Vintage Tube Amp

Up for sale, a 1961 Magnatone Estey “Venus” Custom 480 vintage tube amplifier in excellent condition and in perfect working order. Fully serviced and extremely original with the original Oxford speaker and tweeter pair, this Magnatone is a studio-worthy example. Introduced as Magnatone’s flagship model to replace the earlier Magna Electric 280, the 480 adds tube driven spring reverb to the mix, the inclusion of which coincided with Magnatone’s sale to the Estey company. A true stereo amplifier featuring Magnatone’s legendary varistor powered true pitch vibrato, the Magnatone 480 sports two 12″ main drivers and a pair of 5×7″ midrange speakers as well for a very full and well-rounded tube tone. As the top of the line Magnatone amplifier, the 480 has one of the most complex true point-to-point hand wired circuit every conceived of for a tube amp, featuring thirteen tubes and one transistor. With all of the features on these Magnatones and a price point higher than the Fender Twin of the same era, very few were produced and even less show up on the market, let alone in perfect working order like the one offered here. The tone is just heavenly, with smooth tube breakup and two distinctly voiced channels, each with its own Loudness, Treble, and Bass controls. Add Magnatone’s distinctive sounding reverb on top of that swampy, thick vibrato and you’ve got a sound like no one else on your block. The circuit is freshly serviced, with a few new electrolytic caps as well as a few key swapped components in the preamp to ensure that everything is operating within factory spec. All of the original blue Ajax tone caps are intact in the preamp, and the CTS pots date to the 23rd week of 1961. The stock Schumacher power transformer dates to 1961, and the pair of output transformers have matching date codes from the 39th week of’61. The two primary speakers are the original Oxford 12L5N drivers with extremely clean frames and late’61 date codes. Which date to 1961. The two 5×7 midrange speakers (hidden by the chassis and not typically visible) are also original and still wired via the stock crossover. The cabinet retains the original brown textured bindery cloth, and this fragile covering is notably clean, with very limited wear on the edges of the enclosure. The original grillcloth has plenty of sparkle in the gold sparkle thread, and the original faceplace is nigh flawless with original silkscreen lettering. The faceplate retains a full compliment of stock knobs, and the two tone brown and gold faceplate is also in remarkable shape. The silkscreening is far thinner than Fender amps, so to find a 480 in this condition is quite uncommon in every respect. As Magnatone’s top of the line combo and an amp in production for less than two full years, this 480 is a studio and stage ready marvel, with the rich, three-dimensional vibrato and dynamic tone distinctive to this make and model. Check out our shop “Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar, ” and please let us know if we can answer any questions! We use double thick boxes, 1″ foam, and industrial 1/2″ bubble wrap to ensure that your amp arrives safely. International orders will be declared as merchandise, and the value of merchandise will be declared as the amount paid. We cannot declare anything as a gift or for a lesser value. The item “1961 Magnatone Custom 480 Venus Estey Vintage Stereo Tube Amp 2×12″ is in sale since Friday, May 24, 2019. This item is in the category “Musical Instruments & Gear\Guitars & Basses\Guitar Amplifiers”. The seller is “mmguitarbar” and is located in Seattle, Washington. This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Number of Channels: 2
• Number of Speakers: 4
• Model: Custom 480
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Amplifier Technology: Vacuum Tube
• MPN: Does Not Apply
• Compatible Guitar: Electric Guitar Amplifier
• Amplifier Type: Combo
• Brand: Magnatone
• Suitable For: Performance