Farfisa Amplivox 8

This is a little all valve amplifier from the sixties. It has two instrument inputs, whereby 2 is the louder one. There is a further input meant as a tape/phono input, however it can also be used as a pre-amp out connection. There is yet another socket, but that??s for a tremolo foot switch (connects tip to ground). All sockets are for 3.5?? jacks which is very convenient, especially since older European gear sometimes uses quite esoteric sockets.
There are controls for Volume, Tone, Tremolo Depth and Speed, all nicely labeled bi-lingual in English and Italian (since this amp has been built in Italy).
The tone knob also switches off power, the Tremolo Ampiezza knob switches off tremolo.
Lastly there??s a voltage selector (110/125/160/220/240 V) and a pilot light.

The amp puts 4 Watts of output power from a single ended class a circuit into two little Alnico 6???? speakers of 4 Ohms impedance each, wired in series so as to match the required OT impedance of 8 Ohms. Valves: Ecc83 (pre-amp), 6AV6 (tremolo osc.), EL84, EZ81 (rect.).
The circuit is very straight-forward and has quite a lot of gain. I have found the stock sound of the amp way too dark, if not mushy. However there??s a most easy cure for this: for some quirky reason there is a 47K resistor that connects from the WIPER of the tone knob to ground. Move it over to the cold terminal of the tone pot and you??ll have a considerably better overall sound. There??s one further measure to get an even brighter tone: solder a 100pF cap across the hot terminal and the wiper of the volume pot. These two humble modifications have worked very well for me.

The tremolo is of the grid voltage modulation variety. This is the original vintage circuit that every tremolo amplifier had, before engineers came up with other circuits, most notably the opto-resistor circuit that all Blackface-on Fenders except the Champ and the Princeton have. Funny that some reviewer called it subtle- it certainly isn??t. It offers a fair speed range and can go from quite subtle to full-on.

The Farfisa Amplivox 8 has an utterly sweet clean tone, no doubt that??s thanks to the lack of cross-over distortion. All amps need a certain volume level below which they don??t sound good. The Amplivox 8??s level is extremely low, making it the perfect studio/home amplifier. The transition from clean to overdriven is very smooth and controlable, the response to playing dynamics very good. All this refers to a slightly altered circuit as described above, although it??ll be more or less true for stock units, too.
The tremolo is very sweet and adds perfectly to the amplifier??s vintage tone.
Now as I??ve said, there??s enough gain there to drive the output stage into total saturation. So much so in fact, that adding pre-amp overdrive with some boost or overdrive pedal to an already clipping Amplivox 8 might lead to blocking distortion. However using a distortion or overdrive pedal of sorts with this amp might be a good idea. Here??s why: as I??ve mentioned already, this amp has a single ended class a output stage (like the Fender Champ, certain Sivertones, the Vox AC4 and others...). While push-pull circuits cancel out even order harmonics, they??re all still there with SE amps. This leads to a somewhat grainy and very dense distortion sound, reminiscent off the distortion a FUZZ FACE will give you. This can be great and certainly makes a difference. However it might not be what you want. In this case this amp should be set to break up level, giving a smooth overdrive sound. Now add distortion with whatever pedal you have, maybe overdriving the input stage a bit. This will still sound ten times better than playing through a distortion pedal or a boost channel into a clean 50 W amp.
This amp is just as versatile as any other good all valve amp. The main question with any amp always is: Do I get the tone I want at the volume level I need? And while in a band/rehearsal/stage situation higher output levels are usually required, at home or in the studio the exact opposite is true. Besides I??ve been playing in bands that used to rehearse at volume levels I usually play my home stereo at. In such an environment the Amplivox 8 could be just the right gear, too.

Frankly I??d expected this amp to be somewhat noisy. Well, it just isn??t, really! Unless you really crank it, there??s no hiss at all. There??s a tiny bit of hum, though. I??ve heard it mention that this is somewhat normal with single ended amps, as the hum in the OT can??t cancel out.

When I??ve recieved this amp it wass quite a mess. The output and rectifier tubes where missing, someone had cut the connection from the EZ81 to the smoothing caps, the OT wasn??t fixed and hung loosly on its leads which in turn weren??t soldered to it , rather just wound round the connectors... and the back panel went missing.
I??ve fixed all this, replaced all the electrolythics (there??s a total number of six) and built a new back panel with a big vent hole in the middle. I??ve also grounded the chassis which is highly recommended as a safety measure. I??ve still to install a fuse.
The tremolo didn??t work at first and it was the foot switch socket that was to blame for this. The socket has a switch that grounds out the tip connection when there??s no plug inserted. Said switch didn??t make proper contact anymore. After some sanding and bending the switch in place it now works like new.
I??ve had the opposite problem with input #2. Here??s also a switch that grounds out. However this one would still randomly make contact when a plug was inserted. After bending this switch, too, all was fine and dandy.
I??ve done those two brightness mods mentioned above. I??ve added a bypass cap across the cathode resistor of the first gain stage only to find out that this is overkill and that the amp sounds better without, so I removed it.
The EL84 is well known for getting pretty hot. After hours of playing the chassis gets very warm. This is actually normal. So if you??re making a longer playing pause, switch the amp off, it??ll pay.

Someone said that any amp that survived from the sixties to now must be called reliable. This here unit is built in classic point to point fashion. There??s not a single bit of solid state in there. The resistors all look good still, none looks burnt. The power tranny is massive and could probably support a 2xEL84 push-pull design. The output tranny sits on the bottom of the cabinet. Should it ever crap out it could most easily be replaced by a valve radio OT, as SE EL84 outout stages are by far the most common set up for European valve radios of yore.

Lastly the housing, even though it??s not finger joint, is of rather sturdy construction, no ugly particle board being used.

Hithertho I??ve been playing a PP class AB amp with approximatly 8 Watts at home. It was always a tad too loud. Frankly the Amplivox 8 could even be lower in volume still, as far as I??m concerned. However it is an improvement.
And even though I own two other amps with true all valve tremolo (one of them being the Vox AC30, which, on a side note, is a very, very loud amp), this is my first amp with grid bias tremolo. It??s my first SE amp, too. I was really surpised to realize that what I had considered to be the typical distortion sound of a Germanium Fuzz really is the sound of SE distortion. Still there??s the odd difference, of course.
The Farfisa Amplivox 8 is a cool looking protable amp (light-weight, too) that adds a whole new spectrum to my palette off amplifier tones. Besides it cost me a fraction of what an old Vox AC4 or a Fender Champ goes for these days.

sweet tremolo. not overly complex as an amp, perfect

Nice dark tone. (probably due to age) I like it.

well, never given me hassles, but it might have done to the previous owner. Quite a messy circuit in there.

for an italian amp from the 60's? None expected.

it's a cool little amp, clearly not really meant to be overdriven. Which is why it sounds so good when it is. Quite loud. Silly little speakers are still going. A master volume might be a nice mod.

This is an Italian made amp from the 60s. It is not versatile or powerful enough to gig with BUT it has a great tube sound that makes it great for practice and recording.

IT has basically one channel but has two inputs with quite different levels. Input 1 is clean and only goes into overdrive pretty high up on the volume range, but input 2 gives very nice overdrive at around 5, going up further will give cool dirty sounds at relatively moderate volumes ... The tremolo is pretty subtle and definitely usable, it is also footswitchable. Very nice bluesy overdrive. This is great for 60s style garage rock rhythm guitar, as well as for bluesy leads, especially with humbuckers (Gibson SG Special). Surprisingly, this amp doesnt sound as good with my 65 Fender Mustang as it does with my 90s Gibson SG. Overall very nice sounding amp, great for home recording

I have only had it for a week and would probably not gig with it anyway because of its low wattage

I wouldnt expect any customer support to be available 40 years after it was manufactured ...

I have been playing for 18 years and I own a 1965 Fender Mustang, a Gibson SG Special and a 60s Univox 335 copy, as well as (amps) Fender Hot Rod De Ville and a Teisco Check Mate 45 (another cool all tube amp) ... If it were stolen or lost, I don't think I would be able to find another one very easily and I would be pretty depressed, it was a great find for about 90 dollars. I only wish I could figure out what type of plug fits in the tape out output!

Made in 50's/60's in Italy. Not very versatile but it is only 8 watts too so don't expect too much. Beaut little amp for practicing with though. I love valve amps so it fits perfectly into my collection. It only has one channel but does have two inputs, one high and one low (about 6 - 8 dB difference between the two). Only has a basic tone control (one knob, high or low) and a volume control. It does come with inbuilt tremolo circuit which I don't bother using and is switchable by a pedal if needs be. Picked it up from a garage sale about eight years ago.

Using it with all the guitars I've owned over the years it seems to perform very well with all of the. Has that typical valve sound. The two 16 ohm 6" speakers actually cope with quite a trashing. I haven't had one die yet, and yes they are still the originals believe it or not. You can clearly tell when it needs a service due to the dirty sound created by a dead or dying tube. I only replace mine about three years ago and it gets used on a daily basis for practice.

The tremolo circuit eventually died due ti lack of use and very old components. The parts are still available if you look in the right places and they're a basic enough amp that they can be fixed by most technicians with an understanding of valve technology.

This really isn't a factor due to it's age. By this stage most of the customer support staff would either be dead or in a nursing home eating jelly.

Great amp for the beginner or for practicing although finding one now is getting harder and harder. Mine is still going strong although looking a bit battered due to it's age and constant use. If I could find another one for sale or for scrapping I would buy it without even a bat of an eyelid. Mainly because I love glass valve amps and have collected a couple so far. Finding people than know enough about these type of amps is getting harder and harder as well. I'm just glad that I studied this more in depth when I was doing my trade qualifications of Electronics Technician. By any means if anyone knows of any place I might be able to get another one (or five) please don't hesitate to e-mail me with information.

This old italian tube amp has 2 input channels, line-out and a pedal connection. It has also tremolo and tremolo frequency adjustment. And since it's only a 5 watt amp I must say it has enough features. Reverb would be nice, though and overdrive.

As a tube amo, it sounds great. The sound is warm and clean like tube amos tend to have. Sound doesn't get distorted easily, the volume has tu be turned up to 10 to get some little distortion. But then, if I wanted some distortion I'd buy an effect pedal.

Hey, it's still kicking altough it was made over 30 years ago!

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A good practice amp. Good clean amd warm sound. Ideal for blues and jazz.