1959 Premier 76 This is the rarest of rare amps. Lets be honest Premier amps are just the coolest damn things in the world. The amp has no hum basically and just sounds incredible. It is literally the best harp amp I have ever heard. The Premier breaks up so good and nasty it is not even funny. The original 12in Rola dates 1959 "2859**". Don't let the bigger speaker fool you it breaks up better than the twin 8 premier and dano I have. The thing just rips your head off. Quite loud at about 18-20 watts. The vibrato sounds awesome and full. The instrument channel is much more gain than microphone channel but the mic channel has a different cool sound to it. Any mic I use in this thing from white label and black label to original crystal mics they all sound amazing through this thing. I just cannot explain how amazing the tone of this amp is. Original leather handle works great. Amp is probably 30lbs or so. For guitar the amp sounds great also breaks up great and is fat but the volume is much louder with a mic. But for guitar with a p13 pickup or old kay it just gets that old Robert Lockwood tone from all those old records.
I imagine you've already checked out this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ3DdEWiiI0
I started out really liking the tone and then it got kind of farty in a couple of places. On the very last note he plays, you can hear a very prominent parallel 5th being generated by either the amp or the speaker. It's almost as loud as the fundamental. I run into that a lot in older amps and it drives me nuts. Of course, your amp might not have any of those problems. Those catalin knobs (when they're not missing) are absolutely the coolest amp knobs ever made. The deal breaker for me though, is the fact that the split cabinet doubles the stage footprint. I'd buy it as a collector if it was cheap enough and pull it out for a gig occasionally but I don't think it would be my go-to amp. But that's just me.
Edit: There's a 2010 Vintage Guitar Mag. Price Guide online that lists the value as $525 - $650 in Excellent condition, for what that's worth.
Last Edited by Bilzharp on May 14, 2015 6:47 AM
Don't judge the amp by that tube video. My knowledge of that particular amp is not empirical but relatively speaking I have been playing Premiers for years. I have a rare twin 8 chassis in a larger cabinet with a 12'' speaker and reverb that was made that way by Premier and a larger Premier bass amp with a 15'' speaker shoved into the cabinet (and had another at one point). I have played them both in mucho clubs, out of doors, miked and un-miked and they all have hot and raunchy verve. It is the real deal for an edgey blues sound....Imo they do not hold added pedals well but their tone doesn't really require any. I'm too tired to embed and am not looking for my best stuff but I'll copy an example from the 2 amps - The first is with the twin 8 12'' and the second snippet is the 15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3yNYyhETtE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8IM7mCyn4c ---------- Facebook
bigd sure gets to back up some attractive singers! His tone also speaks much better through the Premier amp than the video I referenced. So Mensh, did you jump?
