Description

It's hard not to get excited about cool vintage pieces like this when they come into the shop...

At a quick glance, this might look like an early 60s Gibson or Epiphone tube amp, and you're not wrong to think that. It is! "Well why does it say 'Dwight' on the front of the cabinet?" you ask?!

Dwight was a subsidiary of Gibson and manufactured under the Epiphone brand through Sonny Shields Music in East St Louis, Illinois. Charles Dwight Shields entered into an agreement with Gibson/Epiphone in 1961 to have Epiphone Coronets and EA-35 Devon amplifiers rebranded under the Dwight name, and they were subsequently sold through Sonny Shields Music and rented through their lesson programs. This only lasted a few years, and production numbers were very low relative to the standard production Epiphone models.

This Dwight Devon combo is essentially an Epiphone Devon EA-35 amplifier, also represented by its bigger brother Gibson as a GA-8 Gibsonette. A compact finger-jointed pine cabinet 1x12 combo putting out approximately 8-9 watts via a parallel single-ended 6V6 power section, the Devon is a no-frills "student model" tube amp capable of some fantastic natural tube overdrive at friendlier volumes.

Simple controls - Volume and Tone - make dialing in a good tone almost effortless. At lower volume settings, you're rewarded with bright, chimey clean tones with a touch of hair. Once you start pushing the volume control towards 12:00 and beyond, you're rewarded with harmonically rich tube saturation and overdrive. The original stock Jensen 12J11 sounds crisp with great response, making this a very quick sounding amp.

This amp came to us having been recently serviced, including some new filter caps and a 3-prong power cord. The original Gibson-branded power tubes are healthy and sound great, and the preamp and rectifier tubes also tested strong and are likely original to the amp.

We're big fans of the Gibson/Epiphone amps of the 50s and early 60s, as they can offer tonally comparable options to those who want a classic Fender sound without breaking the bank. They have their own character and feel coupled with a unique vibe and aesthetic that makes them great stage, studio, or home amps.

Condition: Very Good+. This is a nice, clean example of a Gibson-made amp from this period. Original tolex and grill cloth are fully intact. The original suitcase handle remains functional. The chassis has some moderate pitting in the chrome, which is quite common for these amps. It has the original Dakaware "stove top" knobs as well. 

Specs

• Parallel Single-Ended circuit with 6V6 power tubes
• 8-9 Watts Output
• Cathode biased
• 12AX7 preamp tube
• 5AR4 Rectifier
• Controls: Volume, Tone
• 12" Jensen 12J11 Ceramic Speaker
• Serial # 116327