Looking for amp that sounds like Silvertone 1482

[mblackhurst]

Hi All-

I have read all of the threads here that reference the Silvertone 1482, but I cannot seem to find any guidance.

I have two 1482's that I love dearly. As many here have noted elsewhere, they are not the most reliable, they have a terrible clean sound, and they are not too loud. I am looking for something with a similar OD sound that overcomes these limitations. I do not need much more in amps, maybe a total of 15-20 amps, depending on when the tubes start breaking up.

There seems to be disagreement about similarities to the Tweed Deluxe, the Champ, the Excelsior, and the AC15.

I have a few pedals that can get my Supro Sahara close but it just doesn't have the same raw bark, grumble that the 1482 does so well.

I could also spend some money on mod's but I'd hate to do that at the expense of loosing the sound that I like.

Any guidance is appreciated.

 

[mblackhurst]

meant 15-20 watts... trying to type and watch my 8 month old twins at the same time!

 

[LPVM]

Buy a H&K Redbox or a Weber Minimass and reamp the line out on it with a second amp. That helps you overcome the volume & headroom issues. I like to run mine like that and put my time based effects before the second amp and mix the wet & dry signals. It definitely helps bring out the best in those little screamers.

 

[Sweetfinger]

I have two 1482's that I love dearly....they are not the most reliable, they have a terrible clean sound, and they are not too loud. I am looking for something with a similar OD sound that overcomes these limitations.

There seems to be disagreement about similarities to the Tweed Deluxe, the Champ, the Excelsior, and the AC15.

I've owned several and mine were reliable. Some had noticeably more punch than others. As far as a "clean" sound and similarity to other amps-
There isn't going to be anything modern that sounds anything like a 1482 unless it is specifically a clone. The power supply in those is quite wimpy- that's what makes them so spongy. I once tried converting to a solid state rectifier and it did add a bit of headroom but I didn't really like the amp as much and reversed the mod. Maybe you would like it.
Another thing to consider is that they were voiced for lipstick pickups. If you plug a Danelectro into a 1482 they have a nice clean. I used to spice up my my tone by using a parametric EQ pedal in front of the amp to boost the high and cut a little mids. A sonic Stomp might do the trick as well.
The amp resembles a 60s Fender Princeton but the voicing and tone stack is different. Any competent amp tech should be able to convert a preamp to sound like the Silvertone but the tricky part will be finding a power section that does what you need while retaining the response of the original.

EDIT: have you tried a 1483?

 

[mblackhurst]

Thanks, folks! Sounds like some fun experiments. I appreciate your help!

 

[DaveKS]

A pedal like a VFE Rocket EQ parametric might be able to help, being able to dial in a certain freq and pick on it using the slope and cut/boost you can push Supro into a better simulation of 1482.

 

[Alvis]

Strictly my experience ,but a 100pf cap across the volume pot of the guitar channel makes the '82 sparkle ....like the Eagles / Beatles or somethin , especially with a tele or Gretsch

 

[voorhiessa]

Bump

 

[Leonc]

Unreliable? Those ****** Fisher speakers are likely to be shot by now (or pretty crappy sounding) so I'd replace those and the cabs may be pretty beat...but the amps themselves were not really unreliable per se...though I'm sure like with any old amps, some caps are probably shot by now.

If you want a similar sound but bigger, look into some of the late 50s and early 60s 6L6 (or 5881) based models like the 1433. I have a 1433 and it's a wonderful amp. I built it a new cab and put an Emi Legend in there in place of the crappy, worn out Fisher and this amp sounds fantastic. I've got a clip or two with it on my youtube channel (leon1234).

 

[Leonc]

Okay, here you go.