Silvertone 1422

Not sure the year but is tube (pre-SS switch over). This amp is a one trick pony; the features are extremely limited but does have an excellent tremolo as noted previously. Reverb is predictably weak from such a small tank but not too bad. The amp is plenty fine for me (I mainly play bass) but don't plan on filling a medium sized club on up without miking it.

So, as previously noted, the tone from this ugly duckling is fantastic but don't plan on coming up with a bunch of different sounds. I've played bass for 20 years so I like to think I know when I hear good guitar tone, and this has it. The previous owner did put a vintage Fender 12" in (not a squareback), which he claims fattened up the tone immeasurably. The various guitarists I play with, now covet this thing and ask to use it for gigs. With my '77 Ibanez Musician this thing sounds like a mix between Clapton's early Gibson tone (think Fresh Cream) and late '60's Ventures (with the reverb all the way up, of course).

Never broken down (but not had it long) and I'm the bass player so I personally won't get the chance to play it on a gig any time soon.

I like what the guy before me said about the repair dept. at Sears: ha! Most of the workers there probably haven't seen a vacuum tube before in their lives.

The only other guitar gear I own (besides acoustics and a classical) is a '56 Ampex 620 amp with greatest clean ever heard for so small an amp. Other than that, I've got craploads of bass gear so perhaps my opinion isn't worth as much as other "guitarists". All I know is I and all the guitarists I know love it.

People pay over 1000$ to get amps that make these kind of sweet buttery sounds. This ugly looking thing cost only 150$

Its over 40 years old, it works just like any new amp would.

I've been playing for about 10 years, I own another smaller silvertone the 10xl other than this 40xl, which are the only amps i use. If this were stolen i would try to find another one, but that might be difficult i never see these anywhere, do an ebay search for the 40XL you wont find much. (or even searching on the internet period) I wouldnt change anything about this amp, its ugly, it sounds freaking awesome, if it broke I would pay to get it fixed, if it were stolen id roam the earth seeking vengeance. Fortunately, to the untrained eye it looks like a piece of total crap so whos gonna steal it?

.this 1422 was made in 1969. It was given to me by a friend, who had it in her closet for 20+ years. It had previously been used in a traveling country band and is beat up nicely. The grill cloth is now a red cowboy type handkerchief. This did not work when I got it, but after a bit of cleaning and blowing air into it and then reseating all of the tubes, PRESTO ! It sounds awesome. I like the reverb on mine it is not a hard driving reverb but adds a nice touch to my Delta King guitar.

I use a OE30 Delta King which sounds totally thick through this amp. I can get any tone I desire with the knobs on the amp and the guitar both. I also have an accoustic electric I play and I don't really like the amp for that guitar except on the clean channel. It is a quiet amp that will surprise lots of people.

Hey this amp is 36 years old ! Reliability 10

I did not deal with the company. I had a hard enough time just getting general information about this dreamer.

I have played for over 40 years. I stsred out in a 60's garage band that went on to doing college circuit dances. I have been in several other bands from oldies rock to country. I had a used GIBSON amp I got for $75 back in 1965, it was a beauty. I lent it to someone and haven't seen it since. The guy went to the war I guess and I don't know if he got back or not. This amp I now have is the closest thing I have heard to that Gibson in a long time, although Gibsons reverb was the best ever.

Looks sorta like a '60s washing machine, screams like a banshee o' tone from the age of naugahyde.

If you think you need something else, you're wrong. It is all here for the squeezin!

This amp just screams. Tons of mids, lots of fizz, truly loud for the tube lineup and speaker size. Gotta be only about 12-15 watts, but damn it sprays toneful volume. Sorta like people who can't hear anymore, think a Marshall sounds like...in their dreams.

Tremelo is awesome, the reverb from the world's smallest pan (about the size of a swollen twinkie) is peculiar and questionable at best. and vice versa. But it does create some garage vibes.

Who cares, the main dollop is the oozy breakup. Superchunky. Scrap yr overpriced marshall crap, sell it, buy one of these. Everything sounds great thru it!! Even me!!

I've played the **&^ out of this. Never a problem. A solid trooper, after about 40 yrs. A lot more dependable than me...or the president, unless you want to depend on consistent imbecility & larceny.

ha, ha. I think I'll just take it down to sears to have the resistors checked for drift...amp dept, on the 3rd floor, i suppose

the most under rated small wattage amp left on the planet. like a lot of cool people, it is ugly, but really performs, has a lot of soul & integrity. 10, baby, 10!! Eeezeeeeeeeeee....

As stated, no bells or whistles here except for a really cool tremelo effect that sounds great. It has 2 inputs. One works with reverb and the other doesn't. Not a lot of features but I'm still giving it an 9. It is what it is. A vintage, all tube amplifier. It does everything it's supposed to do.

My guitar is a 1990 Fender Stratocaster with Texas Specials. I play blues and I've never found a better sounding amp. It's velvety smooth sound is totally unique to other amps I've played through. I have a Peavey Classic 30 which is much louder and sounds good, but it doesn't hold a candle to the 40xl. The reverb is not the greatest in the world which is why I'm giving it a 9.

The amp is basically dilapidated. The grill cloth is torn. The top piece of particle board is broken completely off. The head is no longer attached and slides around. I have to bear-hug it to carry it around. I plan on doing a little restoration work but probably just enough to re-attach the head to the box and put on a top board and handle. I think the fact that it looks the way it does just adds character and makes it a great blues amp. Here's the thing though, the amp still works. It has never quit me in the 14 years I've had it.

I think this thing was built in '69 so I'm pretty sure the waranty has expired. N/A on this one.

Been playing for 17 years. I have a zoom 505II, Ibanez ts7 tube screamer, dunlop wah pedal and a Bixonic Expandora. Believe it or not, I play in a bluegrass gospel group (Martin HD-28)so I don't get to use the sears amp or any of these toys on stage. I also have the Peavey Classic 30 as mentioned earlier. Thinking of starting a Christian Blues group so I might get to start utilizing the Sears amp in the future.

If you get the chance to get your hands on one of these, Get It! I'll never get rid of mine.

Sound Quality: 9.5
Hmmm... I have two of these boys in my practice/recording room. I play harp...loud and raunchy. It sounds best when I play through them both at the same time. The only way I've been able to figure out how to get rid of the feedback at anything above 3,(short of tube swapping) has been to use a two channel 15 band equalizer, dial out the mids and then crank the amps up to 9 and a half! Feedback eliminated! I use several different mics, crystal, Controlled magnetic and controlled resistance elements - all hi-Z. These are awsome harp amps! I like to use the reverb and the tremolo (both of which are excellent on my amps) No hum, no noise, I haven't played or heard anything even close... then I heard about sonnyjr harp amps. Unbeleivable tone at volume that will make most guitar players yell at me to turn down.

These amps are 30 + myears old! They both have all the original tubes. They been dropped, tripped over, spilled on... you name it. To me they are like thouroughbread horses that have aged past their time to race. I keep them in the studio not because they are useless, but because I respect them. These things have paid their dues, and they always work.

This isn't really a Silvertone, as the only name on these amps is Sears, for some reason. Also known as a Sears 40XL. Grey-green naugahyde covering with gold flecked grille cloth and grey green knobs. Real funky look, typically Sears. The kind of amp your Dad would give you for your birthday, you'd cringe looking at it and say "thanks" anyway (hey, you were expecting a Fender). Then when you plug it in and play you'd be in heaven, it would be the best birthday of your life! I had previously thought that all Sears guitar amps were Silvertones. Made around 1969, (from date codes of components) a very good year for music and amplifiers! This amp is your basic garage band amp, it has a sound that you just love. It's sound brings me back to that "summer of '69" which I'll never forget. See the other submissions for features and specs, I don't want to repeat them here. I don't need a lot of features, and for what I play this amp has it all. Plenty of power for practice, basement jam sessions, and a killer sound if miked into a PA system. I give it an 8 because it doesn't have tons of features, but has what most need, unless you are a gadget junkie. Love the smell of hot tubes, nothing in the world like it. I play mostly blues and 60's rock, from Rockabilly to Allman Brothers, with a little Led Zep and Beatles thrown in. This amp will do it all. I really suck and this little amp makes me sound good! I only use it for practice mainly, but if I were gigging I'd shock everybody and walk in with it. Basic bargain basement circuit design but good components, 12AX7 preamp tubes, two 7189 power tubes, although they've been replaced with Sovtek EL84Ms.

It seems that the other reviews are talking about a different amp when they mention the reverb, I think it has TOO MUCH! Over about 3 on the reverb pot and it slaps back and really has too much of a funky reverb sound, but for some numbers that reverb distortion sounds right. About 2 and it is just fine for most styles. The reverb tank is the smallest I've ever seen, i don't know how it can even work but it does. I think it is a single spring, and a short one at that. The tone control is simple, but it works. I use it all the way up for guitar and all the way down for bass. Not much variety here, this is in my opinion the weakest point of this amp. I play with an original '58 Gibson Les Paul Jr, single P90 pickup, your basic garage band guitar of the 60's, no battery operated toys or gimmicks. This amp suits my style perfectly. No hum, no noise, a real nice amp. Play it turned down, and it has a clear as a bell cleanness, crank it up a bit and it has a nice bluesy overdrive. Push it and you have that killer sound that $1000 worth of pedals couldn't touch. The distortion is what you'd hear on everything from Allman Brothers Band to early ZZ Top, depending on how you play and how much it is cranked. I also play bass through it, it sounds great through the non-reverb channel, although I wouldn't crank it up with bass if you want the speaker to last. I don't want to forget to mention, this is a killer harp amp! Plug in your favorite mic and blow, it sounds great, especially with a little reverb and the volume cranked up. Nice gutsy sound.

It will outlast me and I'm sure that it will be handed down to my children's kids. It is all original except for the output tubes which have been replaced with Sovtek EL84Ms and a new power cord. The high voltage is too high for standard 6BQ5s or EL84s, but the Sovtek EL84M will take it just fine. Not too hard to work on if the tech has half a brain and a slight bit of patience. Printed circuir board design, pop a couple of wires and you can get at all the components. I only pulled it apart to clean it when I bought it and to satisfy curiosity.

I'm going to check with Sears for a schematic, but I'm sure if you brought it in they wouldn't know what to do with it.

I played bass from the mid 60's to the mid 70's then quit. Sold all my stuff and didn't even listen to the radio. I started playing again about a year ago, had my old LP Jr. fixed and took up guitar. I'm working on both bass and guitar now. I now have a Fender '59 Tweed Bassman, a Peavey Classic 20, the Les Paul Jr. and a Seiwa Century P Bass copy (Japanese, 1975?). The Sears amp is my favorite overall, If I had a choice of getting rid of 2 amps and keeping 1 it would be this. Sure, I'd replace it if I could find one that I could afford. Just saw one sell on e-Bay for an astronomical price and it looked like a piece of crap, looked like it sat in a moldy basement for 30 years. Mine looks like new except that it is missing a knob. I bought this amp off my guitar teacher for what he had into it, and I really appreciate it. What an incredible bargain. The only thing I wish it had was a master volume and better tone controls, but what can you expect. It does the job, and I'll never part with it.

As already stated by others, this amp is not big on features. It has a very poor reverb system but the tremolo is actually quite good. My amp dates to 1970 and Im guessing it was one of the last tube amps offered by Silvertone. I think this amp is a sleeper. Not known by many people but well worth a couple hundred bucks or more.

I've used this with everything from single coils to a Filtertron equipped Gretsch. The amp is no slouch in the power department. i believe it is pushing about 30 real watts or so. It has balls. I think it is suited for rock and nasty blues. Not really a jazz amp. It overdrives readily at about 5or 6 depending on the pickups.

I replaced filter caps and converted it to a 3 prong cord. It is a little bit of a pain to access the board where everything is wired but certainly not that difficult if I did it. I feel it is reliable, at least as much as my other old amps. Reverb doesn't work but you probably wouldn't want it to.

Not relevant.

I've been playing 16 years, owned a SF Twin, Gretsch 2X10, ampeg and a Supro. This amp is no slouch in that company. If I lost this one I would replace it for the right price. I generally play cleaner so a raucous rock amp is not high on my list but I have a fondness for this one.

This amp is most likely a 1969 model as the date 11/69 is stamped on the underside of the reverb tank. This amp has a tone comparable to a Vox AC30 when the volume is below halfway. That is a useful tone for most musicians including myself. I play classic rock and Blues, and I find myself plugging into this amp more than the others in my collection. This amp features two channels. Channel one features tremolo, volume, and tone and channel two features volume, tone and both reverb and tremolo. However, the reverb is not deep enough but is spacious like a Fender Twin Reverb and is of little use. I use this amp in my living room and take it with me when I jam with my uncle in his large carpeted basement. I'm not sure how many watts this amp puts out but it's loud enough for my venues. This amp, in my opinion, is probably pushing twenty watts. The tubes in this amp are as follows: 7189 (2), 12 ax7's (2), and a 6x4 (1) rectifier tube.

I mainly play my Gibson Les Paul Goldtop 1960 Classic equipped with Seymour Duncan Classic '59 humbuckers and my Fender Telecaster Standard equipped with standard Tele pickups. This amp must be played with tone pot at maximum or it is muffled in the highs (like a Vox). It suits most of my playing styles remarkably well indeed. It finds it's niche in classic rock and blues. This amp is serious when it comes to tone. From Fab Four to fat,gushing overdrive (think Gov't Mule, Cream, and Humble Pie). This amp is fairly quiet. I replaced the 12ax7's with Hughs and Kettner 12ax7's and that made for a rounder sound. When the wick is turned up past the midpoint, that's when the Vox is kicked aside and all-out wickedness is unleashed. The tone and touch all become relative and you can actually feel what those tubes are doing through your fingers. Both channels get really overdriven but channel one fights for it's life a little bit longer. Not a great all around amp, it's just good for two tones. I found this amp sitting all alone in the trash on a curb just before a thunder shower and found it had no speaker. I installed a new Eminence Legend 60 watt speaker and it worked out nice. It really sounds heavy through a Marshall cab loaded with 25 watt Greenbacks. I had to make another cabinet for it as the original was soggy chipboard covered with green tolex-like material. The cabinet I crafted is 4" deeper and includes a Vox-like vent installed just above the tubes. I then covered the new cabinet in blond exotic "Baby Ostrich Skin". WILD!!!

So far it hasn't let me down, and I've been playing through it loud for many months and it just hangs in there. Where ever I go with a guitar, this amp is going with me. Many people asked me if it was a Maytag or something. I just told them it's "the Hog".

I never attempted any effort to have this amp serviced. I just play it for what it is. Maybe getting it tuned up may ruin it's tone! I've searched the Internet for months and cannot find any other info on this amp. I hope someoeout there canie me information o this elusive amp.

I've been playing steadily for six years now and accumulated a good share of equipment. Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Goldtop 1960 Classic with Seymour Duncan Classic '59 humbuckers, 1996 1960 re-issue Gibson Les Paul Special with P-90's, 1997 Epiphone G-400 ('62 S.G.) with Gibson 500T and 496R ceramic magnet humbuckers, 1996 Epiphone sheraton II in natural with stock humbuckers, and a 1999 fender Telecaster with stock Tele pickups. Amps: 1969 Fender Bassman head with custom made 4-10 cabinet loaded with original C.T.S speakers, both items covered in exotic dark blond "Baby Ostrich Skin", 1996 Peavey Classic 50 tweed head sitting on top of a Marshall 1960 Classic 4-12 cabinet loaded with 25 watt Celestion G12M "Greenback" speakers, 1997 Sovtek Mig-50 head on a custom made single 15" cabinet, 1999 Danelectro "Nifty-Fifty" combo, and last but not least, "the Hog", my 40 xl Sears model 1422 combo, styled in a light blond "Baby Ostrich Skin" with a sweatshirt-grey grille cloth. Effects: Vox Tone Bender fuzz re-issue, Dunlop "crybaby" wah, Hughs and Kettner "Metal Shredder" tube pre- amp, Marshall "Blues-Breaker" overdrive pedal, Ibanez delay, Dunlop Tremolo stereo pan, and the ONE device that renders all but my guitars useless, the Line 6 POD. If this Sears amp ever turned up missing, stolen, or anything of the like, I would get on the internet and try to hunt one of these amps down as i'm addicted to it's "syrupy" tone. Wish I had a back up.

See other review.
1x12 combo - 2@7189/1@6X4/3@12AX7 (the 12AX7's in mine said "Silvertone - made in west germany")
Mine has a date of 11/68 on the bottom of the reverb tank.
My amp came with 7189's, which would imply that maybe you should have the plate voltage checked before you install EL84's, so it won't eat them. I didn't check mine when I had it open, sorry. The reverb on these is truly cheezy. Mine was busted - opened the reverb tank and found that the spring had popped loose from the piezo electric driver/receiver assembly. Don't Gig With This if you depend on the reverb for your sound! A large mechanical shock will pop the spring loose again unless you epoxy it in.
Mine was crackly and hummy. Didn't service anything on the board - just sprayed the pots and cleaned the tube sockets and it came to life. It has Sprague Orange drop caps in it - maybe that's why it didn't require any new caps.
I am selling mine now that it works. The tubes go directly into a printed circuit board, and the circuit board requires that you unsolder a bunch of wires before you can even see the components. This would it make it about 2x as expensive to service compared to an amp with better access to the components. The cabinet (including the baffleboard) is pressboard. The shielding under the chassis is tinfoil. The speaker wires come through a hole drilled crudely in the bottom of the amp support board (original?).

I bought mine at a garage sale with no speaker for $30. A used $30 8 ohm 12" CTS speaker (I know - I paid too much but hey) slipped right in.
This amp has great tube sounds. I agree with the other review about tone controls adding mud. Not much treble.
I play with a mix of guitars - this amp cannot get over the top distortion with a single-coil pickup, but it is a great blues sound. Humbuckers of course do better. Touch sensitivity with the volume on max is great. This is a pretty responsive amp. Since channel 2 has 2 inputs, I tried the trick of putting guitar into 2 and patching the other 2 input over to the channel 1 input. Not much difference in the sound, unlike some amps.
The tremolo is wonderful. Very tubey and throbby. The reverb is to me worthless. It sounds like on mine that the reverb mixes in independent of the channel volume control. When the volumes are all the way down, the 100% wet reverb signal is only controlled by the reverb knob. Wierd. Due to the above mentioned circuit board access problem, I didn't feel it was worth it to pursue this to see if it was supposed to do this.
Overall rating is 8 but you have to understand this is a one-sound amp. It does the one sound great.
Highly recommended for rootsy slide.

Reverb is 100% undependable.
I would not gig with this, or even take it for a car ride unless I were careful.
The components seem to be of surprisingly high quality other than the reverb tank and the circuit board. Mine was surely ill treated and all it took was cleaning up.
But don't be mislead - you have to treat this amp gingerly.

This amp is 32 years old. I haven't even been able to find a schematic for it on the net.

I've been a semi-pro player since 1964. I have owned one of almost everything except a Les Paul.
This is a one-trick amp. Sounds great for rootsy slide or blues. If you find one, keep it at home or in the studio in a safe place and it will probably sound great for years. Remember it will be pricey to service. There is one just like mine in a Seattle area music store that has sat for over a year for $275, so I don't think they're worth that much.
There's probably a lot of variation in the sound of these, so take each one on a case-by-case basis. It does have a sound you can love.

Late 60's/Early 70's Sears Tube amp, probably made by National/Valco. 3 12AX7's, two 6BQ5's, 6X4 rectifier tube. One 12 inch speaker. Covered in luscious avacado green tolex with matching green knobs and grille cloth(!). This amp is good for blues and primitive rock and roll. It has a skanky single spring reverb that is an acquired taste. There are two channels which kinda bleed into one another, it also has a very nice sounding vibrato. One tone knob per channel, absolutely useless(leave 'em on "ten", muddy otherwise). About 10 or so watts, extremely quiet, no capacitor hum. Versatility is not the issue-plug in, turn up to five or six and go-leave your battery toys, multi-effectors and other kid stuff at home.
Authentic blues/rock tone, no doubt(Think Brewer Philips/Hubert Sumlin/Link Wray, not SRV or Kenny Wayne Shithead).

I'm using a Fender Telecaster with a custom Dimarzio Pro Track tele lead pick-up and a virtual vintage blues strat pickup in the neck position and a Peavey Predator (strat copy) with Dimarzio Fast Track 1's wired for 12 way switching. This amp is surprisingly quiet for a 30 year old tube amp. No buzzes or hums. The reverb is stanky and tanky but it grows on ya. Pretty much a one sound machine, low wattage so you can get that sound and keep your hearing too.
Just great for recording. One sound, but a great one.

Amp is 30 years old and still sporting the original power tubes-military grade 6BQ5's. At least a couple of the preamp tubes are original, too. They said either "Sears" or "Silvertone" on them although only the 'S' is legible now. I've owned it for almost a year, no problems. I'd only gig with it in a very small room and it would probably still require miking. It has what I believe is the original speaker, too. I'd roadcase it if I were going to truck it to gigs regularly, although a roadcase would cost as much or more than the amp itself.

I wouldn't expect Sears to be of too much assistance at this point, although sometimes they will attempt to procure manuals and schematics for you when they can. Whatever.

I've been playing for about twenty years now (and I still suck). If it were lost or stolen it would take an extreme bit of luck to find another. I'd play through one of my other cheap ass pieces of junk and hit the pawnshops looking for something equally cool. I like cheap amps-expensive "vintage"or"boutique" bullshit just doesn't get it for me. "Don't believe the hype!"