Sound City Concord

Very odd, typically British designed combo. 2 channels and reverb which works with channel 2.Both channels have slider controls fot volume, bass and treble. The reverb also has a slider control. Although a bit odd, it does mean that you can clearly see your setting, so maybe not so odd? Rated at 30 watts, but fearsomly loud. No channel switching, effects loop, just on/off and standby.

This amp is much too treblely. Even if you adjust the setting to 1 and pile on the bass, its still has too much treble, and all the extra bass does is muddy up the tone.You can make various modifications, which I did, to cut down the treble, but even with those, its still suicidle to set the treble beyond 3.The reverb is amazing though. Very rich and deep. These would be perfect amps for Surf Music, but pretty useless for Blues and Rock.

Its around 40 years old and despite looking a bit fragile, is incredibly well built and has been used for countless gigs.

Good luck!

Its weird, whacky and thoroughly British -although I dont recall much in the way of British Surf Music despite the fact Ive been playing for over 30 years. Its great fun and a must for any collector. Worth it for the reverb alone.If you want a real, do anything amp, this isn't it. Considering that it must have been designed at the same time that Vox, Orange and Marshall etc were around, it has a very 'UnBritish tone' especially in the context of guitarists such as Rory Gallagher and Paul Kossoff, but if you play '60's pop/'spaced-out man' music, this could be just the ticket. Its more 'Yellow Submarine' than 'Alright Now'.

WEIRD. Made I believe in the early '70s. The 'on' and 'standby' front mounted switches are upside down,[ie,'up' is off], except for the bright[sic]switch, which is totally unneccessary as this is the brightest valve amp ever made.There is a rear mounted boost switch. Also upside down.2x12" amazingly clear factory speakers and 2 channels. The one on the left has the reverb, which also has a sliding control. By the way, all the sliding controls are also upside down, ie, full up is off!. Very Heath Robinson - only needs a gyroscope fitted to the top. The tone is very bright and before modification, which is a must, I had the treble at 0 and the bass at 10, and that was just about bearable. There is a top handle and 2 side handles which make lifting fairly easy. oh yes, there is an 'on' and 'standby' light. Only the English could have built this.

If you modify the teble and bass - mine was done by Torres amps in Pinner, Middx, and it was the best ??60 Ive ever spent - other than that night in Norwich. I have a '73 Tele and a Pilgrim electro acoustic and since the mods, it one of the finest sounding amps Ive ever owned. Maybe a vintage Bassman would be worth a try, but you'd miss out on just about THE BEST reverb known to man. Or woman. Without the mods,4. with......

Ive had it serviced and modded. So far so good.

No idea.

I've been playing for 40 years. As far as amps go, Ive had an early 70's AC30, a silver face Fender Twin, a Concert and a silver face Deluxe Reverb. A Peavey Duece[very good],a Musicman 2x12 and 1x12.A couple of Marshalls including a Bluesbreaker reissue, a Pro Amp Viper, a crocodile covered Selmer, a Roland Bolt and JC77,a 50watt Messa Boogie, a couple of Carlsbro valve amps and a Traynor Guitar Mate. There's probably a dozen more Ive forgotten. I play a '73 Tele and the modded Concord is a perfect match. I prefer the reverb to any other Ive heard. If it were stolen I would try my best to replace it.
If you want a totally British eccentric amp, get one. If you want a Fender Twin, get one of these instead and just forgoe the extra power. If you want a Marshall, I can't help you.

My Concord is circa 1974, all tube driven, and loud as hell. this amp is bare bones: Volume, Bass, and Treble; all on sliders that go to 12! 2 channels, and 2 inputs per channel (one high sensetivity, the other low) 2nd channel on mine has the reverb, although it stopped working long ago, so i took out the pan and cords for it altogether. on the back is has a 3-way ground switch, and a Hi-Lo Sensetivity switch, the Higher sensetivity makes it much louder, but also adds ice-picky highs, so use carefully. I like to play loud, unfortunately this barely cuts it for me, although still extremely loud, i would suggest going for a Fender Dual Showman or something like that if you want any more volume with a tube tone. i crank this thing until it doesnt get any louder (which is at about a 7 to 9-ish) and it still maintains its clean sound.

i play surf, and this amp hits the nail right on the head. nice and clean with plenty of tight bass, and at a great volume! the only problem is the ear-splitting highs, which i would suggest changing the cap in the treble volume to a lower value to get more tonal options, as about a 2 is too much treble for me. nice warm tube sound, obviously. minimal tonal shaping options, although if you know what you want it's all you need. i play through a 60's reissue strat and a fender reverb unit(i put the concords old pan in it)and this amp houses the drippy reverb perfectly. i replaced the original eminence's it came with for a new pair of Jensen C12N's and this only adds to the smooth tone. my friend has a '72 Fender bassman head, and there isn't much difference in sound although the concord is louder.

like i mentioned, the reverb stopped working for me, but i was waiting for it to happen so i could have an excuse to get an outboard reverb unit. mine has been worked on a lot before it was given to me, and you can tell. cosmetically it was barely in decent shape, it needed new tolex and grillcloth, but that's not really what matters. the tubes rattle a bit at higher volumes, but nothing too annoying. other than the reverb this thing has yet to fail me.

Sound City/Dallas Arbiter is no longer available for contact. take it to a tech if you have a problem.

i have been playing guitar for 6 years now, and this is by far the best sounding thing i've ever played out of. i would try to get ahold of it again if it were stolen, but since it's so rare that wouldn't be likely. i love the volume, the tight low end, but i hate the screeching highs.

I can count as many times as I've seen one of these Bad Larrys on one hand. They are rare. I'm unsure of the year but I think it is around a 72-73. This amp is bare bones: Volume, Bass, Treble. Which is all any self respecting guitarist really ever needs. It has four channels and the reverb works on one or all four at the same time. I think it is perfect the way it is.

Im using this amp with a custom built telecaster with a Warmoth neck and body (nasty guitar parts) and custom hand made Jake Jones pickups. It sounds amazing. I couldn't ask for any better tone. Every note is distinguishable when playing chords and the crunch in phenominal for an amp from the 70's. When you turn it up loud you get a really nice crunch that packs a hefty punch.

Built like a rock.

I think Dallas might be dead?

Hands down one of the best amps I have ever played. Would buy another one in a heart beat. Everyone should have a Sound City Concord in their collection. Becoming very rare.

It`s a very simple amplifier. It`s got controls (faders) for treble, bass and volume for each of the two channels - channel A has a reverb which sounds quite good although rather intense, so that usually I have to reduce it down to "1-2" by the control knob.
On the rear panel, the input sensitivity can be switched, if switched down, the amp appears nearly twice as loud as usual.
The additional switches for extra brilliance are nonsense, since the amp is a rather trebly one anyway, so that the usual amount of treble needs to be turned down to about "3" on the scale to achieve a pleasant sound.
The lack of features can't really be critizied due to the simplicity of the overall construction.
Maybe a control for the mid range would be useful, but the device sounds good without this as well.

I really like it, since it produces a powerful and dynamic clean sound much in the way of a classic Fender Twin or Quad Reverb.
If all controls are turned up to the maximum with the sensitivity switched to "2", the sound gets slightly distorted, but then the overall volume will be unbearable. You simply cannot do that in your living room without getting your eardrums damaged, so that you need to use a conventional overdrive box as a preamp pedal.
I play Hard Rock/HM, Blues and sometimes Jazz Rock, using a Strat with modified pickups (double-coiled Strat-pickups) through a Marshall "Shred-Master"-distortion, a digital delay and a wah. Using that I really get what I want and the amp`s got no problem to compete even with the loudest drummer.
For live club gigs, I need no additional amplification maybe through a P.A. or a second amp. The Concord is damned loud !
Interestingly the rather clean sound remains clean nearly all the way up to volume "9-10" with the sensitivity switched to "1".

I have got it for 20 years. Within the first 10, I gigged regularly and practised very often with my band, for the last 10 I still played rather often in my spare time, jamming along to records. I changed the tubes every time the sound started bothering me (fuzzy bass range - reduced treble - amps starts producing noise), which actually was three times in 20 years. I have not had other problems with it worth mentioning. It appears to be a very reliable amp.

As far as I know, the original manufacturer doesn`t exist any longer, so that there is no specific customer support. But if its tubes, wires, capacitors, etc needs to be looked after, this can be done by any technician familiar with valve amps.
Replacement parts sure are rather difficult to come by, but the original ones simply don`t fail !
No need for a costumer support.

I wouldn`t swap it for any other amp. Now it`s about thirty-two years old and sounds just great, It`s louder than many other amps that claim to be 100 Watts. It`s never let me down in any situation, it`s 100% reliable.
The only nasty thing was it`s original orange color which I painted black many years ago.

to the !st person to comment, the concord was a 30 watt, there is the dallas arbiter concord gt80 which although very rare is driven by 4 x el34's in a/b thus giving a minimum of at least 80 watts so please be more specific.. i have a gt80.. this has a clean channel and the second channel has a sensitivity pot (gain)...non of the controls are on sliders they are all rotary pots

awesome a sound city with steroids

i have not gigged this yet

none apart from other amp freaks

oter gear owner marshall tsl 100 linear conchord 30 2x gibson les pauls etc

would like to point out the heading for this review is wrong the concord is 30 watts rms not 80 check this on the sound city website it shows an original advert for the concord stating 30watt power rating. twin channel combo, two inputs per channel, treble and bass controls no mid control , reverb,gain switch on the back very simple setup but very responsive, bright switch brings the amp to life. .the negative feedback loop has been cut on this amp which adds a bit more growl. really good sounds are there, but it took me some time experimenting to find them ,the sliding controls take some getting used to in the way they change the sound, if like most people your used circular controls and the influence they have on tone ,i dont have electronic expertise to explain this ,if you try one you will see.

i use an ibanez rg with single coils and humbuckers,amp seems to like both, this amp was bought for 60 pounds in a uk auction and has mullards right through, the valves alone are worth more than i paid for it.
best sounding amp ive ever owned, i currently own a fender twin reverb blackface ,original,this has some great sounds but if i was told my life depended on giving up one of these amps the concord would stay,plugged straight into the amp it produces beautiful
sparkling clean sounds suitable for jazz ,pop ,blues,cranked it will produce nice power tube distortion,this is quite mild by todays standards but is still very pleasing. i place a boogie v twin and fulltone clyde wah in front of it and it can go from trower to screaming metal sounds ,does it at lower volumes if the gain setting on the back is used. if you get a chance to buy one of these go for it , the sound is awesome ,from classic vintage blues rock spectrum to modern screaming solos if used with good preamp or stompbox ,if you get one and you dont like it sell it to me.

this amp is old enough to drink,its old enough to have kids ,its had a very hard life but is sounding better than anything else ive used,needs good tubes to maintain sound quality and capacitors need to be changed every 15 years approx ,dont ignore this simple task if your caps leak they can damage your output transformer, which is a partridge tranny, difficult if not immpossible to replace,reliable if looked after properly.

company doesent trade anymore,but its never let me down so ive never needed them,excellent,best kind of support there is.

ive been playing 20 something years, i use sound city concord,a fender twin reverb , a/b box to switch amp or use both with y setting on the a/b box, effects, fulltone clyde wah,mesaboogie v twin,ibanez 202 multimode delay,ibanez cp 835 comp. if this were stolen i would replace it, this is it for me,try one out.give 10 for sound it really is awesome,give it nine overall.

I agree with the other reviews, fairly limited in terms of sounds, but the sounds it does make are wonderful. Much louder than it should be, can't say its ever been louder than 4/5 (out of 12)

Sounds best without effects or at least less agressive effects. The overdrive is definitely worth the volume you need to crank it up to. I play indie, kinda melodic guitar in my band and the amp sings over the drums and bass.

I bought this from my old school about 11 years ago. After some poor treatment there & some brutal gigging the amp blew a transformer during a rehearsal. But other than that, the tubes, electrics and speakers have all remained intact. I found the wheels needed a little attention as they don't get much support form the casing which is just plywood.

When the transformer went, off I went on the net to find help. Managed to find a guy in England who used to work at Sound City and then Vox. He now makes Booker Valve amps as his business, but will still fix anything with a valve as he's crazy about them. Check out www.audiobro.u-net.com

I use the amp with a Gibson Explorer or an old Vox Tornado semi and it sounds damn fine to me. I wouldn't want to replace it if someone stole it as I have another classic WEM amp waiting in the wings (found in the roof of a friends house). But you don't get the Concord sound anywhere else.

As simple as you can get, as much as you need!

Used with and old SG and an ES135 with P90's. Very clean, bloody loud, but nicer than anything else I've owned (see below)

Truely unreal. Bought it in '84, gigged solidly until '92. Put in my garage in favour of "better" and more expensive amps until 2002. Dug it out for a laugh (thankfully it always had a cover on), fired it up and it run a treat. Sounded so nice I got rid of the other amps! Never serviced since I've had it either. Maybe I should treat it to one soon. Only had two sets of tubes since '84. I've rated it as ten - I would give it 12 in this category.

Err - no chance. But then it doesn't break.

Truely love it, part of my life. I won't chuck it in the garage again!

Not a lot of features: Reverb,volume,bass,& treble. Isn't that all a guitarist needs? Jesus, stop screwing around with the knobs and write some songs! Ok, use some pedals if you really need them.

I use the concord with a rickenbacker 360. This amplifier is almost too clean. I think that's a good thing. Your effects will be that much more noticeable. It would be an superb amp for a jazz guitarist. It's slightly noisy, but than again I use a rickenbacker. If you want overdrive, you have to work for it (at least 7-8, this thing goes to 12!) The overdrive does sound good though, assuming you have any hearing left. I would protect my hearing and invest in a good overdrive &/or distortion pedal.

So far so good. I just got this thing in december 2001. I haven't giged with it so I really can't say how reliable it is but from what is mentioned on this site, this thing will last forever, as long as you take care of it.

The sound city entity does not exist as of present. On my amplifier, it is mentioned that it was distributed by dallas arbiter. I am pretty sure they are still around. At least I know they have a brand of drums that use a unique tuning system without lugs. For those living across the pond in england, where I imagine most of these things are, I would try bugging them. Otherwise, i'd imagine the circuit is simple enough that any qualified repairman/woman could fix it. Fun fact, Dave Reeves, the founder of hi-watt worked for soundcity before starting hi-watt. Maybe that is why they are so clean.

This is a really cool amp. I liken this amp to a tradesman or an artisan, slowly refining there craft and concentrating on their particular strengths. Equipment today is like a jack of all trades, does many things but fairly or poorly (usually poorly!) There are no real "Renisance man" amplifiers that can do everything wonderfully. You can pick these up so reasonably and you can sell them for what you paid or more (why?) Very cool.

This is a seven-valve (three ECC83s, two ECC81s, pair of EL34s) combo in purple(!) tolex from the early 70s. This particular Concord was apparently built circa 1972, with a serial number of 2108 if my memory serves me right, and is actually branded "Hayman" (not Sound City) - probably sold under that name in Scandinavia at the time. Reads "Dallas Arbiter England" on the control panel in small print as well as on the numberplate in the back.
And for the features - two channels (no switching) with reverb on one, volume/bass/treble controls plus a treble boost switch, no gain/master controls. There is a "sensitivity" switch in the back - I keep it in the louder position so I get the desired sound at a lower volume - and an external speaker jack.
The internal speakers are obviously the originals, Sound City 12".

I'm playing two totally different guitars through the amp - a Rickenbacker 330/12 and a Telecaster Custom copy with DiMarzio double humbuckers. Either way, the sound is great. Clean at low volume, but crank it up and you get the sweet valve distortion mixed with the resonance of the plywood cabinet... I can imagine the clean sound would suit an instrumental group well. The amp is a bit hissy though, but there's not much hum if biased correctly.

When I acquired the amp in 1980, the sound started to crackle when the amp warmed up. I resoldered all the connections and replaced the flaky bias trimmers - haven't had any problems since.
I don't do gigs with the amp anymore, so I've only changed the valves two times in the 20+ years. The caps are all original!

Are they still around? No problems with service however, this is a conventional valve amp.

I started on bass but switched to guitar sometime in 1979. Started to look for an amp, and a family friend had the combo for sale. The Concord was my first real guitar amp, and ultimately proved to be a great one. I would like to get another one to build a stereo set-up... Have found other things to do recently, but still like to pick up the guitar and strum a bit every once in a while, but really don't get to play often enough to maintain my dexterity.
I also have a solid state Marshall, which is OK whenever I just need to hear what I'm playing.

This amp dates to the early/mid 60's. recently serviced by Clark Amplification. New Tubes, Reverb panel that works w/ footswitch, plenty of power, Loud and Bright. Original speakers, Amp Is much warmer played through a 4x12.

A VERY CLEAN amp! It would be an AWESOME SURF amp. Clean and cutting.

Just keep fresh tubes and Rock on!

Company-Who? for Service Clark Amplification, Columbia, SC. Quote "If you have a problem with It just Bring It back, We'll Fix It"! Not Cheap, But painfully Honest and DEPENDABLE.

a VERY GOOD clean amp. No distortion, find a good stomp box and Kick It. My main amp is a Peavey EVH 5150, and a Marshall 4x12. The concord makes a very good portable writing tool.

very few features and a reverb that doesn't work

use with telecaster, it's noisy trebly and loud, very loud

never been serviced, new power amp valves el34s, reliable as death

no idea where the company is, dallas arbiter it says on the back, I'd love a new reverb tray for it

if any one has or knows of where I can get a reverb tray for it , please email <zxjl@waitrose.com>

1972 model combo with 2x12. Saw footage of a Stonehenge hippy festival in '68, there was one there! Vol-treb-bass per channel, plus reverb on one. This is ideal. I mean whoever needs tons of knobs can't play guitar, right? Could do with switching between channels and a gain knob. The whole package tends to be rather trebly, and there's a further "bright" switch per channel to make your ears bleed. Have used the amp for gigging, rehearsing & recording. Sound is straight-up clean, until cranked right up, so not very versatile. Nearly always use overdrive units with this amp, but now also own Crate VC2110R, and the combined sound (Crate fuzzed up)is awesome.

Been using this for ten years with my '75 Tele custom (with PAF replacing original Fender humb.), and it's an exceedingly beautiful, deep, clean sound. The overdriven crunch on the amp is wonderful, but to get there you have to crank it right up (and that's LOUD!!) as there's no gain control. That's it, as far as variety of sound goes, so I have used overdrive pedals until recently, now I combine with baby Crate, with hugely satisfying results. Reverb is good and wide (very surf!). Noise is a constant companion, even after recent overhaul (first set of replacement valves in 26 years), and even picks up Russian SW radio on a clear night. Rating reflects that it does a limited sound, but very beautifully.

One overhaul every 26 years sounds like reliable to me, although it maybe could have done with one earlier. Never let me down, and has taken some rough handling.

Does "Dallas Arbiter of London" still exist?? Your local amp man will enjoy fiddling with it.

Part of my life since 1988; it's been everywhere with me. Like a faithful dog. Irreplaceable. Guys with dead expensive amps get jealous of the Concord + baby Crate sound. Have seen a few in recent years in British second hand shops.

unbelievable. only problem is it only has treble, bass, volume, and reverb. very powerful and clean.

sounds great. crystal clear. all tube. needs more features.

VERY RELIABLE! my uncle gave this to me. he had it for, i would say 25 years. he never used an effect through it though. i have cranked it up with overdrives and everything and it still works great.

never a problem

i would buy it again if it had more features. good luck finding one.