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The MacKit-30 (MK-30) Registry Thread

Joel Cairo

Joel Cairo

Media Doctor
Subscriber
Hey, all--

I thought it might be instructional for us to pool some information together regarding these little rarities... as some folks may or may not know from mid-1960 to mid-1961, during the waning days of production of the venerable MC-30, the folks in Binghamton got an interesting idea... why not make a kit version of the MC-30 available, and steal a march from those upstarts at Dynaco and Heathkit?

And so they did. The attraction of the kit was not only the reduced price (it retailed for about $120.00), but the promise that when the builder was finished, they would have an amp that was the exact equivalent of a factory-built MC-30.

Well, although that may sound irresistible to us nowadays, apparently it was quite resistible in 1960... the experiment was a dismal failure. After preparing somewhere between 700-1000 kits (with special chassis numbering), only slightly over 100 kits were sold in the first year.

As a result, The "MK-30" kit offer was quietly withdrawn from the marketplace, and the majority of the kit's parts were reclaimed for use by the factory, who built and sold the rest of the units themselves.

So, I thought it might be interesting to see how many of these may have survived over the years, and also note any variations that may pop up... one that I find interesting is the matter of the base for the kit units-- apparently, the first kits that were sold were produced prior to all of the parts being ready for production-- as a result, the lower number kits were released with bases that did not have a deluxe chrome "logo badge" on the side of the base... instead they have a "MacKit 30" logo (in a slightly different font) stenciled on the side of the base.

Anyway, I guess I'll start this, with a list of the MK-30s that I know of:

(Numbering starts from A1000, stamped on the underside of the chrome top plate. At some early point along the run, the numbering system changed from "Axxxx" to "xxxxA")

#A1008 - Stencil base

#A1010 - Did not come with a base when purchased second-hand, but assumed to be a "Stencil base"
(There's an interesting thread concerning MacKit #A1010 over here...)

#1031A - Stencil base

#A1045 - Stencil base

#1047A - Stencil base

#1048A - Stencil base

#1069A - Stencil base

#1078A - Stencil base

#1134A - Stencil base

#1137A - Stencil base

#1213A - Stencil base

#1268A - Stencil base

#1286A - Stencil base

#1306A - Stencil base

#1395A - Stencil base

#1414A - Stencil base

#1480A - Stencil base

#1528A - Logo badge

#1655A - Logo badge

#1699A - Logo badge

#1703A - Logo badge

#1716A - Logo badge

#1766A - Logo badge

#1767A - Logo badge

Anyone else got some numbers and details to add...?

- Kevin
 
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MacKit #A1008 was sold on a popular auction site in late 2018.

Adding its info to the main post.

- Kevin
 
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Thanks very much for the report-- adding these to the master list...

I think the most fascinating thing so far is to have the quantity of these kits clarified-- before we started logging them, I didn't see **any** reference that indicated that over 750 of these units existed.

- Kevin
 
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Funny, I am now the owner of 1766A & 1767A, and am also in Tucson. Those serial #'s are stamped with ink on the bottom inside of the case. There is also as serial number etched or stamped the edge of the case itself. Not sure what you mean by "logo badge"....
 
The early Mackits had a white stencil/decal label on the side:
MK 30 EMBLEM adjusted.jpg

Later kits had a metal emblem/badge:
MK 30 LOGO Badge.jpg
 
Thanks for explaining and the previous owner was correct as I have the metal emblem. I am getting ready to a/b them vs a solid state amp using some horn speakers.... audio nerd stuff
 
I have 1655A - including the original box. Chrome metal logo. Looks factory wired to me, with a couple of modern plastic tie wraps added in minor repairs over the years.
 
This should shake things up a bit....I have two stenciled base Mackit 30's. One is 1268A ink stamped under the chassis with 10321 pressure stamped along rim with ac outlet. The other one is ink stamped 20620 underneath chassis with no pressure stamp and no ac outlet. Also, it's octal sockets and rca inputs are riveted instead of flat head screws which makes me believe this was one of the factory assembled kits utilizing the stencil base.
 
CincySound said:
This should shake things up a bit....I have two stenciled base Mackit 30's. One is 1268A ink stamped under the chassis with 10321 pressure stamped along rim with ac outlet. The other one is ink stamped 20620 underneath chassis with no pressure stamp and no ac outlet. Also, it's octal sockets and rca inputs are riveted instead of flat head screws which makes me believe this was one of the factory assembled kits utilizing the stencil base.
Click to expand...

I think you're right about the provenance of your second unit... I had heard they were trying to use up as many old parts as possible in the last year of MC-30 production, which included factory assembly of the numerous MK-30 kits that were leftover, so I wouldn't be surprised that an odd combination of parts/chassis would pop up.

- Kevin
 
Joel Cairo said:
Hey, all--

I thought it might be instructional for us to pool some information together regarding these little rarities... as some folks may or may not know from mid-1960 to mid-1961, during the waning days of production of the venerable MC-30, the folks in Binghamton got an interesting idea... why not make a kit version of the MC-30 available, and steal a march from those upstarts at Dynaco and Heathkit?

And so they did. The attraction of the kit was not only the reduced price (it retailed for about $120.00), but the promise that when the builder was finished, they would have an amp that was the exact equivalent of a factory-built MC-30.

Well, although that may sound irresistible to us nowadays, apparently it was quite resistible in 1960... the experiment was a dismal failure. After preparing somewhere between 700-1000 kits (with special chassis numbering), only slightly over 100 kits were sold in the first year.

As a result, The "MK-30" kit offer was quietly withdrawn from the marketplace, and the majority of the kit's parts were reclaimed for use by the factory, who built and sold the rest of the units themselves.

So, I thought it might be interesting to see how many of these may have survived over the years, and also note any variations that may pop up... one that I find interesting is the matter of the base for the kit units-- apparently, the first kits that were sold were produced prior to all of the parts being ready for production-- as a result, the lower number kits were released with bases that did not have a deluxe chrome "logo badge" on the side of the base... instead they have a "MacKit 30" logo (in a slightly different font) stenciled on the side of the base.

Anyway, I guess I'll start this, with a list of the MK-30s that I know of:

(Numbering starts from A1000, stamped on the underside of the chrome top plate. At some early point along the run, the numbering system changed from "Axxxx" to "xxxxA")

#A1008 - Stencil base

#A1010 - Did not come with a base when purchased second-hand, but assumed to be a "Stencil base"
(There's an interesting thread concerning MacKit #A1010 over here...)

#A1045 - Stencil base

#1047A - Stencil base

#1048A - Stencil base

#1069A - Stencil base

#1078A - Stencil base

#1134A - Stencil base

#1137A - Stencil base

#1213A - Stencil base

#1268A - Stencil base

#1306A - Stencil base

#1414A - Stencil base

#1528A - Logo badge

#1655A - Logo badge

#1699A - Logo badge

#1703A - Logo badge

#1716A - Logo badge

#1766A - Logo badge

#1767A - Logo badge

Anyone else got some numbers and details to add...?

- Kevin
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.
Here are two more for your list: MacKit 30 #1480A & 1395A, Stencil.
 
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