Kalamazoo Model Two Tremolo Guitar Tube Amplifier vintage Gibson harmonica harp
Saturday, April 26th, 2025
Here is my beloved Kalamazoo Model Two amplifier, # 3. These were made between 1965 and 1967 – ace years of tube tone. Gibson only made a few thousand of these. These Model 2 Black Panel amps are special. I first heard one courtesy of my guitar tech, Edtronics in Evansville, Wisconsin (he also did the upgrades on this amp and is really good at these mods). He had a black face Kalamazoo Model 2 on his bench and he’d turn it all the way up, and it sounded so good–yet it wasn’t too loud. The tube breakup was the most buttery and brown thing I’d heard; smitten, I decided to jump into getting a couple of these. Their 5-10 watt circuit is akin to the tweed Fender Champs but with a sweeter tone perfectly suited for harps, electric violin and (all) guitars. I’m keeping #2, but #1 and #3 are on offer (here and elsewhere). I ran two of them together as a little valve stereo rig at one point. Going another way now so – this amp is offered here for your consideration. It has the safety modifications: death cap removed, grounded professionally, modern 3-wire power cord, big filter caps upgraded. The original power on/off switch on the Tone knob works fine. Recently sprayed the pots & inputs with Cramolin-D5. It is ready to rock. The four mystery holes on the back panel: it came to me this way. Maybe someone had a direct out / extension speaker thing going on? 60 years old, it’s showing some scars. #3′s tube set features a Mesa 7025 STR preamp (7025 are the heavy duty, lower noise versions of the 12AX7/ECC83, from a Boogie amp I think) and the original American RCA 6X4. It has a newer Russian 6BQ5 “mil spec” power tube which compares to our Joint Army Navy tubes–over engineered, louder and fatter. An old RCA 12AX7 is the Tremolo tube and it could be original; the tremolo sound on these amps is so nice. It absolutely sounds great – the breakup you want, the musical tremolo you deserve. I’ve recorded some killer tracks with these amps, they loves pedals. I will remove the tubes for transport. I will pack it as I’d like to receive it, which is super safely and double boxed. The speaker is a’64 Gibson branded CTS from another amp I own (a Skylark), as I ran this amp with a modern speaker (Emminence) that I liked better. This’original’ vintage speaker is a re-cone done by Edtronics, and it sounds magical for harp & guitar. With its mods & fat tube set this amp is definitely louder than it was stock — and juicier. Check the video out for a harp guy taking it through its paces. He does a couple videos demonstrating the Model 2′s. The black Tolex covering on several corners shows the wear of years and a light repair, check the pictures for the patina carefully! This amp is for a player, not a collector’s case. It has all 4 original rubber feet. In excellent working condition, this vintage Kalamazoo tone machine is a thing of rock and blues beauty. Pound for pound, the tube tone value is incredible here. Crank up my other amps. Stock specs on the amp from the web. Tremolo Frequency (with on/off switch). Tone (with power on/off switch). Two inputs, one channel. One CTS Chicago Telephone Supply Co. 12AX7A/ECC83/7025 (dual triode) preamp. 6X4 full wave rectifier. 6BQ5/EL84 output tube. 12AX7/ECC83/7025 (dual triode) tremolo oscillator. Woodward-Schumacher TF500-0-606-528, 4K input, 8 ohm output. Height: 15 1/2 in. Schematic and tube layout chart pasted inside amp. According to Gibson history buff Bjorn Anger. There are no records of Kalamazoo amps after 1967. Records from 1970 showing a combined total of 139 units of Kalamazoo instruments and amps? In 1969, CMI (Chicago Musical Instrument, the legal parent of Gibson) was bought by ECL. In 1971 the company was renamed Norlin. Some (or perhaps all) Canadian Kalamazoos were labeled “Turner Musical Instruments” which was a wholly owned subsidiary of CMI. Kalamazoo, MI, was the location of Gibson’s manufacturing operations from Gibson’s inception in the 1880s until the early 1970s; hence the Kalamazoo name. In their heyday (the mid-1960s), Kalamazoos were some of the best, small, tube amps around. They were never anywhere near as popular as Fenders, but were a great little amp for the price, and seem to have been of more consistent quality than many of the Gibson brand amps! The Kalamazoo Models One and Two were extremely similar to the tweed Fender Champ 5F1.
