I don't know whether this is the only one of these in existence, but two things are certain; it's the only one I've ever seen and am likely to see, and it is remarkable, near-mint condition! This amp dates from early 1963.

I'm not sure just what the amp was designed for, as it has a super high quality Wharfedale 15 inch Alnico magnet speaker fitted, and this is still in factory-fresh condition despite its 45+ years of age (the original cone still bears a handwritten September '62 date, plus the code '33'). Maybe a keyboard amp? Whatever it is, it has a very luscious sound.

When we received the amp, from a seller in Queanbeyan NSW who said it was totally original, it sounded awful. Weak, toneless, and I was not impressed when removing a false back he had fitted in an obvious attempt to hide the truth from me, when I found it had an incorrect generic Hammond output transformer fitted, which instantly showed the amp was not original.

Despite having spent a fortune on the purchase of the amp (when will I learn to trust private sellers less than I do?), I took the amp to our amp guru with the brief to do whatever needed to be done to bring the amp back to what it should be.

Our tech was hampered to some extent by the total lack of information on this amp, but by some diligent detective work (and some co-operative previous buyers of vintage Goldentone amps from Grouse Guitars!) he was able to determine the correct component values and output transformer specifications. A new transformer was wound, new valves fitted to replace the HORRIBLE-sounding incorrect valves that had been fitted, and the rest of the circuitry brought back to original spec.

So what's it like now? Completely different! Grouse in fact! It would definitely be the best example of this rare model in existence, if not the only one.

Sold to Tony

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