Built by Valco for CMI Instruments, the Waikiki Deluxe is one of many tube amplifiers that came on the market in the 1940's and 1950's during the Hawaiian guitar craze. Originally intended for lap steel guitar, these “off the beaten path” tube amps sound great with electric guitars of all kinds and make excellent recording amplifiers. Loud and clean, it has a slight breakup when pushed but remains much cleaner than the standard “tweed” amp.

This Waikiki Deluxe has been fully serviced, and has had a couple of choice modifications for use with electric guitar. The electrolytic and coupling caps have been replaced with sprague atom and orange drop capacitors accordingly, and the amp operates very clean and with a low noise floor.

The output section has been modified for 6V6 tubes instead of the obscure original 7C5 octal tubes making replacement easy down the road. A tone control has been added on the back as well, a very handy addition offering some variation to an otherwise one dimensional sounding amp. The original fuse box on the back has been replaced with a modern fuse holder and an indicator lamp - not present on the original amp. A standard, earthed, 3-prong power cord replaces the original for safe operation.

Tubeset:
Philco 7Z4
JJ 6V6
JJ 6V6
RCA 7F7 (NOS)
Sylvania 7C7 (NOS)