Undervalued Amps to Buy Now

[68goldtop]

Hi kuch!

...All fender tube amps BF and SF are at a premium in our market too.

I would think that you are located in the "Great Northwest" of the USA, right?
If so, I´m sure you can find great deals if you look around, search the (more) local classifieds and such.
Even here in Europe - where vintage Fenders are a lot rarer than in the states - there are still deals to be found!

cheers - 68.

 

[JamesAM]

Big fenders, especially twins and supers. Local place by me had a bunch of silver face twins for around a grand.

 

[Si G X]

Marshall JCM2000 amps.

You can buy combos for under £200 and heads for around £350, I've even seen half stacks go for around the same.

 

[Dismalhead]

Monoprice tube amps!

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My first thought too. They seem to be pretty inexpensive for what you get.

 

[TheMattJones88]

I hate to let the secret out, but most vintage Ampeg amps. They sound incredible and go for way too cheap. I bought a recapped '63 Jet last year for $600. Best sounding amp I've ever heard.

 

[slider313]

Ampeg's have been undervalued forever. I've just noticed the increase of asking prices on Reverb, but there are still some very good deals to be had. The top loaded Reverberocket is a great sounding 18 watt combo. Sure, some of them use oddball tubes but $80-$100 for a 6C10 isn't out of line when a NOS RCA 12ax7 will run you $100-$125+

 

[Dismalhead]

I hate to let the secret out, but most vintage Ampeg amps. They sound incredible and go for way too cheap. I bought a recapped '63 Jet last year for $600. Best sounding amp I've ever heard.

I jammed with a guy a few times who had a '60s Reverberocket. It was easily one of the best amps I ever heard too. He went straight in, no effects. The tone blew me away.

 

[Back at it]

I jammed with a guy a few times who had a '60s Reverberocket. It was easily one of the best amps I ever heard too. He went straight in, no effects. The tone blew me away.

My friends Gemini 1 was one of the best amps I ever heard, he blew it up but still has it. I keep telling him to get it fixed but he also has a 66 pro reverb and he doesn’t play electric much any more

 

[loopfinding]

have a number of things on my mind, but i don’t want to say because then people will ruin the deals.

really, go buy a Marshall origin, or a classic 30 or 20, you’ll be happy. trust me. that’s the “vintage sound” in your head or whatever.

you don’t want to mess flippantly with cathodyne and transformer PIs and drive the prices up. you’ll probably only like that it’s “old,” but be 50/50 on the sound.

back away now.

 

[JL_LI]

In times of inflation, it’s foolish to buy what you don’t need. You do not get real value from your purchase and you keep prices high for everyone else. The amp to buy is one you need. Period. There’s no amp to buy just to have it.

 

[codamedia]

Marshall Origin ($400ish for 50 watt)

Not around here... not anymore!

Origins have gone up 30% at the retail level (here in Canada) and are really hard to find stock on. Used ones are impossible to find at good prices anymore. I got mine for about that price last summer.... glad I did.

 

[Mark617]

Isn’t it all relative ? 5-10 years ago, guys were still lugging heads & cabs. It was the whole yardstick thing . Now everyone is going smaller and combo. Could just be me ? But it seems even if you play out or not. Most are seeking 15 watts and portable. Hence, they are all crazy dollars now

 

[fenderchamp]

I saw the band Fuzz last night Charles Moothart was using Music Man amps it looked like a 4x10 and a 1x10 combo on the other side of the stage (I'm guessing for stereo split ) and an Ampeg head (maybe a v2 or a v4) I didn't actually take a picture, I guess I should have, into some 2x12 cabinet.

He played a non reverse Firebird 3 (vintage??) I'm guessing. At one point in the night something happened to the guitar and he set it on top of his amps, and a guy brought him what looked like a screwdriver and he apparently fixed the guitar right on stage, retuned it, and went on playing.

He sounded great all night long, but in any case old music man amps and old ampegs will not break the bank. They takes pedals well too. I had an Music Man RD112 for years, it came from the factory with one of those big old EV speakers in it, that thing was reliable to say the least. I didn't find it that inspiring, like I do some of my other amps, but If you want lots of clean power for not lots of $$$ check some of those old boys out.

 

[schmee]

Silverface Champ's, Bassman's, Bandmasters.
Champs are high on marketplaces, but really, when it comes down to actually selling one, they often go cheap. The last one I had 2 years ago was dead stock. I paid $350 for it. I added an Emi 820 speaker, I gave it a filter cap job. I tried to sell it, it took forever and I got... wait for it... $350 for my trouble ............. with both speakers!

Another possibility is the Fender PA100. They can still be had for $350-$450. It's basically a Twin Reverb head with 4 inputs! Change out a couple of tone caps and you have a bargain for a high power head...

 

[gridlock]

What amps are available for a bargain on the used market right now? Cult followings and word of mouth on the internet have caused the second hand prices of many amps to increase. With the uncertainty regarding tubes and (hopefully not) tube amps, I believe they're all set to become less common and more costly. Here are some which I believe make great investments:

Budda Superdrive 45 (not uncommon to find in $600-800 range)

A high-end amp US made amp for the cost of a midrange one. The quality of the tone just can't be matched at this price range, IMO. I think it's as much of a well-kept secret as any amp out there. Emulating the "brown sound" has been lucrative business for many, and once the word gets out that this has it in spades, and sounds amazing in general, they should become much harder/more expensive to find

Marshall Origin ($400ish for 50 watt)

Marshall releasing affordable amps is not new. Marshall releasing an affordable amp worthy of its badge is new and quite shocking. They are so easy to find and so cheap that it's hard to pass up if you're looking for the Marshall sound to add to your collection. I think people have been burnt by cheap Marshall offerings before, which is reflected in the low resale value

What are some other bargains?

I agree with the Marshall Origins. I paid $250 for my new floor-model Origin 50 Combo last year on closeout. What a great amp, even at full price, and the power reduction works so well.

 

[Ronzo]

I hate to let the secret out, but most vintage Ampeg amps. They sound incredible and go for way too cheap. I bought a recapped '63 Jet last year for $600. Best sounding amp I've ever heard.

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. As I got interested in guitar in ‘61-‘62, a lot of my contemporaries went the Ampeg route - Jets, ReverbeRockets, Gemini I and II - but I never gravitated to that sound. I preferred Fenders. Even before I could acquire one. I know that some of you cut your musical teeth on Ampeg gear. Not slagging on any of you. But the players whose talents I respected most - local players, in the same basement/garage bands where I grew up - seemed to have Fender amps and Fender guitars.

These were the days of “I have the biggest amp, so I’m the lead guitarist.” Vocals went through a Lafayette or Rat Shack 4 channel high-impedance mic mixer. Two channels more than we needed, because the entire band could - maybe - afford two mics. That mixer plugged into the unused channel of the biggest two-channel amp the richer kid (lead guitarist) had. And the “lead singer” never bought a mic, unless threatened with a beatdown. (Sort of like today?)

I wonder what that garage/basement band scene is like today. Neither my daughter nor my son got interested in it. My granddaughters both prefer ukuleles lately.

 

[Jakedog]

Marshall JCM2000 amps.

You can buy combos for under £200 and heads for around £350, I've even seen half stacks go for around the same.

I’ve never seen prices on those even remotely close to this.

 

[patriotplayer90]

I'd add the Genz Benz Black Pearl. Those don't seem to be too hot on the used market, and the combos have valuable alnico speakers (I got a 2x12 for $550).

I love my live tone in videos I use this amp. Very sweet, jangly, and dynamic with a surprising amount of gain on tap with the boost function. It's not fun to carry around, but it's a pleasure to hear and play

 

[trackerdan]

I feel you....

Long story, but about 10 years ago while trading some gear I noticed that the guy I was trading with had a mid 70's VC in the corner. I asked him what he wanted for it and he threw it in for free. The funny part is that the guitar he was trading was worth a bit more than the amp he was getting. Score! It sat in the corner of my music room for quite a while and I finally started firing it up regularly about 5 years ago and it's become my fav along with my PRRI.
Hang on to the one you have if you like it. Or if you don't now's the time to make a killing on selling it.


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I have a BFVC I bought about 16 years ago for $125.00 delivered to me at work. It was the most I ever paid for one, it seemed like they had always been about $50.00 forever. Then I got home and see they were on the bay for about $750.00 then. Also the Vibro Champs always seemed to be in mint condition with a slick sales brochure and schematic in the back. Mine has no extra drive when you crank it and I really haven't had time to figure it out, I have many small amplifiers to choose from. It sounds dull and lifeless, nice vibrato though.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

You can still get lots of great used amps for >$1000. I've been seeing loads of Twins, Pro Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs Even Super Reverbs for that kinda money.