Silvertone 1430

As below. It's really dark, the guys below didn't say that. I got mine off Cub Coda of Smokin in the Boys Room fame, along with his Dano Convertible, for $175 for both.

I guess you could torture some nice 50's blues and rockabilly sounds out of it, but it's hard to overdrive without a strong humbucker--very clean. I use it for harp--with the Astatic crystal it breaks up sweet and subtly, with a gorgeous low/mid-end resonance on a chromatic. That's real 50's, almost 40's sound.

For guitar, you could have a ball recording it clean through a Shure 57, and then get it with some echo and EQ to give it some high end. Probably get a great Chess Records thing happening.

Still works great w/original tubes. Can Fender say that?

Yeah, right.

Really an amazing little amp with the 3 goofy tubes and the 6" spkr with the transformer on the side of it. Just don't expect it to rock or anything, it's about vintage smoke, not metal shred.

This amp is not versatile, but that's not really the point of the thing --- it's tiny, portable, and sounds amazing.

This thing sounds incredible at a certain volume. It has that early-kinks type of sound when pushed enough to break up. When kept at a low volume it has that glassy kind of tone that just rings. It is inspiring to sit in a room with thing and play through it.. it makes me want to play guitar more. The amp I got has only a two prong plug and tends to hum sometimes in conjunction w/ my strat.

I wouldn't push it with this amp. I imagine you could fry it without to much effort. It is a good little unit but it is 40 years old and should be treated with care.

On the other hand, it still works, and I think the tubes are original.

I love this amp, for recording I think it is excellent, I have a garnet session man as well, but this puppy sounds way better at low volumes. With some work (3-pin plug) I could see trying to preserve this thing on pain of death.

I believe this amp was made in the late '50's, maybe early 60's. I could find out by taking the amp apart and checking the pots, but a friend looked at it and said it's about a '59 from the speaker dates. It's a really small, quiet amp that has a beautiful tone. It has one input, one volume knob and a nice little 6" speaker that I believe is a Jensen. I wish it had a tone control, but that's kind of the beauty of it--you plug it in and turn it on and that's it...it just sounds great. I wish it were a bit louder, but as I said it sounds good for what it is. The tubes in it are still the originals: 35W4 rectifier, 50C5 Power tube, 12AU6 pre-amp.

This amp sounds great with the guitars I play with. With my 90's Les Paul studio with P-90's I get a really nice low-mid jazzy tone. It also sounds really nice with my '65 Jaguar, especially on the neck pick-up. Great with my Telecaster too. Great little practice/home/recording amp. If you turn it up almost all the way (the volume knob has no #'s or markings, so you have to guess) it gets that 50's Sun Studios Blues tone. This sound is unbelievable!!! Try it and you'll melt if you like this sort of sound. Something nice to try is to hook it up to a Fender Reverb Tank. Really opens up the sound of the amp. With the volume turned down low you get a really clean, jazzy, tight tone. Think Bill Frisell. The speaker in this amp is a 6" Jensen that sounds great at different volume settings.

Wouldn't gig with it. Never had a problem, but it's just too small and ancient. The tubes are original and still sound great. It's a great stay-at-home amp to practice or record with.

Uh... This is a Sears Silvertone Amp. They are no longer around as a company, but they have their schematics all through "Repair Tube Amp" type books. They were a common tube amp co. in the 50's and 60's (see old Sears and Roebuck catalogues).

If you like Good sounding little amps that are somewhat versitile, old, and won't cost you a house downpayment, this is your amp. It looks great --vinyl (fake leather looking) tolex, burlap grill clothe, leather strap with brass fittins, rounded front top. The controls are on the top back in a chrome chassis . Very 50's looking vintage styling. On top of the looks, it sounds very good--a unique find in an amp. Neat-O!