Sewell Texaplex 50 – Handwired 50W EL34 Boutique Amp – Doug Sewell / Pre-PRS – Flight Case

If you already know what a Sewell Texaplex is, I probably don't have to sell you very hard on this one.

If you don't, this is one of the amps worth learning about.

The Texaplex 50 comes from Doug Sewell's pre-PRS amplifier work and represents his take on that wonderful area where American Bassman DNA starts turning into vintage British Plexi/JMP territory. Sewell would later become a major part of PRS's amplifier program, and PRS eventually produced the Texaplex II as an interpretation of one of his earlier favorite designs.

This one is a phenomenal sounding amp.

At cleaner settings it has big, dimensional cleans with plenty of body and touch sensitivity. Start pushing it and it transitions beautifully into that thick, harmonically rich Bassman/Plexi thing—then farther into the aggressive pushed-Marshall territory you'd expect from a great EL34 amp.

It isn't trying to give you fifteen channels, MIDI switching and seventeen different versions of the same sound. The appeal here is much simpler:

Plug a good guitar into it and the amp sounds like an amp is supposed to sound.

The Texaplex is a 50-watt, EL34-powered design with a refreshingly simple control layout. It's dynamic, responsive to the guitar's volume control and pick attack, and has that quality good old-school amps have where there seems to be a lot happening between completely clean and fully overdriven.

I especially love the cleans on this amp. They're not simply something you tolerate while waiting to turn the amp up. They're big, warm and extremely usable. Once pushed, though, this is where the Texaplex earns its name. It gets into fantastic crunchy Plexi/JMP-style sounds while retaining some of the fullness and low-end authority associated with the Bassman side of its heritage.

Condition

Functionally, the amp is excellent and works exactly as it should.

Cosmetically, this is a player rather than a museum piece. There are normal blemishes and signs of use from being played, transported and gigged.

There is also what appears to be a stain/discoloration on the front panel. It was already present when I purchased the amp. I've seen no evidence internally of anything having spilled or leaked into the amplifier, and there is no corresponding trace of anything inside. I'm mentioning it simply for complete transparency and have photographed it accordingly.

Other than the normal cosmetic wear, the amp presents very well.

This isn't an amp that has spent its life sitting on a shelf waiting to become collectible. It's an amp that was made to be played, and that's exactly what it has been used for.

It will ship inside the pictured flight case, which is included with the sale.

These do not come up terribly often. For someone looking for a genuinely handbuilt boutique amp with a direct connection to Doug Sewell's work before PRS—and, more importantly, an amp that sounds phenomenal rather than merely having an interesting story—the Texaplex 50 is absolutely worth knowing about.

Reluctant sale. It's a special amp.