Valco El Grande. The Trailer Park Cousin. 1955 -Two Tone

If you're looking for more bang for your buck, let us examine, if you will, the counterpoint to my point.

Yes, that would be the vaunted Fender Champ.

First up, a Champ in comparable condition is going to cost you more than double. Yet both are small-wattage, single-ended amplifiers. Both employ a 6V6 power tube, a tube rectifier, and enough old-school tube tone to make modern boutique builders rich.

So what specifically are the differences between this El Grande and a Champ?

Not much, really, other than our need for acceptance.

And the need for acceptance generally fall into three categories:

1. People pleasers.
2. Those who care little for what others think.
3. Those who vacillate between pleasing others and pleasing themselves.

In this example, it's indeed numbers one and three that are the culprits.

Number two?

Well, he doesn't give two sh*ts.

About this amp?

Why not.

This 1955 El Grande is in very good condition and survived the cultural wars only to be excluded as the trailer park cousin of the Fender Champ we spoke of earlier.

Vintage Guitar magazine went so far as to note that these El Grandes share the same circuit family as the Supro Spectator. Different badge. Same Chicago DNA. In other words, while everybody else was staring at the head cheerleader, this one was quietly passing the exam.

This one retains its original speaker and original transformers. Somewhere along the way, this elderly lady found herself in need of fresh electrolytics and was granted them by a competent amplifier technician. Frankly, at seventy years of age, she's earned a little medical attention.

Tone?

Vintage Guitar described these little Valco-built amps as having a chewy harmonic dimension and a gritty texture. Me? I'd simply call it old school-record tone.

Condition? Very good.

Electronics? Fully functional.

In closing, if you're in need of a low-wattage bedroom amp with genuine 1950s Chicago DNA, this would be a lovely addition to the fold.

About that trailer park cousin?

We've all been guilty of judging by the class system. Just remember, friends, often the right amp is sitting directly under your nose. Just make sure your nose isn't so far up your... well, you know... that you fail to notice.