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Topic: Vintage Kalamazoo electric Hawaiian guitar amp |
Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 26 Jan 2022 1:05 pm |
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Does anyone on this Forum have any experience with prewar Kalamazoo amps? What are we looking at here? The model appears to be "KEH-C."
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 27 Jan 2022 4:19 am
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Cool amp--sort of "piggybackwards."
Dave |
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Michael Butler
From:
California, USA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2022 6:27 am
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Thank you, Michael.
Although I am not a bookfacer, I know people who are that will help me. |
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Bill A. Moore
From:
Silver City, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2022 7:00 am
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Jack, my Gibson book says the KEH was built from 1938 through the end of the war. The "tan" covered cab was the second version, the first was "olive". The early models used 42 type power tubes, later changed to 6V6.
The bare wood models with detachable speaker were 1940-1941. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2022 7:49 am
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Thanks, Bill. From what I've been able to find, it appears the amp may be from 1941. I'll have to wait until it arrives, and then check the tubes. Perhaps there will be a decipherable date code on the speaker or elsewhere.
From which "Gibson book" are you citing for your information?
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Bill A. Moore
From:
Silver City, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2022 9:12 am
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| The one by Wallace Marx. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2022 8:41 am
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| That's one Gibson book that I don't have (unfortunately), and it appears to be out of print and unavailable. But I'll keep looking. Thanks, Bill. |
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Bill A. Moore
From:
Silver City, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2022 1:31 pm
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I was thinking of buying it back in the day just to gain the CD full of schematics. My beautiful bride noticed, and ordered it for me.
I still won't know the actual circuit for my 56 GA40 Les Paul until I pull the board, and can inspect the values! (The trem doesn't work!) |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 31 Jan 2022 2:24 pm
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| Bill A. Moore wrote: |
I was thinking of buying it back in the day just to gain the CD full of schematics. My beautiful bride noticed, and ordered it for me.
I still won't know the actual circuit for my 56 GA40 Les Paul until I pull the board, and can inspect the values! (The trem doesn't work!) |
Aspen Pitman's "Tube Amp Book" has the schematic for the GA40.
Dave |
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Bill A. Moore
From:
Silver City, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2022 3:11 pm
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| There is more than one David, and Gibson made running changes, not always documenting them! I have a couple of varients, but the caps are on the back of the board. I figure to wait until I can verify values before I order parts. |
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Gabriel Edell
From:
Hamilton, Ontario
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Posted 31 Jan 2022 4:40 pm
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I'd reach out to forum member Larry Chung for more info. He's an expert on the repair and restoration of pre-war Gibson amps.
_________________
GFI S-10 P U, Moyo Volume, Fender Steel King, Fender 5F4 Super-Amp |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 1 Feb 2022 3:44 am
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| Bill A. Moore wrote: |
| There is more than one David, and Gibson made running changes, not always documenting them! I have a couple of varients, but the caps are on the back of the board. I figure to wait until I can verify values before I order parts. |
No surprise! Kinda like the Standels...
Dave |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2022 5:13 pm
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Tubes, left to right: 6SQ7; 6C5; 6N7; 6V6; 6V6; 5Y3
A sweet old amp. More like a Harvard or a Princeton than a Champ.
2 inputs -- MICROPHONE and INSTRUMENT.
Single volume controls mic channel only. |
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Eric Philippsen
From:
Central Florida USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2022 6:00 am
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| I had one in my shop about a year ago that I restored for a customer. Don’t remember too many of its particulars other than it had a field coil speaker. It needed caps, of course, and a great many of its resistors had drifted seriously out-of-spec. Once it was up and running after decades of sitting it sounded nice. |
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Bill Sinclair
From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2022 7:07 am
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| Jack Hanson wrote: |
Single volume controls mic channel only. |
I guess they figured, hey, the guitar has its own volume control so the amp doesn't need one for that. I'll bet it will make a sweet harmonica amp as well. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 4 Feb 2022 7:47 am
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| Bill Sinclair wrote: |
| I'll bet it will make a sweet harmonica amp as well. |
Undoubtedly, Bill.
I'm at my dad's place in the borderlands of SE Arizona painting lap steel bodies (impossible to do outdoors this time of year in the high Rockies), and didn't bring any harps or mics along with me. As a rule, old tube-rectified Hawaiian guitar amps are among the best-sounding harp amps ever. |
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