Benson Amps Chimera 30w Guitar Amplifier - Head and 18x34" Cabinet in Bourbon Burst - Used

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This used Benson Amp will ship insured and inspected from Rapid City, SD. This unit is in excellent condition with some light wear on the top cabinet binding and a couple of light nicks on top of the head.

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Some players want the immediacy and harmonic richness of a small boutique tube amp but need enough output and speaker area to carry that character onto a much larger stage; the Benson Chimera was created for exactly that role. The Chimera grew from Christopher Benson's Monarch lineage, taking the tactile, vintage-voiced approach behind that foundational design and expanding it into a 30-watt platform with four 6V6 power tubes. Rather than piling on channels and switches, Benson keeps the signal path and controls deliberately straightforward, putting the emphasis on touch response, dynamics, and the transition from rich cleans into harmonically complex breakup.

Part of the appeal is the boutique construction behind that simple control panel. Benson builds its amplifiers by hand in Portland, Oregon, and the company's current amplifiers continue to use point-to-point construction on terminal strips rather than conventional circuit, eyelet, or turret boards. The Chimera's Volume, Treble, and Bass controls provide a wide range of usable voicings without turning the amplifier into a complicated multi-channel platform. Its Bass control effectively makes variable the contrasting voicings that inspired the Monarch's earlier voice-switch concept, allowing the player to reshape the amp while retaining its fundamental personality. That combination makes the Chimera especially well suited to roots rock, Americana, blues, indie and alternative rock, country, classic rock, and studio work where playing dynamics need to remain part of the sound.

The included 2x12 cabinet is loaded with two 30-watt, 8-ohm Benson Custom Ceramic speakers built in the USA by Weber. Benson describes its Custom Ceramic as British voiced and similar in character to a favored G12H30, but with additional compression when pushed to give overdrive and distortion a smoother quality. That makes the cabinet a natural partner for the Chimera: expect articulate cleans with plenty of harmonic dimension at lower gain, followed by thicker compression, edge-of-breakup texture, and muscular overdrive as the amplifier is driven harder. Benson's current 2x12 specification confirms a 16-ohm cabinet using a pair of these Custom Ceramic speakers.

With four JJ 6V6 power tubes, two JJ 12AX7 preamp tubes, and a 5AR4 tube rectifier, this Chimera offers a distinctly traditional tube architecture in a format intended to deliver more stage authority than the lower-powered Monarch concept. Two speaker outputs accommodate 8- or 16-ohm loads, while the included power and speaker connecting cables make this head-and-cabinet pairing ready to become the centerpiece of a professional guitar rig. This used Chimera head and matching 2x12 cabinet are finished in striking Bourbon Burst; available now at Haggerty's Music.

Features / Specs

Highlights

• Amplifier Type: Boutique All-Tube Guitar Amplifier Head + Cabinet
• Model: Chimera
• Output Power: 30 Watts
• Configuration: Amplifier Head with 2x12 Speaker Cabinet
• Finish: Bourbon Burst
• Construction: Hand-Wired Point-to-Point on Terminal Strips
• Manufacture: Handmade in Portland, Oregon
• Condition: Used - Excellent

Amplifier

• Output Power: 30 Watts
• Power Tubes: 4 x JJ 6V6
• Preamp Tubes: 2 x JJ 12AX7
• Rectifier: 1 x 5AR4
• Input: Front-Mounted 1/4"
• Speaker Outputs: Two 1/4" Outputs
• Output Impedance: 8 Ohms / 16 Ohms
• Circuit Construction: Hand-Wired Point-to-Point on Terminal Strips
• Channels: Single Channel

Speakers

• Speaker Configuration: 2x12
• Speaker Model: Benson Custom Ceramic
• Speaker Manufacturer: Weber Speakers, USA
• Speaker Type: Ceramic
• Individual Speaker Rating: 30 Watts, 8 Ohms
• Cabinet Impedance: 16 Ohms
• Speaker Voicing: British-Voiced with Smooth Compression When Driven

Controls & EQ

• Volume: Controls Overall Amplifier Level and Drive
• Treble: Adjusts High-Frequency Response
• Bass: Adjusts Low-Frequency Response and Overall Voicing
• Power Switch: 3-Way On / Half-On / Off
• Indicator: Red LED

Connectivity

• Instrument Input: Front-Facing 1/4"
• Head Outputs: 1/4" 8-Ohm and 16-Ohm Outputs
• Cabinet Input: Back-Mounted 1/4"

Cabinet + Hardware

• Cabinet Type: 2x12 Guitar Speaker Cabinet
• Cabinet Dimensions: 18” x 34”
• Cabinet Impedance: 16 Ohms
• Speakers: 2 x Benson Custom Ceramic Speakers
• Construction Location: Portland, Oregon
• Finish: Bourbon Burst

Miscellaneous

• Accessories: Power Cable, Speaker Connecting Cable
• Head Serial Number: 051722L
• Cabinet Serial Number: 111821C
• Condition: Excellent