Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I just purchased a Rickenbacker M-8 amp at a guitar show last weekend and I was wondering if I could get some advice about what to do to get it performing optimally. It has a serial number of T8*** and it has a replacement speaker in it, a TRS brand. I would like to get it back to original specs if possible, and a guitarist friend of mine says that the speaker is blown, but that it has the original wiring for this model Rick amp. He suggested buying a Celestion speaker for it, while another person told me to put a Jenson in it. I'm told these amps will sound absolutely delicious when cranked when they are working right, can someone help me out?

Thanks!

Anyone?

Gene: I believe that the M-8 was equipped with a Jensen speaker.

Thanks Peter!
Should I just order a Jensen 8" speaker as a replacement? Is that specific enough or are there other choices/options I might have to make this baby sing for me?

Thanks!
GS

If you look around you can find out the original model Jensen speaker they used in that and you can then find them on ebay for an arm and a leg usually. I have an old Ampeg that originally took a Jensen and I see original ones for $150-200 on ebay usually. Look for sites that are devoted to old amps, maybe even a Rickenbacker amp site although I have never heard of one. The 8" Jensens are usually cheaper than 15"s, it was probably an alnico speaker.

It takes a Jensen blue label speaker and guess where I found that out after doing an online search? Rickenbacker registration page.

Thanks for the help Bob!!!
And how you doing these days? Still in the States? I want to use this amp for recording some of my original songs, and I've been focusing on guitar alot lately because I'm not playing in a band and just writing. The amp sounds great, but the speaker in it is blown so I can't wait to try a good one in there....

Thank you Gene, Peter set me on the right course though. I'm in the States finishing up my nursing degree, working a little and playing a little. I'm going back to Lima for a month this December 24, I miss it. It's pretty easy to find correct equipment with google, haha! Also 99% of old amps used some form of Jensen or other. I'm not sure whgat a blue label Jensen is to tell you the truth, if it is a nick name or the model name. I know I need to buy a Jensen P15N for an amp of mine and they are expensive.

Can anyone help me with the date of manufacture of my M-8? The serial number is T87**, is that specific enough to determine the date? I can't find my Rickenbacker books that would have this info and the serial number decoder at the Rickenbacker site doesn't seem to recognize it. Also, on an unrelated note, Peter, my friend, I believe you modified your 350v63 to an alternative pickup selection to the stock configuration, and there was a thread about it somewhere a couple of years ago. Could you please point me to it?

Sure Squirebass here you go.

Hi,
Can someone furnish me with a schematic or a site to get the schematic for the M-8 amp?
Thanks, Dave

I started playing around with my M-8E. If I put it to 10 it sounds good as a practice amp, but at 5 you can barely hear it. The tubes are glowing dim, one not at all.

So my question is, how do I read the marking on the tube? For instance I definitely need to replace the "5Y3 GT" by GE Electronic, in small print it says on the tube "62-22" "188-21" what does this mean? Can I buy any brand "5Y3 GT" or do those other numbers matter? There seems to be a lot of NOS of these available on Ebay.

Anyone home in the Amp Department?

David, any 5Y3 GT rectifier tube can be subbed for the one you have. The numbers on your tube are EIA codes and/or serial numbers.