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| This is a very rare vintage Australian valve amplifier, and interestingly I also found another similar (but not identical) '65 amp with its speaker box, which is also for sale (click here to see it). Thanks to Roly Roper's splendid website, http://ozvalveamps.elands.com, easily the best resource for information on classic Australian amplifiers, the following information on their origin is available (thanks to a contribution by Phil Allison). The Vedette was made by ZJM Products. ZJM were the initials of the proprietor, Zoltan Julian Mielnik, who was known by his middle name. Julian was Polish (formerly a Polish Army intelligence officer), who came to Australia after a stint in a POW camp in Siberia in WW2. He operated a small music shop (ZJM Music) in Oxford St, Bondi Junction, and the amps built there were sold as 'Vedette' or 'ZJM' amplifiers. The amp itself is very interesting. It is essentially a Fender Blackface (pre-reverb) copy, with a 'normal' and 'vibrato' channel and a blackface 'Presence' control, but with English-style EL-34 output stage. It has tremolo (vibrato) in the vintage (pre opto-coupler) bias-oscillation mode which I love so much, as it is organic and 'squishy' in the way it responds differently to various input levels. A truly GROUSE amp! This 1960s vintage amp has just been extensively serviced, and has a new Sovtek 5AR4 rectifier and new Electro Harmonix EL34 valves fitted. Output would be in the 35-40 watt region. This amp sounds very good, and certainly looks great too. The tremolo is not foot-switchable, which leads me to believe the amp probably pre-dates the '64 I have. The amp measures 60cm(W) x 28cm(H) x 23kg(D) and weighs 14kg. Shipped dimensions and weight will be slightly higher. Click here for Australia-wide shipping quote - just add your postcode, select whether you want the security of signing for the delivery, and click the 'Calculate Postage' button!
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