Sounds of 1959.
I put a pair of Classics in my Gretsch G5120 and they sound great! But when I think of 1959, I think of Chet Atkins. When I listen through either my MicroCube or VOX DA-5 while I do my best "Chet" tunes; I don't hear a lot of "Chet" hiding in there. Obviously "Chet" didn't use such little solid state guys during his recording sessions to get that particular sound. So while I hear tons of improvements over my old Gretschbuckers, I still don't really hear that traditional "Chet" sound I was hoping to hear through the two little amps that I currently have. I tried to do a search on what kind of amps that Chet may have used in those days, or anything else(other than custom guitars like the CGP)Chet used to get that sound. I'm quite sure that in those days tube amps were the main thing; but I wonder if any particular amp "type" such as "Tweed" for example, for sale today would do the trick? I do all my playing here at home and am looking for a practice amp in around the 5W range. Two that come to mind of course are the Gretsch 5222 or the Fender Champ 600. Then there's the Epiphone Valve Jr. There are a number of others that may qualify of course, but I'm trying to keep the wattage down so I can still listen quietly at home. I can do lots of research and find out which ones by many reviewers are considered "Best" in many regards, but I can't find out without listening which one is considered the most "Chet". Any clues or solid recommendations?

Hey my first post on TVJ forum! I did a quick search and had the same results. I couldn't find anything specific. I did find a Guitar Player interview where he says he basically tried everything that was available at the time. And by the way when Chet was starting out solid state amps didn't exist at all. Everything was tube. A couple of things to remember are that Chet was a big time experimenter so whatever he used it probably wasn't stock off the shelf. He also liked his echo so you're probably going to need some kind of echo unit. I have a 5120 (which I'm just about to upgrade with TV Classics) and I went through a big search for a low power tube amp. I own the Champion 600 (which is exactly the same amp as the little Gretsch under the fabric) and the Gibson GA5. I've also owned the microcube and the Vox DA5. I sold the Vox and the microcube is collecting dust on my shelf. So after trying all these amps I finally came to the conclusion that I'm primarily a clean player and I don't need to get distortion at living room levels. I don't know if this applies to you but you certainly don't need it to get Chet tones. So what I'm saying is you may want to consider a larger tube amp. Maybe something in the 15 to 20 watt range. Yes it will be loud but you will have great clean tones and you don't need to turn it up all the way to play clean. Plus if you ever jam with a drummer and bass player you're covered! So I don't know exactly what Chet used but I don't think you could go wrong with some kind of tube Fender. My choice would be the Deluxe Reverb or maybe the new Princeton reissue. But there are plenty of other good choices. You don't need to crank em to get great cleans.