Sears 5XL Combo

This thing is a real small single channel amp. There's just a volume and a tone knob. I think the best feature is that this thing is super light. It only weights a few pounds.

This thing has a real nice clean sound. it's not too brittle and it warms up real nice with a few pedals in front. I've tried a strat, a PRS, a semihollow, Tele... This amp sounds best as a jazz or blues amp. With a TS808 style pedal this thing comes alive. I'm really surprised

It's seriously an old amp. I had to fix the cord once because it was getting worn out, but it's still ticking

This was a great find and an awesome deal. I'd get another one if this broke. Though I have a lot of bigger higher tech amps. I still love this amp

Front panel, left to right: 2 inputs, red light, volume knob, off/tone knob. Tone knob switches it off when you turn it all the way to the left. Plastic handle on the top. It gets pretty loud, louder than I ever need for my purposes (basically just rocking out in my bedroom), tone knob rolls off the highs just like you'd expect. It works fine for what it is, but you can't get too fancy with just volume and tone.

This was a garage sale find and there is no manual, nor is there any apparent support from Sears (at least not online, and I'm not about to bring it in to the store any time soon...) so these are only guesses here, but I think it's from 1975 (there's a stamp on the back that says just "1975"), and I think it's 5 watts (from the name "5XL", and from the back: 120 volts * 0.1 amps = 12 watts total draw, so with a total input of 12w, a 5w output seems reasonable).

I used this amp first with a Pan Telecaster copy with covered single coils, and now also with a Squier Standard Stratocaster. I (am learning to) play mostly rock/blues/metal, and I get most of my tones from the few pedals I have. Right now I have the Squier --> Boss DS-1 --> Dunlop "CFH" wah --> 5XL. When I go straight from axe to amp, it gets nice clean bluesy tones and doesn't seem to break up much, if at all, at high volumes.

Got this amp from a garage sale for $20, in 1995. It was 20 years old then (there's a stamp on the back that says "1975") and it still plays today!

The back and sides are made of particleboard. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but since I only use it in my bedroom I'm not really worried about it. I'm not a gigging musician, but if I were, I don't think this would be a gigging amp. However, it's hung on for over a quarter of a century, so it's got to be pretty reliable, if it's not abused.

This was a garage sale buy, so I have not had any contact with the company. I've never dealt with Sears at all, but my parents had to return their lawn mower 3 times and in the end take the kit and assemble it themselves, because Sears kept trying to give them the floor demo model. I wouldn't assume the customer support for this amp to be very friendly, if it exists at all.

This is my only amp besides a couple of danelectro miniamps, so I don't have anything to compare it to. If I lost this amp, I've never seen another one like it so I doubt I'd replace it with the same thing. I had not known or heard ANYTHING about this amp until I came across the other reviews of it here on Harmony Central. It's not really loud enough to be a gigging musician's main amp, and it's a bit too big and bulky to really be a portable practice amp, but for a kid like me who just likes to waste time in the bedroom it's perfect. Plus, it's older than I am, so I like to think I have a "vintage" amp.

2 knobs: one tone and one volume
2 inputs
1 channel
solid state
red light
8 inch 8ohm seaker
Even though it only has two knobs you can get a variety of tones. Practice amp.

I mostly play moderate rock, some punk,learning blues and jazz. I keep it in my room as an extra amp for late nite jamming. You cant push this amp hard, its for that little practice when you need a little sound. It gets a tube type sound eventhough mine's solid state.Good clean sound. I use an epiphone LP standerd it gets great tone.

You couldn't gig with it. Its for home use so it stays safe.

No support.

Its pretty cool to have this is one of my all time practice amps ever. Ill never get rid of it the sound is great but its not for all people.Remember tube sound! Its not that great on features but hey for the sound you get out of it its priceless. Great Ventures sound!The date on mine said 1968 so its vintage to me. I havent had flashy amps but i know good tone when i hear it.

Not much in the way of features! Two input jacks at the same level or so it seems, volume knob, tone knob and an on/off switch. Made in the late 60?s or early seventies, case is pressed fiberboard. The back was missing. There are three tubes, 12au6 preamp, 50c5 power, and 35w4 rectifier. I?m not sure but I think these tubes were normally used for radio type stuff. The original tubes were stamped Silvertone, and while this MAY have been made by Silvertone, all the case says is Sears 5XL! The original 4ohm speaker was a ?cts? I believe, with the output transformer mounted on the frame.

I got the amp for $36.00 off EBAY. It played out of the box, speaker was a little weird, and not quite all the volume I had hoped. Still it had a warm fuzzy tone that held loads of promise. I replaced the caps, tubes (easily found online!), bought a new Jensen Alnico 8? speaker, and added a ?? plywood back covering ? quarters of the opening (have to let those tubes breathe!), and this is definitely the little amp that could! It hums just a little bit, but you never notice it while playing. Played with a pre-amped acoustic this amp screams, beautiful clear even tones in the low end and incredible break up when you dig in. With my strat it sounds great, but is lacking a bit in volume. Using a boost box or even a Korg Pandora and it really starts to crunch. With any type of boost it is definitely loud enough for the bedroom! Without the boost it is still fun just not as loud, pure sweet tones, perfect for an acoustic. I don?t want to give the impression that this amp is not loud, it is (I?m just half deaf), I actually got complaints at work for playing too loud, while we was playing a pre-amped acoustic through this amp behind a closed door 6 rooms and 90-100 feet away from the people complaining! You gotta love it!

I?ve only had it a couple of months, but it is 30 years old and still cranking when I got it! It is actually a Sears brand name, and frankly I was surprised I didn?t find CRAFTSMAN branded on it somewhere! :)

Couldn't find a schematic, so I drafted up the parts layout and values, I think most any tech could fix it, it looks pretty low tech!

I think it?s a great little amp. Probably would never gig with it, but you could definitely record with it. As the vast majority of my playing is in the bedroom, I love overdriving the little tube amps. With all I?ve done to mine, I probably got about $100 into it, and I wouldn?t want to lose it! I have 3 tube amps, 3 solid-state amps, and this is the amp I play the most.