Dean Markley Amplifiers. The only thing I could compare this amp to is a Marshall with the difference being the DM has tones of tone where the Marshall has one. The DM Signature Series 60 will absolutely bury the Marshall hands down!

I am really not sure when this amp was made, though I suspect that it was in the early 80's. It seems like it is a pretty rare amp to find these days and I bought it from a guy who only had it for a year. The features are not that many and they are pretty well described by the previous posts. One channel tube amp with reverb to sum it up. Mine came with Mesa power tubes.

I run 3 different guitars through it: an ESP 400 series "lawsuit" strat with Van Zandt (neck and middle blues, bridge rock), an ESP LTD LP copy, and a Squier Jason Ellis with a Seymour Duncan Cool Rails in the neck. I primarily use this rig as a practice rig, as it can run pretty quietly compared to my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I run my BOSS GT6 through it and it gets a pretty decent tone. The sound is quite warm though it lacks a bottom end. With HBs, you can drive it over the edge quite a bit and get a bit of the more nasally Marshall OD. Not a heavy metal amp but then again it wasn't meant to be. Turning up the preamp halfway with the mid scooped and medium high treble with full bass will garner you a pretty nice warm bluesy tone, which is what I use it for. Use a OD box to push it and you'd get a pretty nice blues breakup. I run a Line 6 1x12 cab with it (hey, it was cheap!) and it sounds pretty decent. I'm sure if it had a nicer cab, it would sound better.

I've only had it for a month but if has made it this far, it can't be that bad can it?

Never dealt with them, though read previous posts for more info.

Would I buy it again. Jeez, probably not. I bought this right before I spotted my Hot Rod Deluxe in the classifieds. But hey, what the hell.

Made in Santa Clara, CA USA! This is an all tube 60 Watt Head with reverb! It has a Cream Tolex Cabinet, metal chassis, 2 6L6 power tubes,3 preamp tubes, 4/8/16 Ohm Speaker Out, Effects Loop/Power Amp In, Reverb Footswitch, Fuse,AC Outlet. The front controls are +15 dB switch,PreAmp,Master,Bass,MidRange,Treble,Presence,Reverb, Ground Switch,StandbySwitch,PowerSwitch. There is a Voicing Switch on the rear panel. It has some Hand-wiring and some parts are on a Printed circuit.

Using Fernandes Strat copy and DOD FX55-b fuzz (for preamp) to make it sound like Marshall, (I think professional Metallica sounds are attainable with preamp)It has a bAdass reverb sound. My Transformer is dying so I can't judge how loud.

I would think its dependable, my Transformer is going out, but I've been using it for about 8 months. It just puts out 10 Watts ;)
I think its been neglected

Call Dean Markley at 1-800-800-1008!!!!
They will put you in touch with Kaman Music 1-800-813-1634 ext 333 or
Mr. Terry Laul, I won't post his phone# on the Internet, ask Dean Markley for it. He will sell you the Schematic for $5US, or two Transformers for $100US.

Mr Laul built my Amplifier. He rates the power output at 44 Watts RMS
with the Older Transformer. He says the new tranny is louder, and better.

This is my first tube amp in 7 years. I love tube amps! I've played thru a Mitchell Pro 100/112 EVM (it broke down cause of PC board issues),MesaBoogie Mk3/Simulclass/EQ(Close to perfection,except for just having 1 12" celestion), small Silvertone (cutest clean/brown sound)with 1 power tube. it broke down and mom threw it out!
The Dean Markley SS60 has good Potential and cheap!!
It just has 2 Preamp tubes 1 Reverb Tube.2 6L6 Tubes
there is hope for me yet .

Bought it used and paid $190 It's Mid 1980's all tube rack mount 4 space head. One channel with a 15dbl boost button, 3 band EQ, reverb. Effects loop, 3 outputs 4ohm, 8ohm, 16ohm, aux power switch for other rack effects, voice switch. 3 12AX7 tubes (1 for reverb) and 2 6L6 tubes

I love this amp for it's warmth, it's like maple syrup on a Sunday morning on a stack of pancakes. Simply stated, it's a sweet amp both clean and driven. I play guitars with humbuckers, Gibson, Music Man and an occassional single coil strat type of set up (the boost switch helps the single coils get more drive). Clean sounds are warm and really pulls in the dynamics of the guitar. Great for an acoustic guitar too. The boost button gives it an edge and when you hammer on the strings you get a bit of grit at low to mid gain. When you crank up the gain on this and hit the boost button, you get the warmest overdrive I've heard, short of a mesa boogie (your tubes will have a great effect on this as in most tube amps). I'm using old Sylvania tubes in this and it's SWEET! This is not a metal amp and does not have the "harsh" sound of a Marshall. But if you are looking for warm blues tones both clean and driven and want a AC/DC, ZZ Top and even the "Brown Sound" of Van Halen, you can get it this from this amp, but no "Heavy" Metal, it just does not pump up that high. It sounds best through a 4X12 cabinet and really "breaths". An old Marshall 4X10 cabinet gives it nice bite. But as for a 2X12 cabinet, it's OK clean, but does not breath very well or open up. It's like a living animal and depending upon tubes and cabinet configurations can give you different tonal qualities and response. Overall, it's full of TONE!!!

I bought it used and the guy at the store replaced all the preamp and reverb tubes for me and still sold it to me for the listed price of $190. (Thanks Mr. Guitar Store Man!!!) So I got $30 worth of freebies. Once we tuned it up, he did not want to sell it, but cash talked. I have never had a problem other than a little noise in the reverb when you turn the knob, but he gave me a junk tube and a quality tube soon fixed that. Other than that no problems. It's built like a tank as were most 80's tube amps of high quality. I've moved around the world with it and it's still rockin. I mainly use it as a studio amp and small gigs. It's always been there for me.

Dean Markley is out of service as far as their old amps go, but I owned a RM 40 combo and the thing never gave me a problem, so I've never had to contact the Company. I wish they would bring back these amps, especially their tube combos.

If not for it being a single channel amp, I'd give it a 10. It gives me the sound that I want, but I wish I could switch from clean to overdrive with a switch. You have to turn the gain knob and tweak things around between songs, so for speedy changes, it's lacking. But for studio work and small "quick" gigs it's a great amp, I always get compliments on the TONE! I've played guitar for 25 years. My first amp was Dean Markley combo and I made the mistake of selling when I needed fast cash. I bought signature 60 because I wanted the warmth back and could not find anything else,combo tube, half-stack or otherwise that gave me that tone. I've played through Fenders and Marshalls and could never get the "signature" tone of this amp. So the name of it sticks. Currently I own this amp and a Peavey 5150 combo. Clean channel blows away the clean on the 5150. It has the "Brown Sound" on the overdrive, but not quite over the top as the 5150. So between the two of them, I have a good mix of amps. Yes, I would buy this amp (and any old Dean Markley tube amp for that matter)again. I'm always on the search for for anything old Dean Markley with "Tan" colored tolex!!!

I bought this amp around 1985 I was in a high school playing mostly classic rock. I bought it as a piggy back head and used it w/ a 200 watt 2x12 peavey cabinet w/ scorpion speakers. It can be put into a rack system but the wooden encloser it fits into is real nice w/ a nice handle on top. The amp isn't really that versatile but if your playing blues its fine. It is one channel. It sounds good clean but better when being overdriven. The tone controls: bass,treble,midrange,presence are pretty responsive and the reverb sounds good. There is a Db botton on the front it lowers the volume by I think 15 Db's. If you have it in the out position the reverb soars when playing lowd. This is cool! It also has a voicing switch on the back panel. You can get warm blues sounds in the down position or crispier in the upper position. It has an effects loop yea I use it it works fine. The speaker outputs I'm not really sure what the creator was thinking here 2x4ohm, 2x8ohm, 2x16ohm, weird? I just use one of the 4 ohm jacks. I think I paid around $300. new in 1985. I've changed the tubes a few times and once I replaced a part on the inside I think it was a pot. It has a plug for a fan on the inside of the amp where the power tubes sit.

I have a strat w/ fender lace sensor pickups. I use red in the neck gold in the middle and a Seymore Duncon Stack pickup in the lead W/ a pull tone control to get the single coil sound. It's great for blues. The clean is never sparkling like a fender amp. The maker didn't have this in mind. The ditortion is cool not for metal though. Play it through a 15" speaker and you'll get a whole other world of sound w/ tons of bottom end.

I had it 16 years and it broke once and it was because of mistreatment. I banged it on something while carrying it.

Never used them for anything.

I've been playing for about 20 years. I have a Mesa Mark IV now and it rules all other amps as far as I'm concerned! If something happened to my DeanMarkley I'd wouldn't buy it again. It's a good blues amp decent sound It's unique in its own way.

This is a 4 or 5 rackspace high head, single channel, with reverb, effects loop, and preamp voicing switch. It has a master volume, bass, mid, treble, and presence controls, and reverb control. I play blues and rock, and this amp is most suited to blues. It doesn't get a good "modern" high gain sound but it does get a good blues sound, especially on the neck PU of my strat. This is mainly a practice amp for me. It would probably put out 60 watts with a set of NOS 6L6 tubes, but it has Sovtek 5881s and probably puts out around 50. It has plenty of power and sounds better cranked a little bit. It is all tube with a 3 x 12AX7s and two 6L6s and has solid state rectification. Also there is a +15 dB boost on the front that is nice to kick in on the OD settings. One thing I intentionally don't use is the multiple speaker outs on the back. There are two for each impedence rating: 4, 8, and 16 ohms equalling 6 outs all together. I don't know if they are connected in series or parallel, but I only use the one anyway.

It is a great blues amp, but needs a little external boost to get it to go over the top for modern high gain sounds. The amp is a little noisy on the clean settings when the the Master is cranked high and the preamp is low. The main sounds it does is an excellent "spongey" clean sound and a mildly distorted medium gain sound. It wouldn't make a good metal amp. The clean does distort a little at high volumes, but is pretty clean at lower volumes. The distortion is not brutal at all. It is fat and warm and tubey.

I would not want to depend on this amp. The power and output trannies had been replaced before I got it. This was a rumor that I heard about Dean Markley amps, the trannies blew very easily. In fact it did not work when I got it. I had to pump some money into it to get it to work right.

Dean Markley tube amps are out of production. I don't have any info on them

No I would not buy it again. I got a bum deal on it. I like the bluesy clean and OD sounds, but I hate the fact that I had to put 163 in repairs to make it work. I had heard Markleys before and I thought they had sounded good, but this was a bad buy. I wish it wasn't a rackmount head. It's not a bad amp, but I wouldn't buy one unless it was real cheap.