Cheapest tube guitar amp?

[Ptownkid]

I've heard the old traynor heads get a lot of praise...

 

[NewYorkDave]

Actually, the Music Man amps were designed by Tom Walker and the circuits bear little resemblance to the classic Fenders.

I picked up a couple of old Traynors on visits to Canada, way back when the American dollar was still strong . They are good amps, total workhorses.

 

[Emperor-TK]

Don't many of the Music Man amps have a solid state front end?  I have a 70's SG Systems amp (CMI/Gibson) with a SS front driving a pair of 8417's.  Butter.

 

[abby normal]

I'd be happy if someone found me a deal on a champ ,
i haven't  , but agree why buy chinese quality if you don't have to ?
[ that is if price doesn't factor into it ]

Build it and it will crank Greg. With those little tweed champs you can get 5-10 watts out of them perfect for a little at home/take to the rehearsal spot practice amp. Tiny little things, use them for Christmas ornaments. About $200 total, with good parts and a pine cab. about $100 less if you build your own cab and tolex it yourself. I'm just finishing drilling out the chassis for mine. 

 

[abby normal]

They are good amps, total workhorses.

Absolutely, I've got a late 60's bassmaster. Great tone, great deal. Sadly the days of picking these up at the local pawn shop for $100-200 are long gone.

 

[NewYorkDave]

That's pretty much how I got my Bassmaster head, it was in some shop in Albany. I believe I paid a hundred bucks for it, maybe less. It's a tank. Alas, I really defiled the thing; I punched more holes in the chassis, added tubes and totally reworked the circuit, adding reverb, tremelo and overdrive (I was young and brash).

 

[pstamler]

Talking about smallish amps through big speakers, I once had a gig where I played bass through a Deluxe with an Electro-Voice Sentry IV system plugged into it. Easily the best bass sound I've ever gotten, but also the worst schlep of my life. Or it would have been, except that the Sentry was already there.

I agree that the Blues Jr. is a nice little amp. Look for a Kalamazoo Model One if you can find one -- but put a grounded line cord in it! Mebbe a better speaker too.

Peace,
Paul

 

[wtmnmf]

Here's a DIY: http://www.recproaudio.com/diy_pro_audio/tweed_deluxe.htm

 

[MartyMart]

The thing I don't understand with the Jr mods are, Used fender silverface champs cost about the same or even less than some of the "modded" jrs with the expensive transformer kits and parts. 

Gus, my VJ's were well under £100 and I spent about £20 on each to do the upgrades, the gain setup was my own idea !
That's a GREAT little two bottle amp for £110  !!
I would find that hard to beat, but agree that some of the more expensive "kits" are not worth the money.

MM.

 

[Nele]

Also be sure to check ax84.com for diy amps.

 

[okgb]

Agreed the traynors make good modding platforms

Love the kalamazoo but cause it's gibson  usually goes for too much
[ it's not real wood right ? ]

there are many places but the metal & [ if i get there ] woodwork is
usually where i fall down

 

[pstamler]

Love the kalamazoo but cause it's gibson  usually goes for too much
[ it's not real wood right ? ]

Right; mine looks like pressboard with imitation Tolex over it.

I'm not talking here about the older Kalamazoo amps, say 1940s, which are Gibson designs. Mine dates from the early to mid 1960s, was made by Chicago Musical Instrument Co. (who also made Valco amps) and has a 12X4 rectifier, a 12AX7 preamp tube, volume and tone control (the latter a simple treble rolloff) and an EL84 output tube, single-ended, going into a 10" speaker. This was the Model One (the Model Two is the same but with tremolo), and I see them go for about $125-150 on e-barf.

Peace,
Paul

 

[Brolik]

torresengineering.com has some kits in the $300-400 range if you have your own cab (or are handy with some woodworking). I been wanting to diddle with one of those for a while now...

 

[Mbira]

the best amp I ever built:
http://mhumhirecords.org/Spitfire.htm

 

[Svart]

So one of my friends came over to play around in the studio today and he brought his 68 fender bassman with him.

Dude, that thing sounded awesome.  Everything we did with it sounded good.  He put it through a 2x12 cab with jensen speakers.

No matter what mics we used or what pres we used, it sounded great.

So I went searching.  I found out that old Plush amps and Earth Sound Research amps were direct copies of older fender tube amps.  I found a couple for fairly cheap on the internet.  I was talking to another guitarist friend about the bassman and it's copies for a while before heading back into the studio.  About 10 minutes later I got a call from that guy to go check my email, he sent me a link to an ebay auction.

A 68 bassman ab165 for 249$ buy it now.

I bought it!

;D

What a rockin deal!

 

[NewYorkDave]

Wow, that's what AB165 Bassman heads are going for now? I should sell mine! I've got a couple somewhere.

 

[Svart]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-1968-bassman-ab165-head-and-matching-2x15-cab_W0QQitemZ270311819062QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item270311819062&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1199|66%3A1|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A25

1100$ for head and cabinet..

yep they seem to be going for around 400$ these days.  The AA's go for 800-1000$ from what I can find...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Blackface-Fender-Bassman-1964-AA864_W0QQitemZ110321346298QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item110321346298&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1199|66%3A1|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A25

and on and on:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1967-Bassman-Fender_W0QQitemZ120358038578QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item120358038578&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1199|66%3A1|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A25

 

[Svart]

another AB165 and cab for 1500$:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1967-Fender-Bassman_W0QQitemZ220320089802QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item220320089802&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1199|66%3A1|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A4|294%3A25

It seems that everybody is digging the tone even though a lot of the bassman amps are different inside.

The AB165 is at least fairly close to the original and can be modded easily.

My friend's sounds great as it was and that is the sound I wanted so I don't think I'll be doing any modding.

 

[mhelin]

How about Epiphone So Cal or Bugera?

 

[Gus]

Svart

    I would think hard about modding it.  It will most likely go up in price.  If you do change anything it might be good to make it  reversable.  Try it with bass.