Galt Musical Instruments The Mason Model 5 Tube Amplifier, c. 1954
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Galt Musical Instruments The Mason Model 5 Model Tube Amplifier, c. 1954, made in Galt, Ontario, serial # 502, brown fabric covering finish.
Located unsurprisingly in Galt, (now re-named Cambridge) Ontario, Galt Musical Instruments made lap steels and the complimentary amps. Featuring Guelph-made Hammond transformers and a Waterloo-made Marsland speaker, all housed in a Guelph-made Holman cabinet, this Mason Model 5 amplifier is local Canadian to its core. Bearing an Ontario Conservatory of Music sigil, the amp likely stayed local for many decades!
The amp features a rather striking control panel with the simplest control scheme; one knob for combined volume and on/off control, just like a Fender Champ! Unlike the revered single-ended 5 watt Fender amp, however, the Mason Model 5 bears two 6V6 power tubes in push-pull, yielding around 10 watts of power into the 8" Marsland speaker. The sound is pretty much what you would expect, the classic Champ growl with a little more power and headroom but a quick and chunky break-up when cranked.
Height is 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.), 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm.) width, and 8 in. (20.3 cm.) deep.
Cosmetically, this amp is very nicely preserved for 70 years along. The brown 'faux leather' covering is in great shape save for some typical corner and edge wear. The grille cloth is in beautiful condition with no visible tears or signs of fraying; the cool island/palm stencil is nicely intact and the cloth shows a faint mark of the stencil upside down, possibly from a 'misprint'. The control panel plate is in beautiful shape with hardly any wear to be seen. Even the original plastic handle is intact!
Electrically, the amp is nicely original; the original Hammond-made power and output transformers are both present as is the speaker, which still sports its original cone, testing and sounding great. The amp has otherwise seen our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of electrolytic capacitors, a grounded 3-prong power cord, cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks and power tubes biased to spec.
This is a very cool if rather obscure piece of Canadian amp and steel guitar manufacturing history (which there is not a whole lot of) in fabulous shape with a wonderful sound. Very Good + Condition.
Located unsurprisingly in Galt, (now re-named Cambridge) Ontario, Galt Musical Instruments made lap steels and the complimentary amps. Featuring Guelph-made Hammond transformers and a Waterloo-made Marsland speaker, all housed in a Guelph-made Holman cabinet, this Mason Model 5 amplifier is local Canadian to its core. Bearing an Ontario Conservatory of Music sigil, the amp likely stayed local for many decades!
The amp features a rather striking control panel with the simplest control scheme; one knob for combined volume and on/off control, just like a Fender Champ! Unlike the revered single-ended 5 watt Fender amp, however, the Mason Model 5 bears two 6V6 power tubes in push-pull, yielding around 10 watts of power into the 8" Marsland speaker. The sound is pretty much what you would expect, the classic Champ growl with a little more power and headroom but a quick and chunky break-up when cranked.
Height is 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.), 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm.) width, and 8 in. (20.3 cm.) deep.
Cosmetically, this amp is very nicely preserved for 70 years along. The brown 'faux leather' covering is in great shape save for some typical corner and edge wear. The grille cloth is in beautiful condition with no visible tears or signs of fraying; the cool island/palm stencil is nicely intact and the cloth shows a faint mark of the stencil upside down, possibly from a 'misprint'. The control panel plate is in beautiful shape with hardly any wear to be seen. Even the original plastic handle is intact!
Electrically, the amp is nicely original; the original Hammond-made power and output transformers are both present as is the speaker, which still sports its original cone, testing and sounding great. The amp has otherwise seen our typical maintenance and servicing, including replacement of electrolytic capacitors, a grounded 3-prong power cord, cleaning of all sockets, pots and jacks and power tubes biased to spec.
This is a very cool if rather obscure piece of Canadian amp and steel guitar manufacturing history (which there is not a whole lot of) in fabulous shape with a wonderful sound. Very Good + Condition.