Very nice Fender 400 PS Amp rescued from pile of e-waste. I honestly didn't know what it was. Didn't take long to figure out that it was a gift from Providence. Now I need advice from experienced people
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What to do when you find a Dinosaur?
- Thread starter Jaxgits
- Start date
Nice, I find on Talkbass if you want to get rid of all the dinosaurs, you just need a Dingwall and a Darkglass.
You fix it up and rock it.
It's a fairly rare amp amp with a reputation for being hard on tubes and a challenge to work on. It sort of has three output sections, so it has to be connected to three cabs for full power....not very practical. The outputs are switched on when you insert a plug from a speaker cable. Schematic says each output is 4 ohms and rated for 145W.
It's not particularly valuable, but obviously it will be worth more if it is in good working order. I believe the tone is sort of clean and HiFi.
Here's a website dedicated to the 400 PS with lot's of technical stuff: The Fender 400 PS Amplifier Web Pages, by Rich Koerner
Oh no I don't want to keep it, I want to sell it right away. I already know all the info on it I just need to know fastest way to convert it into money. I found this site while doing research and I need to know if I upgrade membership how long it might take to sell and how much it might be worth.
You fix it up and rock it.
It's a fairly rare amp amp with a reputation for being hard on tubes and a challenge to work on. It sort of has three output sections, so it has to be connected to three cabs for full power....not very practical. The outputs are switched on when you insert a plug from a speaker cable. Schematic says each output is 4 ohms and rated for 145W.
It's not particularly valuable, but obviously it will be worth more if it is in good working order. I believe the tone is sort of clean and HiFi.
Here's a website dedicated to the 400 PS with lot's of technical stuff: The Fender 400 PS Amplifier Web Pages, by Rich Koerner
That's too bad.
What you can get and how fast it will sell is likely to depend on the condition, the asking price, and if a collector is currently looking for one. It's a cool amp, but not particularly coveted or practical. They don't pop up for sale very often and the sale price is all over the place. Reverb shows legacy ads for $1400, $2400, and $3325, plus shipping. All three of these amps were cosmetically very nice and described as fully functional and recently serviced.
If the amp is non-op, it won't be worth much as is could be very expensive to repair. Also keep in mind it's heavy so shipping will be fairly expensive. Lot's of uncertainty about how much the total sunk cost will be, so finding a buyer could take awhile.
I guess a couple questions are in order. Are you a bass player / musician? Do you have cabs and other supporting gear to run the amp? Do you know HOW to properly run it so you can properly evaluate it? There are lots of variables with this. There are 2 ways to sell it. First is - " I came into posession of this amp and know nothing about it. Powers on - no further testing done". Sell it fast and cheap that way. OR - " Fully tested - all functions and features operate as they should. Needs nothing". Sell for top price but it BETTER be right and you will . If you don't know for sure use the first option and everybody will be happy. If you sell it as fully operational on a national board such as reverb, ebay, etc and it is not expect backlash and a chargeback and a big hassle for all involved. If you sell it locally (for less money) it is probably better for you because it will be a cash deal and a closed deal at point of sale.
Whatever you do, don't do the work yourself. This amp is dangerous! High voltage. No user serviceable parts. Massive transformers.
There are whole (archaic) websites dedicated to this unicorn (not a dinosaur). Find them, look up the techs in question, and contact them.
Never power up an old tube amp without a load (connecting to a impedance matched speaker cabinet).
There are whole (archaic) websites dedicated to this unicorn (not a dinosaur). Find them, look up the techs in question, and contact them.
Never power up an old tube amp without a load (connecting to a impedance matched speaker cabinet).
They’re just dinosaurs in disguise!
To the OP, the 400PS is awesome, I used to have one, it’s pretty much 3 Bassman 135 preamps 2 channel and 3 power amps in one box, why Fender decided to put that much firepower into a bass head is beyond me. But running it full tilt with 3 4ohm loads, an Aguilar DB810, an Acoustic 301 rear facing 18 and 2 Fender Bassman 115s, I actually drown out the rest of the band by a long shot. I only did it once but man it was LOUD. Kind of wish I held onto it, but it was entirely too loud, sounded great with guitar too.
Good luck. Most folks these days are on the low weight, solid state band wagon. It's a cool amp, but probably not premium dollar cool anymore. The "fastest way to convert it to money" would probably be to take it to a local music store and offload it for a couple of hundred bucks. Either that or sit in it for a loooooong time until someone who appreciates weird amps finally comes along. Even then, I doubt it's going to be the cash cow you think it is.
There is a possible third option…….Do you own a boat?……………
It is, in fact, so heavy that it can't be shipped via package services like UPS, so it has to be a freight item. And just packaging it to ship would be pretty steep too. All that points to a local sale -- "As is, where is", IMHO. Good luck with it.
I would donate it to a school if you can’t sell it locally. Usually shipping is not worth it on the cheaper dinosaur amps
Step one is to see if it works. Take it to a good amp repair shop and have them test it. If it doesn’t work, take it back to e-waste and save yourself money and hassle.
Wait! I know this... Is the answer "one bite at a time"??
Looking at Reverb sold listings, they’ve moved from $800 to just under $4000, so it’s just a matter of patience and if it’s worth putting in the money to restore it, whatever that would come to, against potential gain.
But how many of them are selling? Like you said, this isn't exactly something the OP is going to make "fast money" on. Also, as someone else stated, the thing likely weighs more than a typical shipping service will handle, so now you've got to ship it freight, which is expensive.
It looks like about 15 that were listed as sold, then there were parts and one of those wonky cabinets.
