My big boy...

[zarfnober]

1484-5's can get a very nice clean tone but, a HUGE part of their distortion personality comes from the output transformer, not so much from classic power tube compression/distortion. The 1484 has one OT driving 2 speakers, the 1485 has 2 OT"s driving 3 speakers each. The 1484 has 2-12" speakers and the 1485 has 6-10" speakers, very different speaker tone and volume between the 2. The actual tone circuits are identical though, I think.

Both are very versatile amps but, most people will want an outboard reverb tank, unless the one in the amp is working perfectly and you're playing garage/psych, then it's perfect.

The OT's in these amps are very small, smaller than most 15 watt amps! The amount of iron in a transformer has a huge effect on price too: more iron=more money. Bigger OT's typically give an amp more clean headroom and a tighter bottom end, and drive the power tubes into compression/distortion. Smaller OT's typically have less clean headroom and saturate early, driving the amp into a very loose sounding "output transformer" distortion. And very pleasing to these ears

BTW, I have several amps for sale, what are ya all looking for?

Rocco

[Haole Jim]

'Never, ever saw the 6-10 Silvertone before, that is too cool for words.

As many pickers, a Silvertone Twin Twelve was the first "real" amp. 'Bought one from a guy for $100 because he wanted to buy skis. 'Kept it about 15 years and sold it for more than paid for, and it needed a whole new set of tubes.

Interestingly, the Line 6 Vetta model of the Twin Twelve sounds much as these imperfect ears remember. Pleasant memory, but 'was never a wild fan of the Twin Twelve; 'wanted a REAL amp. And the model is rarely used. Maybe if a 4-pup Teisco Del Rey was in the stringed harem....

Thank you for sharing.