Magnatone was a brand of electric guitars and amplifiers produced between 1937 and the mid-1970s. The company was based in California. The brand name was revived in the 2010s by Ted Kornblum.

History

Beginning in the late 1930s, Magna Electronics produced amplifiers, Hawaiian and steel guitars. In the 1950s and 1960s, they produced vibrato-equipped amplifiers which were used by musicians including

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

and

Lonnie Mack Lonnie McIntosh (July 18, 1941 – April 21, 2016), known as Lonnie Mack, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was an influential trailblazer of blues rock music and rock guitar soloing. Mack emerged in 1963 with his breakthroug ...

. The 'real' vibrato effect called ''F.M. Vibrato'' was distinct in sound and design from the more common tremolo circuits found on Fender amplifiers. Magnatone amplifiers began in the late 1930s as the Dickerson Musical Instrument Company founded by Delbert J. Dickerson in southern California. They made steel guitars and amplifiers designed for that instrument. In the forties Gaston Fator Guitar Studios in Los Angeles bought the business from Dickerson. Fator owned it for a few years, and then sold it to Art Duhamell around 1946. During the years Fator ran the business, there was little engineering or innovation, he basically continued the product lines Dickerson had established and continued to build amps and guitars for other manufacturers as well. In the hands of its new owner, Art Duhamell, the amplifier and guitar brand name was changed to Magnatone, and the company name was Magna Electronics Company. Duhamell built Magnatones alongside record players, radios, and speakers. By 1950, Magna expanded from their Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles location with three new buildings at 9749 S. Freeman Ave. and employed more than twenty-five employees. Paul Bigsby designed solid-body guitars for Magnatone from 1955–1957. Pioneering blues-rock guitar soloist

used Magnatone vibrato amps almost exclusively. A Magnatone amp was also the basis of the signature guitar sound of Robert Ward. They are still used today by musicians including

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

, who uses a 280 Stereo in his live rig.

Revival

The brand was revived in early 2013 with a line of boutique amps, some of which are reproductions of previous Magnatone designs. The brand name was revived by Ted Kornblum (formerly of

Ampeg Ampeg is a manufacturer best known for its bass amplifiers. Originally established in 1946 in Linden, New Jersey by Everett Hull and Stanley Michaels as "Michael-Hull Electronic Labs," today Ampeg is part of the Yamaha Guitar Group. Although ...

and

St. Louis Music St. Louis Music (SLM) is a manufacturing company, manufacturer and distributor of musical instruments, accessories, and equipment. SLM distributes products from over 260 music products industry brands, is the corporate owner of several string ins ...

), and input on the amps' respective designs was provided by

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

and Neil Young's guitar tech, Larry Cragg. The new line of six different Magnatone models debuted at the 2013 NAMM Show in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

References

External links

* * * {{cite news, first=John, last=Teagle, title= Magnatone Amps, url=http://www.vintageguitar.com/1938/magnatone-amps-3/, newspaper=

Vintage Guitar A vintage guitar is an older guitar usually sought after and maintained by avid collectors or musicians. The term may indicate either that an instrument is merely old, or that is sought after for its tonal quality, cosmetic appearance, or hist ...

, issue= April 1998 — an overview of Magnatone amplifiers Guitar manufacturing companies of the United States Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States Guitar amplifier manufacturers