What to do when you find a Dinosaur?

[Jaxgits]

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.

Thank you for helpful advice!!! I also noticed the incredible jump in prices on this and other things musical.
The Gibson E2 I am about to list is nicer condition than most all currently on Reverb, and they are tagged at $7500 (?!?!?!?)
A sign of the times because A LOT of people have money to burn. Mom and dad would spend more than that on an Air BNB rental for a college kids weekend birthday party.
I got shorted on the rich parents thing - oh well, at least they didn't complain about the type of records I would play

 

[Jaxgits]

The speakers jacks are supposed to switch the tubes in and out of the circuit in pairs. AFAIK, this is done by switching the ground connections to the cathodes. Power supply voltages will run higher if none of the tubes are pulling current....also who is to say the switches are working properly.

IMHO, there is really little point in applying power and setting the amp to operate if you can't test to see if the amp is making noise or passing a signal. Just because tube heaters light does not mean the circuits are working. Also the tube heaters come on with the amp set to standby, so there is no need to risk setting the amp to operate.

AFAIK, Usually a best practice is to bring up an old tube amp on a variac and probe the circuit to check proper operating voltages. Identifying problems at a lower voltage reduces the risk of a major damage.

This is all good technical stuff! Thank you for the post. I knew some of this already from research, it is an unusual design. One person described it as 3 - 145W amps in one head because of the unusual isolated 3 output design.
Somebody else made mention of a custom cabinet with 3 inputs and modern durable speakers to use with this amp and that sound like a good way to go since it appears the old 18" folded fender cabinets are probably NOT in circulation much

 

[Jaxgits]

Just be sure that if you continuing to screw around with the amp, you know the number to 911…

Thanks for the warning. I just hope to not be "screwing around" with it much at all.
If I had money to burn, I WOULD DEFINATELY KEEP IT!

 

[Jaxgits]

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.

I posted yesterday some goombah has a couple (2) of the early 70s knobs like on this amp (with the Fender F on them) for sale.
Tagged at $74.95 I believe, and they were in wretched condition.
At that rate this amp has over $400 worth of KNOBS.
It would be a real shame to part out something like this, it's a survivor

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I posted yesterday some goombah has a couple (2) of the early 70s knobs like on this amp (with the Fender F on them) for sale.
Tagged at $74.95 I believe, and they were in wretched condition.
At that rate this amp has over $400 worth of KNOBS.
It would be a real shame to part out something like this, it's a survivor

Just because he wants $74 per knob doesn't mean the market will bear $74 per knob.

 

[Michedelic]

I posted yesterday some goombah has a couple (2) of the early 70s knobs like on this amp (with the Fender F on them) for sale.
Tagged at $74.95 I believe, and they were in wretched condition.
At that rate this amp has over $400 worth of KNOBS.
It would be a real shame to part out something like this, it's a survivor

There’s always some guy fishing for suckers there. It doesn’t mean that someone wouldn’t be looking for those at some point, but I doubt that anyone would be that desparate. I need a particular knob for one of my Sunn Coliseum heads, and one for a Fender Studio Bass in head form, but I’ll let them find me.
But seriously, call Bob…

Amp tech in Los Angeles since 1996 – Amp tech in Los Angeles since 1996

The guy knows everybody, and he might know of someone who would want to take that on.

 

[Redbrangus]

Somebody else made mention of a custom cabinet with 3 inputs and modern durable speakers to use with this amp and that sound like a good way to go since it appears the old 18" folded fender cabinets are probably NOT in circulation much

I'm not sure why you'd care anything about what speakers to use with it if you're not keeping it. The original Fender 18" W-horns were horrible beasts in any case. The amp does have three independent power amp sections of about 135 watts each; thus, the only way to actually derive 400 watts from it is with three independent 4Ω loads. Those could all be in one cab, but that doesn't make much sense to me. With modern drivers, it wouldn't be too hard to come up with a single driver cab that can dissipate the 130-ish watts of one channel. Three 215 cabs would be pretty rocking.

This is a highly unique amp, and this one appears to be in great cosmetic condition -- it's worth something to someone, if not to you. Since you live in such a populous area, I would think you would have a pretty good chance of finding someone locally who could give it a good home. Again, I don't think shipping it should be considered as an option. You could just advertise it 'As is/Where is', as I suggested earlier, and probably pocket enough to take you and your significant other out for a big dinner, maybe even two. Personally, I think I would invest the $100-200 bucks in taking it to a real tech who can check it out; I suppose it's possible that it's actually in decent working order, in which case, you could perhaps collect a big score. At any rate, you'd have a better idea of what it's worth or what repairs a potential purchaser would be facing. Again, this is a unique amp -- in the automobile analogy, it isn't so much like a '70s muscle car as it is a Shelby Cobra -- a really rare bird. And it definitely is not an amp that just anybody can work on -- the voltages involved are exceptionally high, and the power amp circuits are tweaked to within a very tight margin for maximum performance -- that's probably why they had a reputation for blowing through tubes. I think it would be worth posting a new thread in this forum with the specific purpose of finding a qualified tech; something along the lines of "Looking for an amp tech in SoCal for a Fender PS400" might scare up some suggestions. I don't know if the guy in Burbank who was recommended earlier is one of those guys, but it sounds like he might be. Good luck with it.

 

[Wasnex]

FWIW, amps are not cars. And the nostalgia value of old, impractical, and hard to repair tube amps bears mo relation to the enthusiasm and market for old cars.

Plenty of people see barn finds as worthless junk. However, certain car enthusiasts will happily give the owner some pocket cash with the idea of building a master piece.

I agree this amp is not particularly practical, but like certain old cars, it would be tempting to the right collector. The market for classic and rare amps is much smaller than the market for classic and rare cars, but it definitely exist. If it was local, I would consider adding it to my personal collection for the right price. It wouldn't be the first old amp that I bought listed "for parts" to fix up.

I highly doubt whoever got rid of this amp had a clue. My guess is the owner died, and whoever dealt with disposing of his/her possessions did no see any value in it.

 

[40Hz]

@Wasnex - I agree with your points. However, your technical background and expertise makes you far from a typical potential customer, or even most collectors I’ve met. So yes, that amp could be a genuine find for the right person - with heavy emphasis on “right person” part. But the OP is looking for a quick sale, and doesn’t have much knowledge about what he’s selling, or the market for it, so I think my suggestion to him to just unload it ‘as is’ for whatever he can get is his best option for accomplishing that at this point.

As far as it being something tossed by a clueless estate executor goes, that requires as much speculation as my hypothetical scenario did.

Maybe we should team up and write some movie scripts and pitch them to Disney? No matter how bad they were they’d still be better than most of what the Mouse writers have come up with for the last five years.

 

[Akami]

The concern about powering up that amp without a speaker is probably a little bit overcautious. I can't cite an authoritative source for this information...

I've been thinking the same thing and it seems that just a couple months ago I saw where Dave Friedman was saying (at least in a particular instance) that there was probably little (or no?) danger as long as no signal was applied.

At any rate, the OP seems intent on become wealthy immediately and shows no interest whatsoever in any of the advice given here unless accompanied by a treasure map. This is surely one one those 'members' who joined the forum to receive the efforts of others with nothing given back to the forum in return. Not a single post likely in any thread other than this 'help me for free' thread. I guess that's okay because at least some of us are enjoying the conversation, but it's decidedly more enjoyable when people ask for help and show some appreciation when they get what they asked for.

 

[rickdog]

Just be sure that if you continuing to screw around with the amp, someone who is watching from a safe distance knows the number to 911…

FTFY

 

[singlemalt]

This thing looks and smells like bait on a hook.

I’m waiting for the Nigerian Prince to appear.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

This thing looks and smells like bait on a hook.

I’m waiting for the Nigerian Prince to appear.

I'd give him 500 dollhairs right now!

 

[Michedelic]

Here’s a thought(and I’m disappointed that I didn’t think of it sooner)…track down any Allman Brothers tribute bands out there and see if they’d be interested.

 

[DirtDog]

List it for sale on the Steel Guitar forum.

 

[MuseChaser]

Not that it's an ideal substitute for a Variac, but a DBT (Dim Bulb Tester) is cheap, easy to construct, and offers margins of safety when powering up amps of unknown provenance. Easy to find details on building one via the search engine of your choice. Basically you need a light bulb socket, an appropriately rated incandescent light bulb (which, depending upon your state of residence, may now be the only difficult component to source....), an outlet, a power cable, and a switch.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Not that it's an ideal substitute for a Variac, but a DBT (Dim Bulb Tester) is cheap, easy to construct, and offers margins of safety when powering up amps of unknown provenance. Easy to find details on building one via the search engine of your choice. Basically you need a light bulb socket, an appropriately rated incandescent light bulb (which, depending upon your state of residence, may now be the only difficult component to source....), an outlet, a power cable, and a switch.

I'd be willing to bet that lamps at Habitat For Humanity Restore are all fitted with tungsten incandescent bulbs even in places they are illegal. Probably loopholes under charity nonprofit and flies way under the radar.

 

[agedhorse]

I'd be willing to bet that lamps at Habitat For Humanity Restore are all fitted with tungsten incandescent bulbs even in places they are illegal. Probably loopholes under charity nonprofit and flies way under the radar.

I doubt it, at least in CA.

 

[bknop]

Thrift stores often have old incandescent bulbs (where I buy my bulbs). I hope the op finds a buyer. Craigslist could be a good option too. In a city there's going to be someone who wants a monster tube amp, even if it's an odd one. As an example, 20 years ago I bought a 200 watt tube PA amp off of fleabay for around $100 shipped to use as a bass power amp. The amp didn't even have the normal 4, 8 ,16 ohm taps listed. It was setup with the commercial style 25, 70, 110 volt taps on the output transformer, and I had to figure out which pair of the 7 terminals would work best for an 8 or 4 ohm load. I am appalled that some have even said trashing it is an option, its not like the amp melted in a house fire. If I had the spare cash and the need, I would be an interested buyer. 400 tube watts is something to drool over. Lol

 

[agedhorse]

Thrift stores often have old incandescent bulbs (where I buy my bulbs). I hope the op finds a buyer. Craigslist could be a good option too. In a city there's going to be someone who wants a monster tube amp, even if it's an odd one. As an example, 20 years ago I bought a 200 watt tube PA amp off of fleabay for around $100 shipped to use as a bass power amp. The amp didn't even have the normal 4, 8 ,16 ohm taps listed. It was setup with the commercial style 25, 70, 110 volt taps on the output transformer, and I had to figure out which pair of the 7 terminals would work best for an 8 or 4 ohm load. I am appalled that some have even said trashing it is an option, its not like the amp melted in a house fire. If I had the spare cash and the need, I would be an interested buyer. 400 tube watts is something to drool over. Lol

The configuration is not the same as a typical tube amp. Often, the parts are worth more than the amp itself once shipping is factored in. This amp would be very expensive to ship in addition to any repairs it might need.