Silvertone 1482

Mid 60's all-tube w/12" spkr & trem. Been playing harp for about 10 years and also play guitar. Living room and open jams. Would like reverb, ch switching and about 5-10 watts more output(especially for guitar)NOTICE - features means just that for reasons stated above - not reflective of sound quality.

blow harp through jtm-30. Overdrives well even at fairly low volume (2+).O/D is nice and creamy w/alot of lows and mids at fair level.Doesn't get real gritty like tweed gibson or fender counterparts (if you bump up the treble too much it starts to sound tinny and honky to me). mine needs recap and hums some but not enough to bother the sound. Play Mex Strat and a 50's Harmony Hollywood(for open tuned slide work only). An AWESOME sounding amp when cranked w/the harmony - great blues overdrive with lots of gritty distortion reminds me of elmore james to george thorogood depending on volume. Sounds rich with alot of harmonics with the Strat, but lacks a little high end.Great for blues and jazz, capable of AC/DC with use of footswitch but no harder than that. Great for BB King and Muddy Waters but need ftswitch for Stevie Ray type of sound. Give it a 7+ for harp, a 7 w/a strat and a 9+ for slide with the Harmony. I have owned a 1940's National w/6x9, 57 Tweed Champ/ Tweed Gibson GA-18, 60's Alamo, Reissue Tweed 4x10 bassman, and fender Blues Deluxe - SO I KNOW TONE. At lower volumes this is the most versatile of the lot for guitar and harp(of course this amp don't get but So loud)

Have had it about 7 or 8 years and have had no trouble of any kind

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Can only compare to amps Ive owned. My champ and national sounded grittier on th harp but due to speaker size, they had no low end - so I would call that a tie.Sounds better than the all the others for the Harp. Bassman-too big to o/d. Gibson-too clean.Deluxe o/d channel sounded too syntehtic, cln ch.-fed back before it would o/d. The other amps were at least equal in tone for guitar (except the alamo which sounded like crap). Of course the bassman and deluxe were superior in tone & volume. Silvertone is a good solid tube amp. Versatile enough for harp & guitar.Very good tone, short on features, high on reliability. It is the best amp for the money that Ive ever owned.

Mid 60's Silvertone 1482. I think it's 15 or 20 watts. All original parts. I washed the dust off it which revealed a really nice amp underneath! It has two channels: one for a microphone and one for instruments, but the instrument channel has two inputs. Volume & tone controls for each channel. Also has footswitchable tremolo with speed and strength controls. This one came with the original footswitch. It has the diamond speaker hole as opposed to the circular one that came on some of them. I wish it had reverb, but I can use an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail. I guess it's pretty versatile for what it is: a simple old tube amp.

Sounds very dark and bass-heavy, even when using single coil Strats and Teles. Turning it up loud produces break-up distortion, but it's very barking and growly- not very pleasant. The tremolo sounds really cool. When I add my Holy Grail reverb, it sounds very spacey. I'd say this amp is only good for Jazz, or anything that requires a dark, bassy and midrangey tone. It's little brother, the 1481, sounds much better, but not exactly a Fender type of clean. If you want pristine clean tones, look elsewhere.

This one's held up extremely well all these years.

I like the little 1481's better. They have a brighter tone, and break up nice when cranked.

A Silvertone 1482. It's the bigger brother to the 1481, which I also have. I think mine's about a 1965. I bought this amp because I wanted another just like my 1481, but a bit louder. It has all the same original tubes as other posts, original 12' speaker, three inputs, and tremolo. I'd say mine's in maybe 8 out of 10 shape. Basically a neat little amp.

I'm using either an older Washburn J-10 Hollowbody Jazz guitar, or a Fender Stratocaster, for Jazz and Blues respectively. I was basically looking for an amp just like my 1481, except a bit louder for small Jazz duo's with my wife who plays piano, and also to get the same bluesy grind as my 1481 when cranked. The Silvertone's in general are pretty dark sounding. This one is very warm, dark and bassy. Not a heck of a lot of top-end at all. When I turn it up, especially when using the hollowbody, the amp makes all kinds of vibration noises. I replaced the sound board because the old one could no longer hold the speaker down tight because the screws were pulling through the board. It took me about a week to isolate the vibrations that were coming from 5 different areas on this sucker! It was not as simple as tightening up a few screws. First the speaker vibrated, then the tube covers rattled, then the filter cap base was buzzing where it was fastened, then the stiff grille cloth vibrated against the sound board, and there's still some buzzy resonaces when I play certain notes. If I didn't have to fart with it so much, I'd be a lot happier.
Generally, as far as the basic tone goes, it's not really capable of much more than being an "ok" sounding Jazz amp because it's so dark and bass heavy. It gets pretty damned loud for 15 watts. I love the Tremolo.

Because of the afore mentioned difficulties, I rate it low. However, I remain forgiving because these amp's are so old. At this point I wouldn't depend too heavily on it, but I would buy another if it was in much better condition.

There's quite a bit more hype to these old little tube amps than necessary. They can be sweet little boxes for people who need and want an amp like this to get very warm tones and nice breakup when cranked. Mine is a far cry from a 'studio' example. I'd buy another if it were in better condition. For me, it'd be the perfect small tube amp for the Jazz duo's I'd like to do. Plus, you just can't beat that cool retro look!

Mine is a 1965 model 1482. Has two channels, mic and instruments. Total of 3 inputs. Has a 12 inch Fisher Alnico 4 ohm speaker. There
does seem to be an 8 ohm tap on the output transformer so that gives
you some more speaker options.Paper cabinet of some kind! do not sit
on it! Has tremelo feature speed and intensity. Uses 2 6V6gt, 6x4 and
good old 12ax7 for preamps. 15 watts output power. Quite loud.

This amp is now my favorite. I have gone thru dozens of small tube amps and this is the king! It is twice as loud as my Fender Champ
with new Jensen speaker in it! once I completely recapped myself it
sounded fantastic, before it was letting a lot of ugly noise get to
the speaker. Easy to work on.

This came to me with the original Silvertone tubes still working fine!
Just had to do a complete cap job inside it, Caps are cheap! I did make a new baffle board for it. From the factory it came with a two
piece thin masonite board that was stapled together! Almost 40 years
old and still going.

Sears forgot about these long ago. I think Danelectro made them for
Sears.

I would put this up against any other small wattage amps like Fender Princetons. You could buy 3 of these for the price of one Fender.

I just bought this bad boy yesterday. My first ever tube amp, and I been playin' for 35 years (mostly Bass- which is why no tubes) It is a sweet amp. I remember them new. They were the amp you "settled for" when you found out mom and dad wouldnt buy you a Fender.They were rugged, dependable more than your moneysworth amps. LOTS of garage bands were built around these, but even more the 1484 piggybacks which sell for absolutely STUPID money these days. (all of us old farts want to go HOME again for a visit)Totally representative of a piece of rock n roll HISTORY.

I play a Yamaha aex520 with humbuckers thru it, also an american strat, and an american telecaster. This amp is MADE for a 335 LUCILLE to play RICH FAT BLUES through!!! You can buy all the distortion and effects you want these days, but go out and try to buy CLEAN! It's expensive. add to that this amp's historical collectability, and you've got something special.

My amp is in absolute time machine showroom condition, with the original tubes. I washed it off with a little 409, and vacuumed the dust out of the insides. The pots are all clean and no scratches whatsoever. It will stay like that as long as I own it. I have an old vox westminster bass cabinet that I got new, its been taken care of too! yA KNOW' IF YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR TOOLS, THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU TOO!

Sears ? They probably have no one left at the store who remembers selling musical equipment. Let alone having vacuum tubes, which is about all there is to fix on this bad boy.

I love this little guy, but am constantly looking to find interesting things to experience in the musical equipment realm. I will keep this until someone either makes me an offer I cant refuse, or wants to sell me a blackface Fender and take this in trade.

'60s all-tube; channel one - microphone, one input, volume, tone controls; channel two - instrument, two inputs, volume, tone, tremolo speed, intensity controls; minimal features, but does the job for the kind of music I do; reverb would have been nice, but that's why the 1484 piggy-back model is around.

electric guitar, mostly single-coils; Fender Stratocaster, Mustang, Jazzmaster, Jaguar; Harmony-built Silvertone Jag-style; although it's probably around 12-15 watts output, the tone is pure joy to me, near to the Fender Princeton and Champ; big sound from the compact size; the 12" speaker "sings" for my "oldies" and surfing instrumentals.

Still has original Silvertone tubes and going strong!

Sears is long out of the musical instrument business.

Playing 36 years, although I harbor no delusions of grandeur; have a contingent of tube amps - Fender (Dual Showman Reverb, Twin Reverb, Quad Reverb, Bandmaster, Bassman, Tremolux, Silvertone 1484, Teisco (Checkmate 45, 50, 60); compact size makes it easy to tote around; needed a light clean-up of cabinet cover, chassis panel; not minty "mint," but far from a "wreck;" if this were lost/stolen or "dies" a natural death, I'd hunt down another.

We didn't appreciate Silvertones back in the '60s as they were the "poor man's alternative" to Fender, but I wish I had more of them now.

Not many features on this no frills, basic tube amp. It is a 12" combo with two 6V6GT power tubes, two 12AX7s pre-amp tubes, a 6AU6 for tremolo, and a 6X4 rectifier tube. This last tube, the 6X4 is why it has no standby switch. It has two inputs for instrument and one for microphone. Also it has an input for the tremolo on-off footswitch. I will have to make one as it did not come with one. On the front panel (vertical!) it has zig-zag knobs. One for microphone volume, and one for microphone tone. One for instrument volume and one for instrument tone. The last two knobs are for tremolo level and speed. The covering on these amps is the old-fashioned speckle gray with tweed-looking grill cloth. All in all, a cute little combo from the 60s.

This is where these amps really shine. I bought this off ebay in the hopes that I would have a small piece of history. My dad had Silvertone amps when we were kids and I used to love the smell of the tubes when he would sit and pick on his guitar. What I forgot about was the SOUND of these amps... AMAZING. I just sold a Peavey Triumph 60 that was awesome, but this amp made it sound anemic. The body and character of the tones from my Gibson Les Paul from this are to die for. Well worth the money. I am already on the lookout for another 1482 and any other Silvertone I can find.

Come on! Reliability?!?!?! It has the original tubes in it and the date codes on the pots are 1967! It has just the barest little amount of hum which is probably one of the electrolytics in the power supply showing its age. For less than $10 bucks in new caps, this will sound PERFECT and last another 30 years. No problems with this baby.

Sears customer support for a Silvertone 1482 amp? Shya, as if.
Wonder what they would say if I called them....

I thank God that I found one of these in good shape. I would die if it were lost or stolen. These are still around, but they are getting harder to find and getting a little pricey. I have seen them go for less than $80 on eBay, all the way up to $250 for mint condition ones. No matter what, if you see one and you can afford it...buy it. Then sell it to me.

Was up in a friends attic to look at his old Gibson SG he wanted to sell. Found the headstock was broken off and put back on with glue and lag bolts! Ouch! But then I saw the 1482 in a corner, freaked, and bought it for $25! Mic and instrument channels on this one are hot wired together. Plug into instrument channel, put that volume 7-10, and the mic volume at 4-5 and it screams! Some original Silvertone tubes.

Unbelievable overdrive wired the way it is, a little hissy/hummy though!! I play a '72 Strat through it and get classic Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) tone and distortion. But my '78 Les Paul seems to be a little too hot and rumbles the thing some. Dunno if speaker is original, no label or anything on it, but hooking up a better speaker ruins the sound!

Plugging into the mic input loses the major overdrive, but still can't get any clean tone out of it at a normal volume. Its really only good for what it is was re-wired to do -- but that's fine for me when I am in the mood. If I want clean, I use my 1484 head.

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Been playing for 28 years. Got the 1482 about 8 years ago, have had the 1484 head since I was 12 (1972). Just put new Sovtek 6L6's in it and got a new Jensen 12", and use my Line 6 POD through it. I like the '70's rock guitar sound, Jethro Tull with my LP, Deep Purple/Skynyrd with my Strat. Really helps me get a realistic live Marshall tone when I play out with it.

This all tube amp was made in 1966, as evidenced by the date on the tubes. It has two channels. One is for a microphone and the other is for instrumets. The mic channel has one input jack and the instrument channel has 2 input jacks. There is volume and tone for each channel. The amp has tremelo which has intensity and speed controls. The controls are arranged vertically along the front, right side. The input jacks and footswitch jack, power switch, fuse holder and pilot lamp are on the back panel. It is equiped with a 12" alnico magnet speaker of unknow make. These are standard features for this type of amp of this vintage. In place of a single TONE control, bass and treble controls would be nice. =) The rating of "5" is not a ding against it's features.

It is made with carbon composition resistors, solid hookup wire and point to point hand wiring on an aluminum chassis. The front panel is bare aluminum and the control area is brushed aluminum which is an eye pleasing effect.

I paid $75 for the amp, plus shipping. New, these things went for $72 in 1966. I have seen them for upwards of $200 on the Internet.

I play this amp with Stratocasters. It is very fat and creamy. (I know, hyperbole is subjective.) I got this to play blues because it lacks a feedback resistor divider circuit, ala the Gibson GA40 Les Paul amp, which Elmore James used. At maximum volume there is a little hiss thru the speaker. At 3-4 it is fairly clean and above that, it compresses nicely. It is not a harsh distortion but it is best described as "woofy." It is a one trick pony. That trick is FAT SUSTAINING BLUES. I name my gear. This one is called "Big Bad Woof."

Using only the bridge pickup on a strat, it comes real close the that "Communication Breakdown" Jimmy Page sound. Cool! =)

It is loud enough to rattle everything in my garage that is not nailed down. It is loud enough to bother the neighbors...

This amp is not in the Marshall/Mesa/Soldano catagory. It is in the Muddy Waters/Tweed Deluxe/GA40 Les Paul category. For what it does, it would be a 10, if it weren't for the tired sounding speaker.

I just received this thing 2 days ago. (2/12/2001) It was shipped from Maine to California and the box was not marked "FRAGILE." It has ALL THE ORIGINAL SILVERTONE TUBES, RCA's, dated the 9th. week of 1966. I turned it on and it worked! Both channels & the tremelo worked! There is no hum, static or intermittant sounds!!

It survived 35 years and a cross country experience with the US Postal Service so, YES, I would use it without a backup! There are minor scrapes on the corners of the cabinet and a couple of small, small places where the gray conering is pulling away. A little super glue tacked it down nicely. This is a fragile cabinet because the baffle board is masonite and the cabinet, tho' framed with pine, has panels that look like cardboard! The 1/2" sides are NOT masonite. The baffle board is two pieces, stapled together. As soon as I find some 1966 vintage masonite, I'll make a new one. (Just kidding about the vintage masonite!) The back is particle board.

Considering that this amp is now 35 years old and is still working with it's original tubes and capacitors says a LOT. I recently have serviced 2 NAME BRAND tube amps that could learn a about reliability from Danelectro, or whoever it was that made this amp!

I would not trust Sears to fix a flat tire, let alone a vintage piece of Americana. They would not know a triode from a 2 by 4.

I started playing guitar 2 years before this amp was made. I like 1X12 tube combos so, I had to have one of these. I also have a home made Fender Deluxe amp.

I got the 1482 for a different type of tube sound for playing blues. It is VERY LIGHT WEIGHT. It weighs less that my gig bag with my cords, pedals and spares! I plan on making a protective cover to protect it while traveling.

I love the tube tone but, I hate the speaker. The original speaker has no high frequency response. I will replace it or get it reconed.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd be hard pressed to justify to my lovely wife why I need money for another tube amp.

"I know the kids need shoes,
and I know the bills are due,
but baby I need some tubes
so I can play them blues... "

This is an all-tube, 1x12 amp made by Danelectro (?) for Sears. It features three inputs, two for instruments and one for mic. The power tubes are two 6V6's, the pre-amp has two 12AX7's and it has a 6AU6 and a 6X4 for the tremelo and rectifier. The cabinet is Masonite with a closed back and speckled gray vivyl covering. The knobs are located on the front right of the cab arranged in a zig-zag, vertical pattern. There are two volume and tone controls for each channel as well as one control for tremelo speed and one for depth. Grill cloth is tan w/silver sparkles. The tremelo functions on both channels. I use this amp mainly for practice but have also used it for recording.

I mainly play a '63 Strat reissue through this amp. I retubed it with two Electro-Harmonix 6V6's and two Sovtek 12AX7SLP's. In addition, I replaced the stock Fisher speaker with an Eminence 12ALP alnico magnet speaker. This tube array and new speaker brightened up the tone considerably and it sounds great when cranked up. Good crunch at a moderate volume. In my opinion, this amp sounds better than Fender Champs or Princetons I've owned. In order to give the amp a little more gain and punch, I plug the Strat into an A/B box and run one output to the mic channel and one to the instrument channel. No need for an overdrive or distortion pedal.

This amp is over 35 years old, I've owned it for three years and play it regularly. I haven't had a problem with it yet. In fact, I own two of these amps and they both sound great.

I would recommend this amp (if you can find one) for practice and recording. It would even serve well for a gig if you mic it. I rate it an 8 because it doesn't have reverb but it sounds so good I don't miss it.