Silvertone 1448, amp in case

Silvertone 1448, amp in case, by Danelectro

silvertone 1448 guitar and amp in case

Sometimes I wonder why some original ideas have not been followed by others. One example is the concept of the changable pickups of the Ampeg Dan Armstrong in my previous post; in my opinion a brilliant idea, but it's not on a large scale embraced by other guitar builders, probably to expensive. Another example is the "amp in the guitar case", in this "case", the Silvertone 1448 amp in a case". One guitar, one amp, all in one case, brilliant!

The Silvertone 1448 is not the only guitar which came with the amp in the guitar case, for example Airline also produced guitars with the amp in the case in the same period, but the Silvertone models like the 1448, pictured in this article, are most known.

Sears and the Silvertone 1448 amp in case

Like the other Silvertone guitars, the Silvertone 1448 amp in case was sold by Sears (Sears-Roebuck, a chain of department stores) in the USA. Silvertone was, since the 1930's, the Sears house brand for electronics, and the Silvertone name became famous with the Silvertone radio and the Silvertone (1448) guitar. The Silvertone guitars were popular among beginners and young guitarists as they were, compared to major brands, "low cost" guitars. Especially the short scaled 3/4 sized Silvertone 1448 amp in case with 18 frets, model sold in 1962, which came with an instructional vinyl record, was young beginners material. Everything you need to start playing guitar, in one package.

In the 40's and 50's, Silvertone guitars were played by blues guitarists like Muddy Waters and Arthur Crudup. In the Silvertone 1448 era, Chet Atkins, Bob Dylan and James Hetfield were among the guitar players who's first guitar was a Silverstone.
On stage, the Silverstone was played by Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), Melissa Ethridge and Pete Townsend (The Who), who smashed the Silvertone on stage.

silvertone 1448 body and neck

silvertone 1448 body with lipstick pickup

Silvertone 1448 and 1449 amp in case by Danelectro

The Silvertone 1448 and 1449 amp in case, sold by Sears, were produced by guitar and amp builder Danelectro. In 1954 Danelectro started building solid body guitars under the Silvertone name for Sears. They also build the same guitars under other names for other sellers. The Silvertone 1448 amp in case, pictured in this article is the Silvertone / Danelectro 1962 model.

The Silvertone / Danelectro 1448 only has one "lipstick" pickup, and the amp in the case of the Silverstone 1448 is a 3 watt amp with 3 tubes, 5 inch speaker and a gain control.

The more "mature" Silvertone / Danelectro 1449 - 1963 model has 21 frets and 2 lipstick pickups. Also the amp in the case of the 1449 is more mature: 5 watt, 3 tubes, 8 inch speaker, and more controls.

The concept of the Silvertone / Danelectro 1448 / 1449 amp in case in combination with the age of the guitar makes it very vintage and collectable! I really like the combination of the tube amp in the guitar case and the vintage body with the sleek lipstick pickup, but I can't remember ever having seen a guitar headstock as ugly as the one from the Silvertone 1448 amp in case!

silvertone 1448 headstock

silvertone 1448 headstock tuners