Teisco Checkmate 50 Head

I purchased my Checkmate 50 TEISCO amplifier-one head with a cabinet with two-twelve inch-speakers-in 1970, at christmas. Brand new and recently imported from Japan, by means a friend who was actually a musician, too. His father was an eximporter. Those years, he imported many musical equipment from Japan. Musical instruments and amplification then it came from the Orient, because the price. My checkmate50 it is a valveamp: two 6L6, four 12AX7, one ECC85 as a reverb valve and GZ34 as a rectifier tube. The reverb has two springs (hammond reverb type) besides, the amp has a tremolo effect with frecquency and velocity controls. The equipment is monophonic with two channels. One channel is clean, the other has the tremolo. The reverh is switchable between the two channels. The reverb effect is controlled by one pot. Each channel has three pots: one volume, one bass and one treble, without master control. At the rear side there are two jacks, one for the main baffle and other for the second. At the front pannel has a switch that allows to hear the "E" note for to pitch the instruments. To the right it is the "stand by" and "on" switchable key, each with its light, green for the "SB" and red for the "on", besides, there is a jack for an ancient cristal type earphone, that allows to pitch the instrument. This amplifier it was our first factory amp. It was versatile enough. Two guitars at channel two, the bass at channel one. Amazingly. It sounded good, without distorsion. The instruments sounds bright and clean. It was a virgin amp ! -when the bassman got a 15 inch speaker "VOX" bassamp, only there was one guitar for channel. The power increased and we sounded better. We did covers of US & brittish groups and music for parties. There we played boleros, cumbias, tangos, anything that people wanted. The TEISCO sounded always good. The life of the original valves endured so much, too many years. At the seventies, there was few accesories for modulate music. I had two effects: one fuzz, one wah wah, twice from ACETONE, and this was an amazing thing to happen. When we got the third amplifier, then I could use the fuzz with my TEISCO. When we did parties at the country, outside the city, when the sun began to down, the voltage-220 here-began to down, too, because the neonlights began to shine. We had a rotary autotransformer with a voltmeter. This allow us mantain the 220 VAC, without distorsion and with full power. When we played in exteriors, there was-usually-PA equipment, and we sound with the usual volume.
Actually, I use the Teisco eventually, because the electrolitic filters of the main supply, they has losses of isolation and I cannot find the reposition yet. The baffle with the two speakers, sounded great yet. I used it commonly when I played with my friends. In summa, I feel, I spent great moments with my CHECKMATE50 TEISCO and my friends too. It sounded always great without any trouble. It was an excellent purchasing.

When I used to play with it. I played a 1966 KENT japanese solidguitar with three single coil pickups. The second guitar was a two humbucker pickups Yamaha guitar, jazz type with hollow body that I purchased in 1971-she is mine, yet-At the seventies. In Chile-where I live and lived then-the mainstream of the music then was the tropical music as cumbias, chachacha, bolero. We played rockandroll and anglosaxon rhythms of the era. The guitar as solo or second it sounded with reverb or echo. The fuzzy sounds came with the rock music exclusively. The amp was used usually for the melodic music, without fuzz. The sound of the amp was usually clean and shining. The amp with the right tubes did not fuzz for himself at high volumes. We loved the cleaning sounds of it. The fuzzy sounds was obtained by means of ACETONE FUZZ.

Actually not
The amp never broken down. I was checking and measuring the rate of the tubes weekly. I purchased a tube checker and I checked all the amps of the group too. I changed the electrolitic capacitors of the main supply only one time in fifteen years. the tubes at the seventies were easy to find and cheap to buy. Not more now.

Those years. There was a great base of supplies. It was not necessary communicate with the factory. In those years, there were all of necessary items to service electronics devices.
The concept of warranty then, it was irrelevant. We serviced all the troubles that emerge. I am an electronic technician and then, we built many amplifiers copying the diagrams of the GUYATONE, YAMAHA, TEISCO, FENDER, and others...

I began playing guitar at seventeen. I have been playing since then, forty years. Actually I played keyboards too and I recently bought an affinity Squier Bass for to learn to play it. I take care yet of the YAMAHA guitar that I bought in 1971, I sold my KENT guitar but after I purchase other similar without mark. I own too, a Jazz guitar that I bought in 1968. She was older that year. I think she is an EPIPHONE from the fifties. It is not easy play with her because it is curved. My son-in-law presented me an solid EPIPHONE. which I played now. I own too a YAMAHA amplifier with one 12" speaker with reverb, from the seventeens, it came from Japan with 100 VAC main supply. I own too a TEISCO head with EL84 (6BQ5) two. 12AX7 three, with tremolo and reverb. I use only the Preamp. The power output It was not possible repair it. When I played with friends I am using a MT100 II YAMAHA cassette MULTITRACK as mixer and a SONY stereo amplifier 50+50WRMS as a power. I am using the 2100 ZOOM FX for my guitar with a expression pedal that I purchased as a bargain, then I repaired it.
In relation to a robbery of the CHECKMATE50. Obviously it is not possible replace it with a similar. There is no other actually, but I would be sorry of it, by thirty five years of music. I love it, I don't hate anything of it.
In those years, it was very hard to buy a electric guitar, imagine how much money I spent because this device. I did not choice a TEISCO amp. It was only the choice of the importer. I could have receive a GUYATONE, perhaps a YAMAHA, but it was a TEISCO and I was glad and I actually am glad.
Thanks for to open a window to relate about an unknown and efficient amplifier