Jim Kelley holds legendary status among amp builders and is often referred to as "the other Dumble." Essentially, this means that Jim was a genuine innovator, and his amps are unlike anything else out there. The name of the amp, F.A.C.S., stands for Foot Activated Channel Switching, and although simplistic in concept, it is the key to what makes this amp special. Included with the amp is his Jim Kelley attenuator, which works like a typical in-line unit between the amp and speaker, but it also has a footswitch cable that attaches to the back of the amp. Kelley wanted the first channel to use the attenuator as a master volume, while the second channel bypasses it and goes straight to the output. In essence, this design creates a cleaner channel and a more overdriven one, with the volume equalized by the attenuator instead of a preamp master volume. Many other designers took the easier route by adding this feature to the preamp, and that's what sets Jim Kelley apart as an engineer!
*Unfortunately, while the original attenuator is included it does not have the 4-pin cable with it. We were able to test the unit with our other Jim Kelley, but could not find the other cable with it. Please look into seeking one from Jim Kelleys website, it should be very cheap.*
Tone-wise, one might think of this amp as landing somewhere between a Fender and a Marshall—like a Fender with more midrange or a Marshall with more bass control and tonal versatility. It should be noted that the right side channel does not have the push-pull pots like channel 1 does, likely due to this being some kind of custom order for someone. Players like Mark Knopfler, Robben Ford, and Lou Reed have all owned one, just to name a few. The Rola Celestion G12-65 pairs quite well with this amp, helping deliver a well-defined crunch sound. Kelley built only a small number of amps over a few years, so they are very rare at this point—and we're proud to have this one for sale at Carter Vintage!
