ELK Miyuki Elk Custom Amp 30

The other listing on here and drtube.com have been my only source of information for this amp.

Here is what http://www.drtube.com/guitamp.htm#Elk has to say:

"ELK was a Japanese manufacturer (Miyuki Ind. Co.) who started out in 1953 making amplifiers inspired by the Fender amplifiers of the day. The original brand name was ECHO. In the early 60s they started making pro quality guitars under the brand name of ELK and changed the brand name of the amplifiers to ELK as well. The brand probably stopped in the late 1970's."

I have the head and matching cab.
the head is just labeled "custom amp 30" while the cab has an "echo" tag on it, so I am going to assume that the amp is in the "echo" era, which places its birth somewhere between 1953 and the very early 60's.

I found the amp in a Salvation Army for $200, it looked like it hadn't been touched for 30 years.
I was in need of a new amp so I impulsively bought it.
when I got home and plugged it in, it played (quite noisily at that) for about 5 minutes and preceded to then crackle pop and then stop making sound.

This happened over and over, I took a look inside the head (being very oblivious of circuit theory) and poked around a little without very much headway. I then took it to a friend who is somewhat knowledgeable in circuitry, and he found several loose connections and messed with alot of different possibilities because we couldn't find schematics... about 3 weeks later just about ever connection was resaudered and the amp was in working condition.

back to features.....

my amplifier is exactly as stated in the review before mine.
it seems to be after inspecting that everything is original.

The day I got everything working and plugged my guitar in is still very vivid in my mind.

my jaw seriously dropped...the tone is completely impeccable!
so glassy smooth, with shimmering beautiful highs a really nice flat mids and a thick perfect lows.
After of a while of talking with friends trying to figure out a good comparison for tone, we've decided it's a hybrid between a 60's era vox and a 1950's Fender. I could go on and on, but I'll just leave it at this, This amp is amazing!

I feel hesitant to gig with it, but I do anyways...I just can't find anything else to come close to reproducing the tone i get from this.

Eventually I will probably invest in a really nice vintage Vox so that I can retire the Echo to the studio because this thing is essentially irreplaceable and I have no schematics or anything whatsoever for it.

Haha, customer service...wouldn't that be great!
Like said on the other review, find a good amp technician and stay with them.

The end result is:

This amp completely blows my mind!
I would, no questions asked, pay 10 times what I did for this amp.

1976 Elk Custom Amp 30, Made by Miyuki Ind, Co,. LTD, Made in Japan, could have been the Bluesmen secret amp of choice.

Styled in appearence to resemble the famed Fender Bluesman Blackface, was featured with a Foot Pedal which control the Vib and Reverb with connect by a RCA cable for operation. The six knob control line up starts with Volume control of the Reverb and main Volume, Tone section with Bass and Treble controls and Vibrato Section for Speed and Intensity.

The models made for export Ground and switch slide switch placed next the the rear mounted power switch. The protection for this amp was a simple 3A fuse. The Domestic Model came with a 100 Volt and 117 Volt selection switch.

With the Use of a tube lineup of 12AX7, 12AX7, 6AQ8, 7025, 6BQ5, 6BQ5 and 6CA4 (Tube Based 9A, 9A, 9AJ, 9A, 9CV, 9CV and 9M) the only problem that I could find is the lack of a tube order identification lables for proper placement of the nine pin tubes required for this baby to properly sing. One outlet from the amp head for the Amp Cabinet which houses twin ten inch 4 Ohm speakers. Of the two models that I have ever come across, the amps have been tubed with either a 6AQ8 or a 6BQ7A in the third position, wild guess for use with the reverb tank. Still looking for another owner to compare notes with.

Magic sound of the classic 50's tube sound that is so highly prized as the Clean glassy tone with a natural deep bass edge with allows for the deep rich sounds with the clarity in your attack that makes you play harder. The longer you play the better the tone and the gain seems to increase and the claririty does not fade. After about a half and hour or so the amp becomes this responsive to the slightest touch, bend, whin and moan, each scream gets more intense like making love and feeling its nails letting you know that now it ready to play.

Class act, a Bluesmans dream, Sounds best played clean. Overdrives of a Fuzzface just make it down right nasty, but each effect sounds like it holding back the actual tone qualities that this amp offers.

This amp is so rare and hard to find that I would reserve this one for studio application only. I have been looking for this amp since I played one in the Kadena Recreation Center in Okinawa japan while stationed there in the late seventies. They where hard to get in japan and I know this after being stationed there for a ten year period. My serious search began in 1985. No luck departed in 1989 with only a broken amp found in a local electronics disposal site which I boxed away for twenty plus years. No information schematics to indentify the missing components from that hollow shell. internet searches provided zero information.

Mazzotti Music in Brooklyn New York has been the only place that I have every seen one stateside and i found this one Online at their store and purchased it that next week. Stasha Claire was able to package and ship this item with professional results in a safe and timely manner. Big smiles to them. Big smiles.

The company went out of business years ago. Best to have one great Tube Amp Technician available because he will scratch his head for a second with no data to rely on, repairs use common sense and a good understanding of circuit theory and a great understanding of voltages at each stage.

There is talk about transformer failures from a weak or failing rectfier stage. We will see after the second hollow shell has been assembled and the tranny sent out to Mercury for a custom rebuild in the near future.

I have been playing since 1973 and own a lot of odd equipment. As my son has stated, This is the best sounding Amp in the whole house. We own ten amps in all. (Johnson, Gibson, Peavey)

The EL84/6BQ5 has a great tube sound that has been heard from Vox amps for years and this compares in quality to that era. I read somewhere that phase "Baby Marshall" which i agree applies. Good quality, hard to find. This sound like no other amp that you have heard before, Clean stong solid with a glassy edge that rings with each note.

Guitar used for test: Aria Pro II, TS400, Tri Sound Series. Japanese Guitar for a Japanese Amp.

(The Peavey Mace is now heading out the door to the Amp Tech to solve that poor circuit board to Tube socket connection.)(I may have him raise the board and hard wire the tubes point to point)(Franks TV repair in Panama City Florida)