Selmer Thunderbird Twin 50 212 Combo

this is a '63 or '64 2X12" combo tube amp, datable by the faux-crocodile skin exterior and winking green "eye" that pulsates at the speed of the tremelo. selmer only used this look in '63-'64, changing to black in '65. it is pretty much the same as a selmer zodiak twin 50, but with reverb. these amps ran neck-to-neck with vox ac30's in england during the sixties, and are similar in both design and sound. also, i should mention that this particular amp was built as a thunderbird twin thirty, but someone upgraded the 30w power amp, replacing it with a selmer 50w amp, basically adding more volume and effectively changing it to a thunderbird twin 50 (selmer upgraded both the thunderbird twin 30 and the zodiak twin 30 from 30watt amps to 50watt amps around '64 anyway. i guess the owner took it upon himself to upgrade this one similarly). but everything is pre '65 era, except the 2 12" speakers which i had to replace with modern-day celestions (the twin 50's originally had celestions, the twin 30's had lower wattage goodmans). this is an interestingly laid out two channel, 4 input amp. channel (1) has 5 sort of vege-matic push buttons that can be utilized for various tonal characteristics, from extreme top boost to bass boost. or if you prefer, you can use the rotary treble and bass controls instead of the vege-matic presets. both reverb and tremelo are available on this channel. the second channel is a little hotter and has more bottom end. it has rotary bass & treble controls and reverb only, no tremelo. on both channels, input 1 is a little hotter than input 2. being what it is, it dosen't have any frilly post-'60s features like master volume, effects loops, headphone jacks, or channel switching (i don't need that crap. i just want TONE). this amp is exactly what i need to play the music i like, 60's garage rock, classic rock (stones, kinks, the who) and old soul, r&b, and chess-era blues. i don't really use the vege-matic presets, they seem to sap the power of channel 1 (they might come in handy when recording, though). i currently use this amp professionally in a hard-rocking outfit, and it has toured all over the u.s. several times over the 2 years i've had it. it's 50 watts is plenty powerful to compete with a keith moon-ish drummer in a mid-size club. for what it is, it is tonally quite versatile.

this amp sounds like what rock'n'roll is supposed to sound like. incredible, with a midrange bark that will get anyone's attention. i run it all the way up (that's about right for mid-size rock venues), and it gives a crunch unlike anything i've ever heard. think "all day and all of the night" by the kinks. i usually play through channel 2 (it's a little more ballsy), and everyone comments on the killer tone. driven harder with a pedal for leads, i can wring alchemy out of the very air, pulling sounds out of it that give one the feeling of not just playing the guitar, but "playing" the amp too. i've surprised myself, sometimes getting sounds reminiscent of early jeff beck or pete townshend. it's a powerful english 50 watts, and as such it has a little hum when it idles, but nothing that is a problem (no worse than old marshall 50w heads). it's top end is very unique and is very present, giving articulation to the over-emphasised mid-range romp. i've used a number of vintage guitars with it, from rickenbackers & mosrites to fenders & gibsons, and all of them sound great. but my favorite sound is when i use an old masonite-bodied, lipstick-tube pickup danelectro. those pickups seem made for this amp. i can get everything from hubert sumlin to george harrison to steve cropper out of it. i also use a rick 12-string with it, and it's jangley top end is like "i can't explain". most cool old tube amps' volume increases until the knob hits 5, when turned up past 5 they usually just start to compress and get saturated and saggy without any more volume. but this bad boy only really kicks in around 5. up between 8 and 10, like a jaguar XKE high-speed overdrive gear, something takes over and the tone is to kill for. the distortion at 10 is perfect, not too much, just right. and it's not that processed sounding, kazoo-like, paper-thin fuzzy sound you get from modern master-volume pre-amp derived distortion (you know the kind that sounds like a bumblebee buzzing around your head?). exactly the right distortion at the right volume. i only wish i could get that exact sound at half the volume for practice!

i had this amp checked out and re-tubed by my fave vintage amp tech before i started using it, and it has never failed me. i've played at least a couple of hundred shows with it over the last two years, and it's been carted across america a few times without a problem. it's probably about time to re-tube again, as lately i've noticed something is going slightly microphonic when it gets jolted. i have not carried a backup, and if i had to suddenly resort to using one, i'd probably be crying and cussing at the same time!

i'm not sure if selmer still has an amp dept., but this is basic class-a amp electronics. any technician worth his salt and with a healthy respect for vintage tube gear could repair it with no problem.

i've been playing professionally since 1969, and have collected guitars and amps since before they were called "vintage". if it were stolen or lost, i would use the backup '67 selmer zodiac twin 50 i bought for just such a catastrophe! i love everything about it (looks, sound, usability & reliability). the only thing i hate is that i can't afford to have a basement full of them. these amps can't even be compared to anything else, except maybe old ac30 top-boosts or other '60s valco-made class-a amps.