Help with possible Thunder 1 purchase?

amnicon

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Hi all you smarter-than-me people.

I'm leaning towards trying to give this a home:
https://reverb.com/item/28543266-guild-vintage-t1-rvt-amp-black

I've been curious about these amps for a bit, but really haven't wanted a project. This one, that was clearly serviced recently seems ready to go. I know the price is a bit higher than some, but I'm willing to pay a bit for the certainty it's in fully usable shape. That said, what do you all think of the price given the photos?

Are there other concerns you see?

How would this amp serve a guy sitting in his living room plugging pedals into his looper and making up bad songs?
 

GAD

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Not thrilled that the output transformer has been replaced and I’d like to see the cone based on the pic of the back of the speaker.

I’d defer to Default, though. He’s the amp master.
 

Default

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Looks like he replaced the electrolytic caps and the cathode bypass cap. Three prong plug is good. The power tubes can still be found. I think the price is ok, considering the work done. The speakers should be CTS(8", iirc) and 12" Oxford. About 12 watts of cranked rock and roll!
 

shihan

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Amnicon, I hope it works out for you. I’ve been looking for a reasonably priced Thunder 1 RVT for a while now. I love reverb, and the set up with those amps sounds perfect. I look forward to hearing what you think about it. Good Luck!
 

amnicon

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Is there reason to be concerned about the rust on the speaker housing, etc? Might the electrical connections be impacted?


GAD, what about the speaker cone? I’m not getting it.
 

Tom O

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I think a Fischman Loudbox would be better for that much money. It is for acousitc guitars and has some effects built in. Mine sounds great and has a output to feed a PA. Sweetwater has a package deal with mike and mike stand thrown in.
 

gilded

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amnicon,

I have two of those amps.

One is near mint and one is beat up worse than yours. I had to spend a lot of money fixing both up to reach 'reliable' condition. I like them both very much, but they're too small to play an electric band gig with. If you mic them, that's different, but if you were playing in a band that was experienced enough to mic amps, you might not be asking these questions..

Do you already have electric amp(s) and electric guitar(s)? Do you want to have a cool amp in the house to play low volume electric stuff?

Why don't you tell us what your purpose with the amp would be and will tell you what we know about the RVT model? Oh, do you live in or near Madison, Wisconsin, where the amp is located??
 

SFIV1967

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Why don't you tell us what your purpose with the amp would be...
I guess his sentence in the first post tells it: "How would this amp serve a guy sitting in his living room plugging pedals into his looper and making up bad songs?" But I agree, he didn't say which other amps he has experiece with. His signature gives an idea about the guitars at least.

Ralf
 
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GAD

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Is there reason to be concerned about the rust on the speaker housing, etc? Might the electrical connections be impacted?


GAD, what about the speaker cone? I’m not getting it.


The back of the speaker makes me think that the entire amp has been exposed to moisture. I'd be interested to see what the paper part of the speaker looks like. That said, If a tech did as much work as he/she did on it, then I'd have to assume that the speaker would have been replaced if there was a problem.
 

gilded

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Apologize for not looking at all of amnicon's original post. Oh rather, apologize for looking at it several times but not seeing it.

Some retinal surgery left me in interesting shape, in my Good Eye, about 10 years ago.

I often tell people that I am laser-surgery-induced dyslexic. My eyes are pretty shot and I find my self trying to glean the meaning of the post and not the complete information. I am stage one on the cataract, but my Doc that's small potatoes and says we gotta wait until it gets really bad a few years from now, cause my chances at successful surgery are way much lower than most folks.

So let's look at the signature.... Oh, X79k this, S300 Ash Dimarziio that. Okay, I get it. My bad.

I gotta go to Court now and look at 8 point font. I'll catch up on this thread tonight.

gilded
 

Default

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They came from the factory with CTS and oxford speakers. Took a look again and the Jensen is a replacement speaker. The inside of the cabinet is how my other amps with that construction look.
 

adorshki

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I often tell people that I am laser-surgery-induced dyslexic. My eyes are pretty shot and I find my self trying to glean the meaning of the post and not the complete information. ...

So let's look at the signature.... Oh, X79k this, S300 Ash Dimarziio that. Okay, I get it. My bad.
Well, actually.....that's GAD's signature, not the OP Amnicon...who does btw show 2 electrics in his sig...
Nonetheless your testimony gives ample proof that you're an expert witness in the field of your specific disability.
:glee:

I gotta go to Court now and look at 8 point font. I'll catch up on this thread tonight.

gilded

Well at least you're in the right profession.

E-284.jpg
 

gilded

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Well, actually.....that's GAD's signature, not the OP Amnicon...who does btw show 2 electrics in his sig...

LOL Not my day at all fellas! Harry aka gilded
 

amnicon

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Some more context on me- I've been an acoustic guy for 25ish years, but have been playing more electric the last 5ish. The current electrics are a Thunderbird reissue from recent years and an old Univox LP copy with some updates (in addition to the Pilot bass that's listed in the signature).

I haven't felt the need until recently to upgrade my amp- a Fender Mustang modeling amp that has been adequate. I tend to like my amp cleaner to allow for layering loops with different pedal sounds and textures. I've looked at small Fenders and Voxs, but golly gee, a Guild would be better, right? I've looked at the Thunder 1 amps, and even had one available in town, but I know nothing on the technical side of the amps, and don't really have a drive to learn. I didn't want to have to problem-solve or figure out how to get it fully functional.

This one caught my eye because of the recent work and it helped that it was done by a shop I know and respect. I'm not in Madison, but my son will be there this weekend and could do the pick-up. It seemed like a good opportunity, so that's where you all come in- to tell me if it really does seem like a good opportunity. A good opportunity given the cost and condition, which I'm hearing it is. Also a good opportunity for what I actually need, which I think in maybe is?
 

Default

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I like mine a lot. I think it's a pretty good livingroom/mancave amp. Just remember to mic the reverb amp speaker when recording it because the main speaker is the dry signal.

"Don't ask me to be your voice of fiscal reason."
 

gilded

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To me, Fair Condition with a changed transformer isn't worth $499, so if you bought it, you'd keep it for a long time.

That said, they are fun guitar amps. The vibrato is great and the reverb is pretty good (not great). The boost feature is good, but it has to be, because that amp is anemic on the normal channel.

Their biggest problem is that they aren't Fenders. One day you'll wake up and say, 'I wish I'd kept the $499 in my pocket and used it on a down payment on a Princeton Reverb.'
Of course, I have 2 Princetons ('68 Reverb and '62 Brown Face), plus a Pro Reverb.

One thing I'd do is call the repair shop and talk to the repairman about the transformer. I would be shocked if it was an original Guild replacement transformer, so you might see how close to the Guild specs the replacement trannie is. I think there was a thread on Guild Thunder 1 RVT transformers here at LTG a few years ago, but I don't know if it's the same trannie you have.

Oh, no headroom when you are playing loud. None. And they are a bit heavier than they look. And it's pretty easy to knock a power tube out of them if you transport one around in a vehicle.

So long for now, gilded
 

GAD

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To veer, I have never played a Princeton that I’ve liked. Now a Champ or Tweed Deluxe? Yes please.
 

Vermonter

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I have one of these and I love it. I use it in my little studio and it works just fine for that, works great for that , actually. The reverb on mine is fantastic, and it’s physically as clean as a whistle even though I bought it from a harp player.
 

gilded

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To veer, I have never played a Princeton that I’ve liked. Now a Champ or Tweed Deluxe? Yes please.

Like they used to say in Detroit, "There's an arse for every seat." You,too, may pick what you like.

Personally, I can hear the 10" Princeton speakers better than I can hear 12" speakers. It's been that way for a long time.
Another thing is that the Princeton at 27 lbs is about 13 lbs lighter than a Deluxe Reverb, which comes in around 40 lbs. That's a good thing these days.

I played my '67 Pro Reverb at an outside gig in September, but the original 12" Utah speakers sounded dull and lifeless. I'm looking for a pair of '60s Jensen C12N speakers to stick in the Pro Reverb's cab and see if it tells a different story to me.

The best sound I ever got out of a 12" speakers was another Pro Reverb with JBL D120 speakers. It was incredible. It also weighed about 74 lbs., and that was incredibly tough on an old Dude. But, man, it really sounded good. You could do any Fender sound with that amp, except the stamp-frame-speaker 'flex' sound, when a Strat is pushing hard and the stamped frames bend a little allowing the speaker cones to contort and make the Strat sound rubbery! I wasn't good enough to get that sound, but a friend of mine could make a Super Reverb and a Strat sound like that.

My second fave 12" sound was a mid '70s Marshall 100 watt tamed down with an attenuator, on top of a Marshal 4x12 slant cab with G-65 Celestions. I played it with the ash-bodied, maple-necked Strat I've played for 20 years, along with a clean boost pedal and an Ibanez TS-9. It sounded good enough to for me to think, 'I've finally got my sound.'

The only problem was that the rehearsal room was 11'x 15'. We were a 6-piece band and filled the room with our gear, so it was hard to find the right spot for the Marshall. I settled on placing the Half Stack on an open spot on the back-wall drum riser, about 5' away from the drummer. After a couple of songs, he stopped playing. I turned around to find him looking at me strangely. I thought he was he was having a heart attack, so I said, "McQuitty...you okay?" He looked back at me and tremulously said, "I feel like I've been baked." Apparently, I had baked him with my 'Dream Sound' That 'Sound' bit the dust.

Curiously, 'Sticks' had a big heart bypass operation about a year later, so maybe I had indeed baked him.

gilded
 
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