NAD - 1971 Sears 60 BXL Combo

Dec 25, 2007
4,080
2,373
4,626
73
Gastonia, NC
I've finally finished this combo after working on and mostly off for a year and a half. It has 60 watts with 1x15. The original speaker is a Quam Nichols (I'd never heard of prior to this) that I had rebuilt and had the amp gone through too. For unknown reasons, the rear panel was not made to cover the entire back opening. After doing a little experimenting, I discovered that it sounded much better with a completely closed back, so I made a panel to close up the back and added some insulation. Sounds decent for what it is, particularly with an active bass. It was in good physical shape and turned out nice with a good cleaning and rehab.
IMG_1521.JPG
IMG_1520.JPG
IMG_1524.JPG
IMG_1525.JPG
IMG_1526.JPG
IMG_1531.JPG
IMG_1528.JPG
 
Must show pics!

I recall in my adolescence;growing up on wrong side of the tracks in mid 60s that amps affordable to us were Sears Silvertone, Fender And Kustom

Sounds like a great find Oren and you brought it back to life!
 
Nice!! I have a '69 Sears 60XL guitar version with reverb and tremolo. It has 4 EL84 and 3 12ax7. It looks almost identical to yours but it has a single 12. The reverb and trem are pretty meh but the amp sounds good on guitar. Never tried it on bass.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oren Hudson
Nice!! I have a '69 Sears 60XL guitar version with reverb and tremolo. It has 4 EL84 and 3 12ax7. It looks almost identical to yours but it has a single 12. The reverb and trem are pretty meh but the amp sounds good on guitar. Never tried it on bass.

The mid 60s Silvertone's had some good non-Fender reverb. My cousin still has his with 6x10 Jensens. I still love the reverb on that one.

Love to see pics of yours.
 
View attachment 2804769 At one time in my life, I loved these amps. I first fell in love with the Sears 200 BXL when a kid at school got one. When I heard it, my young mind was blown. An amplifier from Sears wasn't supposed to sound that good. It had two 15" speakers and two 12" speakers and it was 100 watts RMS. Latter I discovered the Sears 60 BXL which was 30 watts into a single 15" speaker. I found that the chassis of a 200 BXL would slide into the cabinet of the 60 BXL and become a really impressive combo amp. I then started building a monolith of these amps. I was really on to something. Using these amps and a Univox Super Fuzz I created a unique sound, but it was not to be. These amps are very fragile. They can't handle the rigours of the road. They started going down pretty quickly and in two years time I got over it and moved on. Your amp looks really nice. Contact me if you need any parts.
 

Attachments

  • searsstack.jpg
    searsstack.jpg
    81.5 KB · Views: 375
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Oren Hudson
View attachment 2804769 At one time in my life, I loved these amps. I first fell in love with the Sears 200 BXL when a kid at school got one. When I heard it, my young mind was blown. An amplifier from Sears wasn't supposed to sound that good. It had two 15" speakers and two 12" speakers and it was 100 watts RMS. Latter I discovered the Sears 60 BXL which was 30 watts into a single 15" speaker. I found that the chassis of a 200 BXL would slide into the cabinet of the 60 BXL and become a really impressive combo amp. I then started building a monolith of these amps. I was really on to something. Using these amps and a Univox Super Fuzz I created a unique sound, but it was not to be. These amps are very fragile. They can't handle the rigours of the road. They started going down pretty quickly and in two years time I got over it and moved on. Your amp looks really nice. Contact me if you need any parts.

Great story and innovative ideas. Thanks for the parts offer!
 
The mid 60s Silvertone's had some good non-Fender reverb. My cousin still has his with 6x10 Jensens. I still love the reverb on that one.

Love to see pics of yours.

Here are some pics. I didn't want to lame out and not post any pics. The amp has been out of rotation so I had it buried in a closet. And I was mistaken about a couple things. It is a 40xl with 2 EL84s. I have the original preamp tubes pulled out and bubble wrapped. They are old made in Holland ones and sound amazing.

laughing house, do you happen to have one knob like the ones on there? Not to hi jack, but worth a shot.

20171108_182418.jpg 20171108_182435.jpg 20171108_182455.jpg
 
Here are some pics. I didn't want to lame out and not post any pics. The amp has been out of rotation so I had it buried in a closet. And I was mistaken about a couple things. It is a 40xl with 2 EL84s. I have the original preamp tubes pulled out and bubble wrapped. They are old made in Holland ones and sound amazing.

laughing house, do you happen to have one knob like the ones on there? Not to hi jack, but worth a shot.

View attachment 2807695 View attachment 2807696 View attachment 2807697

Looks like you have a nice "stack." ;)
 
I've finally finished this combo after working on and mostly off for a year and a half. It has 60 watts with 1x15. The original speaker is a Quam Nichols (I'd never heard of prior to this) that I had rebuilt and had the amp gone through too. For unknown reasons, the rear panel was not made to cover the entire back opening. After doing a little experimenting, I discovered that it sounded much better with a completely closed back, so I made a panel to close up the back and added some insulation. Sounds decent for what it is, particularly with an active bass. It was in good physical shape and turned out nice with a good cleaning and rehab.
View attachment 2804649 View attachment 2804660 View attachment 2804667 View attachment 2804669 View attachment 2804670 View attachment 2804671 View attachment 2804672

Hi Oren, did you ever come across a schematic for this amp?
 
View attachment 2804769 At one time in my life, I loved these amps. I first fell in love with the Sears 200 BXL when a kid at school got one. When I heard it, my young mind was blown. An amplifier from Sears wasn't supposed to sound that good. It had two 15" speakers and two 12" speakers and it was 100 watts RMS. Latter I discovered the Sears 60 BXL which was 30 watts into a single 15" speaker. I found that the chassis of a 200 BXL would slide into the cabinet of the 60 BXL and become a really impressive combo amp. I then started building a monolith of these amps. I was really on to something. Using these amps and a Univox Super Fuzz I created a unique sound, but it was not to be. These amps are very fragile. They can't handle the rigours of the road. They started going down pretty quickly and in two years time I got over it and moved on. Your amp looks really nice. Contact me if you need any parts.
Had a 200 bxl amp for years. I loved it. Blew a few speakers,but was a great amp
 
  • Like
Reactions: laughing house