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.

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:

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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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"I am 100% pleased with this amp." "...most likely one of the finest 15 watt amps out there." That's how players have described the de Lisle 15P. We are humbled by those words, and we are thrilled by the feedback we have received.

Just like our previous models, the 15P is an original de Lisle design. The Hi/Lo gain inputs is where the journey starts. Our unique preamp features an EF86 fronted by a 12AX7 twin-triode. From there the signal is fed to the rugged 12AT7 which takes on phase inverting duties. Output power is provided by a pair of EL84s. In the standard configuration, a single 12" Eminence Private Jack sits behind the TV front cabinet putting out beautiful, textured tones. We chose the Private Jack note only for its great sound, but also for its sensitivity. An efficient speaker really allows the amp to open up. The 15P is also available with the slightly more sensitive Eminence Red Fang speaker. Either way, the 15P can deliver the goods in the loudness category.

It's crisp and bright without being harsh and voiced to overdrive without getting muddy. Good power supply filtering and solid state rectification help deliver a solid bottom end, too. A modified James-style tone stack allows the player to tailor bass and treble frequencies. The slope is adjustable with the Contour control. Tone shaping and the gain structure are also manipulated by the EF86's Tri-Pent control. This pot allows the tube to function as either a triode or a pentode with variable screen compression in between.

We have taken several steps to ensure that your tone is what comes through the speaker: sheilded wiring, star grounding, a DC elevated heater supply, and a sensible gain structure ensure a very quiet EF86-based preamp. This model also features a switched negative feedback circuit to reduce gain/noise 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. Both the combo and head versions are 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. It's a versatile, professional piece of gear at a price many players can afford. Here's a list of features:

de Lisle 15P Studio ™ Tube Amp

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The Studio is based on the original 15P, but it includes a number of additions. (Items unique to the 15P Studio appear in bold below.)

The Studio comes standard with our own "transformerless" reverb circuit, which is a great sounding and quiet version of this classic effect.

This amp is also the first de Lisle model to feature a tube buffered FX loop. Both the send and return jacks have corresponding level controls. The return mix control is actually a multi-function pot. In addition to mixing the wet and dry signals, it's duties include series/parallel operation, phase, and gain (when no effects are connected). The latter allows the EF86 to be overdriven to a greater degree than the stock 15P since the signal is amplified slightly before entering the loop.

The rear panel features both a balanced (XLR) transformer-isolated output and an unbalanced (1/4") output with a common level control. Either output can be used with or without a speaker load. The XLR output requires a larger signal to give us the required output level, so we have incorporated the 1/4" / XLR toggle switch to bump up the source voltage.

The speaker can be safely unplugged for late night practicing through the headphone jack, which also doubles as an attenuated output when a speaker is connected to it.

Just like our previous models, the 15P Studio is an original de Lisle design. The Hi/Lo gain inputs is where the journey starts. Our preamp features an EF86 fronted by a 12AX7 twin-triode. The rugged 12AT7 takes on phase inverting duties. Output power is provided by a pair of EL84s.

It's crisp and bright without being harsh and voiced to overdrive without getting muddy. Good power supply filtering and solid state rectification help deliver a solid bottom end, too. A modified James-style tone stack allows the player to tailor bass and treble frequencies. The slope is adjustable with the Contour control. Tone shaping and the gain structure are also manipulated by the EF86's Tri-Pent control. This pot allows the tube to function as either a triode or a pentode with variable screen compression in between. The master volume control is a unique post-phase inverter design that has no affect on tone when in the full clock-wise position. Our set up also eliminates the sensitivity issues that can affect the usefulness of other designs.

We have taken several steps to ensure that your tone is what comes through the speaker: shielded wiring, star grounding, a DC heater supply, and a sensible gain structure ensure a very quiet EF86-based preamp. This model also features a switched negative feedback circuit to reduce gain/noise 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 Studio is hand-built right here in our workshop using only high quality components. It's 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. (Like all de Lisle products, it comes with a lifetime warranty.) It's a versatile, professional piece of gear at a price many players can afford.

Here's a list of features:

de Lisle 30P ™ Tube Amp

The de Lisle 30P is a 30 watt push-pull design. The preamp features our signature arrangement--an EF86 preamp tube fronted by a 12AX7 twin-triode. Gain in this section is extremely flexible. The Boost switch on the 12AX7 and Pentode/Triode switch for the EF86 allow for a wide range of harmonic content. Turn the Boost off and put the EF86 in Triode mode for some sparkly cleans. Both stages have their own gain pot.

Output is powered by four EL84 tubes, which are preceded by a 12AT7 long-tailed-pair phase inverter. Rectification is solid state with a passive sag circuit which offers solid state reliability and tube-style compression. The 30P 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 are affected to maintain frequency response.

A US made, 12" Eminence Private Jack speaker comes standard. The 30P is also available with an Eminence Red Fang, which features a 35 oz. AlNiCo magnet. The combo version is housed in a large, solid pine cabinet constructed with dovetail joinery and a TV front. Our classic cream and brown color scheme is carried over from our earlier designs.

It's voice is unmistakeably de Lisle: crisp, bright, and voiced to overdrive without getting muddy or harsh. This filtering is aided by a variation of the "James" 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:

30P Samples

Check out our Youtube page for a few demos.

de Lisle 35P ™ Tube Amp