The Steel Guitar Forum

I found an amp recently, looks like from the late 60's to 70's made by a company called "Sound". Looks like it might even be a steel guitar amp- has a 15" speaker- and it is tube powered. It has 2 EL34's and a smattering of 12AX7's. The tolex is grey, and it has 2 discreet channels. It has reverb and tremolo, and the trem is magnificent! The reverb kinda sucks though, you lose about half the volume when it is engaged. Anyone have any idea about it? I am interested in the history, I might try to trade into it.

I recently rebuilt a 2-12 Sound combo cabinet, cut the top off and made a seperate head for the amp. It was pine construction and had 2 nice Jensen spkrs. I belonged to the guitar player for the Republic Tigers.They were on Letterman a couple years ago. He tweaked some tubes and serviced filter caps etc. We couldn't find out its origin but thought it may have been built in thr eastern U.S. He had 2 and loved them. I never played my steel thru it. Hope that helps.

Made in New York from the mid to the late '60s. They made about 10 different models, for guitar, bass, and keyboard (no steel, though). They were all hybrids (tube/transistor), and generally bring $250-$450 when they come up for sale.

Well, all these months later I scored the amp in a ridiculously good trade. I got it home and played with it for a while, and this is my assessment;
It is a very toneful amp. The EL34/12AX7 combo is classic, this amp has Mullards- originals- all through. The speaker is a Jensen C15N. It sounds great, especially when I boost the signal a bit. The amp is, however, not nearly as loud as I expected. It takes pedals well and definitely shows signs of life, but even with the volume-sucking reverb off it isn't really very loud. It has 2 channels, I am wondering if it is safe to bridge them like you would a Marshall. It has a very sparkly top end that is discernible even when my National D8 is set on "Medium" on the tone knob. With the Peavey Powerslide it sings, really showing off the character of the Jensen. I am really pleased with that guitar at this point and hadn't been while using my old Pacer.
All in all I'd say that for about $250 (seriously) I think I did great.

I had a Sound 1-15 just like that in the mid 70s. I think I paid $100 for it 'cuz I needed an amp for a gig and had little money. It worked well enough and never failed me. The reverb as I remember was weak but I don't remember the volume loss you mentioned. I later traded the amp straight across to a buddy for a '65 Bandmaster w/2-12 cab. The bandmaster would not fit in the trunk of his Ford Mustang and the 1-15 combo would! It's kind of a Standel clone looking thing.

I don't see any harm in trying to jumper the inputs. It will either work or not. The two channels could be out of phase with each other.

Your Sound amp reminds me I need to get busy and sort out a '67 Vox Cambridge Reverb I've had laying around for years. I think it will mkae a cool lap amp when I get the hum out of it.