Epiphone Electar Tube 10

It has nice features for a little tube amp.
Gain, Volume, Treble, Middle, Base, along with a standby switch.
Wish it had been and 8 ohm speaker/output and a headphone jack
would be nice too.

Sound quality is pretty good but not great, the speaker
appears to be inefficient. Max Volume was not Max. But
bought this Amp because I wanted to tweak it out. I pretty
much did all the changes I could. Replaced the speaker with
a Jensen C8R, which just fits. Replaced the Tubes with Grove
tubes. Did the suggested wiring modes and replaced the burned
out Power Lamp. This amp is very easy to work on, comes apart
and reassembles nice. Now it sounds great. Even if this amp
isn't tweaked it just a practice amp and well worth the money.

It's Build like a brick

Only been playing for 4 years, still take lessons. I have a Custom
Stat, Washburn Nuno N4, Hamer semi-hollow body and a Samick Jumbo.
My amps are a Roland Cube 30, and this one. I've owned this for about
a year. If I see another one for sale locally at a good price, I'll buy
it. The features for the price point make this amp a standout. My only
complaints are no headphone jack and they don't make them anymore. The
only other small all tube amp I would consider for the money is the
Peavey Valve King Royal 8 everything else is over priced and over rated,
and I've tried them all.

For a small tube amp it has everything i could expect,the only thing that i wish it had was reverb,i would have gladly paid twice what i did for real spring reverb.
On an amp this small i was glad it at least had a gain knob,plus a mid knob.For the money i would have bought it without either

By itself it sounds good enough for practice and if blues is your thing you are set right out of the box.The speaker is lacking though but through a 4x12 it roars.Alot of people state they use a 1x12 or 2x12 or even a 10 inch,dont play around,just plug it into the same 4x12 as if it were a 50 or 100 marshal and it will push it.Analog effects make it really come to life and a tube screamer will really make you look twice at what you paid for it.I am giving it a 10 based on using a 4x12 an 8 for right out of the box

ive had this amp for 8 years and never a problem,the only thing i did to it was to put a new tubes in it,electroharmonics high gain pre and groove tube 6l6.I have had many tube amps melt down since i had this little beast and believe me i have pushed this one harder than all of the others.

This thing is now my main recording amp,on 10 it will rattle the walls but to get the tone i like a sure sm57 through a tube mic box with a tube screamer is it.You will swear the recorded sound came from a wall of stacks running at meltdown.For giging i have just got another tube 10 and use them in stereo with a 4x12 each,awesome.Any guitar i have plugged into it sounds great,turning the eq knobs really dials in the guitars tone.I guess the bottom line is this,anyone who wrote a bad review about this thing,email me at captnpolska@zoominternet.net,i will gladly take it off of your hands,i would fill a spare room with them if i could find enough and try different mods on them all.Every singl day of my life as i have my morning coffee i log onto e bay and type electar tube 10,you wont find many,in fact you will find more people trying to get out from under a princton.

Update!

You can use EL34 instead of 6L6.
No modification is needed.
Just replace 6L6 with EL34. Period.

Why do I replace it? It is because
the EQ circuit of Electar 10 is from
Marshall circuit. EL34 will make your amp
more Marshall-like sound. Moreover, it
will give more power. I think it is more
than 15W.

However, there are three minor problems.

The bias setting is not perfect. However, it is ok.
Don't worry. The amp will not explode.
You will forget 6L6.

(|It was measured 410V in the plate, and 30V
(470 ohms) in the cathode with EL34.|)

Another one is heater voltage. 6L6 needs
6.3V-0.9A, but EL34 needs 6.3V-1.5A.
it was measured 5.9V with EL34.(6.3V is normal.)The power
transformer does not support more than 1.5A, I guess.
5.9V is not bad. Some guitarists like to drop heater
voltage in order to make more dirty tone.

The third is hum. It seems to be resulted from lowered
heater voltage. However, I do not feel disturbed by the hum.
It is very small amount of hum.

Someday, I will add 6.3V transformer to Electar 10.
I can examine some space between power tube socket
and voltage selecter. (You may find it in Radioshack.)
And I will test 6550

I am the guy who posted in 08/21/2005 17:26.
Some people have asked more information.

@Larger speaker (10-inch): MOD 10 is used. However, don't do it. Do Mod 8. I carved cabinet in order to install it. Mod 10 is too tall for electar 10. (But, Now, I have much more bass.)

@Bigger transformer: Hammond 125CSE. (I did not use electric drill but nail and hammer to make hole for new bolts.)

@Better capacitors: Wima MKP10 grade. Tantalum Capacitor for bypass.

@Removing R5: You can see what it is if you open back panel. Numbers are marked on the pcb surface.

If you are afraid of hacking the amp. Do two things.

First, remove R5 (just cut the lead), then feel what's going on.

Second change speaker. After you remove R5, you will find original speaker cannot hold tone.

You will find Electar 10 becomes a cying little beast. It runs more versatile from clean to rock.

ps@When you replace speaker, remember it works in 4ohm.

Basic No frills class A amp, with 3band eq, gain, volume, pre-amp out.

Very sturdy build, with tube cage protection.

For a basic tube amp (class A!) the features are what you expect.

Sounds excellent. Depending upon the pickups you will want to dial in master and gain from 3 to 8, then turn down the volume on your guitar to get that nice class A compressed tone. For weaker pickups or for a nice overdrive tone, just add a pedal (of choice). A little boost to the front-end, provides a natural tube overdrive in excess of the nice overdrive tones available with the amp alone. Some may find the use of a boost pedal unnecessary, as I do. All the breakup I need can come from adjusting the gain and master controle.

The amp sounds GREAT (not good, but excellent) with an external cab (1x12, 4x12, or 2x12). And it is much louder with external high grade speaker cabs. This is where the amp tone controls (and guitar volume control) are really noticible (and necessary to get the sound you are looking for). Some cabs can have too much base or treble, and the 3 band eq helps with this.

I depend on this amp for stand-alone practice and for rehersal and gigging.

This amp is the most solid little combo / head I have seen on the market. Well, if you take care of any combo and don't throw it around it will be more reliable.

Never needed it.

I own a few amps, and I like to play and reherse with this one as it really brings out the tone of any guitar nicely.

No longer available new, you will find them used from several sources, for example, ebay and http://guitar-gear-for-sale.blogspot.com/

Just make sure you get one that isn't all beat up. These amps are built well, but why buy one that has been rusting away and might have corrosion problems due to basement or garage storage?

Master Vol, Pre-Volume, 3-EQs, STBY SW, Preamp-out, Speaker Extension (Original speaker off when extension works).....Well, this small amp has a lot of features!

Well, althoguht it uses 6L6GC in around 420V, its sound is neither hot nor loud. If you are going to use this amp for practice, it is ok. However, who the hack gonna use 10W tube just for practice? 1

I found that this amp has some problems in parts. The 8-inch Speaker is really sucks! The output transformer is as small as my thumbnail. It is not enough to push 10W power.

So, that's the reason why I modified it. I did five parts: larger speaker (10-inch), bigger transformer, better capacitors, removing R5 (for more gain), NOS tubes.

It is well built with strong cabinet. The wiring seems to be very firm. Man, this small amp is really built. I really want to thank to its manufacturer.

I have never contacted.......

Well, the modified Electar 10 sounds monsterous tone. It is easy to break up. I play it with small and cheap digitech multi-effector (RP80).

single-end 2-tube amp with 8" speaker. No effects, nothing but a line out for other speakers. I use this for recording...but it's a catch 22 amp...too loud for small sound, not loud enough for big sounds. I have repaced almost everything in this amp and now it sounds very good...and the replacement parts/work still come in under $150 bucks for everything!

Im running a strat clone with black velevet bridge and duckbucker neck position pickups...in trying to recapture my old princeton sounds, this has come closest. The Electar was taken apart and rebuilt with some orange drop cap.s, a new weber ceramic non-ribbed cone, a mullard and RCA old tube, and I built a 5ply birch cabinet (open) which basically led to a completely different amp in the end. BUT, all very easy (im no electrical expert) and inexpensive to do, and the end result is a very sweet and reliable amp! I now keep treble around 3, mid from nothing to 4 and bass almost all the way up! 11! It seems to truly sound like a baby bassman with a few princetoon trebly sounds at times. Good for almost all except heavy/distorted music styles (unless using a distortion pedal...then it's ...ok) My style is more sick bees than slick new stuff so this amp is perfect...a little champ on roids maybe!

Oh so very reliable. BUT MOST of the schematic pages for this MOD have been taken off the net, though there are still one or two...., get'em while you can! IF ANYONE has a MOD for this as a 2 speaker cabinet (what Im doing with next electar) please contact me martinomron@hotmail.com

Is there ever a good customer support for any non-custom music stuff? Let me know!

A great deal for reliablity, you could probably get a better sounding airline or old kay amp on ebay but how long would it last if it has not been tinkered correctly with? Get this, build it right and it should last for (ever?) more than 20 years or till the transformers blow/leak/disintegrate...a BONUS IS when the webers break in and come into their own, the sound just gets better.

Maybe 5 watts? (it's not as loud as my 1966 5-watt Silvertone tube amp though). Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume. Two tubes (couldn't tell what kind). Tubes were encaged in... well, a cage. Speaker out and preamp out. No reverb.

I play in a live band using Mesa Rectifiers and Les Pauls. I have Fender guitars that I like to kick back on jazz and blues with, so I tried this amp in the store. I tried a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, and two Ampegs: a J12T 15-watter with a single tone control and tremolo, and a SJ12R which is a 50-watter with full tone controls and reverb. There was something I didn't like about the tone of each of those. My opinion is that, although this Electar is not necessarily a better amp, it has the most rounded tone out of the bunch. The other amps were either too bright, too dark, too big and heavy, etc. This little electar is a nice amp for home/porch practice. It doesn't have much headroom at all, and with the volume cranked and the gain on 2 or 3 you can hear it begin to distort, so I'd say it does blues more than jazz. For a tiny 5-watt tube amp @ around $249., you can't possibly go wrong.

The one I tried has a metal cage surrounding the tubes. The Output tube also has a metal plate on the end of it with two springs holding the tube in nice and tight. That's better quality than you'll see on Peavey's Classic 30, whose tubes all stick out in the open. However, on this amp the 2 springs vibrated sympathetically with the guitar and made a weird noise- the tube seemed to amplify the spring vibration. I moved the tube around and it seemed to stop. Other than that, they seem built ok. The knobs are a bit cheesey maybe.

The only things I didn't like were the lack of headroom (I'll check out the 30-watt version), and the fact that the Bass was as loud as it can go by the time the knob gets to 3. There's a very small window where it seems the bass is either all the way up or all the way down. They should really even that out across the entire range of the knob's turn. That kind of thing on any amplifier (and it's common) annoys me.

see other reviews

Belive it or not i swapped mine for my old Marshell JCM800 valve head and cab (ok I got a les Paul as well) and I'm actually very happy with it. I finally had to admit to myself that having a 100 watt valve amp just was'nt oractical and wanted a valve amp I could actually use, this seems to fit the bill perfectly. Apart from reverb it has all the knobs you would need and sounds like...well a small valve amp, what more can you want. I would say it has a tendency to muddy the low end, but the mids and highs are warm and rounded as only valves can make them. Played it with a le Paul, and a vintage strat and have to admit, the single coils seemed to react much better. Low ends with humbukcers can be smoothed with tweakage.

seems fine, oly had a few weeks though

never had to deal with them

If you're in a metal band and are intending to play Wembly statium, don't bother. After reading article after article about how to get the sweetest tone out of a valve amp I was persuaded that you really can't the sounds you want unless you push the valves. Valves at low volumes just don't distort enough and don't warm up enough and end up sounding not even as good as a ss amp. Enter the 10 or 30 watt models. If you want more volume for gigs, put it through the PA. This amp is bluesy and jazzy, its thats your thing buy it, if you want a heavier sound, buy something else. Simple.

Just an additon to my previous review... I ended my eperiement with this amp many months ago. I passed along my web page of mods to several interested parties. I believe that, if you look hard enough, you will find them hosted somewhere on the WWW.

Please understand that I neither have the space to host the mods page any longer nor the personal bandwidth to respond to email requests and questions about them.

I still think it's a "pretty good" amp overall and a great deal for the $$$. Take care.

Bought in June, 2000. Basic tube practice amp. Not at all loud.

Disapointing.

Didn't keep it long enough.

Music Yo is great to deal with as long as you're willing to do it online. I've bought a few other things from them and have been happy with their service.

I've been playing blues, classic rock and everything else as the needed, for about 35 years. I'd been looking for a low cost practice amp for the apartment. I bought this on a whim and after reading some of the other reviews. To put it bluntly, I was thoroughly disappointed. I never really found a sound I liked and if I would've, I couldn't hear it. It wasn't even loud enough for apartment life. I kept it for 5 days and sent it back and bought it's bigger brother, which I am quite pleased with. Especially since they lowered the price to $129 and gave me a $10 online coupon. For $119.00 plus shipping, this is the deal of the year. More about that under the electar 30 ratings.

For a cheap practice amp what do you expect? It has all the knobs it needs for the job and comes in an attractive package. Seems pretty damn sturdy. No reverb though.

Only five at first!!!!!!
Out of the box this thing sounded like a fart through a crappy P.A. I ordered it through musicyo and was very disapointed. However, I got onto Harmony Central and noticed some of the mods people suggested. Now I am happy.

No probs yet.

No contact

OK, I know I only gave it 5 for sound, but after replacing the speaker and the tubes, I have a little tone monster. My main amp is a Fender Deville 4-10". I use this in my bedroom for practice. I use it with a Zoom 507 for reverb and a Danelectro Fab tone for Distortion. The amp's distortion alone sounds like mud. You will need a good distortion pedal to get a great sound. Again, with the mods and a dist. pedal, this thing rocks, and at the price WOW! $89 for the amp/ $50 for dist/ $50 for used reverb and $18 for a weber 10" speaker. That's still under $250 for tube sound in your bedroom. I may even use it to record.

Look at one of the dozens of other reviews.

Several folks seem to like the "post-mods" sound of this unit.

What do you expect?

OK - Musicyo has a bunch more of these in stock, so I felt like putting my two cents worth in. The following are NOT complaints, just observations. The resistors are the cheap 10% jobs. Don't look for any sealed RV4 2W pots in here, either. Polypropylene film/foil capacitors? Not exactly... Check the small caps on the tone controls and they're not exactly silver mica, either. Rated power on the trany is not inspiring if a heavily clipped/nearly square sound is where you tend to play a lot of the time. Again, these are NOT complaints. Come on people, the whole thing is $100 delivered!! Use the factory tubes as emerency spares only, heft the "speaker" in the dust bin, do the mods and you're out $80US (if using a WeberVST Signature). BUT, you're still stuck with the limitations of an 8" speaker. You're still stuck with the "inexpensive" resistors, caps, pots, and trans. It sounds pretty good today, but it won't next year or so. Bottom line, if you are capable of modding this thing so it sounds good, and it does BTW, just spend the SAME money building your own amp with top quality parts - granted no speaker. Now you can justify using a Weber P10P or even P12B and you'll have a great rig for a LONG time.

10W Class A all-valve combo (12AX7/ECC83 and a 6L6). Basic three band EQ (chicken head knobs), gain and a master volume. Standby and power switch as well as a pilot light. Preamp out and an external speaker jack socket, as well as switching for UK/US voltage. All in a 50s style configuration - quite limited, but people shouldn't be expecting more switches than a mixer for a 10W Class A tube amp.

Waaaay too much bass end for such a small amp. After performing some amp surgery (following tonemonkey@yahoo.com 's webpage on Electar 10 mods), I have now got a very nice sounding replica of what should be a 50s amp. Admittedly, it doesn't have a very high gain and would appeal to britrock and blues players more than metallers but both the clean and overdriven tone (to me) sounds more expressive than most Marshalls and Laneys which I have heard.

This amp hasn't really been through any torture tests yet, but it has survived my soldering, so that HAS to be a good sign.

Epiphone no longer make these amps - bad luck. Still, anyone with basic knowledge of electronics should be able to replace anything that has blown as the internal circuitry itself is not all that complicated.

From experience, most amps sound best at 3/4 of it's max volume. I play everything from worship music at church to HM/vintage rock, and with the exception of extremely high gain sounds, this amp looks very promising. The clean sounds are full for humbuckers and slightly glassier for single coils, and overdriven this could be voiced to sound like both an AC30 or a Marshall.

Great little practice amp from Korea, made in '99 more than likely. Has a 12ax7a preamp tube and a single Sovtek 5881 power tube. Controls for gain, volume, treble, middle, and bass. Extension speaker jack for a 4 ohm cabinet. Standby switch is a nice feature. From what other reviewers have written, it seems as though there are quality control issues, but mine is a good unit. Well built, with nice retro styling.

Right out of the box, it sounded good. Surprisingly good. But I had some tubes from other amps in the tool chest, so I did a little mix and match. I found that an old Raytheon 6L6 power tube and a RCA 12ax7a gave me the best sound. This little thing isn't a powerhouse, but these tubes give it plenty of clean volume. And when I plugged into a 2x12 cabinet, it really sounded strong. Not made for playing out, but great for practice. Definitely better than the solid state practice combos on the market.

I've had this for 4 months now and never had a problem. Well built and sturdy.

I've played for several years - long enough to trust my ears when it comes to judging good vs bad tone. This has a very good tone for a small cab, low watt amp. Two things I wish it had are a headphone jack and reverb. If they're still available, the low price makes them a good buy.

The amp was probably made in 1999 (it was delivered to me Dec. 1999). I bought it at Musicyo.com. A single channel amp with a single 12AX7 tube in the preamp and a single 6L6 in the poweramp section. The control knobs are gain, master volume, bass, mid and treble. This is really a small practice amp and there is no reverb nor effects loop. It does have a standby switch, an external speaker jack and the AC voltage selector. I travel a lot so the AC voltage selector comes in really handy (the main reason of my buying this amp). I have not tried using this amp in a band situation but I am not sure if this amp can cut through the mix. This amp will remain as a practice amp.

When I first plugged in to the amp, it rattles like crazy. I think the speaker needs an upgrade to something better. My main gutar is equipped with humbuckers and I have to split the pickup coils to get a decent sound. Otherwise, I would use a stompbox to get a distortion sound. With the right tone control setup, the amp's clean sound is not too bad, although it does breakup very early. Overdriven tone is decent, too, providing you don't push the amp. All and all this amp is not designed to be played at high volume. The lack of reverb is cool sometimes but I would recommend using stompbox effects to deal with that if you do need some kind of reverb. For an amp this size, I think the sound is pretty good. I am sure with a good speaker, the amp probably will sound even better.

Just like Steve B, the C10 cathode bypass cap exploded in my amp a few days ago. I figure I have used the amp for about 40 hours in total since I got it. The shell of the cap and other loose stuff was all over the chassis. I have no idea how can this happen. But since I am not the only one who has this problem, perhaps the defective parts were from the same batch? I just hope the problem is not a design flaw and replacing the cap with a good one will solve it. As I have said before, this amp will remain as a practice amp and I will not take it out to a gig without a backup.

Since I am not in the States now, the 5-year warranty is useless unless I sent the amp back to the US for repair. I was aware of this when I ordered the amp that someday under Murphy's Law the amp will break while I am nowhere near the US and I'd be stuck. I have emailed Epiphone about this and their email support was quick (got an email back from someone at Epiphone 15 minutes after I sent mine!) but with no luck about the repair, just as I thought. However, they did offer to send me the schematic by snail mail so I will have to fix it on my own. I explained what happened to the amp and the customer support person who replied my email did not say much about it. I figure this is just the cap's problem.

I have a few other combo amps so I am not stranded without an amp for the time being. However, that explosion does not make me feel too comfy about this amp. I believe this is a case of you get what you paid for. At $89, I can accept the shoddy speaker and cheap assembly method but not the cap explosion. MusicYo no longer lists this amp so I am not sure where I can find one if the one I have is gone. I like the amp because of the voltage selector switch and I am not sure if there is anything out there with this feature. In a way, this is a unique feature of this amp. Otherwise, sizewise and powerwise, you are looking at a Fender Champ or a Pro Junior. IMOH, both Fender amps sound better than the Electar 10 but they do cost more. I still think it was a bargain, even though not much time was put in before the cap exploded. Time to refresh my soldering skill.....

Gain, volume, and three tone controls. Has a standby switch (nice touch). The price listed is based upon cost of the amp., shipping both ways, a spare speaker (Weber C8SS) and spare tubes.

This amp sounded like like crap with humbuckers but could produce a good tone with single coil guitars. If you ar looking for clean headroom forget it, this amp breaks up way too early.

The speaker had a rattle right out of the box (something rolling around under the speaker dust cap). After approximately three to four hours of operation, the amp literally exploded the C10 capacitor (cathode bypass cap). I mean there were pieces of this cap all over the inside. Since I had the amp for only a couple of weeks, I decided to return it (hence the shipping both ways). After repeated attempts to contact the vendor (MusicYo) they eventually replied to my several e-mails(8 days after my initial contact and 5 days after receiving the amp back). They claimed another (replacement) amp was damaged in shipment and they did not have any more. They offered to refund my credit card or send me an Electar 30. In order to minimize my losses I have requested the Electar 30 (I'll probably give it to my brother).

Good luck geting these (MusicYo) guys to respond in a reasonable time. Personally, this method of internet sales plain sucks. I won't be using these guys again once this issue is resolved. I give them a 4 since they did offer to replace it with a more expensive (but less useful) item.

I wanted this amp replaced but that is now not a possibility. I am now stuck with the spare tubes and Weber C8SS replacement speaker. How the heck does a cathode bypass cap explode? Considering it is parallel to the cathode resistor, it shouldn't see more than few milliamps. It must have been pinholed from the factory and finally broke down to a dead short (even then it should only see 10's of milliamps - not really an explosive current level).

This is a 10 watt all tube amp with an 8-inch speaker, made in 1998 in Korea. Controls include gain, volume, treble, middle, bass, stand-by, and power. The amp has an input jack, an external speaker jack, and a preamp out jack. An effects loop and reverb would be nice, but not really feesable on an amp that costs $100 delivered. I use this as a practice amp, so the 10 watts is adequate.

I am using a Route 101 Guitars Solimar Custom with coil-splittable Duncan Designed hotrail humbuckers in neck and bridge positions, and a Duncan Designed single coil pickup in the middle position. This amp really lets me experiment with the versitility allowed by the guitar: I can hear every minute difference between pickup positions and coil-splits. I play mostly blues with a little bit of jazz mixed in, and I can certaintly get the tone I'm looking for. Though the treble/mid/bass controls do not seem too sensitive to me, a little fiddling around and I can get a whole variety of sounds. I hate playing with distortion, so I haven't really tried to get any out of the amp; I imagine a pedal would be necessary though. Although a number of people reviewing this amp have suggested a whole bunch of modifications, I can get exactly the sounds I'm looking for, so I doubt I'll be making any changes. Obviously this amp can't be compared to expensive stacks, but its price-to-tone ratio is outstanding.

The amp is pretty new and I don't gig (yet!), but it seems pretty solid and heavy, so I am guessing that it will last.

Again, the amp is pretty new and seems solid, so I have not dealt with Epiphone. It has a 5 year warranty, but of course I'm hoping I won't need it. MusicYo shipped it to me in four days without any problems, so I am pretty happy with that.

I have not been playing too long, but I listen to a lot of music, and I know what I like to hear: The Electar Tube 10 delivers exactly the tones I was looking for. If stolen, I would log on to musicyo.com immediately, and order myself another one. I think the key thing people need to remember here is that this amp is a practice amp, and is not necessarily meant for gigging. With that in mind, its insanely inexpensive 10 watts of tube smoothness really get the job done!

Minimal Features: Treb., Mid, Bass, Gain, Master Vol., Line out, Ext. Speaker Jack. ALL TUBE: 10 Watts.
NO: effects loop or reverb.

This is an ALL TUBE mini-amp with Very Good classic rock tones/Blues. (I have also owned both the legendry Gibson Skylark and Fender Tube Champ, both of which I sold..like a moron.) The tones are reasonably clean with the gain up to about 2, then it starts to break up pretty rapidly, so I spend a lot of time search for the "sweet spot at about 2-4. Above that, the distortion is too muddy for my taste, but still gives a good rock sound. As with most of these tube amps, the tone controls seem knd of weak compared to modern active controls, but they do the job. I keep the treble on 10 the mid on 0-3 and the bass on 2-3. The bass gets muddy very quickly. A touch of reverb (from my ME-8) makes everything sound real good. Think "All right Now" by Free. No effects loop, so you have to put effects in front. I bought this as a low-power recording amp, so for that it is probably an 8. Very low power and limited range of tones makes it a 6 overall. I'm totally happy with it though. Don't interpret the 6 as dissatisfaction.

Looks very well built. Tube retainers and a protective cage. All hardware fits properly. FIVE YEAR WARRANTY ! But we will have to see !

Epiphone: 5 No support at all, but there is a 5-Year Warranty.
I bought this from Musicyo.com and was very impressed. I ordered it over the Net, the had a UPS tracking number available the next day, and I was able to track the shipment across the country from the Musicyo site each day. Took exactly 7 days from Nashville (Epiphone/Gibson) to Salt Lake City Utah, via Chicago (??).
Musicyo seems very reputable and the prices are great. But you can't really talk to a salesman with questions, so I will give them a "7", even though I am happy and would buy from them again !

I've been playing 35 years and have owned all the "holy grail" equipment. The Electar 10 is a good-sounding low-power practice or recording amp. I wish it had an effects loop, but I will probably actually use it completely dry, and add all the time-based effect via the recording console. The fact that it is all-tube gives it excellent bluesey tones with picking-attack dependent break-up and distortion. This is something I have noticed is lacking from the amp simulators, such as the POD. So for what I wanted, and how I will use it, it is a "9", but I rank it a little lower overall because of its limitations.

Before it arrived, I had already visited some of the websites that recommend Mods to the circuitry and speaker. I was prepared to try these immediately. Eventually I still may try the Mods, but after hearing the amp as built, I am satisfied enough that I am in no rush to modify anything. I tried the amp through a EV12L speaker that usually sound great (with a 100 W tube amp), and the Electar sounded very trebbley and tinney through it. So I think the Electar must be specially "voiced" for its 8" speaker and closed back-cabinet.
FOR THE PRICE IT IS A VERY GOOD DEAL !

Single channel super cheap-assed allegedly class a combo tube amp. Cool looking retro thang. Like everyone else says: gain, volume, trebele, middle, bass, standby and power switches. Has a 1/4" preamp out jack, as well as an ext. speaker jack (disables internal speaker). Easy access power fuse, power supply has a switch for 110 or 220 vac operation. Philips JAN 12AX7WA preamp tube, Sovtek 5881/6L6WGC power tube. Built like a little tank, but easy access to all parts. PCB construction, but tube sockets are chassis mounted. While some folks have said it has a "sealed enclosure" for the speaker, um, not exactly. The back is indeed closed, but there are two holes approx. 1" diameter in the front panel. Not exactly a scientific tuned port by a long shot. Sure, there's extra stuff I'd like, but it only cost $100 delivered to my door. I'm giving it a 9 because at this price, it has more features than some more expensive amps.

Using a Godin SD, S/S/H. I'm just l;earning how to play, but I do have extensive experience on the electronics/hardware side. Nice little practice amp out of the box. Not terribly loud, but could still get you in trouble in an apartment. Before doing anything, it sounded marginally okay, but kind of flat and flabby (artificially boomy resonance on the low end, muddy mids, very weak, somewhat raspy highs). By marginally okay, I mean what the hell, I haven't
heard any new $100 amps that sound any better than marginally okay. Did the basic circuit mods on http://members.home.net/mtatro/Electar10Mods.htm, i.e. replaced R3 & R7, removed R5 and replaced C2. Also did the NFB tweak R14/C11(not eliminated). Total time spent for assembly, mods and reassembly, half an hour. Total cost of parts, $1.00. Made a HUGE difference in high end response, but really brought out the nasty raspiness of the speaker. No problem, because I also just got my new Weber C8SS.
Replaced speaker, 15 minutes (do it when you've got it apart for the circuit mods and save 10 minutes). Old speaker has a MUCH lighter magnet and a GIANT dustcap. Now sounds VERY nice, with a total cost including shipping of less than $130. The speaker is a huge difference, as well as the bypass cap mod. Next played with a few tubes, currently using a Svetlana 6L6GC and JJ/Tesla 12AX7A, sounds very sweet. So another $20 of tubes, and I've got $150 into it with a full set of extra (original tubes) and speaker in reserve.

Clean channel now sounds fairly sweet, really nice at lower volumes and okay at higher ones. Cranking up the gain is nicely noisy, but gets a bit brutal after a while when maxed out.

So far, so good. One of the real great things about this amp is that it is perfect for the person who wants to become a junior amp tech.. Simple circuitry, easy access, low cost...perfect little lab amp that you can really use.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But so what, a blind monkey could reair this amp, or just buy a new one.

Buy one. Play with it. Open it up. Love it.

This is a single channel, 10 watt(?), class-A, tube amp. I question the 10 watt rating, because this thing is barely audable. It really lacks any sort of clean headroom. I believe that the reason for this is perhaps due to the use of a very inefficeint speaker. The controls are gain, bass, mid, treble, and master volume.

With humbuckers, this thing turns to mud immediately. I can't even get an adequate clean volume for late night practice. I returned the unit for a refund, less a loss of shipping expenses. Note: the cabinet is very tiny (just enough room for the slim 8" stock speaker), so you can't install an efficeint 10" or 12" speaker in this box. No useful sound here for me!

The unit was received damaged. The 6L6 tube was shattered.

Electar amps are no longer made - good luck getting support.

Save your money for a real amp with a real speaker.

This little tube amp is THE best buy in low-powered amplifiers. Great features such as standby switch and sealed back cabinet with a protective grille around the tubes. Three tone controls and a gian knob, in additon to volume.

As it came from the box, it sounded good. But I'm a tinkerer, so I couldn't leave well enough alone. First, I replaced the stock speaker with a Weber Signature model. Theni started on the tubes: tried a Svetlana 6L6GC and a NOS Sylvania, but ended up staying with the stock Sovtek 5881. I tested it with the following preamp tubes: NOS GE 12ax7, NOS RCA 12ax7a, ans Sovtek 12ax7wa, 12ax7wxt+ and 12ax7LPS. Of all of these, the Sovtek 12ax7LPS had the best tone (at least, to my ears. By making these changes, the volume seems to have increased noticeably and the controls are more responsive. Has a great bluesy sound and the gain control isn't overly sensitive, as on some amps.

I've only had this amp since late last year, but it's holding up well so far.

What's that?

What a bargain! Just a shade under ninety dollars for a great looking, great sounding tube combo. Don't let this one slip away from you.

10 watt combo Class A tube amp. Gain, Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass controls. Input, Pre-Amp Out, Ext Speaker jacks. Standby & Power toggle switches. Comes with a Philip JAN 12AX7WA preamp tube & a Sovtek 5881/6L6WGC power tube which are protected by a metal cage. It uses an Electar Labs 8" speaker which has a ceramic magnet.

Stock, this $89 amp sounds good for the money. Its clean sound is okay, but its distortion sounds very farty. Here's what I did to make this amp a gem.

1) Ditch the stock speaker and get a Weber C8SS speaker ($19). This dramatically increases the amp's volume and ability to reproduce a good overdriven sound.

2) Replace the Sovtek 5881 power tube with a Svetlana 6L6GC ($15). This will smooth out the overdrive nicely.

3) Replace the Philips 12AX7WA preamp tube! I tried a Sovtek 12AX7LPS, but after making the above mods, I starting getting breakup as soon as I brought the gain above 2. I then tried a GE JAN 5751 ($10). Much better! Breakup now starts at a 4 for humbuckers and 5 for single coil pickups.

After making the above "mods", the amp is great! Tone, tone, tone! It's still not loud enough to compete with a drummer (but maybe an external speaker cab with a couple of 12" speaker would fix that?) Clean: it's warm and the 5751 is bright enough to counter the amp's bassy-ness. Overdriven: great "brown sound" and nice growl when you turn the gain up. An 8" speaker will always sound a bit "boxy" when distorted, but the amp is so small (12"h x 14.5"w x 7"d) it's a small price to pay.
I rate the sound a 6 stock and a 10 after my substitutions.

The amp is well constructed (with the exception of the plastic jacks). Metal corners on 6 of the 8 corners and no exposed tolex seams means it travels well. No rattles when I turn it up (which was rather surprising). I've only had this amp a couple of weeks so I really can't comment on reliability yet.

As others have mentioned, the pidgeon-english manual is entertaining. Here's a quote: "STAND-BY -- After find its power s/w on, then amplifier can be worked with STAND-BY NO. If STAND-BY OFF, Its tube sound will be off."
This is a discontinued model and from what I've read, Gibson plays dumb when you call them about it. So basically, you're on your own.
(No schematics are provided with it, but I managed to find them at someone's web site.)

I bought the Electar Tube 10 because I wanted to tinker with a cheap, Class A tube amp. It was well worth the money. I now like it better than my Fender Blues Junior. If something happened to this "throw away" amp, I would immediately buy another one (assuming I could find another one)

Gain, Master Volume and three band EQ. Decent but not stellar feature set.

Guitars: PRS Standard w/Duncan Seth Lovers, Fender '57 RI Strat w/Duncan Antiquitys.

Even thought this is a super low volume amp, I prefer to dial in a low gain sem-clean tone and use my pedalboard. I think the low gain tones are by far the best. The higher gain quasi Boogie tones just don't get it for me. I prefer the sound of my Fulldrive.

I bought this amp for essentially one gig: playing in church.

Out of the box, this amp is a little on the polite side.

After Mods/Tweaks, the tones are Workmanlike but not stellar. However, it delivers them at the whisper-quiet stage levels I need. Hey, it was either this amp or I was gonna have to buy a POD. I was out of options. The sealed cab does not bleed into other musicians' monitor space. Sound guy loves it. Sounds big when mic'd.

Construction is much better than one has a right to expect in an $89 amp. Most low $$$ tube amps mount the tube sockets directly to the PCB. That gurantees that all the heat from the tubes will get coupled to the PCB. Bad, bad, bad.

This amp mounts the tube sockets on the chassis, then uses flying leads to connect the tubes to the PCB (ala Mesa Boogie). Switches are high quality; pots and jacks "not so much;" speaker sucks.

Hard to find better bang for the buck. After you add tax and shipping, this amp will cost you about $115 delivered to your door. I replaced the stock speaker with a Weber Signature ($27.50 shipped). So my total cost in this amp is around $150. Still, I can't imagine a better sounding amp for the money. Like I said, I got the church sound guy off my back. That alone is worth what I paid for it.

I made some mods to the circuitry that really improved the sound. If you're thinking of doing any mods, I have a web page where you can download a schematic and see what I've done: http://members.home.net/mtatro/Electar10Mods.htm

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. This is a great little "project amp."

Bottom line: I've played it, I've gigged it. It doesn't embarrass me and it cost next to nothing. If you need a super low volume amp, get one while you can.

Small tube practice amp. 10 watts, 8" speaker. Appears to be well made. Nothing out there beats the bang for buck. Cant believe these things are selling new for $90.

This little amp sounds great. I was leary of purchasing this amp sight unseen, but after playing through this amp with my Lonestar Strat & Teleacaster I am satisfied this is one great price value. My Line-6 AX-212 sounds better but at 9 times the price. My Blues Jr also has good sound but the Tube 10 can be cranked at bedroom levels to get a great blues distortion. Blues Jr is too loud for this.

Apears well built but too soon to rate this category.

No dealings with Epiphone or Gibson.

Sure you can buy a better sounding amp & I have, but for the price it is great. At this price get one. I'm a 40 year old hobby player. I play a Fender Lonestar & Telecaster. Amps are the Tube 10, Blues Jr & AX-212. Effects, Korg AX-1G. If you have some good suggestions for getting great tone with this gear & want to talk about it, E-mail.