Magnatone 431 Combo

I just wanted to chime in about this particular amplifer.In 1974 I bought one of these used from a local music store for $75.00.At the time I was a 17 year old Robin Trower freak armed with a Cry Baby wah,a red script Big Muff and a hard tail sunburst maple neck Strat.Damn, talk about bedroom tone to die for.When I got married in '79 I sold everything.After starting playing again in '81 and have since gone through many amps(Peavey Mace, Fender and Crate solid state amps, etc, now a Cyber Twin),I still miss this Magnatone.I recently bought a Blues Jr. hoping to fill this void.Unfortunately that didn't happen.The Magnatone wasn't loud enough to hang with a drummer but now that wouldn't matter as I have other amps loud enough for the job.Hard to find one now;the quest continues.

The Model 431 came out in about 1964 and didn't last very long, so this amp is from then or a year or two later, max.

As noted above, low.med/high inputs, vibrato and tremolo (switchable between the two effects) plus reverb, on 10" speaker.

it's plenty loud for me, and perfect for recording.

the silliness of the "vintage amp" market is really put in the spotlight with Magnatones. All Magnatones sound great, generally better than nearly anythign else you can try. They are rich, clear, smooth, complex, and when cranked, they simply rock. This one is no exception and has a tight, moderate volume range so you can turn it up and not be in pain. Combining the vibrato with reverb on this, plug in a guita or lap steel or antything, you have an electric psychedelic violin from beyond the galaxy. I'm not kidding.

Then think that even now you can get somethign like this for say 600 bucks, and listen to it totally blow away anything in a similar size/fewatures range simlar - like, say, a d'64 Fender Deluxe Reverb. There is no comparison, and there's a reason everybody who is anybody with good guitar sound (like Stevie Ray Vaughan to Pete Townshend) uses these in the studio.

These ampos kill. If you find one, buy it.

it's ancient, and runs fine.

no idea...

These are amaxing, irreplacable tome monsters, the secret weapon of the really hippest recording engineers and guitar players/producers. Forget the marketing hype and your huge, ear-destroying Marshalls and your loud, painfully bright, rough-distorting Fenders, and hunt down and try one of these - you'll thank me.

plus, the think has a grill cloth painted like a jackson Pollock - you can't bea these things for style either.

This is a mid-60s model which features 3 inputs (low, medium, high), volume, tone, vibrato/trem switch and corresponding speed and intensity knobs, reverb, jacks for reverb and vib/trem footswitch (which I don't have), and an external speaker output. It houses one ten-inch speaker and an odd tweeter that I don't have wired. All tube and relatively quiet. The reverb is noisy when engaged but I'm sure that's just a wiring issue. It claims to be 35-watt but I doubt it. It's not at all loud and I use it exclusively for recording.

I play all kinds of guitars through it, mostly older models (Ric 330, Epi Casino, Tele, etc.) and everything sounds wonderful. I play mostly 60s and indie type stuff and this works quite well in that realm. The true-pitch vibrato is what got me interested and is now what has me addicted. It's enough to put a nice slant on the tone. The tremelo is nice as well, but nothing you haven't heard before. I was startled the very first time I played through it. The tone is absolutely beautiful. Very defined and warm with some rather savage crunch when cranked. This amp plays very well. Very responsive.

I haven't had it long so I don't know how dependable it is. It's OLD and is still going so it must be pretty strong.

No support any longer. They don't exist. However, there are many Maggie freaks out there who know their stuff and enjoy working on these amps. I've got a great tech in town who can fix anything (I hope) so I'm not too worried about it. This is old-school stuff: relatively easy to work with.

I've been playing for 29 years (started at six). I own a fair amount of quality instruments and have had various amps of various quality through the years. This one ranks up there with my faves. It is truly unique. If lost or stolen I would look for another or get something very similar.