Magnatone 107 Starlet Combo

Mine is an early 50's Model. It is perfect for a practice and maybe a smaller gig. It's very basic just read the other reviews for the features. I love the One Volume Knob which is also the on/off knob! Makes life soooooo easy! Mine also has the words Orpheus printed on the back and an Orpheus Logo on the front grill but I'm not sure where that came from. If you Google it you end up empty handed!

The tubes break up pretty easily and love the GFS PU's in my Gretsch! And it also doesn't sound too bad with my Tele. Mine has a small tendency to start making a noise but I've noticed that if I tap it on the front top right side it immediately goes away. So I'll have to get that checked out. You have to turn it up all the way and turn down your guitar to get the beautiful clean sound, and turn down your tone knob on your guitar if you've got too much treble.

I might use it for a small gig or maybe a medium if it was Mic. The tubes in it are the original RCA so I'm pretty proud of that! But like I said after awhile it starts to break up with a strange sound and you have to tap it to get it to go away. But it's 50 years old so I'd say that pretty reliable!

Definitely worth the cash I dished out and I would probably be pretty upset if it was lost or stolen. The ease of use is great and the tone is phenomenal! Buy one if you have the chance!

50s mots 107 starlet,1 volume knob thats it(but thats what people like about these old amps just turn it on and it sounds great.)my little 107 Definetly has enough power for a small club,if youre looking at these on ebay and theyre described as not very loud theres probably something wrong with it.You WILL get a hell of a shock and you cant use it the way I like to set up with an a/b switch with two amps IE:the 107 and a 70s champ(I think because of differnt power a,a/b whatever)...it would probably work with another old amp with same power,and it doesnt really NEED! it but reverb would be a bonus.

Mine sounds great with single coils or humbuckers I have strats, les pauls, sgs, prs, old charvels,carvin,ect.they all sound good.I play all styles,you wont get super high gain, but perfect hot blues,classic rock tones!its not that noisey (again these are 40+ years old if its noisey there might be something wrong)I mostly play a strat with a fulldrive 2 through it for an SRV hot blues sound!with humbuckers it reminds ME! of old Schenker,Priest...hot british sound.

I was very lucky with the one I got(original tubes, spkr, ect..)it was in great shape and I havent had aproblem with it,I even accidentally left it on all night still no problems.I wouldnt take it to a gig but just because i wouldnt want anything to happen to it,I use it sparingly so it will last longer.A-lot of amps on ebay wont be in great shape its a CRAP shoot!

you should be able to skip this section somehow for vintage companys that arent around anymore so as not to ruin the rating.

Ive been playing for 28 yrs,for amps I have a fender gdec, fender deville410,Mesa dual rec,Marshall 2210(on guitar players top 10 marshall list)and the magnatone.Right now its my favorite amp,Im looking for other magnatones now,Id definetly replace it if stolen!,I had a 72 vibrochamp I got rid of it when I got this(the champ was nice but this sounds alot better!)Ive also had alot of others; old marshalls,alamo,fender,silvertone,ect...I love the simple controls,the look,the sound,even the way it smells when it heatsup! (mmm!!! plastic)things I hate touching another guitar or amp and getting knocked on my ass!(kidding it didnt feel THAT bad!)....but like I said you have to be careful buying amps on ebay alot of people use it to dump their junk.I think I was probably pretty lucky.If its in good shape and everythings right these are great amps!

Bone simple, just volume/on/off knob. One channel. Heck, it doesn't even have a power trannie, just don't play it in bare feet or touch anyone while you are plugged in and you may live. Loud for a condo, I am afraid to dime it. Just 3 tubes and a cap, there you go. No features except a winning personality.

Perfect match for an LP-type guitar, or a hollowbody. Loves flatwounds ? no harshness or icepick available, just great sustain, even feedback (3w!). Loves a clean push from a boost pedal and endless distortion. Bluesey, dark, jazzy, even plays complex chords nicely without interharmonic mush, even at volume with distortion. No huge bass, but what do you expect from 3W and 8"?

All it's made out of is 3 tubes and a filter cap, with an output tranny. I can't see how it could break down. I never knew about amp care when I bought it and it's really my amp of choice these days, no problems but the ever present fear of death by electrocution ( no ground).

Magnatone hasn't existed in decades. Know how to use a soldering iron?

Been playing on and off for 25 yrs, own a Mesa SOB, a SIlverface Champ, another Maggie MOTS of similar design, a Trace Elliot Velocette, '63 Ampeg Jet, Kendrick reverb, Echoplex SS, '70s Fender Strat, Dano/Vox shortscale hybrid guitar, Hamer Slammer Special.
I love this little amp, for my style and situation it's perfect? only wish it was safer to play without fear of electrcution. Will need isolation transformer as next purchase. Woul drecommend these amps as recording and bedroom amps, jsut loud enough for accompanying piano and singer without overpowering. Sounds better to me than fender Champ, with larger speaker, no bright icepick sounds, just creamy sustain and distortion. can't use it with any AC powered eddects, though, because of ground loops. Dangerous around kids. For tone without crazy prices (check Supro Bantams on ebay! get out! or fender Tweed champs! no way) Magnatone is the sleeper of the 21st. century. Get one before the 'connoisseurs' have snarfed them all up.

I believe it's a 1957 Starlet. Pretty much on/ off and volume. 2 imputs. It would be silly to use both though. It puts out a pretty high output for it's size. Could always use a little more, but it's obviously from the 1950's and a very small amp.

Plugged it in with my Les Paul and this little bugger rocks. I think it will be a good recording amp. There is a bit of background hum but not noticable enough to even comment on. One thing I noticed is that it responses very well to the signal I give it. If I use the bridge pick up and then a Neck pick up there is a big difference. Very clean sound when you need it but also at full volume it breaks up a bit. I am using a distorion unit, delay, wah wah and chorus (not all at the same time) and I swear this little amp really picks up the subtilties of the effects I use more than my Vox AC15. If it had more bottom end I might consider using it at a gig.

It's nearly 50 years old so I think we can say it's reliable. But I wouldn't take it on the road with me and "depend" on it for a lenght of time.

Who Knows?

I would place this in the high 8 or low 9 catagory of vintage small amps. I don't know enough about them really but this amp sounds great. I'll give it an 8. It has tone, texture and a very cool sound that makes me want to play it way more than I should.

Looks to be an early to mid '50's model. Two inputs, one knob: on/off/volume that's it. All tube: one 12AX7, one 5OL6, and one 3Z5Z
Single 8" AlNiCo undoped speaker. Suits me fine, as my style of music is primarily Blues, with early Rock & Roll and British influence.
Great for a very small venue, living room, or studio.

Absolutely killer tone, creamy breakup, excellent gain, reasonably quiet for an ungrounded amp of this age. Not a lot of treble,
or clean headroom. Would be a great harp amp. Not enough high end for single coils to get "that bite" I have found that My semi hollow body Hamer is a great match, with Duncan Humbuckers. It does only one thing, and it does it well. Would be a great match for a Tele Custom, or any Gibson ES, or Epiphone Sheraton or Casino.

Given the age, a backup would be a good idea, but it really is a simple machine, not much to go wrong here, spare tubes would be wise.
It is somewhere aroud 50 years old and runs smooooth, no hum. I'll give it an 8, just to be real, but these vintage Magnatone amplifiers are great.

I've been playing since the mid 1960's, and more steady since around
the early 70's. I own three 50's era Magnatones,3 Fender Music Master combos, 2 Princetons, a Deluxe Reverb 2, and a Concert Reverb 2, '59 Ampeg, a couple '60's VOX's, '65 Univox, Silvertone 1482, Sano 50WRT more. I don't think I'll ever see another one of these, so if it were stolen, I'd be very bummed. I like the small size and light weight, it's great to have a guitar in one hand and the amp in another and be able to show up and play. If you like the real MOJO, get an old Magnatone, it might just make you want to play more often and longer. Sounds resemble the tweed Champs, or Princetons with a little less volume and treble than a Prince.