1) If possible, play your own guitar through it. You want to be in familiar territory to judge an amp objectively, and it’s difficult to assess an amp’s suitability if you’re testing it with an unfamiliar instrument. Work from your comfort zone, and you’ll better know whether this one could be of use to you, or is just way out of the sonic ballpark.

2) Start with an external visual check:
• Is the amp reasonably clean, or does it appear to have been neglected? If the latter, does it look like it will clean up okay, or is this deep-down grunge?
• Do the tubes look old (is the lettering faded and discolored from excessive heat?), or do they appear to be fairly fresh, even if they are NOS (new old stock) types? It’s cool to find an old amp with its original tubes, or very old replacements, if they are still in decent playable condition. An amp that carries old, burnt-out (or nearly so) tubes, however, just indicates gear that has been neglected.
• Are the tubes reasonably tight in their sockets?
• Does the speaker look sound, tightly mounted, and in good condition, even if it’s an old one? Or is it dusty, discolored, have a brittle cone, or loose mounting bolts/screws/nuts?
• Are the cabinet’s edges and corners tight and solid?
Your assessment of all of the above will give you a general idea of the amp’s condition before you have even plugged it in. An amp that is old and a little dusty and grimy, but basically in decent condition underneath, is possibly one that was cared for well, but just stored for years and left untouched. An amp that was cared for poorly or not serviced at all, or serviced poorly, while in use for many years is a riskier proposition.

3) Has the seller installed a safe grounded, three-prong AC cord? If not, don’t touch any other electrical equipment while testing, and ask them if they will have one correctly installed (if it’s a guitar store) before selling the amp, or make a concession on the price so that you can do so. If you buy it as-is, have a three-prong cord properly and professionally installed asap. This is a safety issue, and it won’t be safe to gig or record with the amp until you have done so.

4) Turn the amp’s volume control(s) down to 0, switch the power on and let it warm up. Does the pilot light work? Are the tubes glowing as normal? Switch the standby on if it has one, and/or turn up the volume control(s) slightly. You should hear a slight — but not excessive — hum through the speaker. If there are any loud hums, squeals or oscillations in the amp at any stage in this process, switch off immediately and unplug from the AC socket.

5) If all is well, plug in and play. Start at lower volumes, try all the other control knobs for function and scratchiness. If you get a little “static” style scratchy sound when you turn any of the potentiometers but they still function much as they should, this isn’t a big deal. A tech can clean these with a squirt of contact cleaner for a minimum bench charge. If you get any major volume jumps or dead spots, that might mean the pot needs replacing. Still not too big a deal if the price is right and it’s an amp you are really interested in, but it means more of a repair investment.

6) Turn up, and play louder. If the seller insists that you test it at quiet volumes only, explain that you need to at least play it briefly at or near full volume, or the deal is off. You don’t have to crank it for hours, and it’s unreasonable to expect others to tolerate that, but play it at a fairly advanced volume for 30 seconds or a minute or so at least, and listen to how the whole amp, and the speaker in particular, reacts to the wattage you’re putting through it.

7) If you get “ringing” or “pinging” sounds or microphonics at medium or higher volumes, this could be the sign of a bad tube (as well as a number of other things that are more difficult to suspect). You can sometimes check this by gently tapping each tube in succession with a pen or pencil — with the volume at around 10 o’clock — while listening for the one that reacts excessively (note that you will get a little sound out of any good tube by doing this), ask the seller if they have a replacement tube you can try in that position. Switch off the amp, let it cool down for a few minutes, and make the swap, using a dust cloth or other protection to remove the suspect tube if it’s still hot. If the tubes are old and worn anyway, you’ll need to figure a replacement set into the purchase price (details of which below).

If the amp sounds intermittently fine, but emits odd rasping or scratching or vibrating sounds from time to time, it might have a faulty speaker. If you suspect the speaker at all, ask the seller if you can patch the amplifier’s output — if at all possible — into another cabinet of a similar impedance rating with a speaker that is known to be good, to test further. If all is well in the new cab, you have a speaker issue to consider, and need to figure a replacement into the purchase price (details of which below).

9) All well and good? You like the tone? You might have a groovy new amp, if the price is right. Even so, it’s still a very good idea to have a professional amp tech check and service any “new” used amp you acquire, especially if it’s old and looks at all worn or neglected.

10) All not so good, but you think you’d like to have it if it can be made right? If the seller doesn’t have the facilities to fix any problems for you, here’s a list of approximately replacement costs for major components that are likely to need attention.
• A full new set of tubes for a small to medium amp (two or three preamp tubes, two output tubes, rectifier tube) will cost a minimum of $80 for decent, tested tubes.
• One new 12-inch speaker will cost around $40-$50 for a fairly generic replacement of passable quality, $60-$80 for a mid-quality speaker with more character, and $100-$250 for a top-notch, high-end replacement.
• Potentiometers and worn or faulty tube sockets will cost $5-$8 per item, plus the cost of labor to replace them.
• Filter capacitors (a common weak point in older amps) will cost $4-$10 per item (multiples of this, for “multi-cap” can types), depending upon size and quality, plus the cost of labor to replace them.
• Cosmetic issues such as vinyl (Tolex, tweed) and grille cloth … well, that’s up to you, and depends on how much of a “lived in” look you can live with.

11) Extra attention: If it’s a vintage amp, and one with any value in particular, and you feel you like the tone and performance enough that you’re ready to make the purchase, it’s a good idea to “look under the hood” to see how much the original circuit has been messed with. Don’t do this all on your own, especially if you have no experience working safely with tube amps. If the seller is experienced with amps, or has an in-house tech, ask them to — having unplugged the amp and let it cool — remove the chassis from the cab so you can see the components on the board, the wiring and the undersides of the transformers. DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING! Tube amps can carry dangerous voltages even after they have been switched off and unplugged. Just make a visual assessment, to the best of your ability, of how much the amp appears to be original, and how much has been changed or modified (often an honest dealer or amp tech will walk you through this and help with such an assessment). If you’re not in a position to make this judgment, or can’t safely have the chassis removed, ask to let a qualified amp tech explore this for you before you make the purchase, especially if the amp is of any elevated vintage or collector’s value.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

Peavey Classic 20 Vintage Type Tweed Tube Guitar Amplifier Amp
	$176.01 (10 Bids) Time Remaining: 8h 35m Bid now | Add to watch list

Vintage KAY 710 Spring Reverb Amplifier
	$145.00 Time Remaining: 5d 22h 9m Buy It Now for only: $145.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Supro Thunder Bolt Model S6420 Amplifier Valco USA Vintage All Tube EC NR
	$380.00 (13 Bids) Time Remaining: 10h 11m Bid now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE 1969 AMPEG B25 ELECTRIC BASS GUITAR AMPLIFIER AMP HEAD LINDEN NJ RESTORE
	$239.99 Time Remaining: 7d 15h 44m Buy It Now for only: $239.99 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Fender Deluxe Vintage Amplifier Model AB763 Good Condition Sounds Great
	$1,899.00 Time Remaining: 13h 41m Buy It Now for only: $2,300.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE 1972 Ampeg VT 40 4x10 Electric Guitar Amplifier
	$625.00 Time Remaining: 16d 12h 6m Buy It Now for only: $625.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Rediscovering his inner Hendrix inspired Jazz Festival marketing vice-president Jacques-Andre Dupont to launch musical instrument shows and a blues camp.

If Jacques-André Dupont hadn’t had one of those benign midlife crises, it’s entirely possible that a depressed 15-year-old kid wouldn’t be healed by playing the blues this summer. If Dupont hadn’t rediscovered his inner Hendrix, guitar fanatics from all over the world might not have a place in Montreal to gather every year and talk guitar geek. Most important, if a meeting with Montreal International Jazz Fest sponsors hadn’t been cancelled at the last minute, he might never have walked into Steve’s Music Store in Toronto.
That unexpected visit to the music store in 2003 was the turning point. Dupont, the marketing and business development vice-president of the jazz festival’s company, Equipe Spectra, had just turned 40. He hadn’t picked up a guitar in a couple of decades, but with his meeting called off and time on his hands, he walked into Steve’s.
And he emerged with a Gibson ES-335.
“I took the train home and there was space to play,” Dupont said during a recent interview at an Eggspectations restaurant in the Plateau Mont-Royal. On the train ride, he hammered out some remembered blues licks. “I was like a kid,” he said. “From there, I got crazy.”
It wasn’t long before Dupont started collecting vintage guitars, creating, in the process, a Web site to connect with other collectors. Before long, the business and marketing man was right-braining his energy into promoting music-making as part of the festival. When his bosses, jazz fest honchos Alain Simard and André Ménard, gave him the green light, the Montreal Musical Instrument Show was born.
The first show in 2005 offered not only a showcase for all kinds of musical instruments, but hands-on attractions like lessons on how to play guitar in an hour (the main secret: knowing the chords A, E and D), djembe jams and successful workshops by the likes of Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin.
This year, the instrument show is back, featuring the usual displays, activities and the 100% Guitar series, which offers free nightly shows at the new MMIS-GM Pavilion.
An offshoot of the instrument show, focusing on Dupont’s first musical love, was inevitable. The Montreal Guitar Show made its solo debut in 2007. Classes, concerts and interactive activities for would-be fretburners became as successful as the guitar exhibitions showcasing the world’s best luthiers.
During the guitar show’s second year, singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel bought $70,000 worth of instruments, Dupont said.
“There are more guitars sold every year than all other instruments put together,” Dupont said. “Have you ever heard of a clarinet hero?”
This year, nine ticketed Guitarissimo concerts at Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts, by Stanley Jordan and Russell Malone, among others, are also part of the event. Free shows at the Hyatt Regency Hotel between July 3 and 5 make up the Guitar Guitar series. The guitar show itself moves to the Palais des Congrès, near the jazz festival site.
As always, Dupont said, state-of-the-art instruments by the world’s best luthiers will make it the place for guitar fanatics from all over the globe to admire, discuss, buy, sell, try out and generally drool over some wondrous high-end axes. And this year, acoustic and electric models will each get their own room for exhibitors, mini-concerts, lectures and workshops, Dupont said.
If one of Dupont’s jazz festival projects seems close to his heart, it’s the Blues Camp, which, he said, was born of his desire to bring teenagers into the jazz festival. The day camp, offered in French, gives young musicians between 13 and 17 a chance to immerse themselves in the magic 12 bars in all their manifestations over a seven-day period.
While drums, piano, bass, horns and harmonica figure into the camp’s daily schedule, guitar – a staple of modern blues – is a heavy presence.
The rules are intricate, with an audition process that whittles about 400 applicants from all over Quebec down to 100 finalists. More rigourous interviews leave 55 standing. That group will spend an intensive week soaking up instruction from teachers and mentors, writing songs and forming bands – six groups, divided according to age. On the last day of the festival, the bands play an outdoor show on the Club Jazz TD Canada Trust stage.
Dupont said he has observed the life-changing effect of the event during the interview process. “I hear so many things like ‘I tried to kill myself and the guitar was the way I found to survive,’ or ‘I lost my mother and my dad this year and music is the way I get through.’ I even saw a 13-year-old boy who said to me: ‘I want to be the next Nina Simone,’ ’’ Dupont said.
“I see the impact,” he said. “I see that we do a job not enough people are doing. There’s less and less music in schools. Somebody has to step up to the plate.”
The Montreal International Jazz Festival’s third Montreal Guitar Show will be at the Palais des Congrès July 3 to 5. The fourth annual Blues Camp runs from July 6 to 12. The fifth annual Montreal Musical Instrument Show will be at the Village de la musique from July 10 to 12, although some activities are offered throughout the festival.

The Montreal International Jazz Festival runs from Tuesday to July 12. For further details, go to montrealjazzfest.com or montrealgazette.com/festivalcentral

1. Play your own guitar through it. You want to be in familiar territory to judge an amp objectively, and it’s difficult to assess an amp’s suitability if you’re testing it with an unfamiliar instrument. Work from your comfort zone, and you’ll better know whether this one could be of use to you, or is just way out of the sonic ballpark.

2. Start with an external visual check:
• Is the amp reasonably clean, or does it appear to have been neglected? If the latter, does it look like it will clean up okay, or is this deep-down grunge?
• Do the tubes look old (is the lettering faded and discolored from excessive heat?), or do they appear to be fairly fresh, even if they are NOS (new old stock) types? It’s cool to find an old amp with its original tubes, or very old replacements, if they are still in decent playable condition. An amp that carries old, burnt-out (or nearly so) tubes, however, just indicates gear that has been neglected.
• Are the tubes reasonably tight in their sockets?
• Does the speaker look sound, tightly mounted, and in good condition, even if it’s an old one? Or is it dusty, discolored, have a brittle cone, or loose mounting bolts/screws/nuts?
• Are the cabinet’s edges and corners tight and solid?
• Your assessment of all of the above will give you a general idea of the amp’s condition before you have even plugged it in. An amp that is old and a little dusty and grimy, but basically in decent condition underneath, is possibly one that was cared for well, but just stored for years and left untouched. An amp that was cared for poorly or not serviced at all, or serviced poorly, while in use for many years is a riskier proposition.

3. Has the seller installed a safe grounded, three-prong AC cord? If not, don’t touch any other electrical equipment while testing, and ask them if they will have one correctly installed (if it’s a guitar store) before selling the amp, or make a concession on the price so that you can do so. If you buy it as-is, have a three-prong cord properly and professionally installed asap. This is a safety issue, and it won’t be safe to gig or record with the amp until you have done so.

4. Turn the amp’s volume control(s) down to 0, switch the power on and let it warm up. Does the pilot light work? Are the tubes glowing as normal? Switch the standby on if it has one, and/or turn up the volume control(s) slightly. You should hear a slight — but not excessive — hum through the speaker. If there are any loud hums, squeals or oscillations in the amp at any stage in this process, switch off immediately and unplug from the AC socket.

5. If all is well, plug in and play. Start at lower volumes, try all the other control knobs for function and scratchiness. If you get a little “static” style scratchy sound when you turn any of the potentiometers but they still function much as they should, this isn’t a big deal. A tech can clean these with a squirt of contact cleaner for a minimum bench charge. If you get any major volume jumps or dead spots, that might mean the pot needs replacing. Still not too big a deal if the price is right and it’s an amp you are really interested in, but it means more of a repair investment.

6. Turn up, and play louder. If the seller insists that you test it at quiet volumes only, explain that you need to at least play it briefly at or near full volume, or the deal is off. You don’t have to crank it for hours, and it’s unreasonable to expect others to tolerate that, but play it at a fairly advanced volume for 30 seconds or a minute or so at least, and listen to how the whole amp, and the speaker in particular, reacts to the wattage you’re putting through it.

7. If you get “ringing” or “pinging” sounds or microphonics at medium or higher volumes, this could be the sign of a bad tube (as well as a number of other things that are more difficult to suspect). You can sometimes check this by gently tapping each tube in succession with a pen or pencil — with the volume at around 10 o’clock — while listening for the one that reacts excessively (note that you will get a little sound out of any good tube by doing this), ask the seller if they have a replacement tube you can try in that position. Switch off the amp, let it cool down for a few minutes, and make the swap, using a dust cloth or other protection to remove the suspect tube if it’s still hot. If the tubes are old and worn anyway, you’ll need to figure a replacement set into the purchase price (details of which below).

8. If the amp sounds intermittently fine, but emits odd rasping or scratching or vibrating sounds from time to time, it might have a faulty speaker. If you suspect the speaker at all, ask the seller if you can patch the amplifier’s output — if at all possible — into another cabinet of a similar impedance rating with a speaker that is known to be good, to test further. If all is well in the new cab, you have a speaker issue to consider, and need to figure a replacement into the purchase price (details of which below).

9. All well and good? You like the tone? You might have a groovy new amp, if the price is right. Even so, it’s still a very good idea to have a professional amp tech check and service any “new” used amp you acquire, especially if it’s old and looks at all worn or neglected.

10. All not so good, but you think you’d like to have it if it can be made right? If the seller doesn’t have the facilities to fix any problems for you, here’s a list of approximately replacement costs for major components that are likely to need attention.
• A full new set of tubes for a small to medium amp (two or three preamp tubes, two output tubes, rectifier tube) will cost a minimum of $80 for decent, tested tubes.
• One new 12-inch speaker will cost around $40-$50 for a fairly generic replacement of passable quality, $60-$80 for a mid-quality speaker with more character, and $100-$250 for a top-notch, high-end replacement.
• Potentiometers and worn or faulty tube sockets will cost $5-$8 per item, plus the cost of labor to replace them.
• Filter capacitors (a common weak point in older amps) will cost $4-$10 per item (multiples of this, for “multi-cap” can types), depending upon size and quality, plus the cost of labor to replace them.
• Cosmetic issues such as vinyl (Tolex, tweed) and grille cloth … well, that’s up to you, and depends on how much of a “lived in” look you can live with.
11. Extra attention: If it’s a vintage amp, and one with any value in particular, and you feel you like the tone and performance enough that you’re ready to make the purchase, it’s a good idea to “look under the hood” to see how much the original circuit has been messed with. Don’t do this all on your own, especially if you have no experience working safely with tube amps. If the seller is experienced with amps, or has an in-house tech, ask them to — having unplugged the amp and let it cool — remove the chassis from the cab so you can see the components on the board, the wiring and the undersides of the transformers. DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING! Tube amps can carry dangerous voltages even after they have been switched off and unplugged. Just make a visual assessment, to the best of your ability, of how much the amp appears to be original, and how much has been changed or modified (often an honest dealer or amp tech will walk you through this and help with such an assessment). If you’re not in a position to make this judgment, or can’t safely have the chassis removed, ask to let a qualified amp tech explore this for you before you make the purchase, especially if the amp is of any elevated vintage or collector’s value.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

1954 Fender Deluxe Amplifier
	$1,850.00 Time Remaining: 8h 26m Bid now | Add to watch list

1959 FENDER TWEED DELUXE AMPLIFIER AMP 5E3 RARE VINTAGE AMP VERY QUIET
	$2,499.99 Time Remaining: 1d 9h 50m Buy It Now for only: $2,499.99 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Fender Quad Reverb Fender Twin Reverb Fender Amplifier Fender Tube Amp
	$1,400.00 Time Remaining: 17h 38m Buy It Now for only: $1,400.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

4 Fender amp covers
	$52.00 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 12h 58m Bid now | Add to watch list

FENDER 300 PS tube BASS amplifier 1975 1976 300 watts 1970s RARE PICKUP ONLY
	$595.00 Time Remaining: 26d 13h 20m Buy It Now for only: $595.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Fender Deluxe Vintage Amplifier Model AB763 Good Condition Sounds Great
	$1,899.00 Time Remaining: 13h 41m Buy It Now for only: $2,300.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

original 1956 Fender CHAMP tube amplifier TWEED amp 6
	$1,190.00 Time Remaining: 5d 12h 23m Buy It Now for only: $1,190.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE 1970s FENDER PRINCETON AMPLIFIER
	$480.00 (8 Bids) Time Remaining: 14h 25m Bid now | Add to watch list

« Previous12345678Next »