Park amplifiers can essentially be regarded as "covert Marshalls," as they share nearly everything except a few cosmetic details. The 1967 Park 50 is directly linked to the Plexi-era JTM50, utilizing the same Drake transformers and virtually identical circuit layout.
This particular amp was nearly destroyed in shipping at one point, leaving the chassis beyond practical repair and prompting a rebuild. Fortunately, it was brought back to life by local amp wizard Elad Shapiro of Dale Amps, who carefully transplanted the original components into a modern-era Park chassis. A couple of the pots were replaced with modern CTS units, the power resistors were updated, and the electrolytic caps were replaced to ensure long-term reliability. Otherwise, the preamp retains a wonderful mix of original RS and Mullard Mustard coupling capacitors, along with Iskra resistors. Please see the circuit photos for further details.
The cabinet was originally finished in orange, but was later stained black. Thankfully, the work was done quite thoroughly, with only small traces of the original color peeking through in a few areas.
Overall, this can be viewed as a budget-friendly JTM50, retaining the same transformers and much of the original circuitry while sacrificing some collectibility due to the rebuilt chassis and worn cosmetics. Sonically, however, it delivers everything you'd expect from an early Marshall design, effortlessly nailing those classic AC/DC tones with the turn of the knobs!
