Hamstead Artist 60+RT Head and 1x12 Cabinet Cream - UK 2024

Hamstead have built a reputation for amps that sound like a great old British combo, but with modern controls, and the Artist 60+RT is the one that proves it. At 60 watts it has the headroom to stay clean at stage volume, and a power switch drops it to 20 or 7 watts when you want that glowing, pushed-valve sound at lounge-room levels. It’s a single-channel design with two EL34s in the power section and three 12AX7s up front. It answers beautifully to your guitar’s volume knob and your picking hand, going from sparkling cleans to a thick, chewy crunch without needing a pedal.

The RT stands for reverb and tremolo, and both are very good. The spring reverb has its own depth and tone controls, and the tremolo has depth and speed, with a smooth, musical pulse. There’s a switchable gain mode and a three-level voice boost that adds upper-mid push for solos. It has separate Lo and Hi inputs, so you can match the amp to single coils or humbuckers, and a series effects loop for time-based pedals. The included footswitch handles the boost, reverb, tremolo and loop.

The finish suits the sound, with cream tolex and a black grille cloth in a British style that looks great on any stage. The head is built on a thick aluminium chassis, with a birch ply cabinet and custom-wound transformers made in Britain. It’s paired with a matching 1x12 cabinet loaded with a 65-watt, 16-ohm Celestion G12M Creamback. That speaker is known for a smooth, thick midrange, a sweet top end and a tight low end, and it breaks up in a musical way that suits EL34 amps. It’s in excellent condition and was built in 2024.

Few amps in this size give you reverb, tremolo, a loop and a power-scaling switch without feeling crowded, and this one does it with plenty of tone to spare.

Specifications:

Brand: Hamstead Soundworks

Model: Artist 60+RT, with matching 1x12 cabinet

Year: 2024

Serial Number: 0114

Origin: UK

Finish: Cream tolex, black grille

Power: 60 watts, switchable to 20 watts and 7 watts

Power Tubes: Two EL34

Preamp Tubes: Three 12AX7 (ECC83)

Channels: Single channel, Lo and Hi inputs

Controls: Gain, Bass, Treble, Master, Voice boost, Gain switch

Effects: Spring reverb (depth, tone), tremolo (depth, speed)

Effects Loop: Series

Cabinet: 1x12

Speaker: Celestion G12M Creamback, 65 watts, 16 ohms

Footswitch: Included

Case or Cover: None

Condition: Excellent