s-sm | sn-ss | st-

info    updated 25/4/2011

Stage

Image 1970s Stage amp advertisement eBay [click to enlarge]

Stage was a brand name used by Unicord.  Made by Westbury. [Source: wikipedia]

Image Stage 65 combo amplifier eBay:

Standel

Standel was founded by Bob Crooks, a radio repairman (just like Leo Fender). Produced in Newark, New Jersey from 1953 to 1973. They beat Fender to produce a solid state amp in 1963. The brand reappeared 25 years later and are still being made in the USA. A good history is available at the current company web site.

Standel pricelist

2004 Standel pricelist

http://www.harpamps.com/micKamps/Standel-History.html

Standel schematics

Star

Star Amps, the company that amp designer Mark Sampson started after he left Matchless and Bad Cat. Since 2004.

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2006/Star-Amplifiers-Super-Nova.html

Following info from the archive. Web site was not available in 2008 when I started this item.

Star Amplifier Story

Star Amplifier Press Release July 2004

Star Amplifier specifications:
Blues Star

Gain Star

Sirius Reverb

Star catalog cover page

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Image Star amp eBay:

Starforce

Image eBay:

Steavens

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Image Steavens bass head Yahoo auction:

Steelfon

http://www.fetishguitars.com/mrt/index.html

Steelphon

Amps made in Turin, Italy [Source: Fetish Guitars]

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Image eBay:

Stephenson

Stephenson amps, Parksville, British Columbia, Canada.

Hand-wired, hand-made tube guitar amplifiers

"First amp with the Stephenson name was built in 1997.

My products are made in Canada.

Dating Stephenson amplifiers

My serial number system has changed over the years, and each early model had it’s own numbering system. However, the year of manufacture is usually pretty easy to figure out on most everything I’ve ever built. The year is written inside the amplifier, and in some cases the first digits of the serial number is the year of manufacture. I’ve built many custom one-off amplifiers and often the best bet when someone is searching for all the details is to email or call, I’ll then look up the data on that particular amplifier for them." [Source: Mark Stephenson, email 16/6/2010]

Steward

Steward guitar amplifiers, made in England. Steward was a brand used by Session on guitar amps sold in the USA.  They could not sell under their own name in USA as Peavey had licensed the Session name.

see Session

Images Steward Duette 110 eBay:

Stiff

Stiff Amplification Tony Krank, Founder of Krank Electronics 1995, Started Krank Amplification LLC in 2003.

Repair and mod shop Orbit Electronix started 2005,

Started Stiff Amplification LLC Feb 2011

Stimer

http://www.geocities.com/stompbox2001/french.htm

Storm

Storm effects pedals

http://www.locobox.com/storm.html

Storm

Storm Australia, amplifiers by Jade

pdf\storm_jade_amplification.pdf

Stradolin

Images Stradolin amp ebay April 2012

Stranger

Stranger Audio, since the late 1990s. Amplification from Kolkata, India.

Straub

Straub Amplification, Woodbury, MN, USA

Strauss

Strauss Amplification. Australian amps from the 1960s.

Gary Nessel and John Woodhead founded the Strauss company in Melbourne in March 1962. They manufactured guitar and bass amps from day one and PA amps and boxes from late 1962. The ‘Warrior’ and ‘Hurricane’ guitar amps and ‘Bandit’ bass amp were to become the prime choice of musicians across Australia. They built large-scale sound systems from Altec Lansing designs, powering them with huge Strauss valve amps and using Strauss active crossovers. They built their own mixers and were well in advance of their Sydney counterparts. In 1969, the company name was changed to NOVA SOUND. [Source: Greg, ABC Collectors ]

Strauss info and examples at Ozvalve Amps

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Image Strauss SVC 30 eBay:

Stromberg Carlson

Stromberg-Carlson schematics

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electronics/schempage.php?cat=1

Stromberg-Carlson schematics

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Images eBay

Strymon

Strymon was founded in 2008 with the release of the SVpre tube preamp for Line 6 Spider Valve. In 2009 teamed up with Damage Control and began co-developing Strymon products.

Studio Master

Studio Mastere schematic

Stulce

Amplifiers made in the USA since 2006?

Sub Decay

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Suhr Amplification

Suhr makes amps as well as guitars. Lake Elsinore, California, USA.

Suhr Amp Spec & Pricelist 2005

Suhr Amp Pricelist 2010

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Summit

Carl Zwengel of Summit amplifiers was based at 1136 Margaret Drive , Princeton, IL 61356. USA  Amps were also made under the Zwengel name.  The internet archive has a summit amps site for 2001 only.  Here are some pages from this site.

Summit amps models

Summit Banshee specification

Summit amps pricelist 2001

see Zwengel

Sunda

Sunda amps were made by Orange County, California amp builder Gary Sunda.  Now known as  "O.C. SPEAKER" [Source: eBay]

Apparently Gary Sunda also had a relationship with Randall amps in the 1980s [Source: Harmony Central reviews]

Image of 1960s Sunda amplifier catalog from eBay.

Sundown

All tube amps made in 1980s by Sundown Technology, Inc in Edison NJ USA. The company was started by Dennis Kager after he left Ampeg.

Sundown amp schematics

http://www.blueguitar.org/schems.htm

Sundown schematics

http://www.schematicheaven.com/post70s.htm

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Images Sundown amps eBay:

Sunn

Norm Sundholm, bass player for the Kingsmen, complained that his bass amp was getting lost in the mix. He sought assistance from his brother Conrad, an electronics enthusiast. Conrad built a cabinet which became the 2-30/C60.. a bass amp that would set the music world on its ears.

Other musicians were soon in awe of the Sundholm brother’s amplifiers. Norm and Conrad started to receive orders from guitarists and bass players who had to have one just like it. Conrad set up shop in his dad’s garage, started building what would become SUNN amplifiers.

Although the Brothers Sundholm had enjoyed a great deal of success, receiving endorsements from the Rolling Stones, The Who and Jimi Hendrix, they had quite different views on running the business. At the end of the '60's, Norm sold his interest in Sunn to Conrad and went on to pursue a career in real estate."....

Then in 1971, Conrad sold the rest of SUNN to the Hartzell Corporation, a Minnesota based conglomerate.

Hartzell continued to make SUNN amps throughout the ‘70’s and into the early ‘80’s, until a tragic plane crash took the life of its President, Tom Hartzell. His surviving family did little with SUNN amplifiers, and decided to sell it a few years later. [Source: The Sunn Shack]

http://sunn.ampage.org/site/

http://www.classicamplifiers.com/SunnModelT.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunn

Sunn amplifier catalogs & brochures

1966 http://users.nac.net/the/gear/SunnBroch.jpg

1968, 1979 http://sunn.ampage.org/site/catalogs/

brochures http://sunn.ampage.org/site/brochures/

Sunn schematics

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electronics/schempage.php?cat=1

http://www.schematicheaven.com/post70s.htm

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Sunn discussion forum

http://sunn.ampage.org/sdp/index.php?action=recent

Images of 1967 Sunn Sonic 1 and Sunn 212 combo , Manufactured for only one year, (1973-1974) both from eBay

Supernova

Supernova appears to be a brand name of Tel Ray. These solid state amplifiers were made by the Syn-Cordion company of Long Island, NY. [Source: TelRay Oil Can Addicts]

Found a Supernova amp on ebay with a Made by Sano Corporation label.

Syn-Cordian survived until 2007 with the following announcement made on their website "After 100 years of serving the accordion industry our service center will no longer be available after June 15th, 2007." [Source: Waybackmachine]

Images eBay:

Suprem

http://www.el-me-se.de/suprem.htm

Supro

Supro amps were made by Valco Manufacturing, Chicago

http://gretschpages.com/amplifiers/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supro

Jimmy Page http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=296118

Supro schematics

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electronics/schempage.php?cat=1

Supro schematics

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Effects

(Supro reverb unit) http://www.harmonicamasterclass.com/vintage_amps.htm

Images Supro Bantam amp eBay:

Suzuki

http://tix.gozaru.jp/amp.html

Swampdonkey Amplifiers

Hand built all tube amps, Alberta, Canada

"I started building amps in 2007. Only 5 Swampdonkey M50 amplifiers have been built so far. The name "Swampdonkey" is a single
word, btw. The amps are made in Alberta, Canada with parts from Canada,U.S.A., Europe and Asia. The date of manufacture is not written anywhere on the amp but is recorded in a log at the shop / office. The serial number is a 5 digit integer starting with 00001 on the first amp. The serial number is printed on a sticker that is placed on the rear control panel and also stamped into the chassis.
Right now, all our amps are wired to run on 120 VAC 60 Hz power but international models with a universal power supply will follow when we enter those markets." [Source ad images courtesy of: Chris Czech, email 16/9/2008 ]
Designer / Builder of Swampdonkey Guitar Amplifiers
Mailing Address:
R.R. # 1, Site 16, Box 2
Cochrane, Alberta
Canada   T4C 1A1]

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Swart Amplifier Company

Swart Amp Co - Space Tone amps, and effects pedals. Wilmington, NC, USA

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Image eBay:

SWD

"SWD amps are made in Ballarat Victoria Australia. Our amps are totally hand made, point to point wiring, extremely high quality & built one  at a time for the customer. Our amps are available in single 12, 2 x  12 & Head & 1 x 12 or 2 x 12 Box configurations.  Most of the build  dates are inside the chasis. We have been in operation for around 4  years now. Our amps have proven to be extremely robust & reliable. We  have not yet had any amps back for any major repairs other than  general servicing of valves.  We also make and design custom pedal boards." [Source: Paul Wilson, SWD Amps, email 20/8/2008 ]

SWR Amplifiers

Steve W. Rabe (SWR) released his first commercial product in 1984, the PB-200 hybrid tube/solid-state bass guitar amplifier. The first 5 units were manufactured by hand in a garage in the San Fernando Valley. This model soon became the SM-400. SWR then pursued development of a speaker cabinet to accompany its amps. In 1986, SWR released the Goliath, a 4 x 10" full-range speaker cabinet with a built-in horn tweeter, a first for bass cabinets.
SWR was purchased by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2003. the Professional Series products are built in Corona, California; the WorkingPro and Acoustic Series products are built in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; and the LA Series is manufactured in Indonesia. [Source: SWR website]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWR_Sound_Corporation

SWR Product Manuals

http://www.britishaudioservice.com/manuals.shtml

SWR amplifier schematics

http://www.schematicheaven.com/post70s.htm

SWR pricelists

2005 SWR Pricelist

2006 SWR Pricelist

2007 SWR Pricelist

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Symfonia Grand

I came across this Symfonia Grand combo amplifier on ebay. Another reference suggested this brand was available in 1964.  Apparently their is a guitar branded the same - built alongside Rickenbacker. [Source: Rick Resource]

Symphonic

Symphonic amps were made in Montreal Canada in the 1950s?

http://tone-lizard.com/Symphonic_Amplifiers.htm

Reviews are at Harmony Central

Symphonic Amp Review

Images eBay:

Symphony

"What little info I've been able to find is these were made in the United States after the end of WWII and up until some time in the early 1950s.

Other than that, you know about as much as I do. It's a Symphony Porto-Amp. 3 tube 6SN7GT preamp, 6V6GT power amp, 7Y4 rectifier...I have no idea if they're original. As far as the rest of the components, the amp looks completely original...Solar, Cornell-Dublier, Astron wax-paper caps and all. It has a 6" Utah speaker, made in Huntington, Indiana.

Best regards, [Source and images courtesy of Kevin Fahey. Maryland, USA email 8/11/2011]

Synaptic

Steven O'Connor, Brunswick, ME, USA

"We started building under this name in 2007.
Our amps are built in Brunswick, ME USA.

Dating Synaptic Amps
All amps are signed and dated month/year on a sticker inside the chassis. Additionally our head cabinets all bear my signature and the month and year of their completion on the inside of the front face in the top right corner. The date of the cabinet and chassis completion is not necessarily the same. Our product serial numbers are sequential starting from 001 and moving up without regard to different product lines. That is to say that if today we complete a Pure-Drive SE serial number 100 and the next completed build is an Explosion 25, it's serial number will be 101." [Source:  Steve O'Connor, Synaptic Amps, email, 25/6/2009]

Synthesis

Italian tube amps.