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Post subject: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 8:13 am
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I have a ’67 blackface Twin that I will need to get rid of and i could use some advice on that..
When I got it in the 80s it had been quite noticeably modified as you can see in the pictures. It had been re-tolexed in dark green. A new, thicker baffle board was used to hold two EV-SROs. And the grill cloth was removed and replaced with chicken wire.

I had a couple of things done myself – I had a variable tone bypass put in that is activated by pulling out the treble knob (this could be easily undone). And because it was so heavy I put removable castor wheels on it.

Now from what I've been hearing, this amp is worth very little given the mods. Plus a twin is not a very desirable amp these days, fair enough. What i'm wondering is would it be worth it to restore it. That is, re-tolex it, put in a new baffle board/grill cloth and remove the electronic modification. How much would that cost and would that bring up its value significantly? As well what do you think it is worth as is? Its in perfect working order.

Any advice is greatly appreciated... I and this amp are in different countries at this point so I cant just bring it somewhere to inquire.

Sorry about the poor quality of the photos.

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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 1:21 pm
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If you'd planned to do the work yourself, the cosmetics could be restored for about $300 USD. That would include a new original-spec baffle board, new Tolex, new (repro) grill cloth, and -- perhaps -- a new (repro) front panel. Few potential buyers would likely be interested in those SRO boat anchors so new speakers of some persuasion would likely also be needed, cost uncertain. The circuit mods might be reversed with little actual expense, merely a few hours on the bench with a soldering iron. Nice minty blackface Twin Reverbs are routinely listed on Ebay for $2500 and up but whether they actually sell for such a price is questionable. A restored example (as yours would be) usually lists for substantially less -- say, $1250 or so. Is a restoration effort worth it? Only you can judge that.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 2:31 pm
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Arjay's right. It's real easy to end up just barely getting your money back or even losing some from a restoration (not including your time and effort) in a sale. Also, vintage amps are not "flying off the shelves" on the market these days. Ask yourself what you'd take for it "as-is", Bay it with that as a reserve and see what happens. I think they have the 3.5% going on used musical gear.

UN


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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 2:33 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
If you'd planned to do the work yourself, the cosmetics could be restored for about $300 USD. That would include a new original-spec baffle board, new Tolex, new (repro) grill cloth, and -- perhaps -- a new (repro) front panel. Few potential buyers would likely be interested in those SRO boat anchors so new speakers of some persuasion would likely also be needed, cost uncertain. The circuit mods might be reversed with little actual expense, merely a few hours on the bench with a soldering iron. Nice minty blackface Twin Reverbs are routinely listed on Ebay for $2500 and up but whether they actually sell for such a price is questionable. A restored example (as yours would be) usually lists for substantially less -- say, $1250 or so. Is a restoration effort worth it? Only you can judge that.

Arjay


+1


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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 10:24 am
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Probably not worth the expense overall, speakers included. The person that would generally buy it as is, would probably prefer to do the work themselves. As long as it is in working condition, it would be an easy sale in the 5-7 hundred dollar range. If the tranny's and reverb pan are original.
Otherwise, with out the original speakers, tolex, etc. the value quickly drops.


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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 11:29 am
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sfceric64 wrote:
The person that would generally buy it as is, would probably prefer to do the work themselves.


+1

That would be the only practical way to recoup the cost of the restoration. I acquired a Showman in similar condition and the only reason I bothered with it was because it was basically given to me. I spent several hundred dollars on parts and poured a ton of "sweat equity" into the project which turned out beautifully. In its current factory-fresh condition it's probably worth $1750. But if I had to lay out a grand to buy the amp in its totally trashed basket-case condition, I would've passed it by.

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Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Thu May 18, 2017 6:12 pm
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Honestly, you should refurb it and keep it. There is a certain amount of satisfaction from bringing one back from the dead. I have done a couple refurbs, two Bantam Bass Amps and a Super Reverb and I learned a ton about these great amps and the Twin Reverb has some great tones!

FWIW

T2

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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Wed May 31, 2017 2:46 pm
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Well thank you all for your advice. In case you're wondering how it turned out. I decided to sell it as is, as I am not up to the work myself. I listed it for 750 and the first guy who called paid full price and said it was the nicest sounding twin he had ever heard. Like me, he couldn't care what it looked like.

In sharp contrast to this was the written response to the ad from somebody called "Man Thong":


Dude! What the hell?  Could that THING even be considered a guitar amp?  It looks like you visited the local swapmeet, bought a bunch of spare parts for $20 then kludged everything together to flip it at an incredibly inflated price.   I can get a brand new guitar amp for less that $200 that’ll blow away that monstrosity.   Geez man



Honestly, what motivated him to write! I guess I just don't understand the kids these days.


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Post subject: Re: Worth restoring this Twin in order to sell?
Posted: Wed May 31, 2017 3:07 pm
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Skeeker wrote:
I can get a brand new guitar amp for less that $200 that’ll blow away that monstrosity.


*THAT* would be a sight to behold!

:lol:

Arjay

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