NAD : Back to the Eighties .. Ohm

Rock_Zorro

I was wondering if anyone can recall the Ohm brand of guitar amplifiers which date, I think, to the early eighties?

When do you remember seeing them and how much did they cost?

The amp I have pictured below is a single channel solid state design with a Celestion G12-30 speaker. I know the speaker was manufactured from October 1979 until the mid-eighties (according to Celestion).

Apart from scratchy pots and some odd squeaky noises when I turn the amp off, it's a good amp, I like the simplicity and it's solidly made.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w48/imagebook/SC20_001_zpsrw6umlsz.jpg~original

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w48/imagebook/SC20_002_zpsred1vqoq.jpg~original

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w48/imagebook/SC20_003_zpsjlvfeldc.jpg~original

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w48/imagebook/SC20_004_zpsjcdahxv5.jpg~original

p90fool

They were regarded as pretty good for the price, because they were cheap but well-made, though I have to say fairly uninspiring sonically.

Their bass amps seemed to hang around longer than the guitar stuff, being workmanlike and reliable, and modern-sounding.

I can't remember who the distributor was in the UK, but it was the same as Heritage guitars for a while. I remember trying out the Heritage version of an L5 at a trade show but the only amps they had on the stand were by Ohm, which pretty well strangled it tbh.

About as unexciting as an 80s Carlsboro or similar, really. 

Van_Hayden

Nice little British amps - very much of an era. Company still exists and makes some rather nice PA gear.

Rowby1

Mate of mine had a bass amp from them. Sounded great but he was an exceptional player who probably could have made Carlsboro stuff sound good

Rock_Zorro

Thanks for the info. I've found this newsletter online which recounts some history of the brand. Wonderfully non-PC advertising.

http://www.jedistar.com/images/amp2/ohm_amps_30_years.jpg

ICBM

I remember them well. As p90fool said they were well-made, robust, loud and quite good-sounding although not really very distinctive or inspiring. I preferred them to Carlsbro - possibly just because the Celestion speakers sounded better than Carlsbro's equivalent Fanes, to me. I also preferred the look, they were a bit more professional and less 'Maplin parts bin'.

Maine were another very similar brand that also used Celestions but had more '70s German hi-fi' styling...

EricTheWeary

I had a bass combo, wow maybe 30 years ago? Styling wise very like the Hobo in the OP although I can't recall the exact name. Can't remember the price but it would have been cheap, some kind of end of line deal I think. I remember it arriving without a plug and having to go and buy one and fix it on. The other thing I remember is the smoothness of the back of it - not the covering as such but it was totally enclosed ( may have been a port at the bottom in guess) so you couldn't see the speaker and there were no sockets or anything except for the power lead ( which was probably fixed rather than a kettle type). However, long time ago so I don't know how accurately I can remember it all. I didn't have it long and sold all my bass stuff when I went off to study social work. 

Rock_Zorro

I gave the Hobo a good seeing to this afternoon (no tramps were harmed) and while it does lack the mojo of vintage tube it isn't entirely lacking in character i.e. uninspiring. 

With the tone stack at midway the amp is noticeably midrange focused, similar to the sound I usually get from putting an SD1 in front of an amp. There's not a trace of flab in the bass because of this, if anything there is too little low end to play with. The treble is particularly clear and bright, again there's an emphasis on mids and highs. Dull isn't a word which fits well with this amp, and there's plenty of gain too. I wonder if the healthy amount of gain is because the amp was designed when high output pickups were less common.

Think I'll give this dirty down n' out a home for a while.

TTony

I've still got one. It earns its keep as my workshop amp nowadays - which is to say, by doing very little.

I bought it when I sold my previous amp (Carlsbro Stingray 2x12 100w combo), which had started getting a little too heavy to heave in and out of the boot of a mk1 Escort, and up/down 3 flights of stairs.  

But for just switching on, and plugging a re-wired or newly wired guitar into, just to check I've got it all right, it does the job fine.

After 30-odd years, I don't think it owes me much!