Kalamazoo Model One

60's black face model 1 w/tone & volume controls 3 tube deal. Not many features. It's a one trick pony.

I would rate this amp a 7 on guitar. Very nice clean sounding amp (It don't break up like a tweed champ). My 10 is based on how it sounds for blues harp. Ive owned ALOT of vintage amps and for harp, baby this is IT!!! HUGE sound- fat, creamy, round. Really HONKS. Projects incredibly - it smokes my 12 watt silvertone 1482 & is smaller. I was going to break down and buy the "Spirit harp pro" amp, but I aint gonna now. I play open blues jams & this will mix w/the big boys. KILLER HARP AMP!!!

This amp is DEAD QUIET at idle. The quietest tube amp I've EVER heard. I Bought it w/a blown speaker (It even sounded good with that!) and put in a Jenson P10R from vintage speakers dot.com (Highly recommended)for $50.00 and retubed w/high grade & NOS tubes. Aint nuthin' ta go wrong - easy to work on I will be playin' this bitch til I die, more'n likely.

Aint none.

Put $150.00 into it w/tubes, amp & new speaker. For the sound it gives me, I would pay twice that. Harpheads snap this one up. Playing harp for a decade - endlessly searching for "that sound" that search (for harp) is over. I had a 57 champ once and this thing would eat it for dinner. Gone through nationals, silvertones, alamos, big & little fenders and others but this one smokes 'em all.

1967 model Kalamazoo model one...one channel, 6x4,12ax7,6bq5 tubes
one volume, one tone knob. 10 inch CTS speaker.

Clean is not that Fender Champ amp clean a little dirtier sounding...
It is perfect for harp also, Champ was too clean sounding.
I use a TS-7 overdrive and its a mini marshall sound...

This is about my 5th Kalamazoo model one or two, I forget...
I recapped this myself with about $8 in part for all resistors
and capacitors. Tubes are cheap too. Local Hamfest I snagged
a second set of tubes...I put in a Jensen C10R and it is loud
on ten..6 if loud in a bedroom...very easy to work on if you
are a beginner working on amps...I prefer the model one to the
model two since the one knob tremelo on the two is not too versitle
and there are lots less resistors and caps to replace.
Mine is now ready for another 30 years of use... Oh since it has
two input jacks get a second and hook them together with a guitar
cord...that sounds great!

yeah right, wheres my time machine.

I think i will have one or more of these restored laying around in
my closets...

Amp has no features, except a tone control, and volume control of course. It doesn't need anything else. Even though I am a fan of good reverb, this amp sustains long enough that I don't miss reverb here.

Currently, I am playing a MIM strat and a Cali series strat (tex-mex pups) through this amp. I have also used a Peavey Firenza (P-90s), PRS Santana SE, Hamer T-51 and a Japanese LP Deluxe copy (now all sold) The amp sounds great with either single coils or humbuckers. I prefer humbuckers through this amp for a great early ZZ-top vibe.

I have owned this amp for several months now, and I am over the honeymoon period. The amp has great clean sounds until it begins to break up at about 3-5 (depending on which guitar I use, obviously, single coils would overdrive at 5). 90% of the time, I play this amp fully cranked to 10, as this is when it sounds best. I also play it through a 1x12 closed back cab and it gets real loud, although I haven't had any neighbors call the police yet.

I think I blew something out, as the amp now hums for a good 25 minutes after being turned on, probably because I usually put a tube screamer or a boss ds-1 in front of it with the levels cranked. Even with the hum, the amp sounds great-and the simple design of a single-ended, class A tube amp means that this poblem can easily be fixed by a tech.

All in all, I would compare this amp's tone to an early Marshall-creamy cranked up distortion with great sustain (with the TS-9, of course). With the volume at 8, it does a good early Who sound-great for 'My Generation.' Classic rock tones are all in here. I would not compare this amp to a tweed fender champ, sounds totally different, I guess it's the EL84 power tube.

I wouldn't throw itinto a brick wall or anything, but it does seem pretty reliable. I push this thing constantly and after several months, it just recently developed this hum. The cabinet is made of plywood, I know because the previous owner stripped off all the tolex and stained the wood. He also added an external speaker jack-good move! THe amp looks very cool in its present form. I would like to get a grounded cord put on it, because my rehearsal space has some funky old outlets in it. (I usually lug a grounded power strip with me) It's just a matter of time before some voltage leaks out of it and into my hands.

BTW, the amp has all of its original tubes, I had them tested and they are all still 100%, not bad for a 35 year old amp.

I think it may be out of warranty by now.

I hane been playing 16 years, and this is the best $75 bucks I ever spent on gear. I would definitely buy this amp again, I love its distortion and portablitiy. I also have a SF Princeton Reverb, which is another fine tone machine. I would say that the Kalamazoo has the better clean sound (discounting the Princeton's reverb)and the better distortion as well.

I played one of those Crate VC508 (?) amps, which is also around 5-watts, Class A with an El84 tube. The Kalamazoo blows that thing away.

All blues/rock guitar players owe it to themselves to seek out a small vintage tube amp like this one, that can be fully cranked up to power tube distortion in a small setting. Does it sound better than a cranked 100 watt (or even 50) Marshall Plexi? of course not, but trying overdriving that thing in your living room.

This is a 1966. Great clean and dirty, however it doesn't stay clean for long. It has 2 channels, 1 volume, and 1 tone. Very basic, but I've found that I don't need anything more. I've been told that it only puts out 6 watts, which is pure class A watts. The amp is plenty loud enough for a home practice amp. 6 tube watts is like standing in your kitchen and yelling as loud as you can. It has a El84 power tube, a 12AX7 preamp tube, and a 6X4 rectifier tube, all very easy to find and inexpensive. The 10 inch speaker is very full sounding. I've always said that I wouldn't have an amp without at least a 12 inch speaker, this amp has changed my mind! It's all point-to-point wiring with a few scattered resistors and capacitors. When you're buying this amp, you're not buying features, you're buying tone.

I play a Strat with single coils. It's great for everything, especially blues/rock. Great tube distortion. I replaced the original speaker with a Celestion Vintage 10. The new Celestion didn't sound as good as the vintage original speaker. The original speaker has that crisp, aged-alinco magnet tone which can't be matched by a new speaker. The amp stays clean only about 1/3 of the way up on the volume, after than the tubes start to saturate nicley. Wouldn't be good if you wanted clean at high volume. I intalled a Groove Tube El84, a Ruby 12AX7, and a Sylvania Gold Brand 6X4. This mix of tubes made a big difference in tone quality, although I think that any new tubes would have been an improvement. It had the original tubes in it when I got the amp. I also installed a standby switch. This way I can go away and leave current on the tubes and they stay warm and stabile. Jimi Hendrix is in this amp, along with Lenny Kravitz, Angus Young, SRV, and that guy who played for BTO, thier all here. Great 60's/70's rock amp. If you're a blues player, this is your amp! I haven't played a better sounding blues amp.

I take this little tone monster everywhere!

I've been playing for 20 years or more. I've played almost every amp out there, tube and solid state. This Kalamazoo is among the best sounding amps I've ever played. Not too loud for home use, great on stage when mic'd. Don't replace the speaker unless you're ready to spend the $$ for a genuine alinco magnet model.

Pretty Basic- VOlume, and Tone (on/off switch too)!
1963 Model

I am the second owner of this amp. I bought it at the local Music Go Round. It came in with a '63 Gibson Melody Maker. It is mint mint mint! I couldn't believe the sound out of this little guy! It is warm and creamy, and breaks up nicely at 7-8. Cranked to 9-10, I get the perfect 60's distortion for songs like "Wild Thing", and such!

Uh, so far so good!

I think Kalamzoo closed shop years ago. Gibson made these things but I am sure no 20 year old answering the help phone would know what I would be talking about!!

Really great amp for the price. Why buy a Fender Champ for $300 when this thing sounds just as good! Nobody knows about these (yet!) They look kinda funky and retro too! Love this thing to death so far! Like I said, some guy sold it at the Music Go Round who said his dad bought it for him in 1963 with a '63 Melody Maker (also mint). He told the clerk at MGR that it had sat in his basement for 30 years collecting dust!!! Wish I could afford the Melody Maker too! My '72 Sunburst Mustang will have to do!!!

Well, you don't buy an amp like this for the features. Pretty basic: 1 tone knob, 1 volume knob.

This is where this baby shines. I played through one of these amps at a guitar show once and thought it sounded pretty good, but it didn't blow me away. I saw it at a pawn shop for $20 so i thought hell, if it works at all it's worth that much. When I plugged it in I couldn't belive my ears; when I turned it around I couldn't believe my eyes! Somebody had installed a 10" Kendrick Blackframe speaker $80 and close to $200 worth of NOS tubes: one Holland made Amperex "Bugle Boy" 12ax7, one German made Telefunken el84, and one Tung Sol tube rectifier. Needless to say, I promptly hauled it to the checkout counter and stole it with a fresh 20 dollar bill. They also replaced all the caps with new Sprague orange drops and added a new 3 prong plug cord. After all these mods this thing just plain smokes. Great chimey clean sounds till around 6, then breaks up nicely; very smooth. I previously thought that my buddy's blackface Fender Champ was the best sounding bedroom sized guitar amp I'd ever heard, but compared to this Kalamazoo, the Champ's a chump! Also this thing is dead quite. Its the perfect studio amp.

I've played this amp at about 8-9 everyday for the past 6 months and it's still going strong. Not bad for a 40 year old amp.

N/A defunct company

I would rate this amp an overall 10. It's lack of versatility is more than offset by it's incredible tone. A fantastic value. Some of the other reviewers gave 6's in the tone department, but their amps were stock. These amps can be found for next to nothing. If you come accross one, buy it. Replace the speaker with a good aftermarket job, drop in some NOS tubes and prepare to be completely satisfied with an amp for the first time. It was my first in 15 years of searching thats for sure. Also, other reviewers complained of noise. The grounded plug should take care of that: mine is completely hum free even at high volumes.

If there is anything about Harmony Central that really bugs me, its all the reviewers that dole out endless amounts of 9's and 10's for fairly average to shitty equipment. The harsh reality is that only a precious few guitars and amps out there deserve such high praise. Among my guitar geek buddies I'm known as the "Tone Snob." I guess it's true. Over the years I've turned into one of those audiofile assholes that I used to make fun of. The fact is however, experience has tuned my ears. There is just too much hype out there and I've bought into it more times than I'd like to admit. Truely good tone is a rare commodity. I guess my point here is that I simply don't give credit where it's not due. After modifications this amp IS a 10 and I'll stand by that statement 100%.

I'd be more than happy to talk to anyone interested in this amp. Just e-mail me: zekester2@hotmail.com

Volume Tone!.....And thats what this specializes in!

nothing more!

Great sounds- full throttle on Volume- keep that Tone under 3 and youll be good!

Great studio amp!---Surprising volume for a 10"er

I have actually thrown this against a brick wall plugged it in and rocked away- THATS THE BLUES!

NONE- but if you need help with this amp, i feel sorry for you......There is nothing to go wrong, open the back and look at the wiring! SEE!>....very simple!

BUTTER SWEET CLEAN LITTLE ROCKING GET YA DIRTY BABY!

The fact that there are no features is what makes this amp great. It sceams at beadroom levels. My best friend is building an inhome studio and I can not wait to lay down some tracks with this amp. If you put a BOSS o-d1 in front of it look out.

Greatest little amp sound I have ever heard. This amp has better clean tones than my 70's Fender Princeton. If turned up past 6 it starts to really scream. I am using a mid eighties Jackson DInky Reverse which I re fitted with a George Lynch in the Bridge and a Jeff Beck in the neck (Seymore Duncans) I also put an Original Floyd Rose on. I have not had a chance yuet to try it with my '91 Fender Strat plus. I wish I had a dime for every time I wanted my Marshall JCM 800 tone in a bedroom size package, now I have my wish.

I have ony had it for a few days but it seems to be rather delicate. That is to expected for a 35 year old amp however.

I own too much stuff to list and have been playing about 10 years. I ended up becoming what my friends refer to as a gear whore. If I have not owned it it is either over priced or not worth having. This amp simply rocks.

From what I read, these amps were made in the mid-'60s. It has two channels, a volume and tone knob, three tubes and a 10-inch speaker. I took the stock speaker out and put in an old Jensen P10Q that I got for free from the junkroom of a local organ repair shop (!) There was a one-inch tear in it that I fixed with rubber cement. No line out, no headphone or extension speaker jacks. Ten watts of power. This amp is as basic as they come, and I knew that when I bought it, so I don't wish it anything else.

I have a Telecaster, Stratocaster and Epiphone Casino, all single-coil guitars. I've been favoring the Telecaster so far. A bandmate has a Les Paul Studio, and I want to see what humbuckers sound like through this. Have also been considering giving it to our harp player.

I was looking for a low-wattage tube amp that overdrives at less than ear-splitting volumes. This sure does that. It's pretty lame below 6. At 6 you get a decent clean tone, but nothing special. From 7 to 10 however, this amp has a tube overdrive sound from heaven itself. Creamy and rich, with a lot of bass (I think the Jensen helps a lot in this regard.) Nothing brutal about the distortion at all.

In all, there's not much variety to what it can do. I'd give it a 10 for it's overdrive, and a neutral 5 for everything else.

Don't know about its reliability. I replaced the filter cap (it was humming very loud when I bought it, but I knew it would be; the seller was up front with me) and put in a three-prong power cord. Tubes (old RCAs) are fine, although I bought a NOS Magnavox power output tube to see if there would be any difference (there wasn't.) I would guess it's as dependable as any 35-year-old piece of equipment. I don't think I'd gig without a backup.

Kalamazoo is long gone. There's a great Web site devoted to these amps.

I've been playing since I was 12. I have a silverface Fender Bandmaster with a 2X10 cabinet, a Vox Cambridge 15, a solid state Vox Pacemaker, a Fender outboard reverb unit, a Leslie 215 speaker, and Ibanez AD-9 delay and Vox Valve-tone OD pedals. Pretty basic stuff, but I like organic, analog sound. I'd like to compare it to a tweed Fender champ. I hear they're comparable. If this were lost or stolen I might buy another. You can pick them up for $75-$150 on ebay, which is where I got mine. I don't hate anything about it. I love that it only weighs 16 pounds. I may mike it at gigs and A/B it with my one of my Vox amps (we don't play any places that are too big.) There isn't anything I wish it had. Its simplicity is amazing. I might try building one from scratch, just for the hell of it.

Made some time in the 60's, this is a pretty straight-forward no-frills amp. It features 1- 12ax7 1- 6BQ5 1- 6X4 tubes. One volume and one tone control are about it. 10 inch no-name speaker (al-nico?) at 8ohms handles the sound waves.

I must that at first this was one noisy lil' booger!. The caps were leaky and the tubes almost dead. I replaced all caps and re-tubed it with the following= Amperex 12ax7/ecc83, G.E. 6bq5, and finally a Tung-Sol 6x4 to rectify things. Pulling the wore out old speaker and replacing it with a Kendrick Black-Frame made a HUGE difference in tone!. Replaced the old power cord with a three-pronger and some star-grounding quited things substantialy.

I spent quite a bit of time rolling various combinations of tubes thru this baby, and the above sounded best to my ears. I will admit that it did like some chinese 12ax7's as well, but the Bugle-Boy was too sweet to not run. This amp is so sweet sounding when i nudge it a mid to low-gain pedal. Clean its all about chicken-picken licks and when pushed, it can scream!. * forgot to mention i have a speaker-out also*

After the above mentioned work, this thang is dead quite and should be bullet-proof for a long, long time.

Kalamazoo is gone, and i doubt they would warranty a amp that 30yrs old.

Ive been playing and messing with amps and guitars for a while now and i must say that this lil' booger is a gem of an amp!. I doubt i will ever sell it do to the fact that it is a perfect plug-in and go at home. And yes, it can drive my 2x10 cabinet quite nicely!. It may be my favorite lil' one ive ever owned, which includes fender champs and gibson skylarks. So simple and yet so right.