Buying A Vintage Fender Amp (need help!)
Hi, everybody
Today my dream of owning a Gibson J-200 was shattered. I'm a lefty, and uncovered a left handed custom J-200 up for sale in a guitar shop in Toronto. Found out about this guitar on the weekend, and when I called them today (they're closed Sunday, Monday) I was told somebody had put a deposit on the guitar on Saturday! All that to say the universe doesn't like me.
I've been saving my money, and despite this guitar, I'm in need of a gigging/studio amp. I've got my heart set on either a Blackface Deluxe Reverb or a Blackface Vibrolux. I love the Fender sound, and figure I can't go wrong with either of these, and both would fulfil my gigging/recording needs. Would anybody be able to chime in, in regards to what I should look for when buying a vintage amp? Prices vary for these bad boys widely (from 2200-3500$), and besides for the obvious details like speakers, and transformers, is there anything else that I should keep in mind when deciding if the price being asked is fare or foul? I'm taking a trip to New York next week and plan on hunting a bit. Also, the same shop where I missed out on the Gibson, has a '64 Deluxe Reverb for 2400$ (CAN). Speaker was changed to a Celestion 80.
Thanks, folks!
PS: If anybody has any noteworthy lefty Martin/Gibson's for sale. Let me know.
Today my dream of owning a Gibson J-200 was shattered. I'm a lefty, and uncovered a left handed custom J-200 up for sale in a guitar shop in Toronto. Found out about this guitar on the weekend, and when I called them today (they're closed Sunday, Monday) I was told somebody had put a deposit on the guitar on Saturday! All that to say the universe doesn't like me.
I've been saving my money, and despite this guitar, I'm in need of a gigging/studio amp. I've got my heart set on either a Blackface Deluxe Reverb or a Blackface Vibrolux. I love the Fender sound, and figure I can't go wrong with either of these, and both would fulfil my gigging/recording needs. Would anybody be able to chime in, in regards to what I should look for when buying a vintage amp? Prices vary for these bad boys widely (from 2200-3500$), and besides for the obvious details like speakers, and transformers, is there anything else that I should keep in mind when deciding if the price being asked is fare or foul? I'm taking a trip to New York next week and plan on hunting a bit. Also, the same shop where I missed out on the Gibson, has a '64 Deluxe Reverb for 2400$ (CAN). Speaker was changed to a Celestion 80.
Thanks, folks!
PS: If anybody has any noteworthy lefty Martin/Gibson's for sale. Let me know.
Comments
I prefer a lot of my gear to be used so I don't worry to much or notice when I ding it up myself. Aside from an old guild archtop and a little 5 watt Allston amp that was built for me most of my stuff is pretty grimy looking.
Things to consider are if the wiring/capacitors have been re done (if it was done well this can be a good thing bc 50 year old amps need some tlc, but the overall amp value goes down).
You can find stuff online to check transformer codes to make sure it's original (and it should be bc they are notoriously reliable in old fender amps).
Original speaker is a great thing bc a lot of those are very expensive now.
If you wanna play the thing chances are you'll need to replace this stuff down the road and you can save yourself a lot of money by buying an amp that already has these the work done.
I'm aware that 50+ year old amps are going to need some maintenance. The fact that these babies are still rolling strong says a lot about the build quality. I'm going to try hard and not be super impulsive, and buy the first thing that comes into my orbit. Fingers crossed!
I can't explain the difference between SF and BF circuitry (anybody?) but personally I'd go for a Silverface amp- original speaker.
Silverface's are cheaper and great vintage amplifiers.
Though I urge you to get the amp of *YOUR* dreams - Me? I love Silverfaces. I love the silver, the subtle rainbow hue...
In regards to your question.... Although I played a Silverface Vibrolux on all my records and gigs, pre-American Hips, I prefer the Silverface Deluxe Reverb over the Silverface Vibrolux Reverb.
Why? They're lighter. And I think the distortion is a bit sweeter when one cranks them - BUT- my experience is Silverface and Blackface Deluxe Reverbs break down frequently- more then any Fender model I've owned. Sorry to confuse the issue at hand, but this is my experience.
Be prepared...
Every vintage amp I've purchased needed at least $200 of repair. The variables of what to fix, are too numerous to list. And if you are gigging two or three times a week, you will have to spray money onto your vintage amp, with a fire hose! But every profession has overhead - to me, it's part of the game.
I know I have "Don't Sell Stuff" written all over this forum, but if it helps you out, I know of a Silverface Vibrolux Reverb for sale.
Contact the Right Hand Man campilongoheadquarters@gmail.com if you are interested.
Happy hunting Nerd!
I primarily play country and love the silverface amps for their clean headroom. Years ago, I had my tech switch the Deluxe over to 6L6 output tubes (I said "make it like Twin Reverb Jr"), making it into a much more robust amp. I'm with Jim -- SF amps are usually a little cheaper and often easier to come by.
@jericho60 - I play mostly rock, country, and r&b, and I've heard how awesome SF amps are for the clean. In fact, I think early SF's (67-70) may be identical or close enough to the BF circuits. Again, not going to commit to anything until I give the amp a go myself. There are lemons all over, and there certainly were back then, too.
http://jimcampilongo.com/about/gear.php