Below, a Diason combo, (pics supplied by Luke Walker) utilising the uniquely Australian idea of separating the power section of the amp from the low level pre-amp/tone control sections. The power supply and power amp module is in the main speaker cabinet, with a multpin cable to the top pre-amp head "break-out" unit. Why they went to all the trouble doing this is a mystery - perhaps trying to keep the weight down, or keeping hum and noise down by keeping the signal parts away from the hum and buzz of the high power tubes and transformers. I doubt it the effectiveness of this. More likely it was done to keep microphonics induced by speaker vibrations to a minimum. It must have surely added extra cost with the cables and plugs etc. It does sometimes allow easier servicing however if there is a fault with the pre circuitry.

At right the (non-Australian of course) 1962 Fender Concert again in first class condition for it's age. It has the original 4 x 10"/8 ohm Celestion cone loudspeakers which came as standard. The story goes that the ever pragmatic Leo Fender custom ordered a big shipment of the speakers from Celestion, and then crafted this model to use them up. The speakers look like Fender drive units superficially, but use Celestion cones and magnets. They run in parallel giving a load of just 2 ohms!

At right, a Diason practice amp utilising a single EL84 in pure class 'A' producing 12 watts RMS of shear warmth. Unfortunately the previous owner did the '70's makeover on it and pulled the vinyl trim off - tragic. Speakers are 2 x Rola 8".

On top is one of my FET guitar pre-amps - an ongoing project of mine. It is essentually a miniture class 'A' amplifier with tone controls preceding the output / overdrive stage.

If you're thinking of throwing out that old valve amp in favor of a new one, think again ... it may have a unique sound which can't be matched by today's corporate electronics product. Providing the trannies are O.K., I can fix it up, and probably even improve it for you.

On the other hand it may be a piece of junk like many of the '60s Australian efforts at guitar amps. Often they didn't stack up because they were built with cheap valve sockets that give reliability problems, inferior paper caps, below par audio transformers and boring circuits that tended to be based on valve public address amps using weird valves like the 6DQ6 horizpontal outputs from a TV as the power section (ouch, awfull sound). Capacitors can be changed and upgraded ofcourse, but if the raw material is ordinary, it can stonewall.

However, some were good and very cute - like the 'Goldentone' range, and some of the 'Diason's. They fill a niche sound catagory thesedays, since many of them were cathode biased class 'A' circuits - a bit like a Vox AC30. The Goldentones were very clean and great for '50s R&R. The Diason's as warm as toast.