Danelectro Dirty Thirty: Got My Pick In The Dirt

New used amp day that is. From what I understand these things haven't been made since the 90s.

This amp acquisition was completely random and unplanned. There's been a lot of love around here lately for solid state amps, and tiny amps too, so here's one more for ya'll to consider (after living in the South for six years I've just recently gotten comfortable with working "ya'll" into casual conversation).

So here's the story about how I acquired this thing. Yesterday I spotted an 1960s Eko acoustic guitar hanging up at a pawn shop. Stupidly, instead of whipping out the $100 and walking out with the vintage classic instrument, I took a picture and decided to go home to do some research.

So I go back this morning to buy the Eko and quickly discover that it is "Ciao," as in gone, bye bye, purchased by some other more astute collector. After a few moments of intense disappointment I turned to walk out the door. That's when this little looker which hadn't been there yesterday caught my eye.

Cute, isn't it? I thought so too, that's why I brought it home for the modest $25 asking price. Hell, a used pedal typically cost that much. So I was hoping to score a vintage 60s Italian guitar, but ended up with a 90s Chinese made, retro style SS amp. Not a bad consolation prize, heh?

Original print ad for the Danelectro Dirty Thirty

Having only owned this adorable little amp for a few hours, I can't give as thorough a review as I sometimes manage. However, I will provide the following quick initial impressions and observations, along with a fast and dirty sound demo.

The following sound demo is the amp naked, with no pedals, no reverb, and no eq . . . . just the raw sound of the Dirty Thirty mic'd with a SM57 as per the photo below and recorded into Logic (no, I'm not using that Sony reel to reel in the background, though I will be experimenting with analog recording as soon as I acquire blank 1/4" tape). I'm playing an Elliot Tonemaster, which is an alder bodied, p-90 loaded Jazzmaster type thing, as well as an American Standard Strat.

https://soundcloud.com/user270520623/danelectro-dirty-thirty-amp-demo

From what I understand the 10 watt Dirty Thirty and its companion the 15 watt Nifty Fifty were made by Danelectro in the 90s. Both have sort of a cult following, especially amongst cigar box guitarist and harp players. They are known for having an excellent blues tone. Some even go so far as to call these amps future classics.

To me the amp looks so friggin' cool, having a similar design aesthetic to my much more expensive 65 Amps London rig. The faux leather covering, genuine leather handle, chrome name plate, grill clothe, and ox blood colored metal panel just ooze class.

This is not an amp for playing metal . . . but just looking at it should tell you that. As the visual cues of the Dirty Thirty indicate, its tones are on the classic side, with nice cleans and a very interesting low level break up. The small 6" speaker delivers a lot of focused trebly punch.