• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

The coolest old amp I ever encountered - the National Professional 1299 (Valco!)

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
It's a 1956 National model 1299, the top dog in their "Professional" line of amps. In all my years scouring the web for Valcos, this is the only one like this I've seen. I have a friend in PA who owns one and sent me photos of his about 8 or 9 yeas ago; it's the only one I've ever seen or heard of. Neither he nor any other Valco enthusiasts I know have ever seen another. I have this model's "little brother"--the 1215 (same amp with a 15 rather than four 10s)...but none of us knew the model number of either this one or its big brother, the 1299. (I have subsequently learned the model number--nmiller posted a page from the old National Instrument catalog that featured the Professional amps, over on The Gear Page.)

I've been looking for one since my friend sent me those photos 8 or 9 years ago so when this one popped up on eBay a month ago, my eyes just about popped out. I was outbid the first time it came up (and I bid almost 3 grand)...but the high bidder disappeared. The seller put it up for auction again and I snagged it the second time.

It was in non-working condition but I was sure I'd could fix it. It was in such good looking physical shape (and had been owned by a Hawaiian-guitar player) so I suspected that what ever it was, it wouldn't be too bad. When I took receipt and got it open, I could see that almost no work had been done to it. All the original parts with the exception of a) the plug on the the AC cord, b) two-cathode bypass caps in the lower chassis (power section) and c) one cathode resistor (on one pair of power tubes). The AC plug was ancient, the hardware-store "screw-on" variety. One lead was toast. After I cleaned them both up and re-attached it, the amp came back to life! Brought it up nice and slow on the variac...but it sounded like poop though.

I tested and replaced all the electrolytic caps and the paper/wax coupling caps (those are virtually always toast in old Valcos). Tried it again...sounded stronger and livlier...but still pretty distorted / miserable.

I have thread on the Gear Page where I explain this in more detail if you're interested but I'll cut to the chase here: someone had previously repaired the 3-prong plug that takes the signal from the two sides of the phase inverter (upper chassis) to the grids of the power tubes (lower chassis). Only two of the three pins in the plug are used. When they made their repair, the used the one wrong pin---it is connectd to NOTHING in the lower chassis! So you were only getting one half of the phase inverter and one half of the power section amplifying anything, LOL. As soon as I fixed that plug, boom, the thing came back to LIFE! And it is one absolutely badass amp!!

It is a 4x10 (Rola alnico speakers) combo with two identical channels. The front end of each channel consists of a 5879 pentode followed by a 12AX7 triode gain stage and then into the phase inverter. Back end is two pairs of cathode-biased 6L6GBs (5881s) with a 5U4GB recitifier. Two matching OTs. All transformers from Magnetic Components.

 

bluesforstevie

New member
Joined
Jun 20, 2002
Messages
12,771
It's a 1956 National model 1299, the top dog in their "Professional" line of amps. In all my years scouring the web for Valcos, this is the only one like this I've seen. I have a friend in PA who owns one and sent me photos of his about 8 or 9 yeas ago; it's the only one I've ever seen or heard of. Neither he nor any other Valco enthusiasts I know have ever seen another. I have this model's "little brother"--the 1215 (same amp with a 15 rather than four 10s)...but none of us knew the model number of either this one or its big brother, the 1299. (I have subsequently learned the model number--nmiller posted a page from the old National Instrument catalog that featured the Professional amps, over on The Gear Page.)

I've been looking for one since my friend sent me those photos 8 or 9 years ago so when this one popped up on eBay a month ago, my eyes just about popped out. I was outbid the first time it came up (and I bid almost 3 grand)...but the high bidder disappeared. The seller put it up for auction again and I snagged it the second time.

It was in non-working condition but I was sure I'd could fix it. It was in such good looking physical shape (and had been owned by a Hawaiian-guitar player) so I suspected that what ever it was, it wouldn't be too bad. When I took receipt and got it open, I could see that almost no work had been done to it. All the original parts with the exception of a) the plug on the the AC cord, b) two-cathode bypass caps in the lower chassis (power section) and c) one cathode resistor (on one pair of power tubes). The AC plug was ancient, the hardware-store "screw-on" variety. One lead was toast. After I cleaned them both up and re-attached it, the amp came back to life! Brought it up nice and slow on the variac...but it sounded like poop though.

I tested and replaced all the electrolytic caps and the paper/wax coupling caps (those are virtually always toast in old Valcos). Tried it again...sounded stronger and livlier...but still pretty distorted / miserable.

I have thread on the Gear Page where I explain this in more detail if you're interested but I'll cut to the chase here: someone had previously repaired the 3-prong plug that takes the signal from the two sides of the phase inverter (upper chassis) to the grids of the power tubes (lower chassis). Only two of the three pins in the plug are used. When they made their repair, the used the one wrong pin---it is connectd to NOTHING in the lower chassis! So you were only getting one half of the phase inverter and one half of the power section amplifying anything, LOL. As soon as I fixed that plug, boom, the thing came back to LIFE! And it is one absolutely badass amp!!

It is a 4x10 (Rola alnico speakers) combo with two identical channels. The front end of each channel consists of a 5879 pentode followed by a 12AX7 triode gain stage and then into the phase inverter. Back end is two pairs of cathode-biased 6L6GBs (5881s) with a 5U4GB recitifier. Two matching OTs. All transformers from Magnetic Components.


🎵🎸🤟😛🤟
 

Thundermtn

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
548
Thanks for the video Leon! Sounds great, tons of gain for what I think of from the mid 50's. Any chance of some P90 action?
 

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
Thanks gents!

Thanks for the video Leon! Sounds great, tons of gain for what I think of from the mid 50's. Any chance of some P90 action?

Yeah, many Valco amps from that era had a lot of gain on tap...and based on their filtering, coupling caps and phase inverter design, they don't get farty/flabby sounding (well, some of the earlier ones would...but not so much from the mid-50s on). I also have the "little brother" to this model -- the 1215. That one has exactly the same pre-amp (upper chassis) but is powered by four 6V6s going into a big ole Jensen P15N. Exactly the same personality, but 4x10" vs one 15" just sounds a bit different. They're both just monsters! Here's a clip of my 1215.


I push it hard towards the end of the clip, starting at about 3:12 or so.

Yeah, I've got a couple great P90 guitars, I'll get another clip out with P90s; will post here.
 

Thundermtn

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
548
That's pretty nuts, seem like it's up around the JCM800 with chords but single picked it has the Valco thing still going on but angry.
 

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
That's pretty nuts, seem like it's up around the JCM800 with chords but single picked it has the Valco thing still going on but angry.

Man...that is why I just LOVE Valco amps from the mid-50s through early 60s; so many of them are just ridiculously badass! I wish I knew about them 40 years ago...could have saved a lot of time and money spent over the next 40 years, LOL. They're not all great...they made plenty of crappy little amps too. But there are a lot of great models in that time period and their great ones are just crazy good! These two--the Professional series amps--and the 1688TN are my favorites though. I want to try a Brentwood one day but I doubt if I'll like it more than these three (1215, 1299 and 1688TN).
 

goldtop0

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
8,931
Wow great to see these clips thanks( a real eye opener) and congrats on some truly good sounding '50s amps..........what's not to like
and the aesthetics......'50s deco......just love it:2cool
 

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
Wow great to see these clips thanks( a real eye opener) and congrats on some truly good sounding '50s amps..........what's not to like
and the aesthetics......'50s deco......just love it:2cool

Yeah, I love that art-deco look. That covering looks just like the stuff my parents had in our kitchen dinette set back in 1955, lol!

IN fact, when I found my 1215 back in 2012, I did some research on that covering. It was made by Naugahyde and in their catalog, that pattern was referred to as "Contemporary", which certainly fit it at the time! If you do a google search for "naugahyde contemporary", you'll get back some images that some guy posted on flickr. Turns out he has bought the stamp that makes that pattern! I contacted him to see if he'd be willing to make me 10-15 yards of it. "No." was his reply. It appears he's using it to make I-phone covers, placemats, knick-knacks, etc.... :pop :dang
 

goldtop0

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
8,931
Yes exactly, my folks had a kitchen table with that type of top...... love that old '50s stuff(when I was a kid).
There were toilet seats/lids and all made of it also:2cool
 

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
Okay, here's another clip, by request, featuring a Strat for my buddy Josh, and for the guy who wanted to hear a P90 guitar.

 

Thundermtn

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2016
Messages
548
What a great sounding amp! It makes every guitar sound great and preserves the sound of the different styles of instrument. Thanks for the P90 stuff!
 

LeonC

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2002
Messages
799
Thanks gents.

This amp is such a beast!! Of course, you just can't capture the sound/feel in the room. It's so big sounding and so responsive.

I've now had a chance to a/b it quite a bit with its little brother, the 1215. I think the 1215 is a bit more suited to single coils...not quite as much clean headroom, a bit more mid-rangey orientation. The bigger 1299 is louder (powered by four 5881s rather than four 6V6s in the 1215) and the cab is a bit bigger in every dimension (11" deep!)

IMG_2863.JPG
 

goldtop0

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
8,931
Thanks gents.

This amp is such a beast!! Of course, you just can't capture the sound/feel in the room. It's so big sounding and so responsive.

I've now had a chance to a/b it quite a bit with its little brother, the 1215. I think the 1215 is a bit more suited to single coils...not quite as much clean headroom, a bit more mid-rangey orientation. The bigger 1299 is louder (powered by four 5881s rather than four 6V6s in the 1215) and the cab is a bit bigger in every dimension (11" deep!)

IMG_2863.JPG


Just love the pic:2cool
 
Top