vintage vintage vintage

basscooker · #1 12-10-2011, 07:23 PM

so do any of you guys ever shop the vintage electronics section of ebay? just there yesterday and there are loads of tube amps for not so much. i got an old one off there- manufactured for a movie projector actually- that just with my geb-7 and bass can really growl. i'm thinking my next amp might be a 50 or so watt metal box that looks like it fell off sputnik-- rust, dents and all. just have the local wizard stack all of the input preamps together? thoughts?

christw · #2 12-10-2011, 07:26 PM

I did that twice. Once, I got bit on repairs but ended up with a gem of a studio guitar tone. Second time was a waste on a 5w beater.

basscooker · #3 12-10-2011, 07:41 PM

guy i know (heard his project yesterday) took a challenger (3 chan pa) and ran all three inputs together as one and kept the phono input alone (changed connector) so he's got a high and lo gain input. it's a 35 watter. it got me fired up to gamble again on the evilbay. i agree it's a crapshoot getting anything there, especially something like these old potentially lethal items. it sounded better than mine, and had tone controls, mine is basically just a power amp.

christw · #4 12-10-2011, 07:48 PM

Oh! And the third time was this cool organ amp that I think I sold to some dude...

Projects are fun. I just haven't found the right amp to hot rod yet.

BassmanPaul · #5 12-10-2011, 09:59 PM

The problem with buying any ad hoc piece of tube gear is safety. Some use a live chassis, no power transformer, and can be very dangerous to folk who know little about tube amplifiers. Just 'cos it's old doesn't make it good. Before you buy know exactly what it is you are buying. Please don't find out the hard way!