Thursday, December 22, 2011

Once I get past the fact that this is painted in one of the most hideous colors imaginable, this amp is pretty adorable. Behold, the Sears Silvertone 1451 combo amp.

Quick investigation reaped this hit: Silvertone World page on the 1451, which indicates this was a one year only (1959) "wish book" item that carried an asking price of $22.95, which apparently equates to $174.05 in today's money. It would also appear that the finish is not original. I get the impression that this is the combo version of the classic "amp in case" Silvertone.

It's also another hot chassis death amp, I'm guessing someone cut the cord after one too many jolts. The tiny bits of darker brown speckled finish that is all manner of awesome would be what was there until the mannequin fetishist slopped some "honky flesh tone" paint over it.

Looks like this amp has enjoyed some use in the past though, judging from the heat tan at power and rectifier sockets.

Free-form point to point type construction, neater than a rat's nest but only by a small margin. I don't know, having spent a little time with these hot chassis amps, I'm tempted to do a few isolation transformer modifications & update the mains safety aspect. See what these things can do. Yup, even the Decca.

No comments: