Valco 1x10 Tweed Combo

I have two of these Valco 1x10" tweed tube combos; an internet search of Valco serial numbers leads me to believe one is a 1959 and the other is a 1961. They share the same cabinet design, chassis layout and tubes, but differ cosmetically: while both are tweed-covered with a black naugahyde strip running vertically around the cabinet, one has a lighter, grayish tinted tweed and the other has dark brownish tweed (darker than a Fender bassman). The dark one has a Mesa-Boogie-style cane grille with a black lightning bolt spray-stenciled on it, and the lighter one has a black fuzz-covered screen that used to have a small chrome "Dwight" logo in cursive type on it. It fell off. Both came with a 5Y3 rectifier, two 12AX7 preamp tubes and two 6973 power amp tubes. They are class "A" and put out 10-15 watts. The darker, cane-fronted one has been converted to use EL84 power tubes and currently has a solid-state plug-in rectifier in it, but sounds about the same--it's a little louder and less saggy though.

The cane-front one has a black painted chassis with white markings, while the other has a gold chassis with black markings.

They have three inputs each, with one marked "bass", and one tone and one volume knob--both "chicken head" style. A small bulb under a white "gum drop" lens lights when you switch them on. There is no standby function.

These weren't loud enough when I was in a rock band whose bass player used a 350W Hartke. Now I'm in a quieter roots-rock band and since we all have small amps, they are loud enough. I have used them together, fed by a stereo reverb unit, in larger clubs with good results. One is enough for small clubs. Ironically, they don't work that well for me at band practice, because their volume "sweet spot" is a little too loud for the basement.

I give them a 7 because if you are the type of person that can appreciate a small tube amp, they are cool. If you want lots of tone choiced in your gear rather than in your hands, you'd find them pretty limiting.

I've used them with a ProCo Rat II and a humbucker-equipped solid body for rock crunch in one former band. They were fantastic for that...they really did nice things to the Rat's sound.

In my current band I was using them for recording with a single-coil Gibson Melody Maker for cleaner country sounds, and they were nice for that too. Too loud for the basement though...we practice late at night.

That band has veered away from distorted guitars somewhat, and I now use them together, again with a stereo FX unit (set for parametric EQ) to split the signal to them from a Silvertone archtop acoustic with a floating neck pickup. They get the funky, warm tone of this guitar across very well, and don't need to be cranked that hard to sound good. They also look pretty cool with that old weird axe leaning against them, and that's important, right?

With this latter setup, playing soft sounds very round and full, but not muddy. Laying into it JUST begins to break up, without actually sounding like crunch. Just an edge to the notes, which is a cool effect with a neck pickup on an archtop. It also fills a lot of space when you're playing in a trio, as I am. I still make stupidly distorted sounds at home for amusement with them once in awhile, and if I'm ever in a more rocked-out band again I will continue to use them with hotter pickups and/or a distortion pedal of some type.

The amps aren't noisy at all. They are simple, tough little low-to-medium gain workhorses.

I have had a few repair issues. I had to replace the blown speaker in one. I had a CTS 10" reconed and fitted with a 4-ohm voice coil. Then the output transformer blew, and the replacement needed a 16-ohm speaker, so I put in a Celestion 10. It's not quite as nice sounding, but pretty similar. Still, the repairs were quick and cheap...no expensive components are hidden within.

Both have needed retubing, and 6973s aren't hard to get but the quality is all over the map. Out of maybe 12 N.O.S. tubes, four or five were actually usable. When the dark-colored one needed tubes, my repair guy talked me into converting it for EL84s, and it sounds pretty good still, although maybe a little less chaotic when it breaks up. I may have him undo that mod...still trying to decide. EL84s are sure a lot easier to get, though, since they still make them.

Since they are more than 40 years old, I can't fault them for having a few problems. Since I have two, I don't shy away from gigging with them. I can always turn one off if it breaks down and still get through the gig, and repairs aren't that expensive, as I said above.

I think Valco went belly-up in 1969 or thereabouts. Luckily they are simple and have no exotic parts inside, so any tech who knows tube amps should be able to fix one. I need to learn enough to fix them myself one of these days.

I've been playing for about 25 years, and have owned (in order) a small solid-state practice amp, a big solid state 2 x 12" combo, a big tube 4 x 12" half stack, a rackmount tube preamp/power amp rig, then these. I got tired of manic distortion in the grunge years and wanted something that sounded looser, bluesier and more organic. These were it. I've tried other popular small tube amps, and found Fender Deluxes too brittle when cranked and Matchless 15-watters a little too bright. An old Univox 1x12" tube amp I had sounded good only at one low volume setting. These can stand being played fairly loud, and are warm enough for me without being too muddy. I should also add that the cabinets are very well made...no particle board here. I think they are actual solid wood, not plywood. If I lost them, I would like to find replacements. They were inexpensive amps in their day, but well-made by today's standards, and they have a sound I really like.