Any player who's seeking big tube tone from a club-sized combo is sure to go starry-eyed over the Magnatone Super Fifteen MKII. For gigging to recording, chime to dime, this amp whispers and screams with golden-era British authority — its 12AX7 and EL84 tube complement taking you from full-bodied cleans to brawny British crunch and beyond with the twist of a dial. But don't let the Super Fifteen's hand-built quality and time-honouring architecture lead you to believe it's a clone; this amp is packed with modern player features, including a tube-safe speaker-emulated output for silent recording and practice and high- and low-gain inputs to favour all tastes and pickups. A 12" custom ceramic-magnet speaker supplies enough output to fill a room; for larger venues, an extension speaker output is also available around back.
If you're into pushing tubes, the Magnatone Super Fifteen MKII makes an excellent plug-and-play guitar platform. No pedals are required to coax this amp into breakup; independent gain and master volume controls allow you to prime your preamp and pummel your power section for rich Class AB tube breakup, all without punishing your eardrums.
Don't let the Super Fifteen MKII's size fool you — this amp screams onstage. Its 15 all-tube watts can capably cover a drummer for club gigs. Not only that, but its reduced output and single 12" speaker also give you heaps of control for recording applications, allowing you the freedom to rein in your overdrive tones without getting the police called on you. What's more, speaker-emulated line and headphone outs provide you with options for silent practice, monitoring, and tracking.
Just like their American namesake, today's Magnatone amps and cabs are built by hand right here in the USA. From their handwired circuits to their Rolls Royce convertible-top covers, you won't find a single component in a Magnatone amp that's anything less than stellar. A cosmetic feature we at Sweetwater particularly enjoy about the Magnatone Master Series amps is their wraparound grilles, which really succeed in giving these amps their unique, retro-futuristic look.
Magnatone first began producing electric guitars and amplifiers in the late 1930s. By the '50s and '60s, Magnatone amps had become highly sought after, largely because of their distinctive pitch-shifting vibrato effect, which was responsible for the "watery" guitar sounds you hear on Buddy Holly and early Bo Diddley recordings. By 2013, the company entered into a new phase of its evolution, creating a new and improved line of boutique guitar amplifiers that have been embraced by such guitar luminaries as Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons.