'83/84 Fender Concert 1x12 - any good?

McToot

Got a hankering for a dose of Warm and glassy Fender clean. One of these has come up for sale not too far from me. It maybe a tad pricy, but I'm sure I could get the vendor down a bit.

Any good? Reliable? And finally what would be a decent price to pay?

ICBM

Really great amp - the last hand-wired Fenders other than the modern Custom Shop, and arguably the best-made made Fender amps ever.

The clean channel is classic Blackface/Silverface but a bit tighter and bolder than on the vintage amps (the very solid all-ply cabinet probably has something to do with this), the dirty channel is something more of an acquired taste - it's a bit like an early-80s Boogie, although not with as much gain - but is very easily mod-able to a more Bassman/Marshall-like circuit. The FX loop is very flexible and the reverb is typically Fender.

They're extremely reliable apart from one small resistor failure which is quite common but easily fixed so it won't go again. They are heavy.

The value is surprisingly low for such a great amp, probably £450 to £600 in good to perfect condition. If you're lucky it might still have its original USA-made valves although that is getting rarer now, but a full set is worth a hundred pounds or so. The original footswitch is quite valuable in its own right too, because it's unique to this series, so if it's included it could add £50 to £75 to the value.

jpfamps

I'd agree with ICBM.

A lot of amp for the money.

McToot

Awesome. This is great news, especially as the price is at the bottom of the range you mentioned :-)

Thanks. I feel a trip to the south coast coming on...

Ah. Just seen its missing the f/s. Oh well As I'm not a gigging type that's no biggie. 

McToot

Another thing I've noticed is that it's running a Rola Celestion G12-80, which I'm assuming is deffo not original. Is that a bad thing?

Jimbro66

That will be the Paul Rivera designed amp. As @ICBM and @jpfamps say its a really good amp. I had one for a short time many years ago but needed that Boogie sound which it didn't do too well. However, a good friend of mine has been been using one for the last few years, clean channel only, with a Tele and lap steel playing rockabilly and alt country and that amp really punches it out. Sounds great. Only downside is its weight, close to 60 lbs in 1x12 format. It was done as a head but they rarely come up in the UK. Rich Tone sold a 1x12 combo not long ago for £550.

normula1

A colleague of mine had one back in the day. It was a fantastic amp.

McToot

More info comes to light: it's running EL34s not 6L6s. I know they are sort of interchangeable but it's another thing that's not quite stock...

exocet

I played the 4x10 version and it was a fantastic sounding amp..

Jimbro66

McToot said:

More info comes to light: it's running EL34s not 6L6s. I know they are sort of interchangeable but it's another thing that's not quite stock...

Hmmmm. One of the mods @ICBM was referring to? I think I might be looking at alternatives in original condition at this stage. It's worth holding out for one.

McToot

Thanks guys. @ICBM PMd me with his considered (and much appreciated) opinion on the one for sale. I have to make a decision this morning as to whether to go for it or not. It's a very good price but it needs putting back to stock as soon as, which obviously will set me back a bit.

Pete24v

I have one, it's amazing.. The only amp I'll never sell.

I only use the clean channel, it's great with pretty much any overdrive pedal.

Mine had the Eminence stock speaker (some came with EV's) which lost definition when the volume was above half. So I swapped it for a Jensen Alnico blackbird.

ICBM

Yes, the EL34s are not original and potentially a risk to the amp because they draw double the filament current of 6L6s - over time that could damage the power transformer, and although it's not *very* likely you really don't want that.

The Celestion is not original either but is a good choice - it's one of the cleaner and more 'American sounding' models.

If someone was trying to make it more like a Marshall they did it wrong - the mod that does that is to move the tone stack on the dirty channel to after the distortion instead of before it. That gives more, and more controllable, distortion. It's probably even easier than converting to EL34s and is no risk to the amp.

Jimbro66

ICBM said:

If someone was trying to make it more like a Marshall they did it wrong - the mod that does that is to move the tone stack on the dirty channel to after the distortion instead of before it. That gives more, and more controllable, distortion......

I wish I'd known that when I had mine but it was long ago before the days of online forums and the wealth of information we now have available on the www. Getting an amp repaired back then wasn't difficult, but modded? - fat chance.

I wouldn't mind another Rivera Concert but have probably left it too late. Only a few years ago you could pick up a decent one for £250 - £300 but now you are looking at double that (if you can find one) and fast heading towards early Silverface values.

McToot

Jimbro66 said:

ICBM said:

If someone was trying to make it more like a Marshall they did it wrong - the mod that does that is to move the tone stack on the dirty channel to after the distortion instead of before it. That gives more, and more controllable, distortion......

I wouldn't mind another Rivera Concert but have probably left it too late. Only a few years ago you could pick up a decent one for £250 - £300 but now you are looking at double that (if you can find one) and fast heading towards early Silverface values.

Well if you can get down to Littlehampton, there's one going for £420. I pulled out in the end. Not just because of the EL34s, but because there was a whiff of me indulging in boredom-buying. I'm not a gigging musician (I'm barely a musician FFS) and I already have a DR Z Carmen Ghia and a THR 10x. 

The fact that I would have needed to splash out on a pair of 6L6s and pay my mate Henk to re-bias was just enough to put me off tho. 

Jimbro66

/\ Thanks for the tip and that would be a good price by current trends but the fact that the amp has been messed with bothers me. EL34s, but what else might have been done and who did it? Also no foot pedal, which is desirable for gigging and not easy to find (where do they all go?).

My own 65 Deluxe Reverb RI has been modified but if I was to sell it I could tell prospective buyers exactly what the mods are and which highly respected amp builder did them. That's what I would expect of the fella selling the Concert. I'd say you were right to walk away.

Your mate Henk?! - Henk Phillipsen?  -  now that's a useful mate to have

McToot

Jimbro66 said:

/\ Thanks for the tip and that would be a good price by current trends but the fact that the amp has been messed with bothers me. EL34s, but what else might have been done and who did it? Also no foot pedal, which is desirable for gigging and not easy to find (where do they all go?).

My own 65 Deluxe Reverb RI has been modified but if I was to sell it I could tell prospective buyers exactly what the mods are and which highly respected amp builder did them. That's what I would expect of the fella selling the Concert. I'd say you were right to walk away.

Your mate Henk?! - Henk Phillipsen?  -  now that's a useful mate to have

The very same! He's such a character. I've spent many a happy hour in his tech-cave, mainly cos I pop in to drop something or pick summink up only to end up playing a load of his guitars or being instructed on the finer points of vintage Marshalls. 

His opinion was that I should go for the Concert and he'd sort it. But I'm a chicken, albeit a sensible one. I still have a nagging feeling I should have done the deal, if only because the price was right. 

Whereabouts are you @Jimbro66? Local to Horsham? I'm in Haywards Heath so not a million miles away. 

Jimbro66

That throws a different light on it. If you could barter the price down on the basis that its been messed with including potentially harmful mods (per @ICBM comment) then get Henk to give it a good going-over it could be worth a punt. Then again, for someone not gigging and already having a Dr Z and a THR the question has to be why would you

I'm based in west Cornwall and north Kent but also travel a lot in UK and abroad which makes it difficult to commit to a band but I still find time for solo spots and sessions.

I think most guitarists in the south-east know of Henk - or should