Elk Schematics |
Elk amplifiers were manufactured by the Japanese Miyuki Ind. Co. who started out in 1953 making amplifiers. The looks and features certainly were inspired by the Fender amplifiers of the day, but the circuits (and tone) were quite different though. The original brand name was Echo. In the early 60's Miyuki started making pro quality guitars under the brand name of Elk and later changed the brand name of the amplifiers to Elk as well. In the transition period the "new" Elk logo had a small Echo beneath it. Miyuki also used the Luxor and Royal brand names for some of their amps in Europe (and maybe else where). I've also seen "Aria by Elk" logos. In 1969 there was a big fire in the factory, burning many amps and guitars. Quite a shock for the people who worked there. The later Elk amps had solid state preamps and tube power amps to become completely solid state amps in the end. I've been researching the history of Elk for some time now. It looks like that Miyuki stopped manufacturing the Elk amps at some point in time (probably early 1970's) and that Hoshino Gakki took the brand name over. That is Hoshino Gakki the manufacturer of Ibanez amps and guitars. If you look at page 19 of the 1974 Ibanez Accessories Catalog you can see the Ibanez Stage Master line of amps. These are identical to the Elk amps of the time. These amps look great, but are completely solid state. The Elk brand was also used for some guitar effects. Hoshino Gakki made an almost identical clone of the EHX BigFuzz, calling it a Super Fuzz Sustainar. The Elk brand was eventually "phased out" in the late 1970's. The Elk and Echo amps from the 1960's used Atlas oil caps as coupling caps. These will need replacing after 50 years of dedicated service, as they will very likely be leaky or are going to leak pretty soon. By leaky I mean electrically leaky! They won't be leaking oil.
ES-30, Stageman 30This 15W combo was fitted with 2x 6BQ5 (EL84), 3x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 6CA4 (EZ81). It was fitted with a 12" AlNiCo speaker.
EL-30, Custom Amp 30This amp was fitted with 2x 6BQ5 (EL84), 3x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 6CA4 (EZ81). I've heard that the accompanying speaker cabinet housed two 4Ω 10" speakers.
EB-207S, Custom Amp 45
EL-50, Custom Amp 50
EB-213, Custom Amp 60, 60W top.This amp was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34), 4x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 5AR4 (GZ34). This top was often seen residing on a 3x12" speaker cabinet.
EB-213S, Custom Amp 75This amp was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34), 4x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 5AR4 (GZ34). It has a 2,7Ω output to match with its 3x12" Elk speaker cabinet.
EL-150L, Custom 150LNo info on this amp yet. EL-150S, Custom 150SNo info on this amp yet. EB-102, Echo-Sonic, 2x6" 5W comboThis small 5W combo amp was fitted with one 6CA4 (EZ81) rectifier, one 6BQ5 (EL84) power tube, one 6AN8, two 12AX7 (ECC83) preamp tubes and two 6" Alnico speakers.
EB-103, Pro-Sonic, 2x12" comboThe power amp section is fitted with 2x EL84's so it's probably a 15W or 20W amp.
EB-103S, Pro-Sonic, 2x12" comboThe power amp section is fitted with 2x EL84's so it's probably a 15W or 20W amp.
ES-60, Pro-Sonic, 2x12" comboNo info on this amp yet. EB-105, Guitar Man, 45W 4x10" comboThis 4x10" combo uses the same amp chassis as the EB-202 Twin Amp 45. It was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34), 4x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 5AR4 (GZ34). EB-105s, Guitar Man, 45W 2x12" comboThis 2x12" combo uses the same amp chassis as the EB-202 Twin Amp 45. It was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34), 4x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 5AR4 (GZ34). It has a 4Ω output to match its two 12" 8Ω speakers.
EB-202S, Guitar Man 50 comboNo info on this amp yet. EB-202, Twin Amp 45This amp was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34), 4x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 5AR4 (GZ34). It has a 4Ω output to match its 2x12" 4Ω cabinet. EB-202S, Twin Amp 50This amp was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34), 4x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 5AR4 (GZ34). It has a 4Ω output. Apparently this used to be the Twin Amp 45 but I guess Twin Amp 50 sold better.
EB-202S, Twin Amp 60This amp was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34), 4x 12AX7 (ECC83), 1x 6AQ8 (ECC85) and 1x 5AR4 (GZ34).
VK-50, Viking 50
VK-60, Viking 60The VK-60 cabinet for this top is a 2x12" 4Ω cabinet.
VK-100, Viking 100
VK-100S, Viking 100S
VKB-100, Viking Bass 100This amp was fitted with 4x 6CA7 (EL34), 1x 12AX7 (ECC83) and 1x 6BQ8 (EL84). It's quite an odd design with an interstage transformer as a phase inverter and its dual 4Ω 50W output transformers.
VKB-135, Viking Bass 135No info on this amp yet. Vocal HiFi 80This was a 6 channel microphone mixer amplifier. It was fitted with 2x 6CA7 (EL34).
Obviously information on the Echo & Elk brands and the amps is scarce. If you have any material you would like to share, it would be most welcome ofcourse! |