The Steel Guitar Forum

noticed on ebay there is a silkyn tube steel guitar amp for sale. It says new and also says $450 i think .Anyone have experience with this amp and this company?Ive never heard of them.

More info here:

https://reverb.com/item/1199459-silkyn- ... -all-black

Demo of similar amp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OktsAIpNu2U

I believe they use a solid state rectifier:

"The Silkyn Super 50 Guitar Amplifier is a two channel, 50 watt, Class A/B, tube-based guitar amplifier in a 1 x 12" combo cabinet. It is intended for the semi-professional or professional musician who values the tonal versatility of having both a clean channel and an overdrive channel, each with expanded EQ and Reverb capability.
RATED POWER: 50 W rms into 16 Ohms. Power Consumption: 150 Watts max, 120VAC, 60Hz. RECTIFIER: Solid state full wave rectifier for extended bass response. Tube Compliment: 6 x 12AX7 (pre-amp), 2 x 6L6GC (power amp).
REVERB: Tube driven mechanical spring reverb active on both channels. DIMENSIONS: 21.25"x10"x20.25". WEIGHT: 58.3lbs.
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
Your Silkyn Super 50 is a two-channel guitar amp. The Clean channel delivers clear sound. The dirty channel is a overdrive channel"

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/backsta ... o-amp.html

Many commentators said this:

"I know they were a startup in 2007/8 by an ex Gibson Manager and they may have never seen the light of retail as the company folded before these even made a dent in the amplifier retail market"

Here is a link to an archive of the original Silkyn web site:

http://web.archive.org/web/200805041227 ... index.html

I played my Emmons through that amp at two jam sessions in Weatherford, Oklahoma in April and in June. Sounded great by itself and bi-amped with a Session 500. You can get these for $160 plus $50 shipping from e-bay stores. Seller ONLY takes Pay Pal. It is well worth the $160 price + $50 ship.
$450 seems too much.

Thanx,
Jim

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Silkyn-SUPER-50 ... SwuTxV8b51

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Silkyn-SUPER-50 ... SwFnFV8fYj

I just saved $300 on my Samsung LED TV repair by doing it myself! The Silkyn is going for $249.99 shipped so it's within my budget. Seems like a good deal with real tube reverb and a good base to mod from regardless of what crap construction is on the inside. Seems like the solid state rectifier would be good for steel and for guitar I can use my Keeley compressor inline to get the lost power supply compression back.

Greg,
If you get one, please let us know how it is.

Thanx,
Jim

So Jim, is it suitable for big grips and chords on C6? Only 2 6L6's and 50 watts output with a 12" driver.

If so, it appears to be a winner at that price.

I notice the seller has other amps designated as steel amps too, one of them being Crate, but as far as I know...Crate never marketed an amp for steel guitar.

Weighs 58 to 63 lbs depending who you talk to.

Eminence speaker (Legend) weigh is 16 lbs. at 16 ohms.

This is no light weight amp. Would a single 8 ohm speaker work in this amp? It has two 8 ohm speaker-out jacks in the back, but the main speaker is plugged into a 16 ohm input jack.

Just wondering if a neo-lite single 8 ohm speaker would work in this amp. If so, you could probably lighten this amp by at least 10 lbs.

Tom Campbell wrote:Weighs 58 to 63 lbs

As opposed to the Quilter Steelaire and Milkman half and half that weigh around 35.

As opposed to the Quilter Steelaire and Milkman half and half that weigh around 35.

..and cost five to eight times as much and are not all tube.
Kind of apples to oranges.
I'd like to hear a Silkyn. Hard to believe they wouldn't be worth $200 and change.

Tom..If the main speaker jack is marked at 16 0hms, that is the minimum load that the amp was designed to see. The two 8 0hm outputs are most likely wired (in a series?) so that when using both simultaneously they equal a 16 0hm load. If that is the case, utilizing a single 8 0hm outlet may not be advisable.

I ordered one! $250 including shipping to my door. I like the idea of channel switching and distortion possibilities. If I get time. I will open it up and show the innards and when I get another pedal steel I'll run it through that. If it's not that great I'll CL it locally. My current amp stable is down to a Nashville 400 with mod and a Deluxe reverb with the Bassman channel on the left side.

Mike Perlowin wrote:

Tom Campbell wrote:Weighs 58 to 63 lbs

As opposed to the Quilter Steelaire and Milkman half and half that weigh around 35.

the Half and Half weighs 28lbs

hmm for $250...i think i have to try..

gordon

Mine will be sitting at home in my studio so weight really doesn't matter to me. Actually I will be surprised if it arrives in one piece, even works, has a schematic etc but willing to bet it sounds as good as the Fenders reissues and the two channel mode with distortion is priced no higher than some boutique pedals!

I did some research on other guitar Forums and found out there is some issues with the electronics...i.e. cold solder joints, reverb resistors, mismatched/defective tubes.
It would appear if one is electronically inclined this amp would be a "good-deal" project, but if you were expecting a quality "plug and play" amp you might be disappointed.

Cartwright Thompson wrote:As opposed to the Quilter Steelaire and Milkman half and half that weigh around 35.

..and cost five to eight times as much and are not all tube.

How much is your back worth?

Like many of us here, I'm now a Sr. Citizen, and I no longer have the strength to schlep around a heavy amp. (Especially since I play a lot of one-nighters.)

The weight might not be a problem for you younger guys. Us old farts need something lighter and easier to take to gigs.

An amp that cheap mught not be reliable to gig with. Why would a person spending many thousands on a steel go so cheap on an amp?

Spending many thousands on an amp is No guarantee of great sound or even reliability. A used Nash 400 ($400 shipped), used Webb 6-14-E (paid $425), Steel King $500 used), amps like Carvin BX or a used Walker Stereo Steel can blow away many of the boutique amps. Also not all amps are bought for gigging. Many are bought for the studio or practicing at home!

"How much is your back worth?"

Not much! You should see my latest MRI...not pretty!

I mainly use a Quilter MicroPro so I understand the weight issue, which wasn't the point I was trying to make anyway....

Some reading and photos of this amp for you to digest.

http://imgur.com/a/W59lD

That's great Mark, thanks for the link, very entertaining!
Big surprise, you get what you pay for.
Still, for $250 it could be fun to tinker with. After a bit of time and effort, and a few bucks, you might have something.

Thanks Mark! About what I expected for $250 shipped and if it sounds decent I'll still be a happy camper.

Greg, good point. Sorry I was a buzz-kill. I look forward to your review of this amp.

Tom, I don't take myself that seriously anymore. It's a great community here! This amp is a piece of junk in a way but if it sounds good in my studio it will be a bargain. I've got a few people here that already want to take it off my hands if I don't keep it. I've had good luck getting great distortion sounds with tube amps that have channel switching and this one has a lot of features in that regard. I won't have pedal steel until the October time frame but around that time I should have a review of this amp with fiddle, tele, jazz guitar and pedal steel. I'll even take it apart to show all the cold solders joints and add a few things that it needs.

Some of the most expensive things now are also made cheaply. I bought a $2000 Samsung refrigerator that failed in 3 weeks. The factory could not repair it and had to replace it. They permanently embedded the defrost coils into the condenser and when they fail, the unit is a throw away. I've had two Samsung TV's fail with bad power supplies. Both top of the line units with 8 VDC low voltage power supply caps. $400 for a new power supply board or $5 for new 25wvdc caps from Mouser. And lastly my 75" Samsung TV (15 months old) toasted the DC power cable that feeds the processor board. They are feeding many amps through a signal cable connector instead of running a separate power cable. These fails are happening with all these high end products and are not isolated cases with Samsung. The fall of my previously most favorite appliance company just so they can make a few more cents per sale.