Thoughts on this Kent 6BQ5 tube piggyback guitar amp?

[loomis]

Hello. Here's my new addition / restoration project.

Thoughts? It's a Kent DR-57 tube amp from 1966. It uses a 6V4, a 12AX7, and two 6BQ5's (EL84?).

The schematic is glued inside the head and cannot be removed. Dumb. I shoved my camera in there and will have to hand-draw the schematic from the photos.

The aluminum front plate says "made in usa." The tubes are all Japanese. The OPT was made in Chicago. It has one Becker 12" speaker.

Thought? Wattage? I know Kent was a company imported by Buegeleisen & Jacobson, but that's all I know. Did they build anything here, or was the "made in usa" a lie?

Thanks,
Loomis

 

[jaymanaa]

Cool project, looks like a guitar players been working on it. I bet it's worth more than you paid for it too.

 

[loomis]

Yeah that was me who has got it all apart just to get to the chassis. It's a cool amp.

 

[JonL]

Cool amp, lots of potential there. I can't make out the controls... does it have tremelo or reverb? The power transformer looks unoriginal to me. I could certainly be wrong, but that color plating on the metal screams "JAPAN" to me.

I'd guess the amp is about 15W, and it could sound great.

Not sure about the Becker speaker. Becker, I think, is a German electronics mfg. (Becker radios were used in lots of Mercedes, not sure it's the same company.) The Becker speaker might sound fine, or the amp might benefit from a good guitar amp speaker (Jensen, Celestion, or one of the many current boutique-y makers).

 

[jaymanaa]

Looks Japanese to me too, and with the tubes being made there, I'd bet the amp was too, then they shipped just the amp part over here where they built the complete guitar amp. I think you used to be able to get away without untill they came out with "assembled" in America with foreign parts. That could be a terrific thing though. They were making some nice stuff over there around then. Kenwood, Trio, Sansui, Rotel, Pioneer, and Knight just to name a few.

 

[Radioboy]

I may be mistaken, but Kent was one of the names under the umbrella "Teisco" brand. Kingston and Norma also come to mind. So, yeah, if the lineage is correct, it's a Japanese nameplate....but could've been assembled anywhere I guess. (Nissan and VW's are built in Mexico, Chrylsers were buitl in Japan, Kias are built in TN, etc, ha!)

I have experience with Norma and some other vintage japanese bits too, and the build quality is usually top-notch. I'd put it in that 10-20w zone, too. Neat amp!

 

[loomis]

Ok a couple responses:

PT is original as far as I can tell. This amp doesn't look like it was ever altered to me. Yes, the PT looks Japanese.

Odd that the speaker is German, the OPT is from Chicago, and the rest looks Japanese.

Go figure.

I agree perhaps adding a 12" Jensen MOD speaker or something might be a good idea once I get this thing restored.

Anywhere to get cheap grille cloth? That stuff is pricey!

 

[Horn Head]

Anywhere to get cheap grille cloth? That stuff is pricey!

Old consoles. But your amp looks a bit bigger than many of the thrift store consoles will cover. (Plus you have to get rid of the other 70 lbs of material.)