Magnatone 1959 M213-A Troubadour

The features have been described elsewhere. 1 x 12 alnico speaker combo amp w/ 2 x 6V6, a 12AU7 for the vibe and AX7 otherwise. Four inputs, two separate volume controls. ONE tone control. VERY wide/useable range of speed and intensity on the vibe controls. Also has a 1/4 spekaer out jack on the control faceplate. Listed at 18 watts RMS, I believe. Doesn't seem more than 15 to me. It is a push-pull circuit though. It seems a little tamer than a 5E3...

This amp definitely has its own sound. As previously reviewed, it is very mid focused. Some might not like this. But, if you are a midrange fan like me, it's tone nirvana, especially with single coils or P-90s; though it also sounds good with sparkley buckers. It's a little dark or 'warm,' so I pretty much dime the tone control to the treble side all the time. At first I thought this was the speaker, but then I ran it through my JBLs and it sounded pretty much the same. I.e., the OME big magnet alnico is a fine speaker. It breaks up nicely at its highest volume, more barking 'Marshall' than uber compressed tweed IMO, though you get a little of both; but that's not what I use it for. I just think it has a middy clean tone to die for. Probably be the ultimate jazzer's amp if that's yer thang. The vibe really and truly is other-wordly - believe the hype there. FWIW, after three years I haven't even began to tap all the tones in this amp. I've never even jumpered the channels, LOL, I just plug in the top No. 1 channel w/ the tone dimed and away I go... I only give it a 9, because it's not perfect, close though. If it was 22 watts instead of 16 or whatever it is, had a more versatile tone control and sturdier cab, I would most definitely give it a 10. Maybe I should operate on it...

I've had it for three years and never had a lick of trouble, other than the occasional tube swap. Has to be very well built. The slanted baffle is pinned in via a very tenuous arrangement though, kinda have to baby it for that reason. The cab's a little flimsey too...

Ha! Good luck...

These amps just beat the pants off a Fender Princeton. Ironically, they seem to go for anywhere from $500 on up. I can see paying $1,000 for one of these, but not for a Princeton (and I've owned MANY Princetons). I would never pay more than $400 for a Princeton. I can't understand the fascination with the scooped 'Blackface' sound. I can understand not wanting clean over tweed grunge, but a more middy clean sounds much better with guitar to me.

I guess these are rare birds, huh? Here's a snippit from a 1957 catalog, the same year as my Model 213-A Troubadour.


"Newest sensation of the music world, the Custom 213 Amplifier is the finest compact, light amplifier available. Covered in modern charcoal leatherette with gold color appointments the Custom 213 is a power-house of tone. Rich, round bass tones, sparkling highs plus the sensational exclusive MAGNATONE BIG "V" Vibrato--the first true musical vibrato--make the custom 213 the ideal professional amplifier for club dates, recording sessions and T.V. or radio appearances."


Weight: 25 lbs.
Dimensions: 15"H x 10"D x 18"W
Baffle: 15 degree tilted speaker covered in dark wheat cloth.

The sounds are very versatile but very dependant on the guitar, speakers and tubes used.

There is nothing better than the true vibrato of a magnatone amp. Sounds better than a Leslie unit and a univibe. It's just beautiful to the point of being so watery it makes you thirsty for more. With an OD pedal this amp cranks the ramones, zeppelin, srv. Clean to light overdrive gives you any 50's to 60's blues, lonnie mack and even country.

If that's not veratile I don't know what is!! And the vibrato cannot be mentioned enough!!

Never had a problem. I am the second owner and it came from an old family friend. They needed the money and I didn't mint the look of the amp so I took it not knowing how good it was going to be. I mean I was just trying to help the guy out, and I feel like I got the help instead of him. LOL This amp is still quiet the only 2 non original parts are the tubes and speaker.

what company? they have been gone since before I was born!!LOL

Overall I say this is the best amp and the most unique of my collection. If I had to sell my amps for some reason, this would be the vary last to go. I simply love it.

It has a cool vibe comming from the 50's adds mojo for me. And at the coffe shop's that I play nobody can get even close to my tone. Even if they new about the special Vibrato effect this has, they probably wont even find one.

It's very unique, versatile for Country, Blues, early Blues oriented Rock, Southern Rock, and Punk.

18 watt 1-12'' 2-6V6 non-reverb combo with pitch-change vibrato. A and B channels with individual volume controls, 2 inputs per channel. Each volume control affects tone balance of the other channel. Master tone control. Vibrato/intensity control. Extension speaker and vibrato footswitch jack. Famous Magnatone pitch-change vibrato.
I of course wish it had reverb, but I run an Alesis Midiverb II into it to get a little bigger sound. I use it as a practice amp, so power is not a big issue. The circuit (cathode-biased 2-6V6 output stage, interactive volume controls) has some similarities to the tweed Fender Deluxe amp, which I guess can be viewed as a feature.

I bought it from a guy who played accordian through it. I can see why, it has a really warm, midrangey tone that would fill out a naturally trebly accordion sound.
The amp starts breaking up smoothly with the volume up and the tone control up full. The tone control mostly rolls off treble. Overall, the amp doesn't offer a *great* deal of tonal versatility, due to the limited tone control circuit.
On the other hand, the pitch-change vibrato is wonderful. It sounds more like a phase shifter than anything else I can think of. I bet the bigger 260 and 280 models sound even cooler.
This is definitely a 50's style amp, and sounds really good playing blues or jazz. Playing a stock Telecaster or a Strat through it gives you an idea of the amps that the guitars were designed around. I found that it did *not* like a ES-335 style guitar I played through it - the word I come up with to describe the sound is ``blurry'', for what that's worth.

The internal construction looks robust, with good quality parts. The amp is built point-to-point without even a circuit card. I don't know if that's better or worse from a reliability standpoint. I haven't had it long enough for it to break down on me. The previous owner played it for 25 years without incident, though.

Since the company doesn't exist any more, I'll use ``customer support'' to mean the ease of getting it fixed. If the vibrato craps out, the varistors are VERY difficult to come by. Otherwise it's a well-built amp that can be readily repaired by a competent amp tech. Unlike later Magnatones, this uses bread-and-butter tubes like 6V6's and 12AX7's.

I'd buy it again in an instant. I have mostly owned Fender blackface and silverface amps, and this is a different sound from that, much closer to the tweed Fender amps I've heard. Add the pitch-change vibrato, and you have a pretty cool little amp.