# Rare Garnet Deluxe 200 "United" Amp



## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

A client has asked me to look at and service his Garnet stencil amp. It has United logo on it. My understanding is United was a music school in Manitoba who the Gillies' clan made these for. Not sure how rare it is, but thought I would record my findings here for others to learn from if needed in the future. Canadian amp, Canadian forum, seemed like a good idea.

The amp reads Deluxe 200 on the control panel. Rear tag reads: Model D200TD, serial number S834. The big blue caps are made in Canada Mallory's with what looks like a 1973 date code.
We have 2 EL34/6CA7 main power tubes, 3 12XA7 tubes and 1 qty 12AU7. Lots of pull knobs for bright and boost functions. Tremolo also. I assume about 50W output?
Tremolo bias it seems. I see a yellow wire of bias board that goes directly to the tremolo depth knob.
I can't seem to find much data on this amp on the internet, or the Garnet website. I did find that the Hoffman Amps website has many Garnet schematics. 

See here: http://el34world.com/charts/Schematics/files/garnet/Garnet_Schematics.htm

I think the LB200F might be the one closest to the amp I have here. See here: http://el34world.com/charts/Schematics/files/garnet/garnet_lb200f_pro200.pdf

Here is a gut shot. The amp seems to be built like a tank. Pretty clean inside. Interesting circuit layout. I have not worked on one without a circuit board before. Would we consider this "point to point" wiring? More photos to come when I reassemble and test the amp.


----------



## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Here's a shot of an early model Garnet Pro 200 LB200F. Probably the same basic circuit with tremolo. Yes, 50 watts for sure. I seem to remember them being advertised as 60 or 65 watts however. Plenty loud.
View attachment 10194


----------



## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

Put some tubes in it today. Sounds great. Tremolo however is on full time, requires a switch to turn it off. Is this how these were wired from new? I did acquire a switch and was able to turn it off.

Here is the front:


----------



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

keithb7 said:


> My understanding is United was a music school in Manitoba who the Gillies' clan made these for.


United was in other provinces as well
My first amp & my first bass map have United on them as well--same logo, but white letters on black.
Different amps than this one--but the bass one is loud...


----------



## Bastille day (Mar 2, 2014)

I had a "Mann" sunburst Les Paul junior copy guitar for sale once and a guy from Manitoba really wanted it as Garnet Amps and Mann guitars were somehow conected although the guitar was I think made in Japan.


----------



## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

I rewired the tremolo so now its always off unless its turned on by a footswitch. Versis stock which is always on, and need switch to turn off. 

Mann was an Asian company that had instruments made over there and had a distribution office out of Vancouver BC. Mann struck a deal with Gar Gilles to build amps with the Mann label. Gar did this for many companies. This is why these other branded Garnet amps are called stencil amps. Gar had no problem putting other names on his amps. I guess he made a pretty good living at it.


----------



## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

that is a nice looking amp!


----------



## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

It is a good looker. Built like a tank. Guts are impressive too. Seems to sound decent too. Have not had the opportunity to crank it much. When I did, with Fender single coils there was not a lot of crunch. More like just a little over the point of initial break up. Nice amp tho overall. Tremolo sounds good.


----------



## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Can you not turn the trem down enough with the controls? 
Most amps are wired the way it was stock so that if you forget the footswitch, you can still use the trem. And usually you can shut it down with the intensity/depth control. I guess that is not the case here?


----------



## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

No, with intensity and speed all the way down, the tremolo was still on. It could not be turned down enough.

Some USA Fender tremolo systems are wired to be non functional unless you have the foot switch to engage the tremolo. You actually click the switch and ground the circuit, then it kicks on. If you wire the tremolo directly to ground it's on full time. The reverb circuit is wired opposite. On full time, but can be turned down. By clicking on a reverb footswitch you cut the ground connection, deactivating the reverb. Other USA Fenders are wired to have tremolo on full time without a switch. There seems to be no hard rule.


----------



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

keithb7 said:


> Mann struck a deal with Gar Gilles to build amps with the Mann label. Gar did this for many companies. This is why these other branded Garnet amps are called stencil amps. Gar had no problem putting other names on his amps. I guess he made a pretty good living at it.


A whole bunch of examples here...


----------



## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

keithb7 said:


> It is a good looker. Built like a tank. Guts are impressive too. Seems to sound decent too. Have not had the opportunity to crank it much. When I did, with Fender single coils there was not a lot of crunch. More like just a little over the point of initial break up. Nice amp tho overall. Tremolo sounds good.


From what I've read & seen/heard, Gar believed in building an amp to be as clean as possible. They don't normally break up much at all. If you wanted dirt/distortion, he had the Herzog and the Stinger that gave you plenty.


----------

