My first amp was an ‘84 jcm 800 4104 combo which I completely love. About 18 months ago I found a ‘77 silverface champ runt at Charlie Chandlers which has a transformer code 2 weeks after my birth date, so that satisfied the birth-year-gear itch.
With the 70s and the 80s sorted, I have a strange desire for a nice 60s piece of gear. Don’t think I can stretch to 60s Fender guitar unless it was a truly beaten up player grade, so I reckon something like a small 60s fender combo might be the thing.
Anyone got any suggestions as to something vaguely affordable? I can’t work out prices from usual online places as there’s not many about. If the right thing came along I would consider the painful option of selling my lazy j 20 and I have a nice 2001 Fender Mexican jazz V bass that could go, so could probably scrabble together about £2500. Is a princeton reverb doable at that price?
Is there a 60s fender guitar in that ballpark price range?
Any thoughts/ suggestions most welcome.
Cheers
Comments
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It baffles me how much money people seem to be willing to spend on ratty old amps just because they’re old. Yes, some of them do sound quite nice... but there are inevitable issues with maintenance, and originality affects value as much as it does with guitars. Although (with a few exceptions) it’s rarer to find fake vintage amps than guitars, there are a large number which have been repaired badly over the years and are either difficult or impossible to make really right again. In my experience most dealers are not as knowledgeable about the insides of amps as they are about guitars, even if they’re honest.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
(formerly miserneil)
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
You mean as a modern build? Didn’t think he dealt in old amps.