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1959 Epiphone Amplifiers


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I posted in the vintage forum too, but figured it's worth posting here.

 

Anyone familiar with the Gibson-made Epiphone amplifiers from 1959? Rare little buggers with a diamond fabric covering and the original bikini logo. Very tweed-like, just like their Gibson brothers during this time period.

 

There are a few higher powered models supposedly out there, but I believe the production numbers for these were incredibly low. I own three of them, pictured here.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Anyone?

Apparently not :( I will say this, you can send them to me, and then, I will tell you something like "you don't really need those old things any more" or "these things are great", most likely. All kidding aside, they kind of remind me of old Supro amps, a little, maybe. Try Gruhn guitars or a similar appraiser, or "my rare guitar" site,or even Epiphone customer service :) and maybe someone there can give you an appropriate answer about those. I would also say this, about them. I kind of believe they are somewhat of historical relics :) But, I do also believe that you already knew that, about them, most likely. Lucky and fortunate, that is what I also believe about yourself, with those things, there :) . msp_thumbup.gif

Edited by crust
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I also am kind of wondering if the person who started Danelectro, may have had something to do with those, there, maybe. I don't really know, but he did work for Epiphone, and their amps, when he was involved with them, there, then, with amps, before starting Danelectro, himself., I did read that, someplace, maybe. Good luck in your search, and, maybe someone can give you more insight into those, some day, soon, maybe. smile.gif

http://www.folkwaymusic.com/museum/amplifiers-/1959-epiphone-devon-0514/

Edited by crust
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  • 1 year later...

The Pacemaker is Epiphone's version of the Gibson Skylark. Both amps have a circuit similar to the Fender Champ of that era, as you wrote.

 

The Devon is an Epiphone-badged Gibson GA-9 in most respects. It's a 10 watt amp and I think was the first amp that Gibson badged as an Epipone after Gibson bought the company a couple years earlier.

 

I'm not sure, but the Century seems like it could be the Epiphone badged version of the Gibson GT-46T. That was a 60 watt amp with two 12" speakers, two channels, two volume controls, and a tremolo. From the pictures, that *seems* to be what your amp has, but that's just a guess.

 

Spectacular collection!

 

Red 333

Edited by Red 333
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  • 7 months later...

The Century is actually the equivalent of the GA-20T, known as the Ranger or Crest, depending on the exact year. I've owned a '57 GA-20T and '58 GA-20T - both two tone era Gibson combos - and they are 100% identical to the Epiphone Century. Great amps! Similar to a tweed Tremolux, but not as big sounding.

I would love to speak with someone at Gibson about these, but I have no idea where to start.

Here are some daylight photos of them. I currently own five 1959 Epiphone amplifiers so far...

 

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  • 3 months later...

hi all!

there is another model in this series of  GREAT old amps, called the Emperor  it has a 15" with 4 inputs. 

i found it in pieces at a garage sale. cabinet was stripped of its fabric covering,

and its chassis & speaker was in a cardboard box, ready to go to the trash curb, the upcoming friday!

i cleaned things up, put it all back together, and  found an old tablecloth that didnt appear to have ever been used.  so the covering doesnt really match the OLD MOJO of the rest of the amp, BUT its covered. and these things sound so good! seldom seen, under the radar amps that were made in very low numbers. i just need an original bikini logo.

 

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On 1/7/2022 at 11:11 AM, wammerjammer said:

So is it the diamond  fabric that makes these a rare or are all early Epiphone amps rare? I found one with the gray tolex. It's a pacemaker.

The diamond fabric covered ones were the first Gibson-made Epiphone amps to be released, followed very shortly after by gray tolex versions. The diamond fabric ones are rarer because of how quickly they abandoned the aesthetic and moved to the gray tolex and chrome chassis. They're all essentially the same circuits, following schematics of Gibsons almost identically.

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