Jacks right

Tonar8352

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Since I hijacked 1jimbo’s thread so bad I would like to apologize to him and start a new one  about vintage amps.

You are SUCH a fricking amp tease...  You fail to mention what YEAR you purchased the amps at those prices.  
Your right Jack.  :evil4:
But I got all of the amps since 2000 through this past year with the exception of the Champ.   I got that in about 1992 along with a little Fender Duosonic together for $50.00.  

I tell you deals are still out there.  I just talked to a guy yesterday that sells vintage stuff and in the past two months he purchased a Tweed Deluxe and Tweed Princeton for under $250 each.  Last year he picked up a 66 Pro Reverb for under $200.00 and he scored a near perfect transition year 68 Super Reverb with black silkscreen on the silver faceplate instead of blue (rare bird) for under a grand.  I also talked to a guy about a month ago that scored a closet 1964 Vibrolux for $1200.00!  You know what that amp is worth!  

Holy... You need to post official directions on finding cheap vintage amps. Right now.
So how does this happen.
1. Know what you’re looking for.
2. Have the money in hand and ready to spend.
3. Be willing to walk away if you can’t get the price your want to pay. If you just got to have it you will pay their price; if it doesn’t matter the seller becomes the desperate one.  This will also lead to regret sometimes.  I passed on a Silverface Vibrolux for $500.00 a few years back and a 54 Tweed Pro for $1200.00 because they needed a little too much work to get them up to speed.  I have always regretted that.  In fact that Tweed Pro was in a little music store about 2 miles from the Warmoth Factory in Puyallup. I always stop at every music store I can find in my travels, sometimes it can work out.
4. Network with other like-minded lovers of vintage gear, sometimes they will clue you into a deal that they will pass on and they know you would be right for.
5. Have a good amp tech to tune them up. Or everyone sends their stuff to C.B. and have him tune it up for you.  :laughing8:
6. Don’t be a purist, if it not bone stock original so what.  Weber Speakers and Mercury Magnetic transformers can work miracles in a player amp. Or transform a Silverface to Blackface specification and tone.  My main stage amp is the 73 Super Reverb that has been Blackfaced and had a Mercury Magnetic Tone Clone transformer put in it. I actually prefer it over the “66”Super Reverb.
7. The more beat up and ugly they are the cooler they are.  It don’t have to look pretty to sound great.
8. Every one is a potential source.  Especially when they say, “my grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, uncle, cousin etc use to play the guitar.  Start asking questions.  Ebay has made this kind of find harder but it still happens.  The guy I bought my 1959 ES350T from was in a parking lot making a deal on a guitar and some lady walked by and asked if he bought guitars.  She had one from her dad under the bed.  He followed her home and she pulled out a 58 Esquire.  I can’t say what he paid but I’ll tell you this, the Guitar Center gave him 10 times that amount the next day then added about $4500.00 onto that price and sold it.
9. Run adds in the paper. “Top dollar paid for old guitars and amplifiers.” You might have to look at a hundred pieces of junk but you will score some gems.
10. Make sure everyone knows your always looking for vintage gear.  All of my friends and fellow workers know to call me if they run into something at a garage sale.

I have had more fun meeting like-minded buyers and seller since I have started the search.  That to me is the big thing; the friends I have made.  It is much like what we have here at the discussion board, a bunch of like-minded people all pursuing our passion. You get educated, make friends and have a good time. How can you go wrong?

 
You've done more than remarkably well if you picked all those up at that pricing since 2000; for those not familiar with the post, see the original hijack below... Even though you are incredibly well connected, finding a '68 Deluxe for for $325 has got to be a stroke of luck. You really do have to beat through the bushes, my '80 Fender 75 was in a DAV store with the power cord cut off for $35

One silver lining to the bad economy is that all of a sudden things are coming out of closets/basements and being sold:

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/msg/1012023623.html
http://kansascity.craigslist.org/msg/1010799663.html

Had I been monitoring craigslist here locally, some dumbass sold a '66 Bassman with 2x12 cabinet for $400 a couple of weeks ago

Also, I've been seeing a lot of the '65 Super/Twin Reverb reissues and '59 Bassman reissues being offered for 1/2 or less of the GC/Musciansfriend.com pricing. A lot easier to find, and while not as sexy make really decent amps if you chuck the speakers and put good ones in....

Tonar8353 said:
Vintage amps are out there for the taking, especially in this economy.  Do your homework and have the cash ready, you can score.
Sorry about hijacking the thread.
This is what I paid for these vintage amps.
59 Tweed Bassman replica by Uncle Spot.
59 Tweed Deluxe replic by Uncle Spot.
1973 Fender Princeton $275.00 then extra to customize it.
1964 Champ $50.00.
1956 Tweed Tremolux $650.00
1963 Brownie Super $1250.00
Not in the picture.
1973 Super Reverb $750.00
1965 Suber Reverb I traded a 3-Tone Warmoth Strat that I had about $1200.00 into.
1968 Deluxe Reverb $325.00
IMG_0152.jpg


 
A 66 Bassman for $400.00.  Score!!!!!  Somebody is a happy camper.

I would offer $800.00 on the Bandmaster, it should sound great with a stand-alone reverb unit. That would be money well spent.  It helps to go play them in front of the person selling especially if they are not a player and you can really play well. They kind of get intimidated or amazed or something and you can get the deal sometimes.

I’ve picked a few guitars that way to.

 
Jack, there is a place in Neosho MO called Fly By Night music.  It's been a few years since I've been there but they used to have a PILE of old Fenders and stuff....if you ever feel like takeing a road trip.

p.s. the Dude that owns it is some kind of guitar dealer on a national level.  nice stuff...pricey but nice...it's more of a site seeing trip if you get my drift.
 
Tonar8353 said:
8. Every one is a potential source.  Especially when they say, “my grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, uncle, cousin etc use to play the guitar.  Start asking questions.  Ebay has made this kind of find harder but it still happens.  The guy I bought my 1959 ES350T from was in a parking lot making a deal on a guitar and some lady walked by and asked if he bought guitars.  She had one from her dad under the bed.  He followed her home and she pulled out a 58 Esquire.  I can’t say what he paid but I’ll tell you this, the Guitar Center gave him 10 times that amount the next day then added about $4500.00 onto that price and sold it.

That's not a good story. Reminds me of Eddie Cletro. It makes me feel bad.  :sad1:
 
A lot of the amps I owned and traded/sold over the years are now considered valuable.
Wouldn't you just know it.

I've had more amps than I care to admit and I'm playing one now that sounds as good or
better than anything I've owned.

I'll probably catch some flack for this but, it's a hybrid Vox Valvetronix 50 watt 2-12.

The thing sounds sweet clean and really sings on overdrive.
The delay built in it is as good as some high-dollar ones I've owned.

It was cheap, as far as amps go so I put a great set of Celestions in it.
 
blimpo said:
A lot of the amps I owned and traded/sold over the years are now considered valuable.
Wouldn't you just know it.

I've had more amps than I care to admit and I'm playing one now that sounds as good or
better than anything I've owned.

I'll probably catch some flack for this but, it's a hybrid Vox Valvetronix 50 watt 2-12.

The thing sounds sweet clean and really sings on overdrive.
The delay built in it is as good as some high-dollar ones I've owned.

It was cheap, as far as amps go so I put a great set of Celestions in it.

I'm with you on the new vox modeling amps - they are very impressive.  I'm running a vox tonelab, and it's been great.  I've been thinking about picking up one of those valvetronics for some time.

Edit - maybe I'll sell my `66 super reverb to get one.
 
I had and gigged with the Valvetronix AD120VTX 2x12 combo with their big footboard. Though I did change the speakers out to Celestion Vintage 30s, it sounded great and worked great. Nice overdrive sounds and clean headroom; a nice tight package for small club gigging. I should have kept it.
 
For anybody looking to get that vintage tone, let's not forget that there are other ways in getting it besides paying
an arm and a leg for an old amp:

You can always do a clone kit.

Hey if you can solder up your guitar, you can solder up an amp... just takes a lot longer.  :icon_biggrin:

(of course, there's a bit of learning to be had as well as safety precautions to know, but it ain't brain surgery)
 
Superlizard said:
For anybody looking to get that vintage tone, let's not forget that there are other ways in getting it besides paying
an arm and a leg for an old amp:

You can always do a clone kit.

Hey if you can solder up your guitar, you can solder up an amp... just takes a lot longer.   :icon_biggrin:

(of course, there's a bit of learning to be had as well as safety precautions to know, but it ain't brain surgery)

You can probably wind up finding a vintage amp that won't cost much more than some of the "clone kits" and are less likely to electrocute yourself in the process....
 
I have a Vox Valvetronix 12" (it was about 200 bucks), and it's a piece of trash.

They have a power knob, and at GC they had it turned to about 50% - at that level it sounded VERY sweet for a sub-$200 amp. I took it home and turned up the power level...okay, it sounded okay. I played on it a little more and I started to get weird phantom noises (ethereal whining..very strange). Playing at moderate band practice level, it was like icepicks in my ear. At our last practice I just went back to my ~10 year old Fender Frontman 1x12 (still looking for a good main amp); it sounds like crap, but not as bad as the Vox.

But at low levels, it's pretty nice (no good clean tones come out of it at any level, though). Maybe the speaker change like Gregg mentioned would change all that...but I'm about ready to return it.
 
exalted said:
I have a Vox Valvetronix 12" (it was about 200 bucks), and it's a piece of trash.

They have a power knob, and at GC they had it turned to about 50% - at that level it sounded VERY sweet for a sub-$200 amp. I took it home and turned up the power level...okay, it sounded okay. I played on it a little more and I started to get weird phantom noises (ethereal whining..very strange). Playing at moderate band practice level, it was like icepicks in my ear. At our last practice I just went back to my ~10 year old Fender Frontman 1x12 (still looking for a good main amp); it sounds like crap, but not as bad as the Vox.

But at low levels, it's pretty nice (no good clean tones come out of it at any level, though). Maybe the speaker change like Gregg mentioned would change all that...but I'm about ready to return it.


Sounds like that thing has issues.  Take it back (if it's not too late) and have it checked or see if they'll give you another one.
Mine is sweet sounding. The reviews on Harmony Central are pretty good, but there are some on there that have had issues with theirs.
It's about like a car or motorcycle- the more stuff on it, the more stuff can go wrong.
 
Yeah, I think I still have a bit left on the return policy. I'll probably return it tonight.

It was their 'last one', though, so I'm probably stuck with the Fender for a bit.
 
jackthehack said:
You can probably wind up finding a vintage amp that won't cost much more than some of the "clone kits" and are less likely to electrocute yourself in the process....

You can do a 100 watt 4-holer Plexi-circuit amp head with cabinet for $625 over at WeberVST, among many others.  :icon_thumright:
 
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