Shocked at price of cheap amp

Is it this one?


Looks like a neat amp but I agree $400 seems a bit high. I know nothing about vintage amps though.

 

Yes. They are "all the rage" so to speak. Silvertones (proper) seem to be at the front of the pack....but the Kays and similar offshoots seem to gain a lot of attention too. It's part of a trend....I think we can thank the likes of Jack White, Black Keys, and others as being partly responsible for this movement ..... I personally kinda dig it....gets me back to thinking about some of the old "cheapie" stuff that has their own unique tones....

 

don't confuse the price one or 2 guys are asking to get with what they are actually selling for. If you search ebay you will find the one that sell are going for $66 - $195 over the past few months.

 

I have an airline 8511 that I paid 100 for at Ant Farm amplification, as that was early last year, with newer sprague atom caps, a weber CVC 8, and new grill cloth and baffle. I don't see them being too overpriced, however mine has doubled in value as it is tweed and has nicer looks than many similar amps, and hey, who can't live with telefunken preamp tubes for 15-20 bucks NOS and US made ones for 3 bucks all day! Hahaha

 

Oh, and forgot that this baby also has black beauty caps throughout!

 

Those guys are great. I love that store.

 

these amps are gaining in popularity for the same reason people hated them to begin with... they break up way too early and don't get very loud. the majority of guitar players are looking down the barrel of retirement... and suddenly these little bedroom overdrive boxes seem pretty appealing. throw in an upcharge for nostalgia, and a vintage mojo fee... and there ya go

 

I have a huge isolation and filament transformer out of an oscilloscope with like 20 tubes laying around, and over 10 amps of 6.3 of I think correctly, and I really feel like building a relatively huge push pull parallel amp in this style... 4 or 6 6aq5's, a 12ax7 as a single triode phase splitter and a gain stage, and a 6au6 for the first stage... Hahahaha. Someday when I have the time and the extra cash.... Gotta remember I'm a teenager that's saving for a car sometimes...

 

Selling for, as in closed/sold auctions, or greedy vintage mongering listing prices is my question?

 

I have owned Fender Champs and Silvertone 5 watters - I used to have an entire arsenal of little 5-8 watt amps - but somehow they all ended up getting away.

The Champ and Silvertone I miss the most.

 

You two already know what's up.

Indeed, we gotta look to the left column after a search and select completed listings. "Buy it now" prices mean nothing.

 

Found an all original 1967 Silvertone 1481 in a garage. Dusted it off, sounds great. Really neat little cheap handwire from the 60s. I really dig it!

 

I've got a pair of Silvertone 1482's. They are awesome. I paid $375 for a '65 NOS/NIB one that looks like it came out of a time capsule with it's original shipping carton. It was found in storage in a house while the seller was cleaning it out still in it's box wrapped in it's original packaging material. I paid $195 for a '67 that has a more common distressed look. I swapped the speaker for a Weber Sig 12A, replaced the power cord with a grounded one, removed the death cap, replaced the flimsy speaker baffle with 3/8 birch ply and put jacks on the OT's 4 & 8 ohm outputs. You typically won't find these for less than $300. $300 - $350 is about the going rate for them. As far as tone goes, I would sell my '78 Vibro Champ before selling either one of these. There's no nostalgia on my end, I never knew they existed until I plugged into that '65. I wish I knew about them 10 years ago when you could find them everywhere for $50 or less.

A variety of cool tone can easily be coaxed from one of these little screamers.

 

So so jealous. Always wanted one of those since I read about them. You got a new one!

 

Yeah, a new one and an old one. I haven't broken out that new one in a while. It's time to light it up again.

 

I have a Kay703 and was talking to Chris Wood of Medeski, Martin and Wood & the Wood Brothers about it. We'd both heard that Keef used it for Exile On Main Street and he said they use them in the Wood Bros! He said they can be hit or miss, but the beauty of traveling with one is that it's easy to carry on! I LOVE mine with my Tele. It's great for taking out back and playing in the Catskills.

 

My first amp in 1966 was a Silvertone 1483--22 watts of unstressed 6L6GC power through a floppy Jensen 15. It worked fine for a modest volume guitar and bass amp. Of course I got myself a "real" amp (Fender Bassman) a few years later. I wish I still had that 1483

I'm amazed that any of those Homasote-cabineted flimsy suckers survived