Lectrolab R600C

The features have been covered. Not many by modern standards. But two that are incredible by those same modern standards. 1) Incredible TONE. 2) Awesome circuit integrity & construction--point-to-point handwired. All tube 2xEL84, 2x12ax7, 6ca4, 6au6.

The cabinet construction could be a lot better--the baffle is fiberboard & will ultimately need to be replaced, but I ain't replacing anything on this until it is needed. Sounds too damn good.

Looks funky cool, too. Busted down tweed.

Nice & light. Original Jensen. These are real features. Effects loops, etc. are not-they're just distractions.

Stoned simple circuit with nothing to suck out the tone. The original Jensen is a big help & I'm partial to the EL84s & there compression, but this thing has sonic soul in spades. At upper volumes, the EL84 drive is incomparable w/ tons of compression & tube sag. At lower volumes, this is one of the most warm, vibrant amps for acoustic picking I've ever played. Just a jewel. The Jensen helps, but I've got other amps with nice vintage Jensen's & this amp bakes it...gotta be the circuit!

After I this lectrolab, I ultimately sold three ol'vintage amps that I'd sworn I'd always keep. It just smoked 'em. Tonally, this is close to the best amp I've ever played. And I've owned & played plenty--mainly vintage. (You can have the modern soulless crap).

This amp defines what 10 is, tonewise!

40 yrs old and works perfectly. Unless you spend a coupla grand (& sometims even if you do), whatever you buy new ain't gonna be working in 40 yrs, even if there is still electrical power by then. & there probably won't be, due to profligate resource waste, including the construction of new amps that'll be trash in about 5 years.

In the twilight zone, tech support answers the phones at the lectrolab helpline 24/7, just call them. Their number will come to you, if you go without sleep long enough...

If I hadn't heard this ol'beater, I'd have thought $200 was too much. Now that I've got it and played through it a ton, I think it beats the daylights out of some great amps including a number of nice vintage fender's & gibsons that cost a more than twice as much--in fender's overrated case, 10 times as much. Its worst day is better than most famed amps' best month!
There's still a few in my arsenal that this won't replace & that I won't part with, like the early 60's Ampeg Reverberocket (smoky note wizard, with world's best onboard reverb!!) and my Traynor YGM-3 (all 'round tone monster w/ the world's best tremelo!!), but this is an equally stunning amp.

It demonstrates that what amps cost ain't about value--if it were, these would cost more than a blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, 'cuz it just bakes it. Just another example that prices in capitalistic societies aren't a reflection of value, but rather the cult of fetishes.

Let me start out by saying that this is my FAVORITE amp! I've been kicking it around for years and will never get rid of it! Marshalls and Fenders have come and gone but this baby is here to stay. I believe mine is a '65, they don't make them like this anymore!
I play indie/spacey kind of stuff, this amp is 1/2 of my setup and handles my "normal" guitar tone. I don't need alot of versatility from my amps as I use a lot of effects. I just need a straight tube tone. The other half of my setup is a Fender '59 Bassman RI that handles the reverb wash and effects nicely without breaking up too much.
This amp has 2 channels, 2 inputs per channel, and 1 volume & 1 tone knob per channel. It also has a tremolo (with speed and level controls) that has never worked since I owned it. I do plan on getting it fixed. The controls behave in a strange but cool manner- I think it has one bright and one dark channel, but if you plug into the first channel, the controls for the other channel color it too. Kind of like it's bridged, it adds a low end warmth. Loaded with 1 12" Jensen speaker.
It's not a super loud amp, although mine could probably use some servicing to get it running optimally. It's pretty much always dirty sounding at band levels with your bridge pickup wide open, although it is VERY responsive to your picking attack and pickup selection.

I play a Gibson Les Paul Special with 2 P-100 pickups. These pickups are an interesting attempt at making a P90 without all the hum. They end up sounding somewhere between a P90 and a humbucker. Punchy but kind of dark. They're cool, but I do find myself wanting a more traditional humbucker tone. This amp loves these pickups, however! It's very responsive (like a good tube amp should be), it cleans up with both pickups on (or just the neck) and wails when I select the bridge/lead pickup. Very cool. It 's the kind of tone that makes me want to play- I never know exactly how it's going to react- very organic. It's never perfectly clean, it has just the right amount of drive. It's a classic overdrive that just gets creamier when you add a distortion pedal. It's great! I run all Boss pedals- chorus, delay, distortion, reverb- straight in. Sounds beautiful! Kind of Vox-ish but not shrill, kind of Marshall-y but not painfully loud.

It's very old, I found it in a basement covered in dust ( I though it was an old suitcase!), it's made of fiberboard, the handle has long since disintegrated, reliability is the only thing holding me back from giving it a perfect 10. I feel like I would need a backup. I plan on making this thing road-worthy in the near future. Maybe I'll build a nice cabinet, but that might affect its tone! It has never failed me, but it does feel fragile.

I think these spawned from the old Heathkit company. It says "Sound Projects Co., Cicero Il." on the chassis. It's an old, simple tube amp that should be easy to service by any knowledgeable amp tech. I'd imagine this to the kind of amp they drool over- point to point wiring, etc...

I would mourn the loss of this good friend, we've been together along time. I'd try and find another but these are pretty rare. I love the tone, the weight (it's very light!), the look (old cheap torn tweed with tons of vintage cigarette burns), everything! If I could redesign it, I'd add reverb and give it a tad more clean headroom. The previous post mentioned something about adding a solid state rectifier which I'm goin to look in to....

This has turned out to be one of the ccolest amps I've ever played, much less owned. I leave my Two-Rock 100 watt head in the car as a backup when I bring this amp in to a gig. Another reviewer said that his/her Lectrolab is too noisy to record with...something must be sick in there, caps or something; tubes maybe. This amp is silent until turned past 4 or 5, and at that volume, it has Deluxe -ish punch and presence, mixed with AC-30 style snarl and clarity. I adore this amp; with a Route 66 pedal and a Strat, one can conjure up an entire catalog of tones. I just played a showcase where the band copped Johnny Cash, Dwight Yoakam, Randy Travis, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, Elvis ( early and later), Beach Boys, Beatles, Lynard Skynard, ZZ Top, Wild Cherry, Santana ( "Smooth" ), and Kentucky Headhunters, and an original country/rock song by up-and coming Dave Russell. I did it all with the Lectrolab 600, and the Route 66, with the pedal set for MINIMUM distortion, and MINIMUM compression. Oh, and the amp was on 3&1/2, and filled the stage at The Garage at the Reno Hilton. I should shut up about this amp until I get another as backup, but I'm serious...I live near Mesa Boogie and Two-Rock, and have good friends at both places. I've played a lot of amps from both manufacturers, and even spent big bucks to MODIFY my Boogies! I own a very special one-of-a kind Two-Rock, and a "One-Rock" prototype. This Lectrolab is the equal of any of them for tone, very Hi-Fi Magnatone-like, while still being voiced like a "real" guitar amp (Fender/early Marshall/ Dumble "clean" side. Enough, this amp is 10 in every catagory. Go get one, while they're still cheaper than solid state Yamaha's...and they still are!
Features: Two channels...like the other poster, my second channel seems blown or something. No reverb, but sounds terrific with a digital reverb unit as a front-end processor, like a Nanoverb.
BITCHIN' tremolo; the other guitar players in the room were looking for what pedal I used to get that great sound for Johnny Cash and Surfin' U.S.A.. Two 12ax7's, two EL-84's, a 6AU6 and a 6CA4 ( which Two-Rock's guys traded for a solid state rectifier instead). I've seen this same model number, 600 C, with two 6V6's, though I haven't heard it, and I've seen listings for an 800 C. The earliest I've heard of this amp being manufactured is 1960, mine is stamped 1965 inside, and I've seen a listing for a 1967.

I've had this amp for seven years, first as a doorstop, then a practice amp, then as a studio amp, then as a small gig amp for clean gigs ( country/funk/jazz etc.), then as a miked "big gig" amp, now I use it with pedals ( Route 66 and Duncan pickup booster, which I haven't turned on once, but have for security sake). I play mostly passive pichup Strats, turned down for rythym, turned up for leads
(think early Roy Buchanan ), but occasionally use a Jim Surles custom "Surlescaster with maple neck, mahogany body and old Gibson MiniBuckers, and that setup is both Jazz and Rock without any pedals.
This is my favorite amp EVER. See above. I love everything about it, and hate nothing about it, and is only comparable to Holy Grail amps like Magnatone 260, 280, or their Leslie simulator organ amp. I didn't choose this amp; it snuck up on me and ended a lifetime of tone quest. Now I just have to play well enough to deserve it. No lie.

This amp was made on December 7th, 1964. Its all tube with 4 inputs that drive the tubes at different levels. The input wattage is about 70 watts so the output is around 30 watts. At one time this used to be a combo with a 12" speaker but it has been modified into a head.

I use it right now as just a fun little amp to play with, much to noisy two record with and not loud enough to play live with.
If you turn up the volume all the way you get that good old tube distortion, and if you back off the volume it cleans up nicely. Plugged into a quad box it has a nice warm sound.

When I first got it I hooked it up to a 2x12 cab and one of the 12ax7 was oscilating really bad, so I bought new set of tubes and it sounds great. The second channel does not work right now, probably a cold solder joint or loose connection.

I can't find this company anywhere, I don't think they are around anymore.

I have been playing about 10 years. I play Strats, a Gibson explorer, ESP's,a Washburn acoutic. I run these through a Marshall JCM 900 and minial effects. I have been considering getting this amp rewired and fit it in to my rig, but i'd like to find out more about it first. If it was lost or stolen, that would really suck because I would never find another one. If anyone has any info about it at all, Please e-mail me.