The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Bass Amps & Effects => Topic started by: amptech on August 09, 2013, 09:23:31 AM
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As an amp builder and repairer I rarely have the money to buy expensive vintage amps, but what about this:
Went across the country with my wife for a wedding (yes, I was forced) and I even had to go shopping for
some new shoes (forced here too). To my surprise this town had a decent guitar shop.
Not much to look at for a bass player, a couple of cheap p-copies and an Ibanez.
Hey, wait - In a corner - a 100w marshall super bass top.
Probably very early 70's, nice cabinet but rusty trafos and f***ed up wiring- but hey -that's what I do, right?
For sale, naah.. maybe if a really good offer came up.
What do you guys think? I really can't see myself leaving town without it.
It needs all trannies, capacitors, most wiring and probably sockets and pots... but fine cab/tolex.
How much should I punish my mastercard, any experienced buyers here?
Haven't really seen many for sale, or maybe I haven't looked for them..
My recently aquired love for this amp is about to overshadow my wallet - need help!
I promised my better half that I could really make some money if I fixed it up and sold it,
but of course I wouldn't sell it. (she knows)
Any input here?
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An amp without (functional) iron isn't worth squat in my book. I'd do an ebay search for the going rate of vintage Marshall logo badges and make an offer based on that +200 to 400 (only because you'll save considerable time on the wood and metalwork, which is original) because it sounds like it's gonna be a complete rebuild.
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Thanks for reply...
I allready told the salesman what fixing it would cost, but after all it looks really clean for that age.
Seeing those rusty trannies, well - this amp needs me!
Is the early superbass models quite common, eh?
I have treated trannies for some rust before, and laquer potted them with good results.
But you can't count on it just by looking at them in a shop.
I guess i have to assume they're not working and bid from there...
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You're there so you could try it out, no?
Those guys can be rather pricey if in working shape and not banged up. A couple K easy (with half stack cab; not seen many for sale alone as head only); seen a few go for above 3K even (but they all worked).
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Oh no, it is not even tubes in it. It seemes to have been on display only for years, along with brass, rusty sixties hofners, a silverface vibro champ
and a very old London City 130 with green tolex :)
The ac cord was cut , seemed to have loose wires inside - they have never even tried to fix it.
I believe noone have really wanted to hear it play, really disturbs me!
But the shop owner seemed to be a nice guy, I'll pop by and ask to check it out in his back room.
Maybe start on $500 and see if he lets it go.
I'm in love, and love cannot really be measured in money.
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I wouldn't offer more than 200. You're buying a chassis, knobs, and logo; everything else has a question mark.
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Ok, I'll try him out.
I'm just afraid how he'll react to a low offer.
And if I walk out of the shop with money left, there is a chance I start bidding on the green London City :P
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Heart and mind, dear chap... heart and mind...
Things come in threes...? wedding... shoes... and amp...?
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Ok, I'll try him out.
I'm just afraid how he'll react to a low offer.
And if I walk out of the shop with money left, there is a chance I start bidding on the green London City :P
He'll throw you out of his shop? Highly doubt it! You're not bidding, you're bargaining. Consider how long those things have been sitting gathering dust and the condition, no layman in his right mind would buy them. You have unique skills to make them functional.
Offer him $500 for the pair, fix both and sell the London to cover most if not all of the Marshall acquisition and refurb. Pretty sure you'll be able to recoup all money you spend and more by selling the gear if necessary.
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Heart and mind, dear chap... heart and mind...
Things come in threes...? wedding... shoes... and amp...?
You bet!
My wife figured out that if she gave me thumbs up for the amp buying, I'd be calm enough to behave in the wedding.
The shop was closed today, (on a saturday ???) but the owner agreed to come by tomorrow ??? to take a closer look
at the rust and serial nr. If it's pre 72 (pre PCB) I'll bid, if it's both wery rusty and post PCB it has to be cheap.
I'll update tomorrow, new amp day is always exiting!
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Don't you ever sleep, Carlo...? well, I guess the sun must be up in the swamps by now... ;)
Hmm... better get on with my tasks for the day before swmbo gets back from the shops and finds me thumping the keys...
Good grief... no one is asleep in America... :o ;D
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0700 here, been up for a few hours. I'm on summer schedule out to the shop and work until noon or so. 'Build Basses to Buy Basses' is my motto.
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He'll throw you out of his shop? Highly doubt it! You're not bidding, you're bargaining. Consider how long those things have been sitting gathering dust and the condition, no layman in his right mind would buy them. You have unique skills to make them functional.
Offer him $500 for the pair, fix both and sell the London to cover most if not all of the Marshall acquisition and refurb. Pretty sure you'll be able to recoup all money you spend and more by selling the gear if necessary.
Yeah, that's what I really want, I'm only limited by the roof on my credit card.
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Another option: Trade him a refurb on the London for the Marshall.
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'Build Basses to Buy Basses' is my motto.
And a damn good one!
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Another option: Trade him a refurb on the London for the Marshall.
I did :) he needed to think..
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I did :) he needed to think..
Not a good sign. He's the seller, it's customary in most places that the seller starts the pricing negotiation.
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Knowing very little about those amps my thoughts probably aren't squat. That said, I bought my 200S for $85 as a chassis, needing some electronics, a couple of tubes and a cabinet. You're ahead because it has a nice cab and you can do the rest of the work yourself.
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Done!
The shop owner opened the shop to let mee see it again on a sunday, now that's good service in my book.
Ended on $450, I'm happy with the deal.
A close inspection and it turned out to be all original parts, only the choke had rust enough to be considered dangerous.
1973 model MK1 superbass, but with a solid tagboard - so that's basically what i wanted.
The chassis was shitty dirty on the outside, but as new on the inside. Every solder point had their red paint seal/dot.
Can't wait to get home to fire it up (but first - a trafo insulation test, of course)
Thanks for the input here folks, I'll post a pic when it's home - my cellphone is about the same age as the marshall.
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Damn!!! If you ever want to sell it...I LOVE those for bass!!!
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Damn!!! If you ever want to sell it...I LOVE those for bass!!!
We'll see how it sounds first. I've never actually heard (or seen) a vintage superbass 'live' before,
but I have a feeling it will replace my HD130 at least for a while...
Hey, I didn't even know I wanted needed one before I saw it in the shop!
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Very cool! And cool you saw a piece of Dutch musical history (London City) !
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Congrats; glad that worked out for you.
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Hey, I didn't even know I wanted needed one before I saw it in the shop!
As we used to say when I sold cars...
"I want, I need, I gotta have..."
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When it comes to power tools and musical gear, you should never need to wait until you actually need something to buy it. Be prepared!
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i'm sure you'll love it. I've been using a MKII for years with it's 4x12 slanted cab. It's a killer amp, it has more volume than you'll ever need and great dirty lows. My preferred amp of all times.
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Very cool! And cool you saw a piece of Dutch musical history (London City) !
The LC amp war actually in for repair, but here was no one there to fix it so they put it on display!
I really liked the shop and promised I´d come back next summer and fix it, if it was still there :)
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(http://bassoutpost.com/Users/chrissrensen/Documents/Marshall testing.jpg)
Finally...
Wow, this thing sounds good on all basses. The Grabber really opened up!
No 4x12 yet, but hooked up to my MusicMan rig, it´s moving air for sure.
Compared to my HD130, much more pleasant tone, less spiky when pushed.
I´ll try out the Marshall on the 212 cab and the MM on the 115 and vice versa tomorrow.
Dont´t wanna disturb the neighbors... yet.
Hope my HD130 head doesn´t get upset, looks somewhat castrated when not sitting on top of the cabs.
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Compared to my HD130, much more pleasant tone, less spiky when pushed.
Considering the HD-130 is near Class B to start out with, that's not surprising.
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Considering the HD-130 is near Class B to start out with, that's not surprising.
I'd say it's out-classed by the Marshall!
Gotta try gigging it...