Get the big sound

[GGJaguar]

Only at Sears in 1968.

 

[Walter Broes]

those basses are pretty cool - only longscale bass the original danelectro company ever produced

 

[AcornHouse]

Those Twin Twelve guitar amps are going up and up in price. And, fun fact, they use the same knobs as Guild's Thunderbass heads, and are almost unobtanium. (At least they are some of the priciest knobs around if you do find one.)

 

[Uke]

Only at Sears in 1968.

And [get with] the sweaters too!

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Love the photographic snare position! Looks like it's a b*tch to play it there!

 

[Cougar]

I know that group! The Dweebs!

 

[Nuuska]

The drum stands use same concept as Premier or Slingerland - no support beams - my all-time favourite is the pre-67 Premier Flushbase - so elegant & sturdy.




Those legs are cast - so gravity point is low - plus there is a metal piece between the screw and the next tube up - preventing the screw to screw things up . . . .

 

[Midnight Toker]

Love the photographic snare position! Looks like it's a b*tch to play it there!

Same w/ the kick!!

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Same w/ the kick!!

Yeah, not thinking he has his foot square on the pedal!

 

[sailingshoes72]

I want my initials on a bass drum! The "shiny silver-color and black initials have adhesive backs that you apply to the shield on the bass drum". But only with the 9 piece and 13 piece drum sets.

 

[Guildedagain]

Are those CB drums?

 

[Soul Tramp]

Only at Sears in 1968.

I don't understand why the Silvertone amps are so expensive. There're not really anything special about them.

 

[fronobulax]

I don't understand why the Silvertone amps are so expensive. There're not really anything special about them.

Nostalgia. A lot of folks are buying something today that they wanted, and could not afford, decades ago.

 

[Guildedagain]

There's nothing that special about diesel fuel either.

 

[Guildedagain]

lot of folks are buying something today that they wanted, and could not afford, decades ago.

These amps were all ridiculously cheap 20 years ago, affordable from the start, this is Sears we're talking about. The amps were built by Danelectro, and Danelectro stuff keeps going up in value, although typically much cheaper than big brand names.

My son in law has a Sears 40XL I was asking about in the tech section a while back. I fixed it after replacing the 6x4 rectifier and then both EL84 valves with a couple Sovtek R factory tubes i had on hand, and it was actually quite good to go, gave it back to him, he gigs constantly and he's not kind to gear.

He bought that amp for like $35, not even that long ago.

Now, they're going for over $400 easy, the tube version, but, it has zip nada zilch to do with nostalgia.

This relatively unknown amp just happens to be basically a copy of a period 18W Marshall, an amp - with legendary tone - that would set you back thousands, the model 1974. The model number has nothing to do with date.

At the end of the day, vintage amp prices are set by tone, nostalgia isn't that strong if an amp sounds bad.

And, as "expensive" as they are deemed to be, they are still the poor man's way to get into fantastic tube amps. My absolute holy grail desert island amp would be my tube rectified single 6V6 1956 Silvertone amp with 1 x 8 speaker. Basically a lot like a Tweed Champ, but on the cheap.

A Tweed Champ would be $4k, I'm more likely to be hit by lightning than to purchase one, but I play the Silvertone everyday, I can enjoy fabulous tone for pennies on the dollar.

Interestingly enough, and bypassing nostalgia in favor of history, 50's Silvertone amps really blow the ugly 60's junk out of the water, 40's Silvertone amps are even more sought after and more expensive, and 30's better yet and yet more expensive. Prices reflect rarity and condition, condition being the factor, an old roach of an amp isn't that rare but a pristine one of the same model is.

Same with Schwinn bicycles and Martin guitars, pre war stuff blows everything else out of the water and it all goes down in quality as the decades pile on.

 

[Soul Tramp]

These amps were all ridiculously cheap 20 years ago, affordable from the start, this is Sears we're talking about. The amps were built by Danelectro, and Danelectro stuff keeps going up in value, although typically much cheaper than big brand names.

My son in law has a Sears 40XL I was asking about in the tech section a while back. I fixed it after replacing the 6x4 rectifier and then both EL84 valves with a couple Sovtek R factory tubes i had on hand, and it was actually quite good to go, gave it back to him, he gigs constantly and he's not kind to gear.

He bought that amp for like $35, not even that long ago.

Now, they're going for over $400 easy, the tube version, but, it has zip nada zilch to do with nostalgia.

This relatively unknown amp just happens to be basically a copy of a period 18W Marshall, an amp - with legendary tone - that would set you back thousands, the model 1974. The model number has nothing to do with date.

At the end of the day, vintage amp prices are set by tone, nostalgia isn't that strong if an amp sounds bad.

And, as "expensive" as they are deemed to be, they are still the poor man's way to get into fantastic tube amps. My absolute holy grail desert island amp would be my tube rectified single 6V6 1956 Silvertone amp with 1 x 8 speaker. Basically a lot like a Tweed Champ, but on the cheap.

A Tweed Champ would be $4k, I'm more likely to be hit by lightning than to purchase one, but I play the Silvertone everyday, I can enjoy fabulous tone for pennies on the dollar.

Interestingly enough, and bypassing nostalgia in favor of history, 50's Silvertone amps really blow the ugly 60's junk out of the water, 40's Silvertone amps are even more sought after and more expensive, and 30's better yet and yet more expensive. Prices reflect rarity and condition, condition being the factor, an old roach of an amp isn't that rare but a pristine one is.

Same with Schwinn bicycles and Martin guitars, pre war stuff blows everything else out of the water and it all goes down in quality and price as the decades pile on.

Overall, I agree. However, it's not as simple as tone being the driving factor. There are several factors that help set the value of collectables. I do think nostalgia is a major contributor, and I'm speaking from experience. I can't count the number of times I come close to pulling the trigger on an old Kustom 100. As a kid in high school, I lusted for one (the funny part is, during that time I owned a BF Super Reverb). Go figure! Now fifty years later I really want the Kustom, knowing full well they're awful sounding things.

I've been inside a few of the 60's era off-brand amps (silvertone, Univox, Guild). The few I've seen are pretty much clones of various Fender models, just more cheaply built (and that's saying something considering the corners Leo cut). The Deluxe Reverb seemed to be the amp of choice for the ones I've seen.

Some day, some day!

 

[Guildedagain]

Nothing wrong with Kustom really, neat stuff. The only reason price is up the obvious cool factor, solid state doesn't matter. Early Kustom might be tube. Analog solid state can sound pretty good, as Roland showed everyone with amp after amp. I like Roland amps.

A common misconception among the more simple minded is that you can't like tube and solid state amps alike, of course you can, I have plenty of each.

The BF Super Reverb is a bucket list amp for me, I love the look and the sound but always realizing that my doctor said "keep doing what you're doing and you'll be a in a wheelchair", this some 30 years ago, I couldn't get myself to buy one even when going to a guy's house that had 2 gorgeous mint ones side by side, a guy that looked like Bob the Bear Hite, and a big star from the Frisco music scene, "played with Santana", for him they were probably like carrying lunchboxes, but wisely I only bought a Wah from, a freakin Italian Vox V846 for $75, and it barely weighed a thing.

The Deluxe Reverb is a grail amp for sure.

Leo was definitely touched, or as some said "in a state of grace" when he designed many of his gems, the Deluxe Reverb being one.

Through a 12" speaker, 2 6V6 valves running at insane plate voltages, 450V with 5AR4 Rectifier, that's where the magic comes from.

It's a hot rod.

Good luck on the Kustom Quest, I'll post any I see around here.

 

[Soul Tramp]

Nothing wrong with Kustom really, neat stuff. The only reason price is up the obvious cool factor, solid state doesn't matter. Early Kustom might be tube. Analog solid state can sound pretty good, as Roland showed everyone with amp after amp. I like Roland amps.

A common misconception among the more simple minded is that you can't like tube and solid state amps alike, of course you can, I have plenty of each.

The BF Super Reverb is a bucket list amp for me, I love the look and the sound but always realizing that my doctor said "keep doing what you're doing and you'll be a in a wheelchair", this some 30 years ago, I couldn't get myself to buy one even when going to a guy's house that had 2 gorgeous mint ones side by side, a guy that looked like Bob the Bear Hite, and a big star from the Frisco music scene, "played with Santana", for him they were probably like carrying lunchboxes, but wisely I only bought a Wah from, a freakin Italian Vox V846 for $75, and it barely weighed a thing.

The Deluxe Reverb is a grail amp for sure.

Leo was definitely touched, or as some said "in a state of grace" when he designed many of his gems, the Deluxe Reverb being one.

Through a 12" speaker, 2 6V6 valves running at insane plate voltages, 450V with 5AR4 Rectifier, that's where the magic comes from.

It's a hot rod.

Good luck on the Kustom Quest, I'll post any I see around here.

As a kid, the other amp I'd have given my left nut for was a Carvin. Keep in mind this was circa '70 - '72. Like the Kustom amps, they just looked so freak'n cool! The sort of amp that just make a LOT of noise in a high school gym!

I did end up trading my Super Reverb for a BF Bandmaster with JBLs. The thing about the Bandmaster is the thing would maintain clean headroom till it was practically dimed, but I had a Big Muff to make it scream.

 

[Guildedagain]

Carvin stuff has to be the most underrated on earth with history going far back.

They're not as underrated in price as in hardly anyone knows about them, comparatively.

So it's clearly better made and more versatile than a Gibson but it's not a Gibson so a tough sell.

Even more pickup adjusting screws than Guild, 4!

 

[Soul Tramp]

Carvin stuff has to be the most underrated on earth with history going far back.

They're not as underrated in price as in hardly anyone knows about them, comparatively.

So it's clearly better made and more versatile than a Gibson but it's not a Gibson so a tough sell.

Even more pickup adjusting screws than Guild, 4!

Carvin did make some beautiful guitars! They were just never able to break into the big league. Traynor had the same problem. They made outstanding amps. I think their decision to use Marsland speakers is what doomed them. They were awful speakers.