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Oliver b120

#22
My best guess would be to price this slightly lower than a 70's ampeg portaflex, which would normally sell in the $800-1000 range. It is very similar to the B15, being a lower wattage 1x15 combo designed by the same guy, but doesn't have the fliptop feature or ampeg name. If you can find an oliver/ampeg collector you may be able to fetch more, but I think you'll run up against a fair number of people who don't know anything about these amps and that may hinder a sale if you're putting it on the market. If you do decide to try to put up an ad somewhere to sell it, be sure to mention that it was designed by Jess Oliver of Ampeg/Portaflex fame and that should help you out.
 
#24
Just as a price reference, there was one of these for sale on CL near me last year for ~$450. I thought it was a steal at the time, but of course didn't have the money. I later picked up a 1964 B-15 in poor cosmetic condition for just slightly more than that.

I guess the moral of the story is that the market right now is in favor of the buyer, not the seller. On something as rare as your Oliver, I would wait until you get someone who is genuinely interested in it for its history and sound, not just someone looking for any old amp.

However, if I were you I'd just get it tuned up and start playing :)
 
#25
I just want to thank everyone again for their help and expertise. I ended up listing the amp for sale for local pick-up on eBay, and was happy to have a better idea of value and what I had. The board saved me from making a mistake and selling prematurely.
 
#26
Canjond said:
Thanks for the advice and help again.

Here are some photos that I quick snapped. Please note that the "brown" on the front of the speaker is just some dust (I've had the amp in storage for the last few years). Swiffer took it right off!

Also, as you will see, the head unit does have a scratch on the front face, but is in perfect working order. The mic was also with my grandfather's things.

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I had one of those Oliver B120 amps (with the wheels) back in the early/mid 70s. I regret selling that one almost as much as I regret selling each of the several 1960s Ampeg B-15 Portaflex amps that I have sold. I recall that the Oliver B120 didn't fetch as much as my super-clean vintage B-15 amps did, but it still went for several hundred dollars. I actually "gave away" a mint 1960s B-15 Portaflex that never left my house for about 30 years in a moment of insanity back around 2000 to 2002. I think that I got about $600-$700 for it (I've seen them going for around $2,000 in similar shape recently).
 
#32
The B120 has a very unique passive EQ section. I've not seen it in any other amp. It bears no relationship to the passive Baxandall bass and treble (which Oliver's guitar amp used in one channel) or a Fender tone stack (which the guitar amp uses in the guitar amp. The U-high is a treble bypass/bright cap on the volume control, but adjustable. Very uncommon. I'd love to hear it. I may have to build it to hear what it does.

The 6EU7's were not used a lot...tube Echoplexes used them. In a way, that's good, as NOS 6EU7's should be plentiful and not expensive.

The Univox amp is a 20 watt simple solid state amp head. I'm guessing it was either his earlier bass amp or he used it for his mic.
 
#33

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