Garnet Pro 200 Super Amp Head!

[slider313]

I recently picked up this mid 70's Canadian made Garnet Pro 200 Super amp head. The bands The Guess Who and BTO used these amps. The price was nice and it has all these different tone controls; rocker switches for bass, middle and treble boost, and EQ rotary switches. The layout is pretty much like a mid 70's plexi Marshall with two EL34's and three 12ax7's. It's point to point wired and even the tone caps are the Phillips yellow "chicklet" type. When I plugged it in, it sounded weak with an abundance of crossover distortion at lower volume settings. Crossover distortion sounds like compressed mud at settings where the amp should be clean and punchy. A quick check of the power tube bias and the problem was found. The Sylvania 6CA7's were running at 10ma each where the desired setting at 510v should be around 34ma. I send an email to Bob at Eurotubes.com with the amp model and voltage specs. Two days later I recieve a pair of JJ EL34's matched to Bob's recommended "45" setting and measure the current. 34ma!! This one sounds like a good Marshall without the price tag. I only have a single 12 cabinet to run it through but did put it through a friends 4x12. This baby can move some air for sure.

 

[pegleg32]

Nice one Slider, looks like another great addition to your collection.

[smurph1]

Nice Amp!! Ah..the Guess Who..Vastly underrated and very talented band!

[bolero]

Garnet amps are great!! I have a couple

 

congrats, that's a nice one!

[slider313]

I'm putting this baby up for sale. I'm just a Fender guy at heart and a combo player. Plus, this sucker's HEAVY! I'd take $550 shipped to the CONUS.

[212Mavguy]

That's a screaming deal...if built today by a boutique builder you'd have to spend a couple of grand to have one made like it. Most of the Garnet amps were smaller than this one in output, I think this one's more rare and quite special. There are stories floating around the internet about how Gar Gillies (founder of Garnet) occasionally used to toss one of his amps off a roof for durability testing...

[LK155]

There are stories floating around the internet about how Gar Gillies (founder of Garnet) occasionally used to toss one of his amps off a roof for durability testing...

 

I have seen video (don't remember where) of exactly this kind of torture testing being done in Toronto sometime in the 60's, but with a Traynor head.