I have a 1484. I purchased the head for $20 25 years ago from a consignment shop. About a month later I blew the output transformer. Fast forward 25 years I found an all original cabinet near mint for $300 I ordered an output transformer and retubed it. I'm into it for about $450 total because I did the work myself And it sounds amazing. I changed the resistors on input 2 of both channels to 56K film resistors just do have a different flavor and it is noticeable but not in a bad way.
Someone’s already mentioned it, but I’ll second it. Old amps almost always need the capacitors changed out. It’s a pretty simple job. Doesn’t take anyway anything from the amp, but will get the voltages to where they are supposed to be. You mentioned taking into a tech. Pretty sure it’s what they will recommend.
This was my first real tube amp as a teenager. You REALLY want those original cabinets. They are loaded with Jensen P12R alnico magnet speakers (same as the famous Fender Tweed Bassmans had), and are a huge part of the sound of old Silvertones.
@@markjamesmason The original Tweed Fender Bassman from '52 had a customized Jensen P15N that was unfortunately prone to blowing out. So they went with the 4x10" in '54 or 55.
i have a '65 1484 complete with cabinet, they're not very loud in general (though plenty good to gig with, but not as loud as my fender bassmans) it breaks up with a nice dirty tone at around 12 o clock as well, really cool amps! edit: saw a user on this comment section mention daisy chaining the two channels together, and woahhh, there’s no going back!!
Most common repair on something like this: a capacitor job. The electrolytic caps (the bigger ones) are most prone to aging, allowing a lot of hum/hiss in. They may want to swap out some tubes, too, but make them return the old ones if you swap any (if they are still ok you could always swap them back in a pinch). Power tubes definitely wear out.
I have that exact same amp but with the cab and all original tubes, speaker, and circuitry. I had to replace one of the knobs and the pilot light but everything is as it would be back in 1965!
Bought one at a garage sale with matching cab for $30 about 10 years ago. Still in original box, had been opened, probably taken out for a short time and then repacked.
Wow! I have one I bought as a teenager in the 70s. It had been used a lot then. To find one in the original box is a bit like finding the holy grail. It outlasted Sears! (I wish Sears and Radio Shack were still around.)
@@daniellarson3068Radioshack even had a competitor 50 years ago named Lafayette, some of their amps and reverb units are still floating around on the used market
I had a '62 Silvertone guitar with its original case that had a little 5 watt tube amp built into it. The guitar was ok, but that little amp sounded awesome!
@@dontlookmeinmyeyeswhenudan5241 I bought it at a flea market for $125 and sold it on ebay for $600. I knew what it was and what I was going to do with it the moment I saw it.
Man, I gotta get one of these. I snagged a Silvertone 1484 some years back on a Jack White bender and even through an attenuator, it's hard to hit breakup without outrageous volume.
I know this is gonna sound trolly and edgemaster-esque, but if you thought his tone sounded like white stripes J.White tone, you're not familiar with the white stripes. I know, I know. That statement is absurdly speculative, but you can't get an amp simply made by the same company as ONE of the amps White uses, slap some fuzz on it and expect it to sound like white stripes. This guy sounds more like josh homme/stoner rock tone to me. Am I wrong for that? No?
Cool rig! I have owned and sold a bunch of pawn shop specials! I have had cheap amps that sounded AMAZING for a spell, and then need major restoration. Sometimes the restoration restores the thing you loved about the sound, sometimes it kills it? Amps that are REALLY old and not well made to begin with, often need a lot of TLC? My ‘63 Fender Vibro Champ coming to mind 😑 I have come to rely on getting an amp that is versatile, and reliable (…whatever that means to you), and that can be taken into a different soundscapes with pedals. If I had a studio space, I would probably have a dozen or so Wallflowers? ;) Regardless, 😎 nice head!
Thanks to gear heads like this, these Sears amp are now really expensive. I can't believe these Sears amps made it all the way to Europe now, just 10 years ago you could only find them at garage sales and ebay in the USA. Jack bought this amp and his vintage gear when it was cheap, his philosophy back in 1999 was that all those douche gear heads during the 90s were playing their expensive shiny Marshall stacked amps, they all had the same sound. He bought gear that gave him an original sound, so different than all the dorks who bought the latest expensive models of everything. It's not about the gear you have or collect, buy a cheap guitar and amp and do an original sound. Many of the blues greats of the 60s who had an original sound used guitars and amps out of the Sears or Fingerhut catalog, nothing stopped them from making music. Pity on the gear heads who make everything expensive, both vintage and new, they never create anything truly that is truly original sounding.
Used one of these bad boys when recording with my band earlier this year. Also captured it with my NeuralDSP Quad Cortex. Loved it - originally the studio had an Acme Silvertone 1484 that we used last time around and it was out for repair this time so we were left with the OG sears amp.
Definitely try the second channel as well. Channel 1 is much darker and bassier, while Channel 2 seems better suited to guitar. You can then daisy chain the second input of Channel 2 into the first input of Channel 1 if you want more gain and a little more beef. I like Channel 2 volume at 3 o'clock, with treble at about 2 o'clock and bass around 10 o'clock. I might add in some Channel 1 sparingly, volume at maybe 10-11 o'clock, tone controls at noon. If you run it into an old speaker with less scratchy highs, you can really pulverize the front end with a clean boost and get some gnarly garage-y sustain...
Hey! Yeah, I have tried that. But at the time of filming this I could only get the first input of channel 1 to work... Weirdly enough, channel 2 is usually the more quiet one and more cooperative in general. Now it looks like all inputs/channels are pretty tired, and I need to take this to a tech.
That one is a different model than Jack's, I lucked into a junk unit of his model (1484) some time back and I still need to refurb it. Might even need a new transformer, which means it might never sound as good as yours does.
@@LivingroomGearDemos ...is that a riff you made up or something? Its been in my head ever since I heard it,lol! So after work I came home and figured it out, I love that lil' riff😁
Mr. White actually used the Sears 1485 amp which came with a 6x10 cab. He also split his signal to a fender mostly for the reverb as he didn't like (justifiably so) the sears reverb. You, as you said, have the 1483. There's also a 1484 called the Twin Twelve which is the model most would be familiar with I think. I have one myself and like it a lot. It takes pedals wonderfully. So, with all due respect for your effort, you're sorta comparing apples to oranges. Or maybe white stripes to black ke.... stripes, I mean.
I think it’s somewhat placebo at times for sure. This has a cool Sound but if a new amp came out sounding like this no one would think it was great. I think most of the time newer Marshall’s and replicas sound advice good as old plexis . There are videos of dudes with their plexis it really isn’t Blowing any new studio plexi tone out of the water. Old Gibson’s aren’t way better sounding than newer Ones. I think its people naturally romanticize things.
I believe it has the death cap. Two prong plug. I have one that I've had for many many years and do believe this will be the year to repair it. Happy New Year!
Yes, it’s not worth getting stuck on a “cult” amp or spending a ton of money you don’t have! We live in a golden age of guitar amplifiers where so many of them are perfectly fine or even great on a very moderate budget.