Demo of a 1970 Audio-Guild Imperial amp. It's a relatively rare and unusual amp.
The Versatone company built musical instrument amplifiers in the '60 and '70s
in Van Nuys California. The most well-known model was the Pan-o-Flex.
The Pan-o-Flex was a bass amp with a somewhat unusal "bass-reflex" design.
This amp was used by studio legend Carol Kaye and Jack Cassidy.
Versatone began building amps under the Audio-Guild label in about 1970.
They were marked under a variety of brand names, like Grand Prix & Imperial.
The Audio-Guild amps all featured that same type of bass-reflex cabinet,
giving them a deep low-end response as you can hear in the demo.
This Imperial features two channels, both with pitch modulating vibrato and
reverb.
The second channel just includes Volume and Tone. Both channels use a tone
circuit very similar to the James circuit used in many Ampegs of this era.
The vibrato circuit was apparently designed by Don Bonham, the same guy
who designed the vibrato circuit for Magnatone, though they're not really alike.
The center input jack, which I'm using, enables you to play through both
channels simultaneously. There are also individual inputs for each channel.
The amp is powered by a pair of 7591s, popularized by Ampeg in the '60s.
The two switches enable you to disengage the effects on either channel;
this results in a notable boost in volume / drive.
Here I'm turning off the intensity on the vibrato and goosing the
volume and tone controls so that we're running wide open :)
I've got it loaded with a Reverend Alltone 1250. The original Utah
speaker as absolutely kaput!
With it's SS rectification, James tone circuit, 7591 power and bass reflex cab
design, you get a sound very much like a late 60s Ampeg!
I'm playing a Gibson '54 Oxblood Les Paul reissue, one of the "Benchmark"
series. Plugged straight in.
The amp is miked with my trusty Pot-o-fone 3552C ribbon mic.
8 сен 2024
