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Slightly off-topic: Flea market score!


Terry Allan Hall

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Posted

At the Henderson Street Bazarre, I found a early '50s Tweed Fender Deluxe for $30, much like the one in this picture, but somewhat cleaner:

 

deluxemain1.jpg

.

 

The lady I bought it from was afraid it might not work for very long, because it had been out in the garage since her son had gone off to Korea!

 

Check out what they are offered for on Ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/1952-Tweed-Fender-Deluxe-Amp-Vintage-Tube-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ260137475785QQihZ016QQcategoryZ38074QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Was tempted to keep it, but got an offer for $350 from a guy who has done me a few solids, and he was willing to drop everything to drive two hours each way to get it, so I only got to play it for a short time...I can see why Neil Young loves these amps!

 

Hitting fleamarkets, pawn shops, yard sales and the like is a fun, and sometimes VERY profitable hobby, although bargains like this are getting to be fewer and farther between! :)

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Posted

That's is quite a fantastic deal Terry. You gave your friend a very nice

deal too! Most vintage amp collectors will easily pay well over $1000

for an amp like that, even if it's not working. I'm not suprised that he

dropped everything he was doing to scarf that amp up. I always liked the

sound of Fender tweed champs, but buying a vintage one was rediculously

expensive. I ended up buying a Weber amp kit, and building it myself for only

$400. Old Fender Tweed amps are pretty much the holy grail of vintage

amps.

 

If your friend does decide to keep the amp, I highly recommend that he

gets it properly serviced, by having all of the cacacitors replaced, and

having the origional power cord replaced with a three prong grounded

cable. Vintage amps can be very dangerous! Last summer, a buddy of mine

bought a used Fender Vibrochamp from the local guitar center, and asked

me to come over to check it out. I plugged it in and started to jam out,

then decided to adjust the tone controls. As I kneeled down to reach the

amp, my knee made contact with a grounded headphone extension cable

that was on the floor, while my other hand was touching the strings on

my guitar. I got a seriously nasty jolt of high voltage DC current that

almost knocked me on my ass.

 

Your post is a little off topic though. Too bad you didn't post it with our

pals on the amp forum. :freak:

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Posted

There's one in Guitar Center right now (in about 8 out of 10 condition) selling for $2,300. Fender reissues cost a lot too. I had an amp tech make me a clone with Mercury Magnetics transformers, foil and oil caps, vintage resistors and cloth covered wiring for 750.00.

 

If you really like that tone (basically a lot of mid hump distortion) I think your best bet is to do the clone thing. But 30 bucks? Why didn't you ask her daughter for a free hand job while you were there?

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Posted

There's one in Guitar Center right now (in about 8 out of 10 condition) selling for $2,300. Fender reissues cost a lot too. I had an amp tech make me a clone with Mercury Magnetics transformers, foil and oil caps, vintage resistors and cloth covered wiring for 750.00.


If you really like that tone (basically a lot of mid hump distortion) I think your best bet is to do the clone thing. But 30 bucks? Why didn't you ask her daughter for a free hand job while you were there?

 

 

L:lol:L...actually, her daughter was at the booth while I was there, and I'm pretty sure I know why she is single! :eek:

 

I might be able to hook you up w/ her... :p

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Posted

I almost got lucky at a Flea Market not too long ago. A friendly young lady

was there selling off all of the stuff her ex boyfriend left in her appartment,

including an American standard Stratocaster for $125. I jumped in my car,

and raced to the nearest ATM machine to get some more cash. I was back

in less than ten minutes, but the guitar was already gone.

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Posted

Your post is a little off topic though. Too bad you didn't post it with our

pals on the amp forum.
:freak:

 

What, that can't be used with an acoustic guitar????:eek::freak:

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