1960 Ampeg Guitaramp 518 Dolphin Special Vintage Tube Amp 1x12 Navy Random Flair

Up for sale, a 1960 Ampeg Guitaramp 518 Dolphin Special vintage tube amp in excellent condition and in perfect working order. Not to be confused with the numerous "Jet" reissues offered by Ampeg over the decades, this is a genuine original model 518 with early and rare "Navy Random Flair" tolex only used on the first few years of production. The tone is extremely dynamic and sensitive to your pick attack, and while the amp can deliver a slightly scooped clean tone at low volumes, this Ampeg has an incredible amount of gain on tap with an abundance of rich, warm, bold tones at hand. At around 4 on the volume dial the amp starts to sizzle and roar with a compressed churn, and the tone control is particularly responsive for thickening or thinning out the sound as necessary. It's an ideal recording amp with a surprising amount of volume via a vintage alnico Ampro Deluxe 12” speaker.

The circuit remains very original, having been freshly serviced in-house here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar and recapped as necessary to ensure optimal performance. The original transformers are intact, and the amp has been fitted with a new three-prong power cable. The tube compliment includes a pair of new, freshly biased Tung Sol 5881 (6L6) power tubes, with vintage Sylvania and General Electric-branded valves for the preamp and rectifier. The vintage Ampro Deluxe speaker has a very clean frame with original foil label on the bell cover, and the speaker has been freshly reconed. Visible inside the cabinet, the tube chart is also fully intact with a serial number from 1960.

Cosmetically, this amp is clean for an enclosure pushing 60, with original Navy Random Flair tolex (deep blue with silver sparkles), silver sparkle grill cloth, and new leather handle. The tolex is completely intact, with light peeling at the seams, and aging in the grillcloth. On the chrome faceplate, most of the original white silkscreen lettering is intact and the chrome plating shows light patina. The full compliment of original knobs is present too. This is a very clean and professionally serviced example of an uncommon, early Ampeg model.