Premier T-200 Rhythm 212 Combo

1960; Very basic, all-tube, hand-wired amp. Two inputs (1) guitar, (2) bass/bass viol, microphone. Each with volume, bass & treble controls. No reverb or vibrato. Two 12" Jensen P12 P speakers. Very simple circuit. No data on wattage - probably 20 or so. Originally with 7591 powertubes, which were switched to 6V6. Most likely, I will switch them back now that 7591's are available from Sovtek.

Wonderful vintage 50's look, with a off-set cabinet (the base is wider than the top), top mounted controls ala 50s Fender, and two-tone wood grain and puke yellow vinyl shelf paper covering (not tolex). A "widow's peak" separates the two side-by-side 12" speakers. Great vintage vibe, but not a ripoff of the Fender Tweed look.

Okay, you buy an amp like this for clean vintage tube tone. I use it for surf, with a MIJ Fender Jaguar reissue and Seymour Duncan Vintage For Jag pickups, and a Fender Reissue Reverb unit. It is perfect for surf and would make a great brown-tone, early Chicago-style blues amp.

It is amazingly quiet for such an old amp...good techs have worked on this over the years! Oddly, it doesn't distort if you only use the guitar volume knob, but if you turn up the second volume knob for the second channel along with it, then it breaks up much like Neil Young's sound in Rust Never Sleeps, Cinnamon Girl, etc.

Nice breakup at mid to high volume, but this isn't a Soldano or Marshall. DON'T TRY AND MAKE THIS DO THINGS IT WASN"T INTENDED TO DO!

This is such a simple amp, it is hard to imagine it not being bulletproof. Consider this: it's 40+years old and still works great! Having regular service is a good idea with such an old amp, however.

Premier's parent company, Multivox, made amps from the 1940s to the late 1960s or so - eventually going to solid-state amps. These were "house-brand" amps at many music stores and sold under several brand names. It was the amp you bought if you couldn't afford a Fender. Hard to find much info on Premiers, and foget schematics. But the circuitry is simple - any tube amp repair person can figure things out.

I don't know if Premier drums are the same company. I doubt it, but who knows? Multivoc/Sorkin Music also made guitars, some of which were very beautiful, especially the ones with curly-que upper bouts on the bodies. Link Ray was said to use Premier Amps and Premier Model 90 Reverb units until Leo Fender made an amp for him with built-in reverb. The rest, as they say, is history...

Needless to say, this out-of-business company doesn't support its decades-old products!

I think this amp, and similar Premier Models, are very comparable to the Fender Tweeds and some of the smaller, early 1960s Fender Blackface amps. The circuits are basically identical to the Tweed-era Fenders. Some models have reverb and vibrato, but the vibrato circuits seem to crap out on most of 'em and can't be easily fixed.

If you want a great vintage amp, these moderately hard-to-find Premiers are a great bargain. The Model 71 is especially prized, although I think the Twin 8's and Twin 12s are mighty good. If you want clean, vintage tone these are the ticket. IF you plan to gig, you'll need to mic the amp to get decent, club-rockin' volume.