a supro 24 by any other name...

Both Valco and Dano produced variations of their circuits as OEM amps for guitar companies like Gretsch and retailers like Sears. Montgomery Wards stores sold the airline rband and the amps were all made by Valco as well as Dano. The Valc models include rebranded versions of the Thudnerbolt and this one, the 1624 dual tone... the dual tone sues the odd-ball 6973 power tube which was designed for jukeboxes but combines elements from the 6V6, 6AQ6 and 6BQ5/EL84. Its a robust sounding tube, especially for a noval base although Valco doesn't squeeze much out of it in this circuit. it does have a distinct USA meets UK breakup in this amp. This is a second generation 1624 circuit so only the first channel has the gnarly grid-leak bias whereas channel 2 is a traditional cathode biased triode stage. CHannel 1 does the zep thing at volume and channel 2 is like a poor man's ac15 right down to the choppy trem… but no vibrato. It comes equipped with an OEM Jensen C12p (I think, its been awhile) and the speaker handles the wattage but gives up the goods even before the power amp. No farting out though. This amp was basically a 2 trick pony. Channel 1 has a muddy clean tone but fat distortion at reasonable studio volumes and can make a tele sound like a paul and a paul explode lke you have a fuzz on.... the 2nd channel ahs this voxy clean with grit going but it sounds anemic cranked to 10... tis ebst enjoyed with the extra fast hummingbird trem settigns supros are known for. I sold this to a buddy who really loved it. I just didn't love it as much as he did. If you see one of these r a 1X15" airline combo with rear control panel you're looking at direct supro-equivalents of the early 60s models people are gaga for. you will save a good $400 from a supro branded original. There are very similar amps to this with different speaker configurations in the Valco and Gretsch lines, but this is the only 1x12 dual tone I know of that doesn't have a Supro brand. If you're into early Zep you might want to check one of these out because its one of 3 supros that may have been sued in the studio by page. I suspect all 3 contenders, the Coronado, Thunderbolt and dual tone were used at times.