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Post subject: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 7:17 pm
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You guys know what I mean. Back in the day, we all wanted the bigger, better louder Fender amps-well, lots of us did, anyway.
Remember not so long ago, (not so long ago to some of us, anyway) when the smaller Fender amps could be had for a song in hock shops coast-to-coast? Hell, remember when pawn shops actually sold quality hocked guitars and amps, and had pedals piled up in boxes everywhere? Before the public realized there were actually other quality products besides Strats, Teles, and LP's, and the Japanese actually made some really high quality instruments? Where do you think the punks and the grunge movement got their start with cheap gear?
When the whole market wasn't dominated by the musical equivalent of a couple of impersonal, uninformed, big-box superstores?
Those days ended in the late eighties/maybe early nineties, some places.
I regularly see BF Champs going for $500+, Vibros maybe a $100 more. SF's not much less. Crazy-these were Fender's most popular model for decades. (End rant here...)
So for those of us who foolishly missed out, what are some of your favorite (under the big bucks radar) choices for low wattage, good-sounding old tube amps that can still be found at reasonable prices? Any suggestions are appreciated... my wife and neighbors are getting more pissed off the older they (not I!) get.


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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 8:30 pm
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Not under-the-radar... but my favorite to haul around on vacations. Old 1970s Pignose.

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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 10:16 pm
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There are plenty of non-Leo porch weasels worthy of ownership made by the likes of Gibson, Kalamazoo, Alamo, Airline, Silvertone, Supro, Teisco, etc. The only caveat is, check their tube array before buying since many of them used obscure bottles which are now quite rare and difficult to find.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:27 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
There are plenty of non-Leo porch weasels worthy of ownership made by the likes of Gibson, Kalamazoo, Alamo, Airline, Silvertone, Supro, Teisco, etc. The only caveat is, check their tube array before buying since many of them used obscure bottles which are now quite rare and difficult to find.

Arjay


Agree 100%. From early 1960 to mid 1960s era, I like the Ampeg Jet, too. Think I'll break it out and practice from rusty riffs, on it tonight.

Friend's Lake Placid Blue Tele and Jet:

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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 7:31 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
There are plenty of non-Leo porch weasels worthy of ownership made by the likes of Gibson, Kalamazoo, Alamo, Airline, Silvertone, Supro, Teisco, etc. The only caveat is, check their tube array before buying since many of them used obscure bottles which are now quite rare and difficult to find.

Arjay


As Arjay said…..there are plenty of older amps out there.

From front to back is my 1960 Gibson Skylark Tremolo (GA-5T), my 1960 Gibson Skylark (GA-5)… no tolex and bought it for $100 from my local guitar shop… and finally my 1956 Silvertone 1333 that I got from shopgoodwill.com for $325. Nothing says class like particle board and fake tweed and alligator. :lol:

The ratbox GA-5 has been kidnapped by my son. HaHa. Those GA-5 circuits are about as close to the tweed Champs as you can get. That ratbox breaks up and starts to crunch around 3. :shock: But you better move quickly. Those late 50's early 60's Gibson amps are being discovered and the prices are starting to climb.

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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:13 am
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Love those early Gibson amps! Such a cool vibe. Tone and appearance-wise. Vintage Supro amps are nice, too!

:D


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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:43 am
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
Love those early Gibson amps! Such a cool vibe. Tone and appearance-wise. Vintage Supro amps are nice, too!

:D


The cabinets on those early amps were made with redwood…. according to Doug and Pat



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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:57 am
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phansford wrote:
But you better move quickly. Those late 50's early 60's Gibson amps are being discovered and the prices are starting to climb.


+1000

Just as with all vintage artifacts and collectibles. They were built during the era when companies took pride in their products and made them to last. That's why they're still around and worthy of investing in, unlike contemporary chicom-made fizz boxes that assume residency in a landfill after only a few years' use.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:24 pm
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Thanks for the replies, Gentlemen. I'm on the lookout for a smaller, all-tube practice amp from the '50's/'60's/70's that's not going to be a bank-breaker, but will still provide a full, crunchy sound at more "reasonable" volume levels.
One problem I've seen mentioned frequently is that many of the cheaper amps of the period, while producing great sound at a decent volume, may run straight off of the AC current coming out of the wall, i.e., no Power Tranny, making for a possibly shocking experience. My house and practice space are both old structures, with ancient (possibly original) wiring (code inspectors are very easy to pay off in my Town). I have many two-plug outlets remaining, leading me to worry about grounding issues already. Would a three prong cord and a grounded power strip be enough to alleviate my concerns, or an issue likely enough to lead to future electrocution?
Also, any ways to recognize these PT-less amps? Other than the obvious, of course. As always, thanks to all. Fenderly yours, O...


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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 7:04 pm
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Try not to get a PT-less amplifier. If you do have one, get a 1:1 isolation tranny from Hammond and make a little box to hold it. Fuse the iso-tranny.

You will know if the amp is one of these designs. They run oddball tubes, like the 35C5, 45B5, etc. When you add up the first two digits on all the tubes, the sum will be around 112-117volts. Or around the amount of the wall outlet voltages, at the time the amp was built.


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Post subject: Re: Alternative to Fender "Porch Weasels?"
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:22 am
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A few years back Fender had a line of amps called the Pawn Shop Special.
Now, those are not vintage at all but they do tip their hats in that direction and is all tube and grounded with no power-tranny.

I have myself a little Greta amp from the series which is really a head with a built in 4-inch speaker. I have of course replaced the cheap chinese tubes with other to my liking and it's a sweet little power house. It's very sensitive to the attack of the player and if you push it hard you get pre amp, power amp and speaker saturation at very reasonable volumes.

Did I mention she's also a looker? Especially for a porch weasel....

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