M-11 Restoration

Tube and solidstate amplifiers made by Rickenbacker

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iceekid
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M-11 Restoration

Post by iceekid »

Last year I bought a nice early 50's M-11. After some digging around I found some talk and pictures of the actual amp that I bought

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=232436

Even though It needs some work....I really fell in love with it. This lil guy can get down....breaks up right where I want it to :D But after practicing with it the past year it finally gave out.

So first thing first I found a guy that I can trust to go through it and get it back up to speed. I dropped it off this morning and worst case scenario I'll have it back in 2 weeks.

Next step is what to do about the cabinet. Actually as soon as I got it I removed it from the original cabinet an put it in this old fender cabinet I had...doesn't look the nicest but it gets the job done...and the old one is not getting torn up. A friend of mine who does custom cabinets said he can build me one as soon as I get it back from amp repair. I'm wondering if i should keep it a lil combo...or turn it into a mini head...what do you guys think?

Either way I'm super excited to get it done. I think I'm leaning towards mahogany for the cabinet....you guys have any other suggestions?
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admin
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Re: M-11 Restoration

Post by admin »

Matt: Welcome to the RickResouce Forum. It sounds like an exciting restoration project. I would lean toward a light wood if you can arrange it. Having said that, I consider that the most important feature is to maintain the RICK carved into the front of the amplifier. A classic, surely. I know, "don't call me Shirley." :)
m11.jpg
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jingle_jangle
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Re: M-11 Restoration

Post by jingle_jangle »

I think that mini-head/cabinet amps look ridiculous. There's absolutely no reason to split the two in such a small size, as combined they are not overly large or heavy. Just another ridiculous marketing ploy. Cute, but inconsequential. Keep it a combo, and while we're at it, keep the original design. A nicely-varnished light wood cabinet in the original style would be an heirloom!
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1965
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Re: M-11 Restoration

Post by 1965 »

jingle_jangle wrote:I think that mini-head/cabinet amps look ridiculous. There's absolutely no reason to split the two in such a small size, as combined they are not overly large or heavy. Just another ridiculous marketing ploy.
Agreed, they just look goofy. Unless it's an Orange tiny terror, and even then it's questionable. Stick with a combo.

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eww
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jingle_jangle
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Re: M-11 Restoration

Post by jingle_jangle »

I thought that the Tiny Terror was a micro-amp head, and you had to buy a separate speaker cab for it ($900 total street price!); not my def of a traditional stack, which has the two pieces sized to the same width and trimmed to match...it's more like a flip-top Ampeg, except it doesn't flip.
iceekid
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Re: M-11 Restoration

Post by iceekid »

Yeah...I think you guys are right. The main reason I am restoring this amp is because I don't like hauling my 2x12 combo around (I'm sure it weighs over 50lbs)...so for me to get into the mess of separating the amp into 2 parts doesn't make sense..I'm trying to make one trip when loading and unloading the truck....guitar in one hand amp in the other

...less is more....right?
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scott_s
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Re: M-11 Restoration

Post by scott_s »

jingle_jangle wrote:I think that mini-head/cabinet amps look ridiculous. There's absolutely no reason to split the two in such a small size, as combined they are not overly large or heavy. Just another ridiculous marketing ploy. Cute, but inconsequential. Keep it a combo, and while we're at it, keep the original design. A nicely-varnished light wood cabinet in the original style would be an heirloom!
Each to his own, I guess. I love little amps turned into head-and-cab arrangements! Some of the Fender guys have done some good conversions. 8)

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- Scott
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