Magnatone Custom M15

Appears to have been made in '65 but the date stamp on chassis is a bit smeared so it's a little hard to tell. Mine is also the Custom M-15 A, as Brandon Fickler described in his review. He did a good job describing most of the features.

I'll touch on a couple things that he didn't. The reverb includes a switch/pop called "Echo". Of course, it isn't echo per se but it is quite unusual. I've not heard anything like it. It seems to be some kind of amplitude modulation (like tremolo) that works on the reverberated signal! It's as if the reverb itself is pulsating. A very unique and original effect. My hats off to the engineers at Magnatone for that! Also, when you're playing in stereo, the reverb seems to come mainly from one side.

Another thing Brandon didn't go into details on is the Mellow/Bright/Tone Boost "EQ type" switch. The Mellow is ideal for 'classic' jazz guitar, a la Wes Montomery. Smooth & dark. The "Bright" is hardly what I'd consider bright (nothing like Fender, for example). It is, however, midrange heavy. More so than the other two settings. The real odd-ball setting is tone boost. I have no idea what is going on (technically) with Tone Boost, but it sounds oddly scooped, clucky. Out-of-phase-like. Bizzare! But that's when you just play through one channel set to Tone Boost.

As Brandon pointed out, you don't really get the full impact of what this amp can do unless you use both channels simultaneously. You can do this by jumpering the channels (in classic 4-hole Marshall style) or--and I prefer the Magnatone way--you can use the stereo input. This appears to be like using both high-gain inputs (which you can't really accomplish by bridging). Man, this gets you some serious tone.

I'll also take a sec to rave about the speaker options. The amp comes with two Jensen C12Ps (never heard of that model before!) but you can plug in two external 16 ohm cabs and spread it out. I tried it out with a 4x12 on one side and a 2x12 on the other. Crazy loud and just a freekin outstanding, huge sound. Even when playing more quietly and clean; the sound is huge, firm and unique.

The construction is quite unusual as well. The power chassis is on the base of the cab and there's a "snake" of cables between it and the chassis. There are so many wires that an "interlock" is used (two actually) to connect the lower and upper chassis.

The pre-amp chassis, tubes and dual OTs are mounted up top and attached to the injenction-molded cover. This chassis hangs off at an angle. Odd!! The angle more or less corresponds to the angle of a baffle in the speaker cab that separates the upper and lower chassis. That's purty weird to, yes? The reverb tank (Hammond) is mounted on a side wall, in the upper part of the cab.

As I was saying in the features section, when you use both channels via. My favorite way is to use the Stereo input (you can use a mono cable, you just don't plut it in quite all the way--just enough so that the tip goes to both channels), set channel 1 to "Bright" EQ and channel 2 to "Tone Boost" EQ. I'll turn channel 1 up louder than Channel 2. Bring up the bass and treble most of the way on channel 1 and you've got some really inspiring tone.

It doesn't sound like anything else I've heard. Definitely got its own Magna-tone! But everything sounds great through it, as others have said--single coils, humbuckers, P90s. It absolutely LOVES my Dearmond M77-T with Dearmond 2k (Dynasonic-style) pickups.

I like setting the amp for a bold, clean sound, just about to break up. Then hit it with some decent OD or distortion pedals. This amp takes pedals extremely well. Really...it's beyond extreme. It's some of the best tone I've ever heard!! With an MI Audio Crunchbox, Timmy, Time Machine Boost...fuggedaboudit!!

The amp will do something I've not heard many other amps do too. It has a very interesting kind of compression going on. Not sure how to describe it. It's not really saggy. It's not like the notes are caving in. They stay firm and solid. But it seems like the amp is "holding something back". Something that it doles out gradually. Very cool!

The vibrato has been discussed a bunch in other reviews. What can I add? It's outstanding.

Another thing I'll point out--the amp is amazingly quiet. Quite an acheivment considering how much this thing has going on in the circuit and how much wire there dragged around throughout this amp.

I can see that the tone selector switch in channel 1 was replaced. Other than that, everything is original in this amp.

This amp was shipped across country at least twice; once to get it to MA, and once to get it back to me in LA. It took a bit of a beating from the "men in brown" on it's trip back home to Sunny Southern California though. Unfortunately, the huge power transformer had broken out of the cheaply made "straps" that were holding it to the power section chassis. It was flopping around and took a few wires/components out when this happened. This was a very poor design, IMO.

Also, the power section chassis is held into the 1/2" plywood base with 3/8" wood screws! Come on! Not good enough. I drilled out some holes, put in some T-nuts and used machine screws to bold that bad boy down. I also got the two straps bent right and put them back on the PT. Then I added several plastic cable ties to tie the two straps together tightly so that if the amp takes another good fall, the PT won't break loose.

There's none.

What can I say a fantastic, unique amp. It could work for just about anyone doing any kind of music by judiciously adding one or two pedals. I've not heard another amp that really makes the same kind of sounds. Nothing. Very innovative and unique design features.

I'd be devastated if I lost this one and would be looking for another right away.

Mine is the M-15A version with the 2x12's, 13 tubes, no transistors, and the transformer-driven reverb with the "echo" and "tone" controls - which are very cool. Two input channels, one of which goes through the stereo vibrato circuit and the other goes straight to the reverb section. The stereo input is neat, accepting a stereo jack to send one input channel to channel 1 and the other to channel 2. I've read about the stereo jack not working properly on some M15's, but I assume those people were trying to plug a mono (standard guitar cord) into the stereo jack, which would result in only channel 1 operating. A mono-to-stereo converter is a very simple device to make, though. I highly recommend using both channels simultaneously, because this is when the amp really comes alive!

Controls: "Volume", "Treble", "Bass" and 3-position "Mellow/Bright/Tone Boost" controls on each channel. Vibrato has Mono/Stereo selection, "Speed" and "Intensity" controls. Reverb has "Depth", "Echo", and "Tone" controls. Power/Standby switch as well as an internal speaker ON/OFF switch for use with external speakers. A 10 for such innovative controls...I mean, it was made in 1965! Ford had just made the Mustang (actually in mid-1964), Magnatone had just made this M-15A.

I got this because I read of many studios using them, and that's a good sign! I also heard of its infamous STEREO vibrato. The tone is Unbelievable! Could be the Mullard 12AX7's...Yeah, that's right, it came with three Mullard 12AX7's in the preamp! Could be the strong GE 7189A's in the power section! Could be the RCA "clear-top" 12AU7's in the vibrato circuit. Or maybe the design. Probably all of the above, but this thing sings like I have never heard! Perfect Jazz amplifier. Plug in an ES-175 and you're Kreisberg,... well you may also need to know how to play...but those notes just JUMP out at you! Plug in a vintage Strat and you can nail some clean Hendrix (Little Wing, Wait till tomorrow, Wind Cries Mary, etc...) Plug in a Les Paul to get a fat tone with some killer breakup. I don't run anything except a Memory Man before it! It's that good. Might get a Carl Martin Compressor pedal to tighten it up for some rockin', but it is already very acceptable for almost any genre except metal, of course - If that's what you want to play, go get a Randall Warhead! (Dimebag R.I.P.)

Now the vibrato: Mono is great! Nice warbly/watery sound. Good but Stereo is insanely luscious! You just gotta hear it. Sounds like a Leslie on a very fast setting. In fact, I just built a footswitch that can slow the vibrato down to achieve a medium-speed Leslie sound - further amp mods will involve slowing it to slow Leslie style - not sure if it is even possible without straying too far from the original design, but its worth a shot. I also made a vibrato variable intensity-boost control on the switch, as well as a channel switch so I can select between the different input channels or both from the pedal! With this, I have the control of a Mesa/Boogie!

Has held up for nearly a half-century. I got it 100% original, I even think the giant multi-filter cap is original, yet, this thing pulls right out of standby with no delay, which signifies a strong power supply! The fact is, Magnatone/Estey used the top quality components available at that time, which are all still running strong! Only negative thing I can say is that the pots were very scratchy when I got the amp, but I just sprayed them all with D5 and that cured it all! That stuff is amazing - worthy of a "great product" award or something...

Zack at Vibroworld is all you need, although if these things were still in production, I would have bought their entire line by now!

If it were lost or stolen I would be heartbroken for the rest of my M15-less days, since these things aren't very common. I mean, I'm the 4th person to submit a review of this amp on Harmony Central!

The M15 is a special amp due for a reissue. ***TO THE GODS OF TONE TAKE NOTE*** Any of you custom boutique, overpriced amp companies considering this amp instead of an AC15 or an AC30 clone to model on, this amp is clean to about 5, between 5 and 7 is clean-roast and 8-9 is just plain grade A Godtone Sizzler. I wish I hadnt traded my noisy one 4 years ago for an Alamo tube reverb and $50.00 bucks. So much for money... still got the Alamo which I can't tell the difference from an old Fender tanker.

I used a '63 tele pickup, probably older, in a G & L Broadcaster Asat. If your familiar with that "In The Heartland" themesong for the Stater Brothers meat market commercial, this combonation ***NAILED*** that tone and got that "toink-toink" at about 3 volume. With a hot humbucker, my '77 greyburst Gibson V (9.1 k resistance, as if that has anything to do with it) and the tube (5ar4 people) reverb tank, (necessary ingredient here) its like a plexi at 8 to 9 only in the garage you wish you had a bank of these Brian May style to gut the neighborhood with because the tone is that good gentle people. Oh yes. And you will weep like a little girl at the curb if you discover a love for this amp and then have something happen to it. You get a bluesy Richards stoned limp tone to a Pagey Godhammer tone with addition of one or two things, not necessarily requiring a distortion pedal. Grunge or metal people may not like this as you will need a bassy distortion box in and of itself to get it to go there. It's not for those who bang out fast Metallica "gung-gung-gunk!" detuned E-chord shit with, unless you're recording and seek a briter spice to trim into the mix. In that case I would advise one of the many rackmount AC-powered effects emulators and kinda trim in on a separate channel

i pray one of you amp gods copy the circuit and reissue it for the reliability factor for the very reason that the reliability is poor. I sold mine because repair people couldnt find the schematics for it. One said it could have been the filter caps (probably dry as a bone, good guess but not enough confidence) or output tranny. All the pots were scratchy but what do you expect for in almost 40 years of service? I paid $5 bucks for it at a yard sale because it buzzed so bad. I swear, the guy told me he thought it was a space heater that apparently wasn't working. Haha it did for me. My chestnuts got roasted when I open fired because I was getting a grounding problem really bad. ***well did you try this, blah blah blah*** yeah fella, I know but all remedies told me something more serious than that.

Hey okay? Where?

I have owned and played the whole nine, my fearless Netizen, and you can talk trash how this thing looks like a TV set but soundwise it is exactly like that 100 watt english head halled a Vamp, but on a Powerbrake at 24 watts output. Gorgeous tone, even better with a cry baby. Takes some tweaking of the emulation modes of your rack-based distorion effects but you can make this old dog do cartwheels on Blink182, Korn type grunge but being that its speakers are very fast and brite (one 15" and one 3" mid) alnico's, add a compressor and reverb at 1.5 to 2 just to slow that action down a bit.

This amp was manufactured by Magnatone/Estey in the 64-66 era, and is second from the top in their 'suitcase' line of amps. The only one that topped the M15 was the M20 Stereo, which came with a main amp unit and two satellite cabinets for the 'stereo' effect.

I found my Custom M15 in the back room of an auto body shop, covered with bondo dust. Took it home, cleaned it up, and have enjoyed it thoroughly ever since.

The amp is roughly 65 watts, uses 13 tubes, none of which are common. Dual 12's are mounted in teh cabinet. Has the famous Magnatone Vibrato, which *varies the pitch*, not the volume. All other amps use amplitude modulation for vibrato, tremolo, call it whatever. Magnatone used frequency modulation. One of a kind sound.

Has two channels, and a 'stereo' input, which I can only assume mixes both. My stereo input doesn't seem to do much, I think it's part of some dead circuitry on my amp. Both my channels work, but the stereo input does nothing, and the speaker on/off switch is inoperative also.

Also has a great tube driven reverb, bass/treb controls for each channel, and a mellow/bright/tone boost selector for each channel. For it's age, it's well-laden with features, and must have been *the* amp to own back then.

Power, no problem. Versatile? Hell yes. Get a good distortion stomp box and there's very few styles you can't do with this amp, with the exception of loud and clean. It is a tube amp, after all.

No modern toys like effects loops and headphone jacks, line outs, etc.

This is the quietest tube amp I've ever seen. Dead quiet. No buzzes. Very very little hiss. Wide open and clean, she's still clean for a tube amp, hence my use of stomp boxes for dirt. Lots of variety in sounds with the 3-way tone select plus the bass & treb and the vibrato and verb. Very versatile all around rock n roll amp. I love mine. I'll be buried with it...as long as I can find tubes (which I haven't blown one yet in 1.5 years)

Most of the time, dependable. Doesn't completely fail, but gets some funky pulsing noises occasionally, possibly bleeding from the vibrato circuitry, or I'm told this could be noise from old caps. Mine is 100% original except for tubes, which are very old also. I'd guess someone retubed this in the late 60's.

If a tech went through this amp with a fine tooth comb, I'd trust it anywhere, anytime.

I wouldn't gig with it, I'd be afraid something would happen to it -- get cosmetically mucked up, spilt on, etc. (mine is pretty nice). However, I use it in my home studio and for practice all the time, and have no qualms about it's reliability. I'd like to get an ugly second amp to gig with and keep the nice one in the studio.

Customer support? Amounts to Zaks Magnatone Ampsite. (http://www.vibroworld.com/magnatone/) Which provides better support than some companies who *are* still in business! (kudos to Zak and his staff). Zak has schematics for all Magnatone amps and their derivitives and *cousins*.

My rating of 8 is for Zak. Magnatone would get a 0 by default, as they are long defunct.

On and off, I've been playing for about 20 years. That doesn't mean I'm any good, I mostly play to write songs, and I excel more at production than playing. (Have home studio and produce local bands). If my M15 were stolen or lost, I'd sit down on the curb and cry like a little girl. For several years. Wish list for this amp? I wish mine had a complete rebuild, but I hesitate to entrust anyone with this precious gem -- if it sorta works, don't fix it.

I've always been a fan of Fender and Music Man tube amps. I'd probably still choose this one over many of their models, all but the best old tube amps.