Ampeg is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers. Originally established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everitt Hull and Stanley Michaels as "Michaels-Hull Electronic Labs," today Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guitar Group. Although the company specializes in the production of bass amplifiers, it has previously manufactured guitar amplifiers, pickups and several instruments including, double basses, bass guitars, and electric guitars.
Leo Fender began building guitar amplifiers before he started manufacturing electric guitars. The first of these were the K&F models, produced between 1945 and 1946. The early K&F and Fender amplifiers relied upon vacuum tube circuitry, with the company adding solid-state models in the late 1960s.
The Fender Princeton was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1947 and discontinued in 1979. After Fender introduced the Champ Amp in 1948, the Princeton occupied the next to the bottom spot in the Fender line. Fender Princetons from the early models into the 1970s models are highly valued particularly as recording amplifiers.
The Fender Bronco was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was the first Silverface amplifier introduced in 1967 to sport the modern-looking "tailless" Fender amp decal, which became a standard feature on other Fender amplifiers in the early 1970s. The Bronco was a student amp to go with the matching Bronco guitar. Bronco amplifiers were shipped as a part of the Bronco "student" package offered during that time, which also included the matching Bronco guitar, introduced that same year. Some early Broncos used the early-mid 1960s "tailed" amp logo. The schematics and manuals listed the Bronco and the Vibro Champ as the same amp, except for the red letters and labels stamped on the control faceplate. The controls were also the same. It was discontinued in 1975.
The Marshall Bluesbreaker is the popular name given to the Models 1961 and 1962 guitar amplifiers made by Marshall from 1964/1965 to 1972.
The Marshall Super Lead Model 1959 is a guitar amplifier head made by Marshall. One of the famous Marshall Plexis, it was introduced in 1965 and with its associated 4×12" cabinets gave rise to the "Marshall stack".
K&F Manufacturing Corporation was a company started by Clayton Orr Kauffman and Leo Fender in 1945. K&F manufactured amplifiers and electric lap steel guitars. Very few of the K&F instruments have survived. The amps featured an 8" speaker with one input with a volume control or a 10" speaker with two inputs and controls for Volume and Tone. The amps were sprayed with a gray "crinkle" finish with bare wood at the bottom where a bracket held the box during spraying. Kauffman left the company in February 1946. The company then became Fender.
The White Steel was a steel guitar made by the Fender company. It was released as a student model in 1956 and was sold with the matching amplifier.
The Fender Deluxe guitar amplifier was produced by Fender from early 1948 to 1966. Its predecessor was the Fender Model 26 "Woodie" produced from 1946 to 1948.
In an amplifier, a presence control boosts the upper mid-range frequencies to make the sounds of voices and instruments with similar tonal ranges seem more "present".
The Fender Pro Reverb is a high-end guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was in production from 1965 and was discontinued in 1982. The Pro Reverb is a 40-watt tube amplifier and has a pair of 12" speakers; however, models later than 1976 were increased to 70 watts. Teagle and Sprung, authors of the definitive book on Fender amplifiers described the Blackface Pro Reverb as the best amplifier ever produced likely due to its combination of the two twelve inch speakers, its high quality reverb and tremolo, and just the right amount of power to get either classic Blackface Fender cleans or natural tube breakup at reasonable volumes. They wrote, "the author recommends these amps as the best all-around amp ever made—by anyone".
Rivera Amplifiers is an American manufacturer of guitar amplifiers. It was founded by Paul Rivera as a research and development firm in August 1976 in Southern California.
The Fender Harvard is a vacuum tube (valve) guitar amplifier made by Fender from 1955 to 1963. The Harvard appeared only in a tweed covered "narrow-panel" cabinet, but in two very different circuit designs, namely 5F10 (1955-61) and 6G10 (1962-63).
This is the musical equipment used by the members of the hard rock/blues rock band ZZ Top.
The Marshall JTM45 is the first guitar amplifier made by Marshall. First produced in 1963, it has been called a "seminal" amplifier, and is praised as the most desirable of all the company's amplifiers.
The JCM800 series is a line of guitar amplifiers made by Marshall Amplification. The series was introduced in 1981. Although models 1959 and 1987 had been in production since 1965 and the 2203 and 2204 had been in production since 1975, they were redesigned and introduced as JCM800 amplifiers in '81. The JCM800 amplifiers became a staple of 1980s hard rock and heavy metal bands.
Trainwreck Circuits was an American company that manufactured boutique guitar amplifiers. They were handmade by Ken Fischer in Colonia, New Jersey, and are some of the most expensive and sought-after amplifiers on the market.
The EchoSonic is a guitar amplifier made by Ray Butts. It was the first portable guitar amplifier with a built-in tape echo effect, and it allowed guitar players to use slapback echo, which dominated 1950s rock and roll guitar playing, on stage. He built the first one in 1953 and sold the second one to Chet Atkins in 1954. He built fewer than seventy of those amplifiers; one of them was bought by Sam Phillips and then used by Scotty Moore on every recording he made with Elvis Presley, from the 1955 hit song "Mystery Train" to the 1968 TV program Comeback Special. Deke Dickerson called the amplifier the Holy Grail of rockabilly music.
