Kalamazoo Model Two

Budget lin of Gibson. Same amp as one version of the Skylark. Similar circuit as Tweed Champ. Very simple, one channel, two inputs, volume, tone, and tremelo. One 10" CTS alnico speaker puts out a lovely 5 watts.

I play blues/rock harp through this thing, and it's the best small harp amp I've ever played. It has a very fat sound that is great for blues harp. Begins to distort at pretty low volume and gradually increases to a nasty snarl by the time it's dimed. Needs to be miced to play out (it's not real loud). Absolute sweetness!

Gibson did not skimp on the inards of this amp, even though it was their budget line. They saved money on the cabinet, which is particle board and not terribly rugged. Overall, a durable amp, but it can't be slammed around.

Kalamazoo brand was gone by 1970.

Absolutely the best value for a great little blues amp. Tweed champs are $1,500, even silverface Champs (which I don't think sound as good) are twice as expensive, and Gibson Skylarks are starting to go up in value. You can find these for a steal still. I'd buy another in a hearbeat.

I now have two of these model twos one has a particle board cabinet
the other has a plywood cabinet. Both look identical otherwise.
one channel, volume, tone and tremelo. 2 input jacks and a 10 inch
alnico CTS? speaker 8 ohms. 2 12ax7,6x4,6bq5(el84) tubes. Both were
made in 1966 looking at the control pot dates.

Since I have two of these I link them together with a guitar cord
from the unused input jack on one into the other amp and turn them
both on. SOunds great when they are 10ft apart. Louder also.
With humbuckers and a Distortion pedal, these things are mini marshalls I think.

I intalled 3 wire cords to cut down on hum noise and for safety and
replaced the filter caps myself. I also used aluminum to shield the
inside of the cabinets. Shielding did not affect the amp but if I
use it near flourescent lights I am sure it would help. These were
dusty and needed cleaning and a shot of Caig Deoxit on the controls
and tube sockets. Now ready to go another 35 years.

Gibson/Kalamazoo probably can't help you. Easy to fix yourself.

These are great little amps. I have had a dozen others and this fits
the bill for that Marshall sound. I have a Fender Champ that covers
the clean sounds better.

My Kalamazoo was made in 1965. Has volume ,tone, Tremelo controls.
10 inch CTS speaker. Particle board cabinet. Gibsons low price line.
two 12ax7a, one 6bq5, one 6x4w tubes. Mine is all original.

Amp is very quiet even with the old 2 prong cord. Clean channel
is not as clean as a Fender but very nice. I like the tremelo
effect too. I mostly use it with a boss distortion pedal in front
for distortion and extra volume.

I only had to clean up the amp cosmetically and clean the tube
sockets and pins and spray the controls with Caig Deoxit.
It still has the original Raytheon tubes I think. Super easy
to work on. Even if I have to replace all the caps in this one
day, parts might cost $10 to do it!

No support from company, not needed either.

A great alternative to a Fender Vibro Champ at about 1/3 the cost.

I bought my Kalamazoo Model Two new in 1966. It has always been my primary amp and have used it for all types of music from folk, folk-rock, rock-a-billy, blues, country, and jazz. At one point when I was a teen I know I briefly plugged some kind of Olson Electronics fuzz box to it and even that worked fine with the amp until I got that fuzz tone phase out of my system. Other than that brief period I've always proudly used the amp without any effects attached to it. I've gone through extended phases where I've used the amp's built in tremelo always turned to ten, but generally I've used it with the tremolo turned off. Over the years I've also had four other amps in my possession, but I've always come back to the Kalamazoo Two as my amp. I guess I acquired the other amps over the years because at some point I longed for features the Kalamazoo Two didn't have although actual experience proved I didn't really need any other features than the Kalamazoo Two has. I should add two of the four other amps I've had either konked out or tried electrocuting me while the Kalamazoo Two has kept going and going and going. Time proven, the Kalamazoo Two has all the features and durability I need.

My main pickup set-ups have been 60's thin line hollow body Gibson and Gibson-made Epiphones (made in Kalamazoo of course) with
single P90's. I have also used Humbuckers through the amp as well as whatever pick-ups are on full size hollow body early 60's EKO's. The tones have always been warm and sweet through the amp. I've also put a 50's Gibson Hawaiian lap steel (with a P90) as well as two solid body Korean Epiphones through it with the result being the solid body sounds are nearly as warm and sweet. I usually set the tone at 10 and the volume at about 6 for home playing. When I use the solid bodies I turn the tone down to about 6. In my "middle aged" days I play a lot of jazzy riffs as well as basic primitive type blues which the amp totally accomodates. If I were Wes Montgomery I would endorse this amp.

I've taken great care of this amp over the past 35 years. At about year 25 the tone/on-off switch began to occasionally not click on-off when I turned it. I started unplugging it rather than turning it off for about 6 years instead although sometimes I would still automatically click it off by mistake. I was able to successfully keep clicking it to get it back on until one day..it just wouldn't turn on anymore. I called Gibson in Nashville who referred me to a local authorized repair shop. There they installed a toggle switch next to the tone knob. They said the on-off switch portion of the tone/on-off switch was no longer available. The tone control portion of the knob is still functional. The Kalamazoo Two amp lived again.
I should note that over the years I have seen other Kalamazoo Two amps also with the on-off toggle switch added to it so I assume it is the now standard repair for the problem. I recall seeing the toggle appear as long ago as probably 20 years ago so I knew mine would eventually have to go this inevitable course anyhow. Considering my stereos, TV's, radios, etc. from 35 years are nowhere to be found, while my Kalamazoo Two amp is, I would call this amp very reliable.

Refer to my anawer to Reliability.

I've been playing guitar for 39 years. I own a wide assortment of acoustic and electric instruments generally, Gibson or Epiphone of Gibson/Epiphone influenced. If my Kalamazoo Two amp konked out I would have it repaired. I should add that the original tubes are still in it so one day I will have to search out the marketplace and suitable replacements. If for any reason the amp became unrepairable I'd search out and find another identical one regardless of price. But, until then I'll just keep using the one I have. For all I know, this amp may simply be so reliable that I literally may never have to get another one.

all tube,single channel practice amp with tremolo, 10" speaker,4 tubes;pre,rectifier,trem,and power.very simple design featuring from left to right 2 inputs(no hi and lo imp. or anything),1 volume,1 tremelo(varies rate,with on-off),1 tone(that actually is the power on -off for the amp),a pilot light(red),and a front panel fuse.i understand this is probably a 1962.it's not an ampeg j-12 jet(i own a`66) but it's got the stuff it should have for this time period ,nice tremolo.really light.gets loud enough to jam quietly with friends in a low volume situation.

this is an all tube practice amp from 62 i just pulled it from under a half a ton of garbage,it has been rained on and snowed on.it was tossed in a basement and abandoned in an old apartment building(when the maintainence guys cleaned up it went into the pile outside in a construction dumpster!as this amps rescuer i'm impressed with it's condition considering it's exploits.i dusted it off and plugged it in it works like a champ(pun intended)it sounds pretty good all original tubes(more than likely)it's a little noisey but its been thrown around and abused dirty pots and the sort i understand the capacitors go when there this old but i hear theres a ton of great mods that can be done on `em.if i'd seen it pitched in sooner it would probably have perfect tolex(as is speaker cloth is near mint and some cuts in tolex that appear very fresh)the trem is cool the tone when turned to the treble side is clear and when turned to the bass side it warms up nice,crank the volume it will distort(not like a jet but if your used to the tricks to get a good tone out of the jet you understand) this was probably a low end amp from chicago musical instruments company inc.who purchased gibson in 1944 (i believe and later epiphone...kalamazoo is where the first gibsons were built by gibson thus i believe the name)this amp could be used at a coffee house gig or some other low volume gig.you could mike it in a pinch.

this thing is built simply and thats a plus.and probably because it was am inexpensive practice amp,it has been thru hell in the last few days and probably was not the best kept amp over the last 38 years but it powered up in a second and played fine.did i mention the all tube trem is cool(but alas it's not a jet)

it is very simple circuitry,most any repairman should be able to work magic on it,i don;t know if gibson or CMI,kalamazoo can help much with it but the schematics are in the back panel and i'm satisfied that it will last the duration.because its a simple sortof gibsonthat any amp guy could fix i'm gonna give it a five.

i'm a bassist and a sound engineer,my exploits into guitar is mostly for tone purposes and songwriting. i'm a great judge of tone whatever it takes to get it.(in this i lack humility,it's my job to listen to stuff and make it sound better.i enjoy the sounds of guitarists like bb,freddie&albert king,satch,hendrix and buddy guy. other amps i've used a loooong list of fenders,peaveys,and marshals,some boogies, musicmans,oranges, ampegs,sunns,engl yahmahaha's etc .whatever.it's my understanding that these amps can be modified found cheap and will perform admirably so if it were stolen i wouldn't care unless i had just finished modifying it(if it were my ampeg jet i'd launch a manhunt to find the thing )did i mention its just a neat old tube practice amp with a cool tube tremolo...if i found one that was all beat up i'd modify the hell out of it and scare people with it ( especially people who have to have the *it* amp of your favorite payed endorsee hear_______:) add some reverb and a distortion pedal and this thing would be greater than the sum of its parts...

The amp has 3 features to it. Volume, Tremelo, and a Tone knob that doubles as an on/off switch. The amp is completely tube, and has a 10 inch speaker. Only 10 watts, but a great amp.

This amp sounds great. It can go from a nice clean sound, to a overdriven sound for some nice rock, and blues. Its not very noisy at all, but can get funky sounding with the trem. Its a very very good amp for practice when your not with the band, and wish to keep the sound down.

I have only owned mine for about half a year, but have had no problems. I have the habbit of babying all my gear, but this guy seems fairly tough.

The company is long gone, and I dont think Gibson would want to waste their time with you on it.

Ive been playing guitar for a few years now and play mostly, blues, rock, and psychadelic styles. Like I mentioned earlier this is a very cool practice amp and can make some great sounds. If I ever lost this amp id have to find another one to live.

i bought this is a single ended(class A)combo amp from the 60's,on ebay ,delivered to my door for 60 bucks...1 channel...high and low impedence inputs...10" speaker..vintage ,no frills,tone...nothing fancy,just a simple little amp...there is a volume control, a tone control that also acts as the on/off switch...and a neat variable speed tremolo(that also switches on/off)..there is a 12AX7 pre-amp tube, a 6X4 rectifier tube,an EL84 power tube and a 12AX7 for the tremolo...point to point handwired...made by C.M.I.(chicago musical instrument company)partical board cabinet(eh,the one thing that is not that great, although it still only weighs about 15 pounds or less),un-identifiable speaker(marked kalamazoo)...i consider it versatile, 'cause it is really all that you need

i am using a frankenstrat with seymour duncan flat strat vintage pick-ups..i do my own thing,stealing blues,jazz and rock licks,but trust me ...i can play my butt off...this amp is perfect for practice or studio work...i would just suggest the addition of a tube screamer type pedal...this just approximates a crunch channel and virtually turns this little bugger into a usable 2 channel amp...i do not think the amp is noisy at all,but you can "feel" the electricity when you play..it is nice and raw,just as i like it !!..very clean with beautiful harmonic overtones...probably less watts than a fender champ, but not nearly as harsh..it has a smoother overall sound,reminds me of an old supro amp...with the tube screamer,you can pretty much retain the tone of the amp, and your guitar, and add the edge that makes those riffs just fly off of your fingers

well it is probably 35+ years old and it still works, so i would say that YES it is reliable

kalamazoo was the low end product of gibson...the original kalamazoo company ,to the best of my knowledge is out of business...i have tried to research chicago music (CMI) on the web, but i have had no luck...if this amp breaks,any radio,tv, or electronics repair person could easily repair this simple circuit

gosh if i don't own it now, i probably owned it or played through it before...main gear is a strat,prs signature,frankenstrat,335,rivera,boogie,fender..etc..etc..wanna buy some stuff???...if this was lost,or stolen i wouldn't lose any sleep over it , but i would be mighty pissed.i think these are fairly common at VERY reasonable prices....it is a nice amp hough , and very useful for studio work, or just sittin' around plinkin' with the buds...the only thing i wish it had was a secret compartment filled with $100 dollar bills

im trying to sell this amp, i dont need it anymore, i just bought an ibanez toneblaster

sounds great, my email address is john_martioski@hotmail.com if interested. only $30

very reliable

nope

good amp, i just dont need it any more

These were made in the early to mid 60s. Two inputs, one channel.
I kind of wish the trem had a depth control, but the whole point
of these amps was simple and cheap. The speaker is wired straight
to the output transformer, so if you want an external speaker jack
or headphone output you'll have to add it yourself.

These are about 5 watts, *not* 10 watts. But with an efficient external cab, you'll be amazed how loud 5 watts is.

It has a good clean sound, and a *great* overdriven sound. These
are great for rock and blues, as well as almost any sort of
practice amp. You don't *need* a pedal in front of it unless
you want to play metal or want a fuzz tone or something else
most tube practice amps won't do. You can add all the boxes
in front of it you want; you will *not* hurt the inputs.

If in original condition, most of these need a cap job. The
tremolo usually won't work without this, and if you have very
much hum, the power supply cap needs to be replaced. Most of
them can use new tubes by now.

The speaker and output transformer are the weakest links. A good
Weber VST speaker and a new tranny (a small Fender 8 ohm output)
or one of the custom trannies for the ax84 project (www.ax84.com)
work wonders in these. Hammonds work great, too by all accounts.

I would also convert to a three-wire, grounded power cord. I cover
this and a number of other mods on my web site:

http://www.rru.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/Kalamazoo/Mods/

If a single channel amp is all you need, you can gig with it; just
mic the little thing!

I mostly use a Hagstrom (similar to a Strat without the middle p/u)
with Dimarzio SDS1s, but I've played a Gibson hollowbody clone, Les
Pauls, a BC Rich, a Strat, and other guitars through it. It does a
great job with almost anything. (OK, so it's kinda wimpy with a
bass. 8^)

I play most sorts of rock, with some pop, folk, and other stuff. It
does fine for almost everything. It definitely needs the new speaker
(and output tranny, if possible) to get a good country twang, but
for rock, metal, grunge, even jazz, it soyunds cool. Like any small
amp it needs a pedal for death metal.

If I could change two things on this amp, I would add a tremolo
depth control and a Baxanhall (bass/treble) setup. The single
tone control does a nnice job, but I'd still like a bit more
control.

The only problems I've had with any Kalamazoo (we own two and know
people with more) are that the caps need replacing. This is the
case with almost any amp this old! Once you've replaced the power
supply cap and trem caps, it should be rock solid. Tubes last a
*looong* time in these amps.

Kalamazoo was owned by Chicago Musical Instruments, who also owns
Gibson. I haven't needed anything from them, but a friend from the
net wrote for some help, and they wrote back with the info she requested. Since this amp is 35 or so years old, I suspect it is
out of warranty. 8^) I do my own work, so that's not a problem,
but any amp tech who works on tube amps should be able to work on these in his or her sleep!

I've played off and on (more off than on) for almost 30 years.
I have several laregr amps; I generally prefer smaller tube
amps now, if only because you can get that great overdriven
sound at "bedroom" levels. I have a vareity opf effects I use
with whatever amps I'm playing, but probably spend more time
using no effects.

If lost or stolen, I would replace it in a heartbeat. In fact,
I'm always looking for more Kalamazoos, to experiment with,
to fix up for budding young musicians, etc.

I am not sure what year this amp was made but I know it's old!!! This amp is versatile enough to handle soft back up but can scream out the lead for a classic rock solo. This amp has one channel but has two input jacks. The only things I wish the amp had was an extension speaker jack and distortion. The only feature avalible is the tremelo. This amp has enough power for when you get together with your friends who play guitar but it doesn't have enough power to supply a full band usage.

The type of guitar I use with this is a Fender Squire Stratocaster with single-coil pick-ups. This amps has provides excellent sound when pouring out the sounds of Sublime or the solo from November Rain by Guns and Roses. This amp is only noisy when you aren't playing. Iy hums really loud which I believe is from some bad resistors. The only distorion you get with this amp comes when you tuyrn it up loud. Then you get a really nice vintage distortion sound. My recommendation is to use a Zoom 505 multi-effects pedal.

This amp is very low maintance. It would be great for a beginner.

I have been playing for about five years now. I own another electric guitar and an acoustic. If this amp was stolen I wouldn't buy another. I believe I'd purchase an Peavy Bandit 112.