Vintage Oahu Amps et al

Michael Simpkins · From: Oregon, USA

I absolutely love the look and vibe of old lap steel amps like the Oahus etc. But the big question (before I buy one) is are they any good? They are usually too small for any spring verb, are they noisy? Provided good functional status, I'd assume they are pretty noisy.

Frank James Pracher · From: Michigan, USA

The ones I've had and played had a lot of "personality" so make sure to play it if you can before you buy it... The ones with small speakers can get a great old school sound IMO.
My experience has been that they sound wonderful for recording or in a real quiet setting (maybe playing with an acoustic player) but they just won't cut through in a band setting... I had a lovely Oahu Tonemaster amp that the band I was playing with wanted me to bring to gigs... It looked really cool on the bandstand, but it could not cut through... and we weren't a crazy loud band.

The other thing is if it hasn't been serviced...expect it to need some love... lots of these are 70 to 80 years old!

As far as being noisy... If they are running properly, I haven't found them to be any noisier than a comparable modern tube amp.
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