SOLD: Rift PR18 - £1400

DB1 · May 2020

Recently purchased from a fine gent ( @MtB ) from this very forum. It's a great amp, but a little loud for my bedroom playing, as it were.

So, a bit of a back story before I get onto the price. In January, I bought a Tone King Falcon Grande, which I absolutely loved - the iron Man attenuator made it just right for me. Well, almost. I have a couple of clunky old '50's Gibsons and they can get a little muddy at the bottom end, so to speak, and the FG 'only' has a tone control, albeit a very good one, and I told myself that what I needed more than anything else in the world ever - more than world peace, more than a night with Bella Emberg even - was an amp with treble, middle and bass controls. Step forward this ad - https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/175365/fs-rift-pr18#latest

'Rift PR18 for sale. Un-marked condition, Brownface pre-amp -- comes with middle control which offers the upside of being able to shift the tone to blackface or tweed, or anywhere in-between, Fitted with a switch to drop the power from 18 to 10 watts, Wine red tolex, Reverb, Tremelo, Comes with footswitch for the trem and reverb, plus a Roqsolid fitted cover'

Well, what's not to like? The correct answer is 'nothing' apart from that I can't do it justice. Oh, and I went a bit daft and bought a Tone King Imperial II - I couldn't resist the turquoise. Then I sold my Falcon Grande to a forum member, and while agreeing that, realised that I thought they were great amps, and pre-ordered another Falcon Grande, again in turqouise, because I'm going through my turqouise phase. Wait 'til you see my new suit.

So, moving on (thankfully) I've ended up with a new Imperial and impending Falcon Grande. Exquisite planning. They both have attenuators, which suit me, so I've got it covered (probably) so I don't really need three amps. Or two really. Or - if you've heard me play - one.

'The price! The price!', I can hear you scream. Well, I paid £1400, so that's fair in 100% good order, and it's as unmarked as when I bought it, and it was unmarked then. It also still has the cover, and everything else in the original ad.

But what it also has is a noisy reverb at the moment. I haven't had chance to get it to Chris at Rift, or even to have had it serviced locally by Neil at Bluebird Amps, although this is on the agenda for the next week or so. The sound from the reverb (when putting the jack in or out, or walking across the floor near it) is like a monster trying to tread carefully through a large deserted cave at night, although I appreciate that that's probably too technical.

Anyway, it's going to be sorted and then I'll ask £1400 - if you fancy getting it serviced yourself, it's £1275. Incidentally, I should add that Mike @MtB very kindly offered to pay for any work, but I have a suspicion that it will have happened as a result of my car journey home. It's a couple of years old now, so a service won't hurt it anyway.

Anyway, happy to chat, drop me a line if you think you'd fancy this, happy to deliver within reason or meet up (with social distancing etc). Cheers

Edit on June 2nd - although I've left the bit in capitals for reference, it's now having a service, oil change and a gentle rub down with the December 1988 edition of Razzle, so the next owner will get it in tip-top condition.

Fishboy7 · May 2020

Beautiful looking amp. Just wondering if a layman could bypass the reverb altogether and remove the tank?

Barnezy · May 2020

Lovely amp! I'd be all over that if I hadn't just about two in a month already.

Just out of interest, how does the GF compare to the Imperial in your view?

DB1 · May 2020

I put a bit of a low-wattage review here - https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/180402/tone-king-imperial-mark-2-users-questions#latest

Since then, I sold the Falcon, because there was a forum member looking for one, but even before I sold it, I thought I'd have another one, so went for one from Coda (it won't be in for another couple of months) also in turquoise. Most of what I said on the other thread still holds good - the Imperial perhaps feels a bit more 'formal' whereas the FG is slightly warmer instantly, but without the bass/treble peaks and troughs of the Imperial.

I was actually going to send the Imperial back, but I didn't want to not go through with the FG sale, but the more I used it, the more I liked it, so I've kept it. I'd say that the FG has a more vintage feel to it, and the rhythm channel really cleans up (it seems to scoop a bit out of the middle like a more subtle Varitone) and is great for acoustic-y, jangly chords.

I think you can justify having them both!

DB1 · May 2020

Update - the Rift looks like it's going in for a service and a good ferreting on Tuesday, so if you'd like the 'monster treading round a cave' version, do let me know before then.

DB1 · June 2020

Update - amp now in the tender care of Neil at Bluebird Amps in Stafford, who is making sure that it's next owner gets a freshly serviced, top-quality amp without a reverb effect that sounds like a Dalek having a gentle head massage with a couple of baking trays.

DB1 · June 2020

Update: Reverb sorted and I decided to go the whole hog and get a brand new speaker as Neil had identified a vibration at a couple of frequencies at higher volumes, and one valve was loose, so two new ones are going in, which means that there's also a good spare with it.

Now sold pending...

DB1 · June 2020

Rift now sold to yet another exceptionally nice Fretboard member.

Quick note for @RiftAmps - when I picked the amp up from Neil who had sorted out the issues (none relating to the amp itself, incidentally) he commented on what a gorgeous, beautifully sounding, superbly built amp it was.

His final words were 'whatever you do, don't plug it in again, because you won't want to sell it if you do'.

I took his advice.

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SOLD: Rift PR18 - £1400

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