Up for sale, a 1959 Magnatone 260 vintage 2x12 tube amplifier in excellent condition and in perfect working order. Produced in the golden "Magna Electronics Inc." age of Magnatone production, this amp retains its original Oxford speaker pair with an extremely original circuit.
This Magnatone features two channels with individual Volume and EQ controls as well as two-way Tone toggles for each channel. Driven by a matched pair of Tung Sol 5881 (6L6GC) power tubes, the amp has a rich, lush sound capable of delivering both articulate cleans and overdriven roar. Of course at the heart of any Magnatone is their varistor-based true pitch shifting vibrato circuit, which is thick and watery, with a Leslie-esque swirl and unequalled dimension. As a top of the line Magnatone amplifier, the 260 has a complex true point-to-point hand-wired circuit.
The circuit features a complement of all original blue Ajax capacitors in the preamp, with carbon comp resistors and CTS pots that have visible date codes between the 32nd and 35th weeks of '59. The original Schumacher output transformer is intact, dating to the 38th week of '59, while the power transformer is a vintage replacement from the same era as the amp. The power tubes are a brand new matched pair of Tung Sol 5881s (6L6GC), with a General Electric 5U4 rectifier and preamp featuring all vintage valves from the likes of Amperex and RCA. The amp retains its original Oxford 12K5 speaker pair, with original Magnatone stickers on the alnico magnet bells and date codes on the edges of the frames from the 50th week of '59.
The original brown bindery cloth covering shows very minor wear considering the fragility of this material, with some edge wear on the bottom of the cabinet. The original grillcloth is intact too with gold sparkle thread. The faceplate is quite well kept, with clean silkscreened graphics and all of the original knobs. The leather handle is a modern replacement.