| How much would you pay for this amp? |
| $1600 |
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66% |
[ 4 ] |
| $2000 |
|
16% |
[ 1 ] |
| $2400 |
|
0% |
[ 0 ] |
| $2800 |
|
0% |
[ 0 ] |
| $3200 |
|
16% |
[ 1 ] |
|
| Total Votes : 6 |
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| Author |
Topic: 1959 Bassman Style Amps |
Andrew Clapp
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 7 Oct 2013 12:59 pm |
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I have two newly built amps. They are based on the 1959 5F6-A Fender
Bassman circuit, in 4x10 Weber cabinets. Each amp was assembled by me
from quality parts and components. I started with a Weber cabinet, a
solid steel welded chassis, and a turret board. I built these amps
from the "tweed" era circuit, but with more of the Ampeg or Blackface
look. The internals are all hand-wired with 18 and 20 ga cloth-wrap
wire. These babies are over-built.
The prototype had all Weber iron. In the second amp,
the OT and choke are Heyboer (with 2, 4 and 8 ohm taps) and the power
transformer is Weber. This is a very versatile setup because one can
run 1, 2 or 4 speakers, and they contain two alnico Webers and two
ceramic Jensens, all 8 ohm.
I had originaly built them for myself, but I've been considering
selling them and putting that towards building more. I'd love to
start a discussion and get some opinions on the market value of these
amps.
Please post your feedback and take the survey.
Thanks much!
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Jim Rossen
From:
Iowa, USA
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Posted 7 Oct 2013 3:40 pm
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Your amps appear to be excellent, but I fear your contemplated amp building enterprise would not be financially self-sustaining. Before taking up steel, I hand built and occasionally sold tube amps. I also watch the Weber buy and sell board and ebay for prices of well sourced and made hand-wired amps that were built by people like me who do not have an established reputation. Sadly, my impression is that amps like this typically sell for around the cost of the parts. Hand built Fender replicas by guys like me usually sell for less than factory built official Fender Reissue amps with printed circuit board and inferior components.
Jim |
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Cartwright Thompson
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Posted 7 Oct 2013 3:51 pm
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It looks like a nice amp but there are tons of 5F6-A clones out there that can be had for a grand or less. I even see used Victoria's for $1200 to $1400.
I can't vote as your lowest price is a probably more than you'd be able to get for it. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 8 Oct 2013 4:16 pm
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| Just as a point of information, the Fender reissues of the '59 tweed Bassman, as well as the their tweed Bassman LTD, are all bringing $1,000 or less in today's market. Most of the value of vintage amps is not in their circuitry, but in their originality and collectibility. |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 8 Oct 2013 6:20 pm
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the reason clones bring such little value is that there is just as many of them (if not more) than there are Fender amps.
on top of that many people get ripped off buying kit amps off of ebay and craigslist and it brings the whole thing down
If you are really good at building amps, you should come up with some original designs and start selling those. Ken Fox, for example, took a similar Bassman circuit and made it a pedal steel amp - those went for just over $2000 and he used much higher quality components (mercury transformers, SICA Neo magnet speakers etc)
lastly, reliability is what people are looking for and it takes a long time to build that reputation. You just gotta stick with it!
My advice would be to steer clear of those Weber kit parts, make some changes to the amp design (or add in things that people want like voltage scaling) and start cutting deals to friends and local players.
_________________
Milkmansound.com |
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