2006 ToneQuest TQ Clarksdale DeArmond R-15 Boutique Tube Guitar Amplifier

Up for sale, a ToneQuest Clarksdale boutique tube electric guitar amplifier in excellent condition and perfect working order. Built as a faithful reproduction of the DeArmond R-15, an exceedingly rare amp only manufactured from '59-'61, the Clarksdale puts out 22 watts via a pair of cathode biased 6V6 power tubes. Boasting a circuit that is remarkably similar to a 5E3, four input tweed Deluxe, the original R-15 featured a much more powerful power transformer adding a heft and depth to the tone that you couldn't get out of a Deluxe, making one of the most tuneful and sought after small tube combos ever built. An original '59 transformer was cloned by Mercury Magnetics for this very small and exclusive run of amplifiers, and is at the heart of this meticulously recreated amplifier. Plugged in, there is a boldness to the low end which is surprising for an amplifier this size, with a thick, balanced, and percussive clean tone that cascades into harmonically rich overdrive as the volume knob gets past 4.

The hand-wired circuit is loaded with premium components including SoZo caps and aforementioned Mercury Magnetics transformers, and the amp is voiced through an Eminence Wizard speaker, which has similar tonal characteristics to a Celestion Vintage 30. Rounding things out is an NOS set of General Electric tubes!

The solid, finger-jointed pine cabinet is both expertly built and very resonant, covered with smooth black tolex and gold grillcloth, a cosmetic combination which is not available on the current blonde only reissue. This amp is an elegantly built, classy tone machine that would fit well into a wide variety of gigging and recording situations. Cosmetically, this amp is in immaculate shape and bears no tears in the grillcloth or nicks in the tolex, and looks as good now as it did a decade ago!

With a $2200 price tag and six month wait time for the current iteration of the TQ Clarksdale, this is a rare opportunity to own the first version of this faithful DeArmond R-15 reissue under the ToneQuest name!