Too Many Amps? What's your count....

[Little Ricky]

25 is 24 too many!

Yes, and actually inventorying them today for the great fall sell-off!

Crate VC5310
Ampeg VT-120
Peavey Classic VHT 212
Pignose G40
3 SF Champs
3 SF Vibro Champs
Crate V1512
Boothill 5F1 - incomplete
Boothill 5E3 - not started
SF Princeton
SF Princeton (with Vibrolux trannies and reverb and mid knob added) - what a frankenmonster
Vox DA-5
MIA Pro Jr - current #1
MIM Pro Jr - toasted tube board - pending rebuild or 5F11 rebuild
Fender Excelsior
Estey T42 - tried adding a three prong - toasted something???
Crate VC5212T - Chassis with Vol, Tone, Spd, Int, Rev - looking forward to get this one into a cab with either Emi Legend 15 or Jensen Neo 15, currently trying to trace the circuit and make a schematic - tedious project.
Ampeg B15N - restored by Jess Oliver - met him in person
GK MB 150S
Genz Benz Shuttle head
BF Bassman 212 - Sandy ravaged - waiting to learn enough about amps before restoring that - sent trannies to get tested and they're good.

It's funny how one can acquire soooooo much stuff little by little over the years. Hopefully this purge will be successful!

 

[Little Ricky]

My first tube amp was Blues Jr, and that was my only amp, except for one we used for rehearsal vocals (Fender Showman 212 - solid state), and that's ALL I had for most of my time gigging.
Now that I'm not gigging the collecting has taken over that portion of my time and energy. It's hard to pass up deals when they come along, but once the herd gets too big where you can't recite what you have from memory, it's best to put them back out there in circulation so they can be used.

 

[rze99]

I have exactly what I need and no more. My house is a family house and there's a limit, frankly. I play two amps at once usually, one dirtier darker, one cleaner brighter, because I like the combination best.

Pair One: preferred: DRRI with Celestion Creamback and late 60s VoxAC30TB with Celestion Blues. Hotplate attenuators

Pair Two: the gig rig, As above but with Genz Benz Black Pearl 30 to keep the old Vox's life easy.

Fender Super 60 Combo, modded. Comes out once in a while as I fancy.

1970s Marshall 50W MkII stack, modded, with Celestion Greenbacks. Comes out when just have to have that sound. Mostly playing with Gibsons and Strats.

Fender Superchamp XD: any place I need a lightweight pick up and play deal.

Really little 5w "Proaxe" backstage amp I picked up in Tokyo when playing there many many years ago... any place I need a teeny tiny little rig.


Most wanted: Lazy J 20W just because you have to have something you want a lot.

 

[P Thought]

Me a Peavey Classic 50 twin, and a Fender Acoustasonic 30. I'd like to upgrade the acoustic, and get something smaller for electrics, but I doubt I'll ever sell the C-50. I also have a small inexpensive Peavey I-Forget-What at school; I don't really count that.

 

[telemnemonics]

The fact that a high quality tube amp bought used will always be sellable for at least even- is a huge part of the rationalization for owning many amps.
If you hunt for bargains it becomes just-plain-wrong to pass up a good amp cheap that you don't already have 2-3 of.

Classic tube amps in bad shape are super cheap, even less than a 5e3 kit unassembled, so no guitar player in their right mind would pass up a '60s-'70s Fender tube amp broken for 20% of its working value, right?

Someday we'll all become amp techs, so...

 

[grolan1]

The fact that a high quality tube amp bought used will always be sellable for at least even- is a huge part of the rationalization for owning many amps.
If you hunt for bargains it becomes just-plain-wrong to pass up a good amp cheap that you don't already have 2-3 of.

Classic tube amps in bad shape are super cheap, even less than a 5e3 kit unassembled, so no guitar player in their right mind would pass up a '60s-'70s Fender tube amp broken for 20% of its working value, right?

Someday we'll all become amp techs, so...

You picked my brain! So, with how things are moving forward, will these little gold mines we all have be worth nothing someday in the near future? Will folks in 20 years look at an amp with tubes and just laugh? Really wonder about that one....

 

[StormJH1]

Possibly one of the reasons I am seriously considering letting a couple go... she comes into the music room and I feel guilty! ; ) Not that she doesn't buy here share of shoes/clothes, etc too! To the point I might have to start stacking them, but no more right.. no more. I must admit, I don't think I'll loose money on any of these amps, so it's kind of a savings account right?

Forgot, I have one more as it sits on a shelf to be admired for it's looks, not it's sound - Piggy (Peavey) Wiggy

I hear ya. The truth is that there is no actually rational way to explain this "hobby", or at least the extent of this hobby. But almost everybody has something that they spend disposable income on, and it's really up to the individual to gauge whether it's being done at a level they can responsibly maintain (while also making the payments that matter, saving some money, etc.). If you asked her what an "acceptable" amount to spend on guitar stuff would be, the answer would always be "zero". But stuff like this only exists because it makes people happy. That's literally it's only functional purpose.

(Some) guitar gear actually does a respectable job maintaining its value, but I don't think there's any reasonable way you can argue it's an investment. Phillip McKnight had a pretty good discussion of this in his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzJtFWNg7d7TZW7K9JyXmw) - I think he was discussing the phenomenon of why used MIM Strats actually retain a higher percentage of their value than MIA Strats, even though MIA is perceived as "better".

The better way of looking at it, I think, is that the following two things are true:

(1) The hours of enjoyment you can get out of a single guitar (or especially an amp) relative to its cost is a MUCH higher ratio than many other purchases. I have a '95 Squier Bullet (back when they were made better) - I learned to play guitar on that thing and sunk probably thousands of hours into it...I recently "revived" it with all new (Fender) electronics and some new hardware. And it cost $199 (I think) when I bought it, and maybe $150 in new parts to make it sound better now than it did when I bought it - the thing has even required a fret job yet.

(2) Guitar gear is varied enough that you can buy either a $100 amp, or a $1,000 amp, and it will still function and give you those hours of enjoyment. Yes, the $1,000 amp will sound much better, but even if you don't have a lot of money, you can still buy something that allows you to enjoy your instrument for years to come.

Those things are what make amps a good "investment", not resale value.

 

[ThermionicScott]

You picked my brain! So, with how things are moving forward, will these little gold mines we all have be worth nothing someday in the near future? Will folks in 20 years look at an amp with tubes and just laugh? Really wonder about that one....

Me too. Tube production seems precarious, and I doubt it will get more certain in terms of quality or numbers in the future. Having tubes to use makes all the difference between a classic tone generator and a useless piece of scrap iron.

In a similar scenario, Bosch has been shutting down their manufacture of distributor parts, leaving owners of classic cars to stock up on available parts or figure out other solutions. I've got a couple extra sets of points for my VWs, but...

- Scott

 

[Big_Bend]

I kept 3, sold all the rest, couldn't be happier.

69 SF Princeton Reverb, fixed up by our own muchxs

66 BF Super Reverb, minty fresh

Kendrick New Joyzee, built by my son in Gerald Weber's "Build Your Own Amp Camp"


I gots my small, large and medium sized amps, all have 6L6 tubes and wonderful clean blackface tone. I'm good....

 

[Snowbird]

I have 9:

-Dr Z Maz 18
-Blues Jr
-65 Amps Ventura
-18 watt 6v6'er that my buddy made for me
-Vox Brian May transistor amp
-Winfield Cyclone
-Allen Accomplice
-Victoria 5112
-Fender Mustang III

Now, for the ridiculous part of the story--they're all in storage except for the Mustang. When we moved overseas I left them all in storage and bought a Mustang since we weren't sure how long we'd be gone. I really need to sell them if we don't move back soon because musical instruments and gear do no one any good sitting in storage.

 

[StormJH1]

You picked my brain! So, with how things are moving forward, will these little gold mines we all have be worth nothing someday in the near future? Will folks in 20 years look at an amp with tubes and just laugh? Really wonder about that one....

No, because tube technology already became "obsolete" from a technical standpoint decades ago...and yet guitarists are such creatures of habit, tradition, and superstition, that they still remain an industry standard.

Transistors and modern circuitry replaced the function of tubes, to the point where tubes disappeared from basically every other electronic device. Companies like Marshall moved away from tubes fearing that the world supply of tubes would simply die out. That basically did happen, except for a handful of Eastern European factories, and the fact that the guitar amp industry supports the continued demand for more tubes.

Digital modeling technology continues to progress, and offers endless advantages in portability, versatility, and reliability over tube amplifiers. But I don't think tube amps will "go away" in 20 years, for the same reason that electric guitar pickups haven't really changed much since the 1950's: inertia.

 

[adjason]

I can't seem to pass up some of the big Fenders that come my way-My wife commented the other day "I don't think anyone else values these things the way you do" I think she meant it like "you can't sell those things for what you think they are worth" but I took it as a compliment.

 

[Snowbird]

Me too. Tube production seems precarious, and I doubt it will get more certain in terms of quality or numbers in the future. Having tubes to use makes all the difference between a classic tone generator and a useless piece of scrap iron.



In a similar scenario, Bosch has been shutting down their manufacture of distributor parts, leading owners of classic cars to stock up on available parts or figure out other solutions. I've got a couple extra sets of points for my VWs, but...



- Scott

This worries me too. Ok, worry is a strong word, but I've thought about it. Dan from 65 Amps used to talk about this issue on his weekly show, saying that current production EL 34's aren't nearly as robust as the old ones and that they have to constantly test their tubes because new tubes seem to be getting more and more unreliable. He even floated the idea of starting up a tube production company. I doubt it will ever happen. That seems to be an inevitably dwindling market, but I could be wrong

 

[grolan1]

I hear ya. The truth is that there is no actually rational way to explain this "hobby", or at least the extent of this hobby. But almost everybody has something that they spend disposable income on, and it's really up to the individual to gauge whether it's being done at a level they can responsibly maintain (while also making the payments that matter, saving some money, etc.). If you asked her what an "acceptable" amount to spend on guitar stuff would be, the answer would always be "zero". But stuff like this only exists because it makes people happy. That's literally it's only functional purpose.

(Some) guitar gear actually does a respectable job maintaining its value, but I don't think there's any reasonable way you can argue it's an investment. Phillip McKnight had a pretty good discussion of this in his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzJtFWNg7d7TZW7K9JyXmw) - I think he was discussing the phenomenon of why used MIM Strats actually retain a higher percentage of their value than MIA Strats, even though MIA is perceived as "better".

The better way of looking at it, I think, is that the following two things are true:

(1) The hours of enjoyment you can get out of a single guitar (or especially an amp) relative to its cost is a MUCH higher ratio than many other purchases. I have a '95 Squier Bullet (back when they were made better) - I learned to play guitar on that thing and sunk probably thousands of hours into it...I recently "revived" it with all new (Fender) electronics and some new hardware. And it cost $199 (I think) when I bought it, and maybe $150 in new parts to make it sound better now than it did when I bought it - the thing has even required a fret job yet.

(2) Guitar gear is varied enough that you can buy either a $100 amp, or a $1,000 amp, and it will still function and give you those hours of enjoyment. Yes, the $1,000 amp will sound much better, but even if you don't have a lot of money, you can still buy something that allows you to enjoy your instrument for years to come.

Those things are what make amps a good "investment", not resale value.

Investment wise, I would agree with you unless you get some great deals (like I seem to do from time to time). But investment in pleasure, that is another thing completely. Can't really put a dollar figure on the enjoyment you get from the old tubes glowing and that smell!

So a question I've asked before and still wonder about. Why pay close to the going price for a new PCB tube amp when someone could pickup the real deal for about the same price? I know it's not always that way as the BFDR is a LOT more than a DRRI. But there are some deals that are closer to the value of a new one. Say a good shape SF amp compared to the new ones? Or another example would be the BFSR compared to a real BFSR. They are much closer in value. And for almost half you could get a new early 70's SFSR.

 

[mitchfit]

..."You picked my brain! So, with how things are moving forward, will these little gold mines we all have be worth nothing someday in the near future? Will folks in 20 years look at an amp with tubes and just laugh? Really wonder about that one...."...

i'd guess demand 20 years from now would be directly related to the perceived quality of your antiquated tube amplifier brand name.

good example / analogy:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...ken+radio.TRS0&_nkw=telefunken+radio&_sacat=0

mitchfit

 

[ThermionicScott]

This worries me too. Ok, worry is a strong word, but I've thought about it. Dan from 65 Amps used to talk about this issue on his weekly show, saying that current production EL 34's aren't nearly as robust as the old ones and that they have to constantly test their tubes because new tubes seem to be getting more and more unreliable. He even floated the idea of starting up a tube production company. I doubt it will ever happen. That seems to be an inevitably dwindling market, but I could be wrong

Yep, and they get major kudos from me for designing amps that are easier on the tubes while still sounding kickass -- some very responsible engineering there.

Just speaking for myself, I'm not too "worried", either. Unless I suddenly become a hot-shot touring guitarist, my stash of old and new tubes will be enough to last many lifetimes.

 

[vespa1]

Yes, I have too many.

Fender DRRI
Vox AC15
Vintage 47 Bronson
Louis Electric Buster
57 Tweed Bandmaster Clone
64 Fender Bassman Piggyback
Gomez El Sonido Piggyback
Victoria Victoriette
Fender Excelsior

Also a couple of Ampeg bass amps.

 

[roycaster]

I made the move to Marshall the first chance I got and pretty much never looked back.

50 watt JMP 2x12 combo
50 watt JMP half stack
DSL401C

I don’t really count the Greta anymore because it is time to cut that one loose…

 

[clintj]

Let's see.

Mojo 5E3 Deluxe
Mojo BFSR
Mustang I
Marshall MG15
Vox AC30 headphone amp
Fishman Loudbox Mini for my acoustics.
I can also plug into my audio interface and use that.

On the wish list:
5F6-A Bassman
Marshall 1974X
A 5F1 Champ would also be nice.

 

[soulman969]

Five currently and soon to add a sixth. These cover about 95% of the ground for whatever I would need.

Roland Blues Cube
Roland Cube 40xl
Egnater Tweaker Head w/Celestion V30 1x12 Cab.
Bugera v5
TC Electronic BG250 Bass Combo

And soon an Acoustic AG120s acoustic guitar amp.