Kalamazoo Model One

Dating the amp is difficult as has been mentioned. At the time of my purchase I had just been listening to live recordings of Chris and Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes playing solo on the Brothers of a Feather album. My goal was to get a SIMPLE straight forward amp that would force ME to play dynamically with my hands, not a lot of knobs.

Having been pretty much addicted to reverb or a little slap back delay, this was a great little amp to work at playing better.

I really think it sounds exactly the way it is supposed to. It's a bedroom/recording amp that is supposed to be great for harp too. There's no good clean Fender sound. It has a clean sound but it's different. It breaks up nicely for natural tube saturation though. I like it somewhere in between though. I'm playing a lot of southern/blues/slide/open tuning on my tele's. For my purposes it's perfect. I have since added a Danelectro French Toast fuzz box and the slightest bit of slapback delay via a Visual sounds H2O.

This combination is giving me that southern blues guy sitting on his porch on a lazy summer evening sound. Sounds and feels like home.

I bought from a great vintage shop. It works. Simple as that. As far as consumers and venders go, being a loyal consumer (no ebaying or musicians friend) to brick and mortar stores has its benefits, even if you do pay a little more. I get great products at a fair price and personalized service AFTER the sale, regardless of guarantees or warrantees. I'd rather know the guy and shake hands than roll the dice ordering over the internet and save $30. Come on, find an old dusty music store in your area and support actually people instead of the Walmarts of instruments.

Refer above

It does exactly what it is supposed to do. It amplifies you and your guitar. Great sounds aren't going to come out of it unless great sounds are going in. For versatility look elsewhere. For pure and honest tone, try a Kalamazoo.

not sure of the year...early to mid 60's I believe. As other reviewers have said, you don't buy this amp for features, you buy it for tone. The amp's got two inputs, a volume knob, and a tone knob that doubles as the on switch. I believe it's rated at 6 watts class A which drives a single 10" speaker.

ooh baby, tone is where it's at on this amp. 6 watts tube power is pretty loud for bedroom volume if you've got it cranked, but it's not going to get very far on stage unless you've got it mic'd. I use a Fender american vintage RI '62 stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul classic through it and both sound great in their own way. The strat doesn't break up until about 5-6 on volume whereas the les paul breaks up at around 3. Keep in mind I had this amp pretty much completely refurbished upon buying it (new filter capacitors, new tubes, new speaker - fender blue eminence, and ground power cord) so I can't really rate the sound of a stock model, but this baby really screams. I find the best tone from this amplifier is when you get the guitar just on the brink of breakup, but that's my opinion. when playing live, I link the second input to input 1 of the vibrato channel on a '65 RI fender twin reverb. The twin's pristine clean, higher power rating, and pair of 12's beef up the kalamazoo and give it some tighter lower end which is nice. It takes pedals fairly well with a little bit of noise, but I can deal with that. I circulate different pedals, but I always tend to have a fulltone '69 in front of it, and while the '69 sounds thin and metallic through the twin alone, it sounds absolutuely astounding through the kalamazoo into the twin.

let's face it, the amp is ~40 years old and is framed in cheap particle board. It'll stand up to getting nicked and banged around a bit, but I wouldn't go throwing it around or abusing it. I treat it like I treat my best guitars.

what customer support? Gibson hasn't manufactured these things for 40 years!

I've been playing about five years now and I've about listed all the gear I own. Other pedals I circulate into my board include: vox v847 wah, digitech chorus, maxon od808, and electro-harmonix HOG. I'll probably be purchasing a Keeley modded AD9 in the very near future and hope to make that a major staple on my board, so hopefully the kalamazoo will take it nicely (I'll submit a review post-purchase if any trouble arises) and I've been seriously considering retiring the od808 and purchasing a fulltone OCD, but I don't know if I really need it given the beefy overdrive the kalamazoo provides. I play anything from dirty blues to electronic disco dance music and this amplifier + the twin delivers everything I need. I would not lose this amp, but were it stolen I would probably cry because I don't know if I could find another one.

Dating this amp is difficult beyond knowing its 1962-1966. It has two inputs that both feed into the same channel -- this is quite useful if you like to bi-amp as you can just plug a cable into the 2nd input and then plug that into the other amp and the signal will go to that one too. With these small amps, it helps to have a 2nd small amp & blend the signal to get the volume, but its plenty loud enough for in the house - and can gig with it if you mic it. Otherwise its an extremely basic amp - volume control, tone control, 2 inputs 1 channel.

When my brother first gave this to me (and asked for his Bronco I had borrowed back) I didn't like it, and didn't want to give up the Fender Bronco. I didn't like the way it would distort so early with my Ibanez Destroyer's humbuckers. I've never been able to get non-distorted tones out of this at volume. If you want a jazz practice amp - get a Bronco/Champ, they break up a lot later. However, if you play blues, or Booker-T & the MG's style stuff - once you open up the throttle this is one of the most killer sounding amps I have ever played. Matched with the destroyer, its beefy, 60's sounding & just enough snarl to say "Mesa" or early Marshall. Matched with my G&L S-500 Deluxe Strat -- a guitar with extreme hot duncan single coils & treble in spades - it has tones as lush & rich as SRV's bi-amp setup, breakup on command at the 6 and above setting its warm & rich (just change your attack and control the tone with your guitars pots), and 9 its Marshall stack territory. This combo has been the hands down most impressive class A amp practice class amp for blues/booker T style stuff I have ever used. I've used plenty (champs, super champs, selmers). If this had reverb I would just take two of them and gig with it mic'd, I don't *need* reverb with it, but I bi-amp on stage with it for that reason. If you have a G&L 500, or an ASAT tele - or other hot strat - this is your dang near ideal play in the house amp. That is why I give it a 10 - its a pint size marshall JCM800 that wont make you deaf to get the sweet breakup - for jazz, its more of a 3 though, not enough room to play completely clean.

I've had it for 6 years, and no work needed on it. Still has the original tubes & caps, so its definitely built to last. The case is pretty worn (and made of covered plywood), but its 40 years old, got to expect that. I do want to do some work to it - replace the "death cap" and ground it properly, after some reading I may want to replace one or two other things to get rid of the initial hum when I turn it on (goes away after its warmed up) to make it totally silent.

Support for this amp does not exist as the company who made it doesn't exist. Its a simple circuit, your tech should have no problem if you aren't inclined to work on it. I've been told that Gibson is nice enough to supply schematics upon request as an act of niceness - mine has the circuit diagram printed on the inside. Its got parts that are easy enough to find, and can always pick up another off of Ebay in the $100 range.

I've been playing for 23 years, have 2 primary guitars - the G&L Strat & the Ibanez Destroyer. Own a couple small tube amps, a couple small solid state amps, and one Marshall hybrid I bi-amp the Kalamazoo with for its reverb effect.

If this amp was stolen - I would forgive the person who stole it - and promptly hunt down another. I still want the bronco back - because I like jazz -- but for blues & booker t style stuff - its no contest. This is better than any champ or bronco I've played. If this sounds like your playing, or you have an extremely hot pickup guitar -- say with P90's or a G&L strat/tele - it doesn't get much better than this. You certainly wont do better for the price these typically go for.

Made in 1967 with Gibson's version of Fender's "Champ" circuit 5F1. Has two lines in, volume and tone control, that are located on the front of the amp in the traditional location. Using the controls of the amp, and controls of the guitar(s) I have been able to produce a very many tonal qualitiies. I found that my Gibson ES 345 sounded the best on the unit. Hard to classify tonal qualities for me, the seem very subjective. The sound to me is very different, however in many cases I like the feeling it gives me while playing.....
Had to have a back up amp and read the reviews here, will use in a bedroom.

Fender Strat, Fender Tele, Gibson SG, Gibson LP Custom, Gibson ES 345, PRS MacCarthy, Martain HD28KM with Sure 57. Using with Mac G5, M-Audio LT-110 card, into a Fender CyberTwin. Style, really depends on how I feel, and what the weather is like... I don't play for a living, just for the fun.
Very happy with the little amp, need a little work, but there is a wealth of resources for same
After replacing the old tubes with new, adding some Spague caps, and getting a bit of hum out it sounds..... really quite good for what one pays for this little amp.
I play it at 6 for volume, that is where break up starts. I tried differnt gain tubes, and found a sound that I liked... just happen to be a

The orginal tubes were in the unit when I got it and working. However, the tone was not to my taste along with the fact a couple were not up to snuff .. orginal 6X4 Raytheon retifier, 12AX7A RCA preamp, and 6BQ5 output

Really great, I did not have to talk to anyone in customer service.... you know the call we all fear

Yeah, I know... I see the prices that everyone else pays... but what can I say. Every time I buy, it's too much, or after I buy it the price goes down. But, that's not the reason I'm buying this stuff... it's for fun. Been playing since 1956, only wish I had kept more of my "stuff" including my 3D comic books from the 1950's. Have more stuff than I can play at one time, but I don't care... it's fun. For the cost of one of these amps, of course they are now going off on Ebay for well under my buying price... I should get another just for ..... no my wife will kill me, but she is going to visit her mom this weekend..... maybe just one
I really like the size and weight, I've been restricted to a hospital bed after a bad back surgery, and playing while laying flat has it's retrictions, but I get by and it is still fun playing for me......

One tone knob (sound analagous to a passive tone knob on an electric guitar) and one volume knob so this is nearly one trick pony but when you get it right who needs all the tweek knobs?

Unless you are into heavy metal or other massive distortion this is a 9/10 saving 10/10 for a MESA BOOGIE.

Blues, rock, alternative, country and clean pop can all make very good use of this.

Great clean to mild/moderate distortion.

Used with my 68 Tele and a few pedals.

Add a Keeley compressor and this thing screams and hits 9.9/10 in my book.

The original speaker breaks up with real heavy distortion that has any bass heavy content but I plan to add a beafier 12" cab for that option.

Just bought it off e-bay it works and is amazingly quiet for a 1960's tube amp.

N/A

This is a great home recording amp that you can crank and overdrive real tubes with out getting the attention of the ploice or making your ears bleed.

I also have a Roland cube 30 wich is a great modeling amp but the Kalamazoo Model 1 is the real tube amp sound.

It appears this amp is a mid to late sixties tube. Mine says "product of Chicago Musical Instrument co." on the front in small letters, and has a small sticker on the magnet of the speaker that says "Walker Music".
How I got this little giant is a blessing. A friend of mine owed me 15 bucks. He worked for a guy that got this amp for free and was trying to get rid of the ugly duckling. my friend gladly took it and knew I was into guitar and gave it to me as payment for the 15 bucks he owed me. What a lop-sided deal that was! This little guy is a Daimond in the ruff! I couldn't wait to try it! When I did, it crackled, was scratchy, and smelled funny when the tubes heated up. The thing even gave me a little electrical shock through the strings! But I LOVED the sound that I could hear coming through all the scrathing and cutting-out! So I cleaned the thing up a little bit and ran it down to my tech to be completelly restored! He had seen a couple of them in his day and had nothing but good things to say about them! When it was done, it quickly became a shop favorite there!
I play alot of different styles. Most describe me as a "dirty blues" style! But I wouldn't stop there. This thing has 2 knobs, and thats ALL it needs! I love the simplicity! It's priceless! A little red light, a fuse, and 2 imputs make up the rest of the front. I use this amp mainly to just mess around and write music. I would love to mic it for a gig sometime. For 5 watts (so I hear) it is plenty loud (considering its size) and I wouldn't expect any more power out of it.

I play many different guitars on this. tele, les paul, and old harmony neck-through. And it's got its own sweet sound for all of them! I have never played an amp that is so sensitive to your strumming, and feeling as this one! What you play is what comes out! Simple! It has a tone so warm it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! At lower volumes it's as sweet as honey, and you turn it up a little and it keeps the warmth all the way through, with just a touch of snarl. I've even tried it with the "blues driver" pedal out of curiosity and then it really barked! But I mainly use it straight.

Like I said before, when I got it, it was rough. But I got it for free and was worth the money I spent to restore it. Needed tubes and pots ect. It has a little skematic diagram in the cabinet so one could easily fix it. I also had a 3 prong plug installed (recomended since I got shocked a few times)! So for reliability, I'd give an 8! I mean, the thing is one of the firsts, and it still melts me!

Hehehe, Don't think you'll find a Kalamazoo dealer around! But repairs are a snap, and the parts are available. I dealt with a very good tech that deals in vintage amps. But you wouldn't need one, the thing is pretty simple (another reason it's simplicity is priceless)!

Overall, I rate the Kalamazoo Model One a 10~! I have it sitting on top of my 72 Ampeg V-4 (talk about the odd couple) and sometimes I would just rather plug into my my little model one instead of the V-4 (the amp designed for the hard of hearing, hehe) It's antique patina, and unique personality draw me to it! And everytime I play it, I can't help but appreciate the simplisity, accuracy, personality, and history in this amp!

This is a mid-60's all-tube practice combo with a tube rectifier, 12AX7 preamp tube, EL84 power tube (all original tubes), two instrument inputs, 1 volume control and a single tone control that also doubles as the power switch. It also has a particle board cabinet covered with black paper thin fabric or something and a 10" speaker with a small magnet. Sources tell me this is about 5 watts.

This amp was orginally intended to be a practice amplifier over 30 years ago, so to "wish it had more features" would probably be unfair. However, little amps like this are becoming popular for use in recording situations and if I were to build or mod a similar amp, I'd probably like to add an effects loop to isolate either the pre or power amp stages or to add reverb, etc.

My unit had a loud hum that I fixed by replacing the filter caps. I also replaced the power cord with a 3-prong grounded cord. It is now dead silent even when turned up.

I use this amp with an Ibanez S540 and a Strat copy with noiseless pickups.

Like all tube amps, this thing is still pretty loud at 5 watts. I'm told that the basic circuit design is reminiscent of the old Tweed Champs. It doesn't sound too much like a Champ, but it has its own distinctive flavor and soul and sings beautifully. When cranked with a humbucker equipped guitar plugged in, it crunches up nicely and cleans up very smoothly and almost completely just by varying your picking attack. With single-coils, overdriving it is more difficult. You definitely might want a booster pedal in that case. In other words, there's not a lot of gain to be had here. The Model 1 is more suited to warm, bluesy playing whre you can dig in to get more edge or crunch. Because it's only 5 watts, I've found that I can use an L-Pad to control the volume of the speaker without losing too much of my tone. This is great for practicing at bedroom levels.

The more I play this amp, the more the tone appeals to me. It is pure, rich and warm all at once.

If 30+ years of God-knows-what hasn't killed this thing, nothing will!

Been playing for 25 years and have owned many guitars and amps, tube and non-tube. I keep coming back to this little guy; it's the most sincere sounding amp I've ever owned!

Everyone else has talked about this amp's lack of features -- volume and tone controls, that's it. Mine was recapped by the previous owner, who also installed a grounded plug. I may owe him my life someday. I've kept the original speaker. I put a little black goo (3M Stripcalk) behind the metal plate on the front to stop its rattling on low A. I still give it a 7 in features, because between the controls on the guitar and the tone control, plus variations in your touch, you *can* get a big variety of tones. No 'verb or trem, of course.

I'm using a stock G&L ASAT Classic (Tele type) with it, and the combination is gorgeous; good twang, incredible sustain at higher volumes and even a good sustain at lower ones, and distortion that's more responsive to my touch than any amp I've tried. Ever. I play an eclectic mix of styles, from blues to international (think Boiled in Lead), and so far I haven't come close to running out of possibilities. Interestingly, this amp even worked wonders on a little pawnshop-special el-cheapo guitar I used to own -- made it sound almost respectable. The thing is dead quiet, too -- a studio buddy of mine used it for recordings for many years. I give it a ten, yes, really; as an indication, I haven't messed with my Fender Deluxe since the day I brought this amp home. (I should mention, by the way, that for gigs I normally mike the amp, rather than let it fill the house. Did that with the Fender, too.)

Well, it hasn't broken yet, and it's well-built inside. I lost a screw one time, and there was a rattle as a result, but I replaced it and all the rattles are gone. I use it on gigs without a backup amp, but then again I can switch to acoustic or National if I have to. Still, looking at the guts, I'd say it's probably about as reliable as an amp gets.

There's a schematic inside, so I give it a 2. That's it. Since the company's long gone, there won't be any support except from independent techs. By the way, folks seem to think this amp was made by Gibson; uh-uh. Mine, at least, was made by a little company in Chicago, subcontracting to Kalamazoo, which I think was founded by ex-Gibson people, and had an informal relationship with Gibson, but no more than that.

I've tried a lot of little and medium-sized amps in the 30 years I've been doing this, and I gotta say this one satisfies me in the way no other has. It's also light enough for me to carry easily, which in my tendinitis-ridden life is a good thing. There are other small, low-powered amps out there, but none in my experience holds a candle to it.

It was made in 1966. It is a one channel wonder! Two knobs... volume and tone. But it is loud for an amp sporting only one EL-84. I jush had it rebuilt by a local Amp Guru who cleaned the popts and replaced all the caps and resistors that were not working properly. He also added a ventage (reissue) 10" speaker from a Fender amp. He asked what type of tone I wanted....I told him a clean Fender tone so he apparently left of an extra cap off that would have added extra gane. It does not break up until 9 with a USA standard strat, but what a Micro-lite tone monster. It sounds like a matchless with only one EL-84.

After having the caps replaced it is very quiet.

This has been a very reliable amp. My mother bought it for me when I was too small to reach around the neck of a strat. I wish she would have bought the strat also...oh well!!

This was a Gibson amp I believe. Although as a kid I hooked this amp up to all kinds of speakers and even used it as an audio-amp when I hooked it up to an old 8-track tape player for years in the '70's. I have never had a problem out of it other than replacing the caps and speaker after 37 years of use.

If you can find one at a guitar show I would say buy it and replace any parts that need replacing. It is nice as a practice amp and it is very light weight! 5lbs? lighter than a les Paul.

Volume, Tone- If you can't sound good with volume and tone, then you most likely don't sound good with more. Simple is best, this amp proves it.

Its probably the 2nd best amp I have ever heard (2nd to an old PA head which I own). Its great for Blues harp, and pretty much ok (once you change the speaker out) for guitar. The amp has a sweet, smooth tone that tends to break up nice for amplified harp. If you want a good, cheap amp that will sound nice. This is the ticket right here! Possible Speaker replacement candidates - Jensen C10Q, P10S, P10R(Vintage, the reissues are useless, the Reissue C10Q is good, and for the money <$30>, its well worth the upgrade). I currently gig with this amp, and I say its one of the best for harmonica in my book.

Its a point to point wired tube amp. Its reliable just like any tube amp

No support for this one.......

Overall, This amp gets a 10 for value, durability, and tone. If you play harmonica and are looking to go amplified try this amp, you won't be sorry.

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.

This is a 1967 model one according to the volume pot inside the amp.
Features hi and lo inputs, volume, tone with on/off built in tone sw.
10" CTS Alnico speaker just like most of the Gibsons. This was made
by Gibson at their Kalamazoo factory at a lower cost. Tubes are
6x4,12ax7,6bq5 (mine were good RCA's).

This is nice and clean up to about 7 on the volume, then it is like
ZZtop came to visit on 8.5,more tube distortion past that. I tried
it with regular pickups and humbuckers but to me everything sounds
better with humbuckers. Both sounded good. This is a lot louder than
my Silvertone 1481 with the 6 inch speaker. This also has a real
nice growl to it cranked up. I think this is much better than a
Fender champ amp. You can spend $300+ for a blackface champ. You can
get these all day long on Ebay for $100 in good condition and have a
bigger speaker too. Heck these are ALL blackface cosmetically,
probably circuitry wise also!

Looking at the cicuitry you wonder how something so simple can work.
Just 3 tubes, some caps, resistors a few bits of wire. If you can
changed spark plugs you can work on this amp. About 30 years past
warranty I expect. Mine has a slight hum, but that will not take
much to fix. Heck you could rebuild the whole thing in an hour.

I don't expect much support here, but I hear they are good at
sending out schematics. Mine is stapled inside from the factory.
Thanks Gibson.

I have just really messed around with guitars on and off for 20 years.
No expert just like to tinker with old amps lately.

My very first amplifier. Bought new in 1967 from Hilton's Music in Albany NY to go with my first electric guitar (a Harmony 2 pickup solid body). At the time it was the nuts! Way louder than my friends' amps- a tiny Magnatone and some noname amp with a tiny 4" speaker. The model 1 had enough features for 14 year old me so it was cool. And as I recall it was a 10" speaker, not an 8" as stated by another reviewer and it was probably 8 to 10 screamin' watts. Wish I'd kept it, although I'm sure it isn't as good as I remember. Give it a 9 for nostalgia.

I used a 2 pickup Harmony solid body electric with DeArmond pickups and a neck like a tree trunk. It sounded fine and was a great 1st amp. Only one channel with 2 inputs but I used them both! Ran 2 guitars and still kicked butt! Was clean until you turned it up too loud. I honestly don't remember it all that well.

Only had it for about a year and traded up to a Blackface Deluxe Reverb (talk about an amp I should have kept). It took everything a bunch of beginning guitarists could throw at it for that year so I guess it was pretty reliable. Never gigged with it I could barely play a chord back then.

NA

That was my first amp 33 years ago. I guess it must have been pretty good as I kept on playing until I got better. I didn't compare it to anything, my father paid for it and I don't know what it cost. I see them from time to time at vintage guitar shows but I'm really not tempted to buy another one. I guess you really can't go back.

Probably made sometime in the sixties, this amp has only a volume and tone knob; just a basic practice amp. the 8" speaker still sounds good. i use this amp for playing at low volumes (because it doesn't get loud) and testing tubes when i don't want to put them in my BV-120. i find that replacing the 12ax7a tube with another 12ax7 that distorts quicker can give you some nice crunch and still be quiet enough to not wake the neighbors. with a less distortable tube it works for ska, regae, etc... the rca tube i am using now souds like a thick blues drive. one channel. no outputs.

I use only fender strats, so i can tell you that they still sound like strats. sure it's noisy.. it's all original from the sixties. i turn both the volume and tone all the way up and i get a nice bluesey drive... i personally am thinking of using it in a recording. it's classic. the only real modifier of the overall sound would be changing tube types; and then only so much different.

the tubes have never worn out as long as i've had it (a few years) and i think that my dad never had to replace more than one tube when he used it. there were some problems with it a while ago, but i've resoldiered the connections where my uncle had spliced the speaker wires long ago. it is dependable enough... i've put it through hell - used it as a moniter for my 90W guitar amp and my 200W pa head AT THE SAME TIME... sounded horrible and way too loud for the speaker, but the speaker never gave me any trouble. i probably would not use this on stage by it's self because of volume levels, but i might use it with a bigger, louder amp.

no... i doubt that the "chicago musical instrument company" even exists anymore.

this amp is kind of fun to play around with tubes and wiring... it's more of a project than a useful part of my setup. my guitar rig now is a BV-120 and BV412 cab. i might try to rig it up to work on my effects loop, but that's about it. i just wish it had an output or a phone jack.

This little practice amp (10 watts, maybe?) was made by Gibson back in the 60s (or earlier). It's the most basic practice amp, with volume and tone controls. The tone knob also handles the on/off switch, and the fuse is also replaceable from the front panel.
I have rigged up connectors in the speaker circuit for line out and headphones (danger, will robinson, no circuitry mods!).
It uses a 6X4 (rectifier), 12AX7 (preamp) and 6BQ5 (power).

It's been used with everything from Strats to Les Pauls to custom guitars to acoustics. The only real problem was with some wimpy, original Hagstrom pickups - then the volume wouldn't go very high.
It's has a bit of hum, but the tubes and power capacitor are the originals! If you can drive it hard enough, the distortion is OK. I sometimes use it to overdrive a big amp, a trick I learned from the lead guitarist of Cat Mountain in Atlanta.

It's never fried a tube or blown a fuse, despite the abuse (I use the homemade line out as input to another tube amp, for insane fuzz, sometimes). There's a ground problem somewhere...

This is really tempting. I wonder what Gibson would do if I called them up and complained that there was a grounding problem in this thing...

A friend gave this to me. It's a practice amp, and it works. My son has it now. It would be great if it had reverb, tremolo, and four band EQ, but then it wouldn't be a free practice amp, now would it?
I once bought a Stage 25 to use instead of this. It was boring, I sold or traded it for something (or gave it away), and stuck with the Kalamazoo.
It's probably irreplaceable...