Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I purchased a TR25 amp over 20 years ago. I think that it's the greatest little amp. It's got all the bells and whistles in one unit. It's a bit cheesy sounding, but that's what gives it its charcter. It's the lttle things like these that make me like it.
Anybody but me ever buy one?

I've had my TR-25 since about 1993. I think I paid $150 for it, in installments no less!

I've used it live, and it works well in that capacity. Mostly, though, I use it in recording situations. It has a big, full sound and records really well. I absolutely love the reverb and tremolo!

I also like the "Master" control, though I don't use it that much. It turns on some sort of primitive fuzztone-like circuit that's useful if you want to play the intro to "Satisfaction" or the solo to "Pushin' Too Hard," but outside of that it's not terribly useful. Still, I kick it on from time to time and play freaky garage band psychedelic solos with the tremolo and reverb turned all the way up.

After all these years, I am beginning to detect a buzz from the speaker, so I'm going to have to see if I can patch that up or get another speaker for it. Still, I think that's pretty good mileage for a used solid-state amp from the 1970s! I intend to use mine till it absolutely quits working. I'm currently combing E-bay to see if I can find other Rick solid state amps.

Just got a 1979 TR-25 from an Ebay auction. Very mint, all original. I must admit that it has a very full sound with some unique features that surprised me, on a small amp. It's much better sounding and less noisey than a Fender Princeton 65 that I have. Does anyone know who manufactured the speaker? The numbers on it are SP122016G and the (first digit unreadable) 7.8238. Anyway, another saved from being forgotten.

Eminence from Kentucky. The numbers decode as 12 inch, 20 oz magnet, 16 ohms, G for guitar.

Eminence Speaker Website

Wow John! I'm honored.Thank you for the info. I'm not use to a CEO responding to what many would think a trivial question and the link. I would like to compliment you on your unique style. Most refreshing. I would also like to thank you for the wonderful instrument (330fg) I recently aquired. It is the most wonderful sounding guitar I have played. It's playability is exceptional. I cannot wait for the pennies to add up for a Vintage model. Thanks again.

Just out of curiosity, what do the numbers on my TR35B amp fifteen inch speaker stand for?

SP15304
1056 7747

1056 7747 = speaker made by Fisher, in the 47th week of 1977.

Many thanks, Ric480.
Incidentally, the serial number on my TR35B is 'TM 003775'.

I won't doubt your interpretation of the date part but we've never used any speakers from Fisher per se. In this era we used only Eminence, CTS, Punch Press, and Celestion speakers. In earlier times, back to the 60's, we also used Jensen, Altec-Lansing, and JBL.

I do note that EIA code 1056 also sometimes is referenced as Gefco rather than Fisher- perhaps this was another OEM subcontractor and maybe had some distant affiliation with Fisher.

I would have remembered the Fisher brand as I was a great collector of their gear (in fact I still have some of their 60's stuff in the closet).

Given that the SP15304 follows the Eminence code exactly (15 inches, 30 Oz magnet, 4 ohms), I'd say it's an Eminence speaker, which also matches my recollection.

The current RIC serial decoder will work on modern era amps (without the leading zeros), putting this as a January 1980 model. It wouldn't be unreasonable to be using a 1977 speaker in early 1980 production as they were bulk purchased in very large lots.

Thank you, John.

Thanks for the clarification John Hall. I simply have an EIA code list and posted what I had found.