de Lisle Nickel Box ™ Tube Amp

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The de Lisle Nickel Box is a cathode biased 5 watt single-ended design that features an EF86 preamp tube fronted by a 12AX7 twin-triode. Output is powered by an EL84, which puts out just over 5 watts at the onset of clipping. It's also available with a 6V6.

The low wattage makes it a great practice or recording amp. There is a convenient line-out jack on the bottom of the chassis for plugging into a console. The speaker can safely be unplugged for late-night recording sessions. The bright and punchy output through a 12" Eminence Private Jack speaker allows the de Lisle Nickel Box to sound much larger on tape (or disc). We opted for a larger, solid pine cabinet to avoid the "boxy" sound typically associated with low wattage amps. In fact, the Nickel Box cabinet is about the same size as a vintage Vox AC15 TV. This speaker and cabinet combination allows the amp to sound open, full and rich. We also offer the Nickel Box with an Eminence Red Fang 12" AlNiCo speaker in a deeper cabinet.

The Nickel Box was designed with de Lisle guitars in mind, so it loves TV Jones pickups. The clean tones are sparkly and complex with a good amount of level. When pushed, or when the gain switch is flipped, the overdrive can be thick and creamy or bright and edgy. But it's voiced to overdrive without getting muddy. This filtering is aided by a modified "James" style passive tone stack which allows the player to tailor a wide range of bass and treble frequencies around mids.

The Nickel Box is also a very quiet amp. Preamp grid wires are shielded to extraneous noise. We use a "galactic" star grounding scheme to keep hum and noise from entering the signal path. We also use a DC elevated heater supply in addition to a balance pot to eliminate filament hum.

We're also happy to announce that the Nickel Box is now available with tube driven reverb. Reverb models feature an Accutronics tank with rear-mounted dwell and level controls.

The Nickel Box is hand-built right here in our workshop using only high quality components. Here are some of this amp's features:

Audio Samples

Dirty Nickel

Recorded with a Nady tube condenser mic into a Yamaha MD-8 with the EQ flat. The guitar is a de Lisle Standard equipped with TV Jones Classics. The guitar is plugged directly into the amp. The treble is set around 2 o'clock, the bass at 12 o'clock, and the volume at 3 o'clock. No effects were used during recording or mixdown.

Shiny Nickel

Recorded with a Nady tube condenser mic into a Xenyx 802 mixer out to laptop running Audacity. The guitar is a de Lisle Standard equipped with TV Jones Classics. The guitar is plugged directly into the amp. The treble is set around 2 o'clock, the bass at 3 o'clock, and the volume is between 1 and 2 o'clock. No effects were used during recording or mixdown.

More to come!

de Lisle 15P ™ Tube Amp

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The de Lisle 15P is a 15 watt push-pull design that is available in either cathode or fix-adjustable bias. The preamp features an EF86 preamp tube fronted by a 12AX7 twin-triode. The EF86 is tied to a unique gain pot which allows it to function as a triode or pentode with variable screen compression in between. (A DC elevated heater supply and sensible gain structure ensure a very quiet EF86-based preamp.) Output is powered by a pair EL84s, which are preceded by a 12AT7 configured as a long-tailed-pair phase inverter. Rectification is solid state.

A single 12" Eminence Private Jack sits behind the TV front putting out beautiful, textured tones. The 15P is also available with an Eminence Red Fang AlNiCo speaker, which features a 103dB sensitivity rating. Either way, the 15P can deliver the goods in the volume category. The combo is housed in a road-ready solid pine cabinet constructed with dovetail joinery. Board components are mounted on a turrets for ease of service and reliability.

The 15P was designed with de Lisle guitars in mind, so it particularly fond of TV Jones pickups. It's crisp, bright, and voiced to overdrive without getting muddy. This filtering is aided by the passive tone stack, which allows the player to tailor bass and treble frequencies. The slope is also adjustable with the Contour control. This model also features a switched negative feedback circuit to reduce gain and flatten frequency response. This feature, along with the Tri-Pent control, allows the player to go from classic British tones to American-style with just a flip and a twist.

The 15P is hand-built right here in our workshop using only high quality components. Here are some of this amp's features:

de Lisle 30P ™ Tube Amp

The de Lisle 30P is a 30 watt push-pull design that is available in either cathode or fix-adjustable bias. The preamp features an EF86 preamp tube fronted by a 12AX7 twin-triode. The EF86 is tied to a unique gain pot which allows it to function as a triode or pentode with variable screen compression in between. Output is powered by four EL84 tubes, which are preceded by a 12AT7 configured as a long-tailed-pair phase inverter. Rectification is solid state. The 30P amp puts out 30 watts, but also features a half power switch to drop output down to 15 watts. This is a "true" half power switch in that both the bias and the plate load resistance are affected when changing between power modes.

Classic British sound is pumped out by the 12" Eminence Private Jack speaker. It is also available with an Eminence Red Fang, which features a 35 oz. AlNiCo magnet. This combo is housed in a large, solid pine cabinet with dovetail joinery and a TV front. The cream and brown color scheme is carried over from the Nickel Box amp. (The 30P and the Nickel Box use the same cabinet.)

It's crisp, bright, and voiced to overdrive without getting muddy. This filtering is aided by the passive tone stack, which allows the player to tailor bass and treble frequencies. The slope is also adjustable with the contour control.

The 30P is hand-built right here in our workshop using only high quality components. Here are some of this amp's features:

This model will be discontinued Q1 2010.

This is a handwired version of Leo Fender's classic tube amplifier design.

$559.00 + Shipping

Lead-time is approximately two weeks.