I originally tried out this amp awhile ago at Musicians Discount in Mesa. For some reason I didn't buy it, and it sold the very next day. I haven't seen a music store in my area can keep these amps in stock for more than a couple weeks, and as well, they sell for between $600 and $800 where I live. So, when I saw one online I felt compelled to buy one.
I bought mine through a music store in Ferndale Michigan called Gordy's music. I'd recommend them to anybody in the Detroit area, or who is interested in buying online. From pictures, it appears the amp was in somewhat sore condition when they got it, but their tech put a lot of work and all new tubes into it. From the sound of it I wouldn't be surprised if he re-capped it too. Plus I got it for under $500.
The 1483 was Silvertone's bass amp... Like the Bassman was Fender's bass amp (not a lot of guys use it for bass). Only instead of 4 10"s it has 1 15" like the Blackface Fender Vibroverb amps of the mid 60's.
This amp has no effects on it, It has two channels and 2 inputs on each channel. There isn't a lot of difference between the inputs or channels. I might experiment with A/B/Y pedals and what not, but I don't really think it will make much of a difference. Currently I'm just plugging into input 1 on channel 1.
It starts breaking up about 33% volume. At 50% volume it starts to get pretty saturated, at 100% volume it has a buttery overdriven sound. It responds well to the Tube Screamer, not as well as my little amps, but it responds very well to fuzz. I might have to buy a Keeley modded ProCo Rat for distortion when I play with this amp.
The Treble and Bass controls are pretty standard. The bass control can dial in more bass than you need if you turn it all the way up, and the treble control sounds like it boosts somewhere around 1.5 to 2 khz. It removes excessive sparkle for single coil guitars, and on my Les Paul brings it back in.
Some other interesting things about it, the cabinet actually has a little space in it so that you can place the head in it for easy transport. It has little white rotating tabs that keep it nice and snug in there. The particle board has held up pretty well considering it's age, and is much sturdier than I thought it would be.
This amp, out of all the amps I've had, has the sweetest tone. It has a nice complete spread of frequencies. It handles low end pretty well (15" speaker duh) and it handles higher frequencies well too. It's a little bit noisy, but I think I'm in love. It is utterly unique. It would make a great blues guitar amp, or it would work well for an indie-rock band or any band influenced by the 1960s.
Some thoughts for those interested in buying this amp:
- I will probably not use it for distortion in the studio, because the power amp distortion is sort of odd. It's still musical, and colorful, but It is less sustainy and screaming as it is muscular and defined. It’s very garage or mod. Don’t expect to sound “metal” with this amp.
- There is no reverb on this amp, and it actually sort of oddly decreases the “bigness” of a reverb, but delay sounds great with it.
- The 15” speaker will be a giant pain in the ass to replace if it’s ever damaged… I’ll have to switch to two 12”s if that happens.
- It’s only 22 watts a channel. That is just about the right volume for my band, but some really loud bands you will probably be drowned out.
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