Standel Studio 15 Amp

Larry Robinson · From: Peachtree City, Georgia, USA

I have a chance to buy a Standel Studio 15 amplifier at estate sale. Does anyone have and knowledge about this model amp you'd be willing to share? No hum, and speaker is a standel special 15", clean sound, though not a JBL.

Larry Robinson

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

I've played through every amp under the sun, INCLUDING the ultra-pricy Standel tube amps and, for what I look for in a steel amp -- really clean, crisp, powerful amplification that doesn't take a rocket scientist to tweak in less than 30 seconds, my two 1970 Standel Custom XV's -- the first cousin to the Studio -- are HANDS DOWN the finest steel amp I have ever played through. One of them (at 70W) works fine in a small club. If you like stereo, or need more volume, mine sounds great either with the other Standel or with a Peavey amp. If you have to play louder than that, you should be going through a PA system. AND -- I haven't weighed them, BUT -- they weigh about the same or even SLIGHTLY LESS THAN MY NASHVILLE 112. Is the estimated RMS power listed on the backplate? Seems to me that the Session may be 50W. If so, it may be the loudest 50W you ever heard. Loud and clean.

The reason I like the amp so much is that when it starts to break up, it has 'round edges', like tube distortion -- but, being a solid state power and preamp, it doesn't suffer from a lack of headroom as many tube amps do. It uses the old transistors like the old Session 400's -- and they're much less brassy than most of the new Peavey amps. Also, there's only a treble and bass control. I always set up presets for my fx devices to eq the mids and sometimes boost the highs and lows a bit. If I didn't do that I might use a little 10 band graphic or something to give a little more control over what's between the highs and the lows. I sometimes also use Brad Sarno's Black Box and it even sounds better and more tubelike with that addition.

I'm not that familiar with the Studio, but I know they were made around the mid 60s to mid 70s. The serial number is on the back panel, by the off/on switch. It should have some numbers, a dash, and the last 2 digits of the year. All the schematics are online at the Standel website: http://www.standelamps.com/

I say DO IT. Join the club. I'll teach you the handshake.

Oh, and that speaker
(if it's the same Altec/Lansing 418B)
is much better than any JBL I've ever owned.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 25 May 2005 at 05:26 PM.]

Larry Robinson · From: Peachtree City, Georgia, USA

The amp was mfg. in 1970. The model number is not on the chassis, it was stuck on the plate but came off. The name on the front of the amp is "Studio 15" Sticker on back of chassis indicates 140w but I think that's AC power consumption, actual power somewhere about 50-60 watts. The speaker has an aluminum dust cap vented in the center. I got it for $100. Hope I didn't go wrong. There seems to be idle noise in the reverb sometimes. I'll go through it and check and clean all connections. Thanks for your input.

Larry Robinson

Chick Donner · From: North Ridgeville, OH USA

he "Studio" series of amps was Standel's entry in the late sixties and early seventies; they were OK, but had drawbacks. I played one for several years.
THe Studio model is the small one, with only two output transistors and maybe 70 watts on a good day. The Custom model was the higher powered model with four output xstrs and about 100 watts or so. Both came in 2x12 or 1x15 models.

The BIG drawback is getting them fixed. Only the power amplifier is made from discrete parts; all the other sections, th preamps, reverb, tremolo, driver, etc, are epoxied blocks, with wires coming out of them, which are virtually impossible to get today. Once in a while someone is selling the boxes separately, and someone, somewhere, has posted schematics of what's in the boxes, so's you can make up your own. It would make repair a VERY expensive proposition.

Great sound - not enough power - not too heavy - depends on what you're looking for.

Paul Warnik · From: Illinois,USA

Larry-I have a '71 Studio 24-(2-12"s) When I first got it a few years ago(in near mint condition)it sounded fantastic with plenty of power-Then it started acting up by sounding distorted and loosing volume-I had all the pots and switches in the chassis cleaned by a pro amp guy-now it's sounding great again-PW

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Chic,
While it is true that Bob Crooks was a bit paranoid of design thieves and sealed several modules in epoxy, the schematics for all are available on Standel's website. Since Danny McKinney has taken over Standel he has let all Crooks' cats out of the bag.

I have the schematic for my two Custom XV's and have had a couple of competent repair guys work on them with no problem. There are NO SEALED MODULES in either of my amps and I've seen several others with none.
Now I'm just trying to convince Blake Hawkins to work on one of them. All my repair guys are up north.

Also re: wattage, my amps are rated at 70W RMS but they do kick more than any ss amp of that power rating I've ever heard. GREAT AMP.

I believe the Studio series was designed to be used in the studio (duuuuuuuh) and that's why the power might be a bit lean for a large club, but you'd be surprised how hard they kick and HOW LIGHT WEIGHT THEY ARE.

I suspect it will be the best $100 amp you ever bought, Larry. THE SPEAKER IS WORTH A HUNDRED BUCKS.

And, Paul, I agree completely.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 26 May 2005 at 02:04 PM.]

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