Tiki
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 52
Las Vegas, NV
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Posted on Feb 25 2025 02:03 PM
Looks like Canopus in Japan is selling Don’s stage amps. At this time it looks like they have a number of them. Including, what looks like Don’s amp from the demo video. Duct tape with settings in marker and all. They are all crazy expensive. But, there was a head & cabinet that was about half the price. Getting a tax refund, I jumped on it. It’ll be interesting to see what actually arrives.
FYI
Canopus Don Wilson Amp on Reverb(https://reverb.com/item/87448645-used-by-don-wilson-himself-signature-amp?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=87448645)
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Tiki
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 52
Las Vegas, NV
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Posted on Mar 08 2025 11:40 AM
Just wanted to follow up for anyone interested. I received my amp this week and it’s heavy. It’s a really nice amp. Very clean and loud. Oh, btw, it’s solid state with a tube in the reverb driver section.
One interesting thing I noticed is that it has two reverb tanks. One with two springs and one with three. A five spring reverb! Fun!
Here is the requisite gut shot.
I also did a video.
I really like this amp! It’s a different sound from my Showman but very usable. Even though I got mine for about half price, I still think it’s very expensive.
UPDATE:
Sadly, it died about an hour after I got it going. The speakers hum when turning on and ultimately blows a fuse. A Canopus tech is supposed to get ahold of me next week but i think it might be the power transistors. I’ll
Update when I know more.
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19324
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Mar 08 2025 11:52 AM
Wow that's pretty amazing Phil! Seriously hope you can get it up and running again, best of luck!
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synchro
Joined: Feb 02, 2008
Posts: 4527
Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Mar 08 2025 11:33 PM
Cool amp. I hope you get it going again.
— The artist formerly known as: Synchro
When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.
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JohnnyMosrite
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 907
New York City area
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Posted on Mar 09 2025 09:11 AM
I looked up the prices for this on REVERB.com. ==> with shipping and taxes (and some probable import duty), it's a $5,000.00+ amp.
$5K for a solid-state amp??!! And it blew some critical component(s) after an hour's play??!!
I, for one, would be livid - with myself. And figure diagnosing the problem and (hopefully) fixing it will cost more than a dollar.
So - politely - what has this thing got over a $2-$3K Showman vacuum tube amp stack that makes it worth the difference and aggravation?
J Mo'
Last edited: Mar 09, 2025 09:13:54
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Tiki
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 52
Las Vegas, NV
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Posted on Mar 09 2025 01:03 PM
Thanks. I’m sure it’ll be back up and running soon.
So, I paid less than that for it. For some reason, Canopus had this one listed for about half the price. Like I said above, I had some tax money and thought it would be a unique piece to own. You don’t see these too often. I bought it used, I knew that. I was expecting something to be wrong with it. Hell, compared to the others amps they had listed (and the pricetag) I didn’t know if I was getting a working amp at all. It’s fine. I knew what I was getting into. I was thrilled to get any playing time with it.
It shipped from Japan so maybe something got damaged during shipping? Who knows.
After playing it, would I recommend it to anyone? Nope. It’s crazy expensive for what it is. But I wouldn’t recommend a blonde showman either. You really need to turn them up for them to sound right. Way too loud for anywhere. I even tried using attenuators with it and those presented their own issues.
So, to answer your question. It doesn’t.This isn’t a practical amp for anyone. Even at a third of the price there are better options. For me, it was opportunity to own something different. And I thought the people here would like to see something about this amp other than the two very vague videos on YT.
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JohnnyMosrite
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 907
New York City area
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Posted on Mar 09 2025 02:01 PM
Tiki,
With the commitment you made, maybe see if you can score the three PCB boards pictured as spares. I think I see "chips" in at least one of them. Diagnosing, unsoldering/resoldering chip pins is a royal P.I.A.
I say that as this is probably leftover stock produced when Don Wilson was alive that they want to unload. And spare parts will probably go the way of Don Wilson and the Ventures in the near future.
Good luck with it
J Mo'
Last edited: Mar 09, 2025 14:07:44
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SixStringSurfer
Joined: Sep 23, 2014
Posts: 1424
Memphis, TN
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Posted on Mar 09 2025 04:30 PM
Amp sounds great, I hope you get it fixed soon.
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