I need a Dr Beeching of the amp world

Stuckfast

Even though I mainly play acoustic these days, a combination of boredom, space at the studio and inability to resist a bargain means I now own too many guitar amps, all bought without any sort of plan or purpose in mind. I should really try to thin the herd a bit. I probably need someone to give me a kick up the arse and get rid of some of them, but I don't know which ones should go. Part of the problem is that none of them is hugely valuable, so there's not much of a financial incentive to make the hassle of selling worthwhile.

The candidates are:

Fender SF Vibrochamp -- really useful for recording, I'm not getting rid of it but might think about trading up to a Princeton or Deluxe if I get shot of one of the others.

English Valve Amps 5W single-ended EL84 chassis built into an old WEM combo. Has been out on loan for a couple of years. Does the Marshall crunch thing fairly well, which again makes it useful for recording.

Bird Golden Eagle. Bonkers combo from the early 60s. Hands down the coolest looking amp ever made. Sounds quite nice, and is the only amp I own with reverb, but (a) hums, and (b) the Elac elliptical speakers aren't great, so better used with an external cab.

Vox V125 'Climax' combo from about 1980. Not one of the most sought-after Vox models, and nothing like an AC30, but I quite like it. Has a really flexible active EQ, and although it can go stupidly loud, actually sounds good quiet too. Heavy. Will require a second mortgage if it ever needs to be re-valved.

Center Electronics Mk2 50 head. Very obscure and very basic 50W head made in Essex in about 1970. Have just spent a fair bit having it restored. Noisy, but sounds great cranked with a Strat. Should be a decent bass amp, unlike any of the others.

Hmmm... any thoughts?

mart

If you really want a Dr Beeching solution, try the following:

Step 1. Get rid of all the power cables, because when you listen closely to them they don't make any sound so they are clearly unnecessary.

Step 2. Listen to your amps now. If any don't make any sound then get rid of them too.

Step 3. Retire to East Grinstead feeling smug at how much you've enriched your master's pockets.

ICBM

Get rid of the Vox while bigger valve amps are still relatively valuable - and while it's still working. It's not a good amp really. This has 'millstone' written all over it, especially if it needs re-valving.

The Bird is probably better as a collector's item than an actual amp too, so that would be next. You can get very good reverb pedals these days.

The WEM probably after that. You can get a decent Marshall-esque crunch with a pedal more easily than you can get a good clean sound through an amp like that - I always say that you can't get a Marshall sound from a Fender any more than you can get a Fender sound from a Marshall, but that's not a proper Marshall sound anyway.

Trade the Vibro-Champ up to a Princeton Reverb, similar tone but a better amp all round. The Deluxe is a bit different though.

Keep the Center, it's worth next to nothing to sell anyway and is a good workable amp for bass or backup.

Stuckfast

Hmmm... yes you're probably right. Out of all of them I feel least attached to the Vox and the EVA. I have a perverse liking for the Bird just because it looks amazing. In fact if it didn't hum it'd be a definite keeper.

Sassafras

I'd get shot of the Golden Eagle. An absolute turd of an amp. I actually found it very hard to give away. No-one in their right mind wanted it once they tried it.
They do look cool, I'll grudgingly give them that.

ICBM

I have to admit I don't think they're even *that* cool-looking. Just a fairly average 1960s box really. A Watkins angle-front Dominator is much more unusual and cooler. And sounds better…

I haven't seen a Golden Eagle up close but I have worked on a couple of other Bird amps and I have to say that they're basically junk.

Stuckfast

Yes but a front-angle Dominator would cost a fortune, sadly.

I cranked up the Bird this afternoon and I'm not ashamed to say I like it. It sounds raw and ragged and gritty and generally evil. If it was American then I'm sure someone like Jack White would be using them and they'd be cult items by now. Plus it has cute little legs.

But I do wish it didn't hum so.

ICBM

Stuckfast said:

But I do wish it didn't hum so.

It's possible to fix it, just a question of how much work you want to do to it.

ThePrettyDamned

Don't be ashamed if you like the sound, it's all down to taste. 

If you really do like it that much, sell a few others and pay someone to overhaul the bird. You get the cool looks but quieter hum and more reliable. 

Sassafras

I bought mine for a fiver at auction, I then had to spend a hundred quid to get it sorted out and that was when a £100 was roughly 2 weeks wages. When I got it back, it hummed and buzzed slightly less but it was still the only sound that 'cut through the mix'.
If I hadn't had a perfectly good Traynor amp at the same time it would've put me off valve amps ('tube' amps if any Americans are listening) for life.

Stuckfast

It's been overhauled -- the amp tech says that the hum is basically a design fault, and also that it's a pig to work on. Oh well.

richardhomer

To carry the analogy to its logical conclusion, get rid of the all by selling them to a scrap dealer.

Then buy them all back and spend every spare hour of the rest of your life trying to renovate them to work reliably.  

Do the the majority of your playing through a reliable (though dull) solid state amp - and run the others on special occasions, to the delight of OAPs and children.....