Wow, what a find. An original Mark Sampson Star amp! Mark made these amps by hand in 2004 for a short period before production ended. The best estimate we can find is less than 200 amps of all configurations were made at Star. Sampson is a famous amp designer who was at Matchless amps and Bad Cat Amps. Mark then started STAR amps that only existed for a short time.
This is an all Class-A tube, point-to-point design. Their marketing materials stated Sampson’s design secrets and tweaks offer sparkly clean tones, over-the-top righteous gain and lush reverb. The size of the transformers are ridiculous. Mark built these amps exactly as he wished and they have no peers in our opinion except maybe a Dumble for a modest sum in six-figures.
Specs from Star Amps:
Vacuum tube circuitry, Pure CLASS A with tube rectification, Hand built, hand wired, Teflon coated wiring, Point-to-point wiring only with no circuit boards, All neatly tucked and tied harnessing, Vacuum impregnated and resin soaked transformers, Large over-service mil-spec components, Shock mounted tubes with protective shields, Industrial heavy-gauge steel chassis, Chicken head knobs, Industrial power cord, Backlit STAR logo, STAR custom modified Vintage CELESTION© Speakers, Heavy vinyl cabinet covering, 13-ply birch cabinet, Pro handle and corners.
The original list price for this amp was $3749.00 over a decade ago.
We could go on about tone-stacks, blah, blah, blah. But why? If you know Mark’s work, you’ll have a good idea how these very difficult to find amps sound… PURE TONE. We think this is the best combo configuration that Star made because it has Reverb.
This amp is used in very good condition. It is fully functional. The handle shows typical light fraying of the stitching due to the amps weight of 64 pounds! Yes we would prefer if you picked up this monster amp, but will will ship with proper boxing for $150.00.
We love to trade. We will consider vintage, used or newer guitars, basses, amps, etc… and jewelry in trade. All offers considered.
