Standel 25L15 Vintage Plus 115 Combo

This is a review for my 2006 Standel 25L15. It was custom ordered with cream padded fabric and green backlit control panel. Of course if you are reading this you know it is a true reissue of the classic 25L15s built by Standel by Crooks in his garage for some of the most famous guitar frontiers!!! Mine has their special designed speaker 15 inch that was built to copy the S115 Standel speakers and it does that beautifully. Hideaway 2nd input, high cut, contour, bass, treble, volume, split panel chassis. Beautiful recreation!!! Top quality amplifier for the most discerning audiophile!!!!!!!! Not versatile though!!!!!! By the way I bought a second 25L15 4 months later!! Black and tan colored and JBL D130F

I own Several vintage Standel all tube amps and a couple of solid states ( 35J15T, 50L15, S100 piggyback, S80), now 2 of these 25L15s. What can I say, for Jazz, country, blues, and even tweed style cream, this amp is articulate and full of presence and character. It can be super elegant and chimey or bold and thick. I play solidbodies, semis, and full archtops with this amp and it is nothing short of phenomenal.

To directly compare it to anything else is just not appropriate. Not a fender not a gibson and not an ampeg, this Standel all the way and thats what I was looking for.

This is the seller!!!!!!

Built so beautifully, everything is super super solid and top notch!!!
Well worth the cash to have a newer, reliable, and meticulously built Standel.

I use a small dolly and this amp goes everywhere with me. It is not light for a 25 watter, but it is well worth the back effort!!!!!

Go get one!!!!!!!!!

I also own a Fuchs ODS, Alessandro GREY HOUND, and a HOLLAND KB
All sweet!!
ALL KEEPERS!!
SOLD My Two Rock, matchess, and Dr. Z


PLay this and the KB the most!

This one was made circa 2003 in Glendale, CA. Its a 5-knob version Volume - Bass - Treble - Contour (midrange umbrella adjust,not a frequency shifter) -Hi Cut (presence). One channel on top with an auxilary channel with seperate volume is hidden under the top control panel. An XLR line-out with level is also included as well as in and out for effects without levels. 25 Watts, single original JBL D130 15" speaker, lighted control panel, a true volume knob (meaning that the max level of the amp is acheived when the amp is at 10 and not at 5. You won't be able to say "see how loud this amp is and its only on 2!". This amp ain't that loud at 2.)

The real money in this amp is in the construction. More about that under "sound quality".

This amp has a fantastic tone. It's a bit more full range than the standard guitar amp. I A/B'd it side by side with the Fender '57 Twin reissue (hand wired, dual rectifier tubes, 40 watts, 2-12's) and it has the slight edge in clean tone. Specifically, the 15" speaker gives better bottom end tone but it also has a nice bright response as well. Its a real bulldog of an amp with a "feel it in the chest" punchy sound. I don't drive the amp into distortion regions so I can't speak to its distortion characteristics. I like it for Chet fingerstyle. I have heard the same model driven a bit in a rockabilly band with very nice results.

Is the sound worth the extra 1500 dollar street price difference with the Fender '57 Twin RI? No, as I say its only slightly better and I can see where some might prefer the Twin for given applications.

So why pay the extra 1500 clams? The answer to that question becomes more clear when you see the amp in person. The construction is the most top notch construction one can imagine. There are absolutely no executive cost cutting decisions made in the building of this amp. This is how an amp was built in the '50's. The padded cream upholstered cabinet is very well done. The workmanship and design of the electronics is the best I've seen in the many amps I've played in over 30 years. Even the amp cover is padded and has a snaping leather patch the slips under tha double-buckle steel reinforced leather handle.

This amp is rugged and has survived well in its three year life. Its heavy for its 25W power rating.

I've been playing for about 35 years and have much experience with tube amps. This is easily the nicest overall sound and quality tube amp I've encountered.

2002 25L15 "Vintage-Plus" 1x15 Combo: Features include: point-to-point construction, all-tube design, cathode-bias, original style Standel S-15 ultra-efficient Alnico-V speaker, dual chassis (pre-amp on top, power supply and power amp on bottom), tube rectifier and lighted dial. Cathode Biased 807 duet is handbuilt using point-to-point tube circuitry, and 5U4 tube rectifier. I give it a 10 for features, it doesn't have "everything" but is has everything you need.

This is a great amp for those looking for this sound, clean, clear, deep for rock, country, jazz, to a growly overdrive that breaks up for a real vintage rock and roll sound. It is very quiet when idling, and it is not a really loud amp, that is not really what it is for, but it has plenty of power for what it is. It will handle a small club with no problem. It will give you great tone if this is what you want, Cliff Gallup, Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery, thankfully, it won't do the other sounds so popular today.

It's new so I couldn't say, but it looks like if it fell from my truck at high speed, that it would keep rocking.

A great small company and you can talk directly to the owner.

Get your Standel, add an echoplex, and go to town, it's all you need. This amp will give you a sound and tone outside of the norm that is ultra hip and cool.