With ~$4K budget, what would YOU buy for your 12 strings rick?
Lots of strings!
A pre-CBS TR would be very nice, but keep in mind the service that will be required of such an old tube amp. If you do not need that much power, try one of Wayne's amps at www.headstrongamps.com/
With a sixty-seven-foot guitar, wouldn't you need an amp at least the size of a Hard Rock Cafe?
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
Gil...4K will buy you a lot of amplifier for the sound you are looking for. $600.00 will get you an AC-15 VOX with great tone and 60's sounds. $700.00 for a new vintage style Fender Deluxe in Tweed covering. 1 awesome amp with everything you can imagine for tone and volume. I love old amps, but why take a chance on spending that kind of money and have one break down or need repairs. The technology in new amps is 1st rate, and with the effects offered today, shop around on music123.com or musiciansfriend.com .Rickenbackers sound great thru these new amps, but if you are looking for vintage investments, then search out a nice Fender Deluxe Reverb or a Pre CBS Twin Reverb or a Band Master. These are good investments, but be aware that you may have to have them modified for Euro 220volt current.
I am not looking to buy an amp for an investment, I wish to recreate a true vintage sound with my Rick, I don't care if it is a new or a vintage amp.
I am currently using Fender Princeton chorus amp which is a very nice amp - but it doesn't "play along" well with my Rick.
I do not wish to get into a maintenance hell, and frankly - I didn't know it is such a problem with vintage amps.
If I would buy a TR amp I would do it locally - shipping such item from the US is a suicide so the 110/220V thing is a non-issue.
Dale - Are the new VOX any good? there is a local dealer here in Israel and I can get their re-issue amps without having to sell a family member
What about a reissue Fender TR amp?
I will checkout this Fender deluxe option, if it is a new amp - there is no problem for me getting it.
Jeffrey - Thanks for the info, I looked into their site and it really looks cool, however - for now I would like to limit myself on buying locally available amps as shipping and taxes would be a nightmare.
The new Vox Amps are made in China. They are dependable, inexpensive and sound great. I wish they were made in England or the USA, but they aren't. This is a cost factor since labor costs are so low in China. I own 3 Vox Amps made in China and they are made to exact specs.
...It's a 9/10--it looks virtually new, except for one scratch on the front panel that I thought was a cat-hair...
Very sweet, sits in my office and I haven't played it in months.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
About 25 years ago I bought a late '60s Ampeg Gemini II which, when a technician looked it over, was found to have been set on fire, or something equally mysterious and traumatic, in the past. We put some new power tubes in it, mainly for good measure, since I was taking it out on tour, and I don't think this amp has been worked on since, or had a single tube changed. I still use it often, and by now it has been thrown in and out of smelly tour vans about a million times. I never had a case for the poor thing, but it doesn't seem to mind. This is exactly my experience with the other 15 or so ancient amps around here! There's nothing to fear.
Those '60s Ampegs were fabulous amps, Mitch...I had a Reverberocket in '65. Still looking for that Portaflex 18 that's eluded me so far, though.
Current old fave at home is my suitcase Maggie M-10, which I've admired since my polka-band-playing uncle had one when new in '64.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
The Reverberocket is one the best amps ever. Nothing else makes that sound. Then there's the Super Echo Twin...astounding. I have a B-18, is that what you're talking about? I'll trade for an acoustic guitar! Just kidding. The B-18 cost $300.
Magnatones are a universe unto themselves, still under-appreciated, I reckon.
On the Maggie, Jerry? Something like $450.00 on Ebay. Formerly owned by Hall and Oates, restored by their tech. The guy sent me an irksome e-mail telling me he hoped I knew how lucky I was.
I've been even luckier to score not one, but a pair of the rare extension speakers for this amp, too. A suitcase trio.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
