Alamo Montclair amp

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pdadda

pdadda

Captain Sea Boots
A local guy is selling an Alamo Montclair amp. Does anyone have experience with these amps. Its sounds heavily modded. Here's what he wrote:

"I have a vintage all tube Alamo Montclair from the early 1960's for sale. The tubes are 2 each 12ax7, 2 each 6V6's and a 5Y3GT.

I had the amp professionally rebuilt last year to closely match the specs of a Fender Deluxe (Fender 5E3 circuit). The original tremolo works.

I can send you pics and the complete specs of the rebuild if you are interested. The amp has a nice smooth tone and can get crunchy when pushed. Great vintage sound for both guitar or harmonica.

With the price I originally paid for the amp, plus the parts and labor of the restoration, plus the addition of a vintage Jensen 12 inch speaker, I have about $600 in the amp. I will take $400 for it."


I'm gonna go try it out anyway, but I was hoping someone here might have some opinions or reviews of this amp. Thanks.
 
I have an amp with that tube set up without the trem. I personally like it very much, not terribly powerful, maybe not even enough for some gigs, good tone though, gets gnarly when you p[ush it, and you can really push it.
 
If you want to spend 400 clams, why not get the real thing?

Some of those old alamos are cool amps, but that seems pretty expensive.
 
Yeah, the price seems a little high to me too. I hope to go try it out tomorrow.
 
JCH said:
If you want to spend 400 clams, why not get the real thing?

Some of those old alamos are cool amps, but that seems pretty expensive.
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Doesn't seem right to dismiss it for something like a Blues Jr without at least giving the Alamo a try first, might be a great amp. Vintage, hard wired and tube-rectified: sounds closer to the real thing than a current Blues Jr. to me.
 
robin watson said:
Doesn't seem right to dismiss it for something like a Blues Jr without at least giving the Alamo a try first, might be a great amp. Vintage, hard wired and tube-rectified: sounds closer to the real thing than a current Blues Jr. to me.
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Yeah, I saw some reviews of the Montclaire which compared it favorably to a BFDR, but for a lot less money. My BFDR cost me $1400.

BTW, I have a Blues Jr as well, which is a fine little amp for what it does, but it's a totally different animal.
 
robin watson said:
Doesn't seem right to dismiss it for something like a Blues Jr without at least giving the Alamo a try first, might be a great amp. Vintage, hard wired and tube-rectified: sounds closer to the real thing than a current Blues Jr. to me.
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I second that.
Blues Jr. = PC board = tone suck
After you hear point to point and non Radio shack grade parts, you can never go back.
 
I got more details from the guy who actually did the mods, Dale Lasley from Greensboro:

"I restored this unit in February '06, it had been previously worked on and had a number of issues to be resolved (mainly low volume and poor tone). No schematic could be obtained of the original stock layout so it was resurrected as basically a single channel Fender Deluxe Tweed 5E3 with tremolo. It has two input jacks (1: normal, 2: extra gain) along with a wide ranging tremolo circuit that is foot switchable. The speaker is not original but is a vintage classic Jensen Alnico Special Design P12R that is a great match for this combo. The bias resistor (cathode type bias) was replaced to achieve proper output tube bias (~20mA). The power supply was completley rebuilt with all new capacitors and 1 watt resistors, all tube plate resistors also replaced, and a fuse was added. Missing tube sheilds were replaced, and a fat switch installed in place of the #3 input jack (adds in a 22mfd cap across the cathode of V1a). All pots and tube sockets were cleaned and adjusted as required. This amp was transformed into a gig machine, ready for many years of trouble free jamming."
 
Not sure if you can see anything from them, but here are some pics:
 

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I went and tried it out tonight. Wow! What a great sounding amp. I wish it had 2 channels, but I will learn to adjust. That's the one I'm gonna get.
 
I'm planning on giving this amp the final test run and purchasing it on Monday. The guy has a ton of different tubes, and he said I could take whichever ones I want. He is a harp player, so he currently has 12AU7's in there right now. But he also has 12AX7's, 12AY7's, and 12AT7's. NOS or EHX. Any suggestions for a blues-rock guitar player?
 
Nice choice on the amp. I'd probably lean the way of the 12AU7 or the 12 AT7, the ax will be a bit higher gain but not necessarily in a good sense as you can crank it. And take the NOS tubes, pre amp tubes and NOS are a good thing. Not so much with power amp tubes.
 
hungovermorning said:
I second that.
Blues Jr. = PC board = tone suck
After you hear point to point and non Radio shack grade parts, you can never go back.
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I don't think pc boards really have anything to do with tone and probably most radio shack grade parts would be fine too. I do think the blues jr. is pretty anemic for a tube amp. I do have to say that I've never heard one with really good tubes in it. That could change my mind twice over.........but I doubt it. :D

Pdadda, it sounds like you've found a really cool amp. It will be more serviceable than a pc board amp. If the sound does anything for you, $400 sounds like a decent deal. I've never heard one personally but if it sounds good and is in decent shape, I don't think you can go wrong.
 
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TravisinFlorida said:
I don't think pc boards really have anything to do with tone and probably most radio shack grade parts would be fine too. I do think the blues jr. is pretty anemic for a tube amp. I do have to say that I've never heard one with really good tubes in it. That could change my mind twice over.........but I doubt it. :D

Pdadda, it sounds like you've found a really cool amp. It will be more serviceable than a pc board amp. If the sound does anything for you, $400 sounds like a decent deal. I've never heard one personally but if it sounds good and is in decent shape, I don't think you can go wrong.
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I've heard the same circuit with Radio Shack parts and part PC board, a tech friend did it as an experiment. Major difference, way more of a difference than swapping tubes could ever make (although don't get me wrong, a set of sovteks will never measure up to some vintage mullards, Brimars, telefunkens Tung Sols, or even a good Sylvania), the notes are fuller, more defined, there's an amazing presence as well. Most people aren't lucky enough to be able to A/B that sort of thing but it does make a difference. Just because it's tube doesn't make it good. Good parts throughout the circuit, point to point wiring, nice output transformer, good circuit, the right box with it, they all lead to tone. A PC board tube will sound okay, in fact it'll sound like a godsend if you've played solid state or emulators, but compare it to a point to point amp with some high end parts and there's a sizeable difference. Phew, end rant.
 
I just can't believe that a pc board is going to sound different than a turret board or no board at all, assuming they are all well designed and constructed.
 
What a load of crap. I'd hate to have been brainwashed into thinking that I needed to rely on fancy-shmancy shit to rock and roll. When i was 24, I was arguing with other musicians about the qualities of different nationalities' pussies.

PC board=suck?

How about:

Sit around lamenting over hardware instead of playing=suck

I really wouldn't bother with one-off boutique junk except to brag about it on the internet. I can get a tone I can live with from anything. Give me one that works all night every gig and doesn't make weird noises that I only notice when i turn it on at home.

All that said, if you have a piece of gear that you think it way way cool and it inspires you to play better, have at it. If you think that a magic box is gonna make you sound better in and of itself, then you don't really understand anything about music.
 
Not to get in a flame, but I do play, a lot. I've been gigging nearly every weekend since I've been 17. I know 7 years doesn't consist of a whole lot. But I do play AND I obsess over my tone. And through that obsession it not only makes it more of a joy to play and leads to more of a creative outlet. The way that I used to write songs with an 82 Les Paul Special and a Mesa F100 completely differs from my current set up of a Sound City Concord and a Hagstrom 12 string, the sort of things I ran across from digging for tone is part of being a musician. I'm glad I didn't just settle for whatever I had, but that's just me.
 
I never heard a single person play out with a mesa boogie that didn't use way too much distortion. That seems to be what these things are good at. The guys who think you need a boutique amp for tone seem to play with really soupey distortion. Since I play cleaner, I must be able to deal with compromised tackle. Takes all kinds I guess. Maybe you're great. I hope you are.















Not really. I hope you suck and feel all shitty inside because I busted you out.
 
Have you ever played a Sound City Concord? It's a clean machine loaded with Partridge Trannys and is a little 2x12. 3 sliders between you and your tone. But hey, whatever makes you feel better about those bar gigs and your solo during "Rockin in the Free World" to the ladies with the high bangs and the low asses.
 
cephus said:
Sit around lamenting over hardware instead of playing=suck.
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Shouldn't you be playing your Peavey instead of poking fun of my Sound City on the Internet? Hippocrate.
 
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