Magnatone Custom 460A 212 Combo

First off this is actually the Magnatone 460, not the 460 A, but from what I've read there is no discernable difference between the two, they seem to be identical.
This amp is from 62, to the best of my knowledge. Has two 12 inch speakers and then two more really small (6 inch?) speakers. Interesting setup. It's got two channels. Channel two is brighter than the first and more akin with maybe a Fender Twin type sound; channel one is darker, though this the one that powers the vibrato. There IS a stereo switch between the two where you can run both simultaneously, and this is what I do 95% of the time, for more tonal options. It's supposed to be 35 watts. It's a quiet 35, it won't blow you away, but it's still definitely loud enough to play with a hard drummer in smallish type gigs. A perfect mid-size combo. It's got spring reverb and vibrato.

I play strictly Fender guitars. Strat, Tele, Baritone Tele, Bass VI that I turned into a Baritone guitar, Jazzmaster. So I'm strictly working with single coils. I have heard Les Pauls ran through it and it's definitely thicker and beefier, but that's not what I'm about or what I'm after. I play funk, blues, soul, hip hop, reggae/dub, some jazz. It's absolutely perfect for each of these. You can run the gamut from super clean and pure to really dark and murky to downright spooky and haunted with the reverb and vibrato.
Now let's get into the actual sounds this thing makes. This amp, pardon my french, is an absolute motherfucker. I've never heard an amp that sounds remotely like this in the 14 years I've been playing. The closest comparison I could make would be, like I said, a really clean old Fender, a Twin perhaps. But that still doesn't nearly do it justice. It has a tone entirely of its own, a classic 60's class A type tone. VERY clean sound, BEAUTIFUL! It does overdrive nicely when turned up all the way, but if you want some really crunchy sounds you'll definitely need pedals.
It has TRUE vibrato. What this means, is that while the tremolo you'll find on Fender amps cuts the signal in and out at a set rate, vibrato takes the pitch and bends it up and down ever so slightly, creating a similar effect, but warmer, lusher, spookier. I really can't begin to describe how badass it truly is. The spring reverb in this is also rather incredible. A nice hall sounding reverb that can get very heavy and wet if turned up all the way.
It's not a noisy amp in the slightest, provided you get it cleaned out and all tubes/resitors/rectifiers are working. It's also not the most versatile of amps. DON'T get this if you want a million and one sounds, and DON'T get this if you want to play punk rock. Get this if you're looking for a totally unique sound that will set you apart from anyone else, and that sounds very old fashioned. The sound transports you to another time entirely. It would be incredible in a doo-wop group. I didn't even know amps could sound like this.
It does magic with pedals. Some analog delay together with the amp's natural vibrato is a combination that must be heard to be believed. Any of y'all got a Space Echo? A great fuzz or a natural sounding overdrive take this amp to classic 60's tones like Hendrix, Cream, whatever. That's not usually my style but it's good to have it in my bag of tricks if I want to pull it off.

Gigging with it might be a tricky animal. It is VERY, VERY HEAVY! And as it's super old, you may want to keep this as mostly a recording amp. Personally I love it too much to not gig with it, despite the risks of theft or wear and tear from taking it on the road. Whatever.

HA! The company hasn't existed since the 60's. Find a good local amp tech that you trust. (IF YOU LIVE IN LA, GREG LEON IS A GODSEND! 323-462-0572)

Been playing 14 years. This is my powerful amp; I have a Fender Superchamp, a smaller practice type amp. I don't ever do huge gigs, and if I do gig out it's in a smaller club and this will be plenty sufficient. If it were stolen I'd cry for a while, then I'd open a savings account purely for its replacement. What do I love about it? A better question is what don't I love about it. When I first bought it I could tell it had a monster lying within it, but it needed some fixing up; had a few old tubes, resistors. When I got it back it sounded like a wet dream. These things are way old so it makes sense that it will need some cleaning out and updating, but it's well worth it. No new amp on the market sounds even CLOSE. If you love the sound of a really clean old Fender amp but want something different, this is the way to go. I almost hesitate to write this review though, I feel like I'm letting out a closely guarded secret...

made around 62,great for everything under the sun, got it out of my grandma's garage and after sitting out there for how knows how long it only needed a few minor repairs(caps,resistors...), two channel, delicious vibrato on channel one and reverb on both. channel one has mellow/normal and channel two has normal/bright tone switches. somewhere in the ballpark of 35 watts but thats tube so don't compare it to solid state watts. i have yet to use this amp for a gig or band pracitce but im sure there would be no volume problems.

i play a 70's reissue fender strat through it and it sings. with a good dist. pedal it gets great classic rock sounds on channel 2 and has very full clean sounds on channel one. no build in dist. (obvously) but still is better than most amps that have it. vibrato is probably the best effect i have ever heard and it gets some ghostly sounds cranked with harmonics.

as good as you would expect for something thats like 40 years old.
its a tube amp and its very old so obvously it will need some servicing every now and then but nothing major. as for gigs and practice, i would rather leave it at home so it doen't get broke.

this company kicked the bucket a long time ago.

this is by far the best amp i have ever owned and it kills my friend's marshall dsl. personaly i like to use single coils through it just because it sounds better but thats just me. all the tone shaping, power, and vibe i will ever need. besides, it doesn't come any better.

This amp has 2 channels with both having Volume, Bass and Treble with Hi/Lo switch and 2 inputs. Channel one is the Vibrato channel and has a little darker tone than channel 2. Channel 2's tone is something closer to a Fender with both channels having access to the reverb. The Vibrato is of course what makes the Maggie famous. It is hypnotic, pulsating and warm, kind of like a Roto-vibe but 10 times better. The reverb is a beautiful Hammond long pan echo and both the reverb and vibrato have foot switch plugs. The reverb is as close to the old Fender tank sound I've heard and makes playing Ventures tunes a breeze.

Here is a trick. I run a 2 amp rig and daisy chain the Maggie second in line with a 66 Gretsch Fury 6166. I run my signal as fallows: first I use a Strat with Fralin pickups, from there it goes to a BK Butler Tube Driver ? Fulldrive 2 ? Vox Wah ? Voodoo Chorus ? Wah Huge Aqua Puss, this goes to the Gretsch channel 2 hi input, I than patch from channel 2?s low input to the Maggie?s channel 2 hi input. With a few tweaks to adjust the volume this combo sings. What makes this really cool is when I hit the vibrato there is a noticeable reaction between the two amps. I have them separated by about 12 to 24 inches adding to the effect, I almost swear the vibrato some out of both amps. The Maggie is running the darker tone in this setup and the Gretsch is the Highs. In a word the over all affect is Huge.

Good for the most part. A tube amp has to be taken care of and I did have to change the output tranny. When I got it the tranny had shorted and wax dripped on the speakers below. Thankfully none on the cone, those old Oxfords are hard to come by these days. The overall condition of this amp is very good, even came with the old Victoria cover.

Being their long gone the best way to find info is either a great tech or from Zack at: http://www.vibroworld.com.

These are becoming as collectable as some Fenders so if you come across one for a good price (working or not) snatch it up. You won?t be disappointed if you get it working that is.

This amp is a 1962 model, two channel stereo, with 2 twelve inch speakers and 2 5X9 oval speakers. I just got it and have used it for one rehearsal and one gig. For the rehearsal, I used the amp straight without any stomp boxes - for the gig, in a small club, I brought a Sparkle Drive just in case I needed more oomph. The amp by itself was more than enough without pushing it at all. Each channel has a Mellow/Normal/Bright switch which really works to get a variety of sounds. I play primarily blues and blues oriented rock. Set on bright, this amp has amazing tone without any stomp boxes needed to compress or "warm" the sound. The other switch settings give a great mellow jazzy feel or rhythm feel. Of course, on one channel it has the amazing Magnatone vibrato that you have to hear to believe. Reverb operates on both channels.

So far, I have only used the amp with a pair of USA Hamers, one with Duncan '59 and JB PUs and one with Duncan P90s. It makes them growl, sing, move, etc, etc, etc. This amp was way before it's time. It is very, very silent. Even with the reverb turned up, when most amps will sound kind of metalic,the warmth of the sound just comes through the reverb. The amp is very warm at virtually all volume levels. Again, amazing. Distortion never becomes mushy, but stays warm throughout the volume range. Volume is actually used for volume and not so much to push the limits of the amp. The Utah speakers it came with probably have something to do with that.

While I've only had it a week, some of the tubes appear original, some not. So tubes have been replaced by someone at sometime. Hey, its probably older than most of you people reading this so it deserves to have a couple of tubes replaced.

Company went under some time ago. JEEZ, IF THEY WERE AROUND TODAY, I WONDER WHAT THEIR PRODUCTS WOULD BE LIKE?

I've been playing since the mid 60's. My electric guitars consist of Hamers with humbuckers and P90s, Ibanez Artists with humbuckers, a custom Tele (non-Fender) with Lindy Fralin PUs, a Roadhouse Strat and a Clapton Strat. Amps consist of a lot of Music Man combos, an original 65 Fender Twin Reverb w/JBLs and some great sounding oddball amps made by Valco, Univox and Sears. This amp rates as one of the best I ever heard. It has a more complete and complex sound than the Sears, and is totally different than the more "modern" amps like the Music Man or Fender combos. I bought this one, sound unheard, on ebay because Magnatone amps were described to me as sounding a lot like Valcos and DanElectros (Sears) and I love that sound. But this amp is a league apart. I would decidely start looking for another one if anything ever happened to this one.