NOTE: I believe the audio clips obtained with the microphone were hampered a bit by the wood fretwork covering the speaker. I tried to aim for an open spot, but still had a noticeable reduction in volume at normal recording levels.
Doug, perhaps you or whoever owns this amp should try miking it from the rear of the speaker cone, or perhaps use a mike in the front as well as in the rear, and reverse the polarity of one of the microphones by flipping the wires inside just one microphone cable ( swap the hot and neutral signal wires, at just one end), or making an adapter for this polarity reversal, so that you can use both a front microphone and a rear microphone at the same time .
Often, an amp in a confined space makes for a good recorded sound - We used to pile wood up in front of Marshalls to get a really punchy sound. So if this is used for harmonica it may well shine! :o)
I think that fabric is something we call/called Rexine in the U.K. It was used for book, binding, spectacle cases and some of the earliest Vox amplifiers. I had a very old Vox 2 x 12 with original blue Celestions which was covered in rexine before the "basketweave" fabric became the norm. It came in various colours.
I love the rendition of Southern Train by Stone Temple Piolits! Couldn't believe it when you started playing it! Uncle Doug your a cool cat for sure! Thanks again for a great vid!
Your videos are excellent, Uncle Doug. I've learned a LOT including things about my old Alamo Embassy tube amp. Maybe the most important things I now know are that every vintage tube amp was the favorite place for rats and mice to live in and that repair men believed then that you only needed to attach the chassis with two screws regardless of how many originally held it in place. But those old amps are beautiful and you couldn't get mine away from me with a shotgun. Thanks as always for posting.
Thanks again for your avuncular kindness! I died and went to heaven watching your Nashville guitar shop tour-thanks for taking us along. Also, the SM57 was a great choice over the old cam mic. It is such a ubiquitous mic that I think we can really hear the amp tone since most of us know how the mic translates sound.
KC is SUCH a hippy! Shows up so skinny and emaciated a year ago begging for food and a home, and you feed her and keep her high with Cat Nip, no wonder she likes her psychedelic pillow. Now she is fat and happy and loved by her daddy :) GREAT video on how to analyze a circuit. As usual thank you for your love of nature and of sound and your willingness to teach.
I really loved this restoration video, thanks UD! I never cared for harmonica amps but ... they rock hard! Sorry to bring this up but I miss the Rusty cameos...
Great UD! I’m glad your Netflix series will have a sub-series about amp archeology and papyrus reading. Thanks for the vid and for posting that schematics document
The Knight Hi-Fi Amp in 2019 dollars: $625.00 Thanks Unka Doug - A nice ol crusty amp to play with, lovingly anointed with ancient rat by-products... beauty. Cheers,
Great find to get the schematic in the case. When I work on equipment I like to leave an envelope taped inside with useful notes for the next person to work on it (which might be me in a couple of years) with a schematic and what I changed, etc. Also: what an amazing music shop. I'm floored by the prices, but that seems to be what people are willing to pay.
thats a really nice old amp and got to be rare ,loved the guitar shop many gems there i will have to visit there some day ,thanks for all your hard work and making my day once again
Uncle Doug, that was a magnificent piece of electronic archaeology and a first-class restoration. It's heartwarming to see such a scrappy little amp wail once again.
I just went on a massive diversion after seeing the Allied Radio catalogue.. Holy Moly where did that last 3 hours go? They are all available to drool over. The Knights had a version that you could stick a turntable on top...Continue through the calalogue to see the Knights including the powerful 80W unit with the changer stuck on top. Amazing, Thanks Uncle Doug.
@@UncleDoug Yes, I noticed the socket. I have to say your channel is becoming my favourite. Wonderful stuff always...and I love cats. What more could I want? Edit..That was a weird circuit...I had to look at the reservoir caps on the diagram and wonder how they expected them to work?
Sounds pretty good Uncle Doug. I was predicting a 68k input resistor, and possibly a cathode bypass cap on a switch for the guitar input. The amp has a really nice breakup to my ears. I bet it sounds glorious cranked.
Uncle Doug, thank you very much for this fascinating video about such an old amp. I just wish I knew half of what you've forgotten about amps! I think I've got you beat as far as computers are concerned though. Mine is steam-powered, with blinkenlights and toggle switches. It's been pimped up with 8-inch floppy disks, a Teletype ASR 33, and a ~2MW (where Word = 12 bits) disk cartridge in a 110-pound drive unit. One of these days I hope to really pimp it with a magnetic tape drive too. ;) The 2 (or 4?) filter caps are Coke can size!
You're welcome, Bob. That sounds like a fabulous, state-of-the-art computer system. I would offer to trade you my punch card computer and abacus for it, but I realize this would be an insult :)
Great video, and Carter's Vintage Guitars is a great store, I always come to this store when I'm in Nashville I love that place, so many awesome amps and guitars.
if you go back to Carter's then right down the street from there is a small little hole-in-the-wall but fantastic music shop called Rumble Seat, he has some awesome vintage Marshall heads, and as well as a Stratocaster hanging on the wall that belong to Ron Wood. That place is interesting!
The mouse that roared, a film I never did see😅 The pattern of the amp reminded me of one other you covered a while ago, must have been a popular design way back when
In the tenure I've spent watching your vast expertise in diagnosis, redesign, and restoral of many "Holy Grail" amplifiers; none have been so profound as the audio tests of this 80 year old Kay. I (as always), admired the remarkable rethinking of the inputs to accommodate the specific performance requirements of the owner. I stayed impressed until the audio test with the guitar(s) floored me. This eight decade old, eight inch speaker, combo not only produced the sweetest shimmer from a humbucker I've ever heard! If that wasn't enough, the single coil was equal output, and had mid-rich overtones for full chord voicing!!! This (mind you), with the camera mic! I spent my twenties as a touring guitar tech for many eighties artists. I have heard a plethora of vintage to modern, to custom built amplification, and instrumentation. This little bastard of an amp has the most musical, and nuanced tonality from the least considered source to my ears. Dearest uncle, this is one for the books. I'm just sad to see it relegated to harmonica use. Nevertheless it is an affirmation of your skill, and I can live with that anytime.
Wow, thanks so much for your very detailed, knowledgeable, and appreciated comments, Alex. I think the camera mike was able to cope better with the wood fretwork than could the highly-directional Shure 57. Your high praise is most welcome. Thanks !!!
Great vid UD. What a great sounding little amp. Thanks for sharing your latest work. As always very interesting with these unusual tubes and vintage wiring. Keep putting smiles on viewers faces. Thanks
Hi Doug really interesting and informative video as always,nice to see that the production values are still of the highest standard and quality and the Amps get more interesting it must be that vacation you recently took! LOL. looking forward to more and more and as always cheers from down under
This was perfect timing Uncle D.... I had a not so great week, but this video and you and your witi-cizem's brought me right around.. I just loved that little amp, the looks, oddball tubes, wacky phase inverter, goofy speaker, but damn if that mustache handled amp didn't bring a smile to my face with it's great tone! I think the owner's harmonica/blues harp is going to sound fantastic through it... And thanks for the tour of the Nashville store.. Wow did they have some nice everything! Thanks again, Tom
Thank you Uncle Doug, your videos are so informative and have a wonderful vibe to them. Your Vids are so relaxing and calming as well, not only that but the lovely combiner's nation of your voice and the cats and dog are so wonderful, not to mention the occasional car show vids and the music guitar shop on this one. Thank you again, your work is really appreciated. Is motivating me to know more about vintage amps especially about Gibson vintage amps such as the Ga5, the Gibson Viscount Maestro, the black falcon og=f which I have in the family . Stay safe in these strangest of times.
Bill, a friend of mine is a harp man and we have talked about what makes a harp amp special. Like Doug I think about electronic ways to do this. I think I get what your talking about but can you explain "beam blocker" a little better?
Jeff Brooks For my Harmonica set up I always mic toward the edge of the cone. What comes out of the center of the cone is generally too shrill for my taste. Some players will put tape on the grill cloth At the center of the speaker to block the harshness.
@@billmiller7138 So this piece of thin plywood or laminate (maybe it is solid planed) in Dougs amp has a pretty large surface area compared to those methods. When I said I thought I knew what was going on I thought it was reflective. You speak of picking up the edges if I understand you.
Bless you Uncle Doug for sharing your wisdom with us. We love preserving tube amp history for us and the next generations to come. Uncle Doug's Museum of Tube Amplifier Antiquities.
Some people make a big deal about the wholesale change of caps, but I have to agree that replacing an electrolytic that old is always the way to go. They're cheap. Unlike the tube that might die when that old cap fails.
I don't know why that mentality even exists Mr. When something like an electrolytic cap made 50-80 years ago under, let's face it, very limited quality control measures, is purported to be still viable is ridiculous when risking exceedingly expensive and rarer tubes. Get out the shotgun I say.
@@whatsstefon Agreed. And if you run into someone like this wanting you to repair their amp you are best off to decline as it will be these same people blaming you for their fried PT because you worked on it!
I assume that some of the people watching this video have seen the Ken Burns documentary series about country music. Equally good, especially for mechanically- inclined "machine freaks" like you, Uncle Doug, is a series titled "American Epic" that you can find on the Amazon Prime channel, which is about the genesis and early history of field recordings, where talent scouts traveled the country in the 1920s and Thirties actively looking for music and musicians to record. The fourth (last) episode features a lovingly restored, vintage Western Electric recording system , all tube, probably the only one of its kind still in existence, with a matching 1920s condenser mic and the most incredible, matching vintage record lathe you've ever seen. Doug, I kid you not, *you'll get a friggin' woody when you see this thing*, all gleaming brass and gold, dozens of precision gears, and a built-in microscope; and despite the electronics driving the record cutter, the spinning platter is driven by a slowly falling, 105 pound lead weight! I cannot begin to imagine what it would have been like to haul this thing around the country in 1927 and setting up makeshift recording studios in hotel rooms! You will actually get to watch famous musicians cutting 78 records direct-to-disc on this system, live, all through one mic, no overdubbing of any kind. Performers include Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Elton John, Rhiannon Giddens, Pokey Lafarge, Betteye Lavette, the Avett Brothers, Jack White and others. T-Bone Burnett and Jack White are the producers for the session. Awesome series, highly recommended! PS, episode 3 features a history of Hawaiian lap steel guitar, which gave rise to other lap and bottleneck slide guitar styles; a history of Cajun music; and the rediscovery of Mississippi John Hurt in the late 50s. It's all good!
Good grief, GU, this sounds like a "must-see". I love quaint, early electronic gear, especially when it has a high-level of "Rube Goldberg" complexity. All they needed for the hotel room sessions would be a nice 2000 lb. plate reverb unit to lug up 4 flights of stairs :) I will definitely follow your advice and check out this series. Thanks !!!
@@UncleDoug , if you can't easily find the full American Epic documentary (it was a PBS production from 2017), Google "vintage Western Electric recording machine" and you'll probably find an article or two about it, maybe some pics; I found an interview with the guy ( named Bergh, IIRC) who tracked down the pieces/parts from all over the country (world?), and restored and reassembled the system. But still photos aren't the same as seeing the machine itself in action. It looks like it belongs in "Warehouse 13"......or Area 51! And for those who don't know, vintage Western Electric tubes, speakers and amps can be worth huge money; I have personally sold several Western electric speakers For more than a $1000 apiece, and a rusty mono Western Electric amplifier without tubes that I found for 50 bucks at a flea market was resold for $ 2200!
@@UncleDoug , Speaking of plate reverb systems camera I have seen RU-vid videos of a guy building small plate reverb units from metal shelving units purchased at IKEA.
@@russellhltn1396 , some years ago, I bought a vintage wedge-shaped RCA tube type recording console, 3 or 4 input channel as I recall with big analog meters, for 70 bucks at a flea market. Some switches had been cannibalized, and wires cut, so it wasn't complete, but the power supplies appeared to be working. I advertised it in AudioMart (this was the pre-Ebay era) and some guy drive hours from New York and paid me 900 bucks for it. I must have gotten calls from 30 other people after he'd already picked it up...so yeah, there is definitely some demand and cachet for the vintage audio gear. I've also sold some Western Electric amps, speakers and tubes for serious money on occasion.
KC has certainly adapted well to domestic life! The fact that she's constantly smiling (Yes, that's a cat smile, with half-closed eyes) goes a long way to showing how relaxed and at ease she is. And who wouldn't be? Lots of food plus kitty treats, nice soft beds to nap on, plenty of pets and attention... Where do I sign up? Seems like that big emblem over the speaker wasn't too well thought out to me too. Well, it was the "dark ages" of amplifier design, I guess. EXCELLENT job, Uncle Doug, as always! (I think I'd be afraid to stick my ungloved hand in, on or around that chassis, though).
I was intruiged to see both a field coil and a filter choke as usually the field coil acts as the choke, they tend to be wired in an inverse way so any pops or hum on the power get removed actively. Every field coil speaker I've heard sounds gorgeous.
I've always felt that there's something very subtle going on with field coil speakers. The current through the field directly affects the strength of the magnetic field generated, so it changes moment by moment as the load on the power supply changes. I hate to be woo-woo about it, but there is a different sound to them than perm-magnet speakers. OK, thinking for a bit about it: A stronger field will make the cone move further for the same audio signal applied. It's almost like using an expander, the little bit louder you play, the volume goes up more than expected. This would make for a great experiment: same amp with speaker leads switchable from one speaker to another, change the input a dB at a time and map the change in output from the speaker.
awesome uncle doug. i am still wiping up the drool! who would have thought that 20 years ago some of these amps would command the prices they do now. my wallet is fairly screaming at me. hello to the fur family from copperdog and i. thanks for the video :-) that little harp amp looked to be quite the pita repair. =dok=
That little gem sounds GREAT! It is so clear! And I love the look just the way it is. Being an old fart myself, I'm partial to the aesthetics of all things old and well-worn.
Thank you for another highly enjoyable video. I wonder if this little amp wonder could be recreated for commercial purposes; I guess that many mature guitarists would appreciate a small but soulful amp.
Hey Doug, I've been lurking around your channel again...! It's a wonder these old relics ever mange to work, but your expertise and determination reigns true and 'by golly' it's got a new lease of life. Fabulous repair and information on the fix. Thanks you again for sharing...Happy Xmas..Ed..U.K..😀
Great stuff !! And it would make a good harp amp. So would some of the others at the end of the vid. I found a picture of me playing thru a Gibson Mariner GA-40t in 1982. Wish I had that one back !!!
The owner didn't want the grill cloth replaced I presume. I love the look of the older amps, it'd be great if someone started making them like that again, they're so simple and you can always add an internal reverb or trem, maybe a chorus too. Enjoyed the amplifier tour. Thanks for the video Uncle Doug, once again a great amplifier restoration. :)
What a cool little amp. Good sound. Nice job on the rebirth of that Doug. Wow that store would make me nervous just walking around inside by all that high dollar gear,,, But what a collection of stuff eh?
I think the second channel was labeled "Micro 2". I think this is the second amp I've seen on your channel that didn't have a level control for the guitar - just the mic. I guess the idea was the guitarist was to use the controls on the instrument.
Yes, and I have come to actually prefer the purity and simplicity of circuits that don't have elaborate (or for that matter, any) tone controls, Russell. Using different pickups, and the guitar tone and volume, you can generally achieve the same (or better) results.
I just loved the wonderful tone that Kay amp produced, I imagine Keith Richards would love to own that. It would suit his style right down to the ground. I can hear Brown Sugar and Honky Tonk Women in my mind, fantastic. Nice job, well done again.
Todd Flowers, Keep in mind that this was 1939 and even if your house already had a electricity it might not have been of the correct type or voltage or even frequency to work well with this amplifier, so perhaps the extra long cord made it easier for you to find an outlet that would match the electrical requirements of the amplifier! That was satire of course, or sarcasm, but in 1939 some homes and cities were wired for DC voltage and not AC, and 60 Hz was not yet a state wide or citywide or country wide defacto standard for the transmission frequency of alternating current. Some industrial applications actually used 25 Hertz! 25 Herz is still used to run the vintage pumps that keep New Orleans relatively dry!
@@goodun2974 I remember when my Grandparents house had one outlet and an outhouse and my Dad remembered when they wired it as a kid so yes I get it ,it just struck me as funny as often Uncle Doug does ! ;-)
MisterTalkingMachine, can an Aurora Borealis in the skies above Texas be in Doug's future? PS, I wrote about this in another comment here, but if you haven't seen the series American Epic on the Prime channel, the 4th episode features a lovingly restored 1920s Western Electric record cutting system, in action, cutting records live in real time, for famous special-guest musicians. You gotta see this thing; if you're into phonographs and victrola, "talking machines" and so on, then this thing will blow your mind!
@@goodun2974 Oh, I am totally gonna try and check that out, I think I have heard of it before. And yes, we know exactly who to blame if we ever hear about a mysterious combination of aurora and funky music over Texas.
@@MisterTalkingMachine , I told Uncle Doug, gearhead that he is, that the record lathe will give him a "woody*. I was totally in awe of it. It took the guy who owns it *years* to assemble and restore the entire system. It may be the only one of it's kind still in existence. Great series; four 2-hour episodes. Episode 3 delves into the history of recording Hawaiian lap steel slide, recording early Cajun music, and the rediscovery of Mississippi John Hurt.
@@goodun2974sorry to butt in on your conversation with Mr. TM, but I have to see this 4th episode of American Epic. It sounds like something that I'd love. Is the "Prime" channel on Amazon Prime? The folks who tune in to Uncle Doug seem like the salt of the Earth. I just wish the were a way for us all to get together in person to shoot the breeze and maybe jam a little.
@@stevenstewart3414 , no need to 'pologize! Yes, it's the Amazon Prime channel, "American Epic" is the series, and the 4th (last) episode is the one with the fantastic vintage record cutter....but all 4 episodes are a must-see. My wife loved the series. She's not really a big country music fan either, we're more into blues and rock, but we both *loved* the Ken Burns series as well.
That Kay 859 is 10 years older than me.. I don't look or sound that good now ! Perhaps I've had a rat infestation which now needs cleaning up to compliment my replacement and-or, missing parts.. The better half noted the faulty on/off /volume control, and suggested you send me the old one so she could install it in me in the permanent 'off' position. Great video, and I'm still getting over seeing so many vintage guitars and amps in one place. The better half is relived that the shop is 4,000 miles away from us. 🎸 🔇
Hey Doug, nice fix on that 'old jewel' as you call them...It's a wonder they actually work in the end. Mind you it had an expert in the workshop..! It shows how some of the old stuf is still the best sounding. I have a Peavey Classic 30, and I'm jealous of the sound of that 859.Funny I flew over to Nashville in 2018 and never got around to that guitar shop. Thanks for the tour, some fab stuff there if you were rich..😎 Take care..Great video.Ed..U.K.
AH HA just as I thought re grid leak, grid stop values for the old style PA mics, not just those made by Astatic but Shure Brown Bullet, Kents, Calrads, Turners, Ampex, Armaco, Tanduy Eadio Shack had a dandy mini crystal number - the blue box mic, fro so it must be known
Hi Doug! An interesting note on the Knight amplifier. When Allied listed factory built electronics in their catalogs, It went under the name Knight. If it was in a kit form, It was called Knight-Kit. I remember getting Allied catalogs throughout my early years in electronics. They were in competition with Lafayette Radio back in the good 'ol days :) The 859 is surely an interesting, yet simple amplifier. Very strange that it had a bad pot...although not unusual, it's not a common occurrence. The amp sounds pretty darn good for a 1939 model. I've always felt that A field Coil speaker has a much better low end than a PM speaker. Once again, great video. :)
Great work as always and I really appreciated Interstate Love Song. We used to do that song when it was new. I spent a fair share of money on guitars, but that much on a 2 piece Fender not even original?
I have an Epiphone Pacemaker with a very similar faceplate in just about the same condition as the one in the video at 41:53, a very cool shop! " I''m not hearing smoke on the water" ROFL Thanks for the video UD, as always great stuff!
A superb job of bringing that amplifier back to life! Someone absolutely must reproduce that "Jerry Colonna styled handle"! The (Allied) Knight Phono-Amp; a product of the "Chicago School of Electronics", is the embodiment of quality which will never be seen (in large scale) again.
Thanks so much, AMSE. Those handles are so outrageous, you've got to wonder what they were smoking the day they adopted them for guitar amps :) Amen on the death of quality :(
Ah Carter's, vintage heaven! Reminds me of the time I wandered into a vintage guitar shop on Staten Island and they shoved a 6 figure d'Angelico I was admiring into my lap. Total heart failure...
Yep. I had taken the subway from upper Manhattan but went the wrong way and ended up in Queens. Took me about two hours to get there including the ferry ride...
