Tuesday, November 20, 2018

40's - 50's Rickenbacher "Electro" amplifier

Here's an extremely rare amp. An old Rickenbacher metal amp from the 1940's.

No idea what model it is, there is one that looks like this called the M10 but this has a 12" Jensen PM speaker rather than a 10".

It looks like a space heater!



With this speaker grill and metal box we were expecting a not good sounding amp! Though the circuit is oddly similar to my main amp that I built: 2 6V6 tubes fed by a 6N7 phase inverter with a lovely 6SJ7 preamp. 5V4 rectifier tube.

What does it sound like? This was the closest we could get to the AC/DC sound. Raw, raunchy and open. I'm usually not a fan of the old Jensen PM speakers, too mellow for me, but not this one! It was perfect!

Re-capped it, changed the power cable and took out the death cap. This was another Indigo Ranch Studio amp that had been sitting on a shelf in Vermont for the last 2 decades. Now it's back in service.

I love that it lived in Cumberland Maryland and belonged to "Jaguars International"! I'm a Maryland native. I just wonder what music was made on this peculiar amp?





















Matching grey power transformer!







I'm a fan of the 6SJ7 preamp tube sound. They're cheap as chips for a good NOS one. Lots of harmonics and a big open sound. This is an amp I'd like to find another of for myself. But then again I can always visit my friends at Sonic Circus and cut tracks on this one anytime.

J

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