Vintage Tube Amp

1969 Fender Bantam Bass. Electric Guitar/Bass Amplifier Head. This is a pretty rare amp and the only one I’ve ever seen. This model was made 1969 through 1971 and is the direct predecessor of the Bassman 10 amp. I found this amp used in a music store in Honolulu back in the late 70′s; it was working perfectly so I used it briefly. The power transformer and the output transformer both date to 1969 but the choke dates to 1972. We are not sure why because they all appear original. I had my cabinet maker fabricate an easily removable duplicate baffle board with identical grille for the cut-down head cabinet. Recently (Dec 2024) I took it to my current amp tech and he replaced the filter caps, lubricated the pots and switches, powered it for an hour and checked operation. He says it’s now in great shape. We had our cabinet builder cut the amp down and we preserved the tube chart. (Without speaker, please see photos). This is now a more reasonable approx. The tube chart is cut out from the original cabinet and kept on the original wood since that part of cabinet was cut down. The only thing that makes sense to us now is cutting the cabinet down to a head so that you have the flexibility of use with other speaker cabinets and easier transportation. Everything else is all original to the amp. By turning this amp into a head, it can now be used for ANY amplification needs! Public address, bass, electric piano, organ, accordion, guitar, harmonica, steel guitar.. This platform makes an excellent bass amp paired with a suitable cabinet (8 ohm or greater)- complete flexibility and much more convenient with its increased portability. Serial # A 02588. 1 Sylvania 5U4 GB. 2 Sylvania 6L6 GC. Chassis Side Black Marker. (33rd week of 1969). All other pots dated 1969. (52nd week of 1969). (38th week of 1972). (43rd week of 1969). It might serve the buyers purpose to bring up the power slowly with a variac since these used amp heads are over 50 years old and have not been used for a few decades. Our amp tech has only replaced the needed parts -(filter caps & power cords as specified) to just get them turned on and running for an hour. Please see a skilled amp tech before extended use. The operation of the amps requires that they be regularly serviced for optimal performance. Please remember these are vintage pieces, we cannot guarantee that they will not need service or more parts in their future; only some obvious parts were changed to get it working. Most of the parts are still the original old parts remaining which will be stated in our listings. We do not have any control on what was done by previous owners, but we try to write in detail any information we have. We cannot guarantee that all our information is 100% correct; it is our humble opinions and own musical knowledge. Please see photos and ask questions to make your own assessment. ASK ALL QUESTIONS BEFORE PURCHASING! This discriminating collector has curated an incredible collection of guitars & amps since 1965. From a collector & player with an extensive musical history and knowledge. This collection has been stored and cared for impeccably for decades. Now, after all these years, he is ready to share his collection with other enthusiasts and wants his prized possessions to go to good homes and get played! Please follow our listings. LOTS MORE TO COME! We only sell to buyers that are established, verified.

Dual Showman Reverb TFL 5000 D. Electric Guitar Amplifier Head. Sacramento’s own madman boutique amp builder Mike McCormack of Mack Electronics, had to start somewhere with his creations and one place he started was with some of my amplifiers. What he intended to do was build a Fender equivalent Sunn Model T with four 6550′s power tubes in a Fender Showman chassis. This amplifier he created he nicknamed “The Beast” because it’s so loud and powerful. What he was able to do in this project was retain the original transformers without having to upgrade them. His circuitry is HEAVILY modified with extra heavy filter caps and interior switching. He added an effects loop with send and return jacks. He eliminated the reverb circuit but retained the vibrato. We have 3 jacks that are covering the serial number and we are not sure what they are connected to. He added a blue power light and a lot of labels. The original baffle board was made of particle board and was very heavy so Mojo Musical Supply built for me a more lightweight custom grille which afforded better ventilation. Around 1970 they stopped using slide brackets to mount amplifier heads to the speaker cabinets. Fender then just used these larger speaker cabinet mounting bolts as seen here. The filter cap pan does not fit over the filter caps anymore but is also not necessary because the filtration is more than adequate and these Sprague caps that he used won’t leak like the Mallory caps that Fender used back in the day. Recently (Jan 2025) I took this to my current amp tech and he says this amp is “over the top”, very loud, powerful and is very well designed and put together. He went over it, powered for an hour, played it and lubricated the pots. (37th week of 1970). (34th week of 1970). It might serve the buyers purpose to bring up the power slowly with a variac since these used amp heads are over 50 years old and have not been used for a few decades. Our amp tech has only replaced the needed parts -(filter caps & power cords as specified) to just get them turned on and running for an hour. Please see a skilled amp tech before extended use. The operation of the amps requires that they be regularly serviced for optimal performance. Please remember these are vintage pieces, we cannot guarantee that they will not need service or more parts in their future; only some obvious parts were changed to get it working. Most of the parts are still the original old parts remaining which will be stated in our listings. We do not have any control on what was done by previous owners, but we try to write in detail any information we have. We cannot guarantee that all our information is 100% correct; it is our humble opinions and own musical knowledge. Please see photos and ask questions to make your own assessment. ASK ALL QUESTIONS BEFORE PURCHASING! This discriminating collector has curated an incredible collection of guitars & amps since 1965. From a collector & player with an extensive musical history and knowledge. This collection has been stored and cared for impeccably for decades. Now, after all these years, he is ready to share his collection with other enthusiasts and wants his prized possessions to go to good homes and get played! Please follow our listings. LOTS MORE TO COME! We only sell to buyers that are established, verified.

1974 Fender Bassman 100. Electric Guitar/Bass Amplifier Head. This 1974 Fender Bassman 100 was used quite extensively in the late 80′s and 90′s by touring rock bands from the mainland. When I bought this amp from XSDB, I used it briefly and then added it to my collection. The original amp cabinet was beat up and needed major repairs so I trashed it. I had my cabinet builder recently build a new cabinet for the chassis. The cabinet has the original shielding plate, Fender logo and knobs. Most of the chrome hardware has been replaced. Recently (Jan 2025) I took it to my current amp tech and he replaced the filter caps, lubricated the pots and switches, powered it for an hour and checked operation. He says it’s now in great shape. Bassman 100 is the first really capable bass amp head that Fender did. It’s basically a Dual Showman with a Bass-voiced preamp on one channel and a Twin/Showman three knob tone stack on the other, but without the vibrato or reverb options. The Fender three-knob tone stack is a classic design for a reason-it sounds AWESOME. Just lush and beautiful cleans that work well with any kind of music, any instrument or any pedals you want to throw in front of them. Even basses and keyboards sound awesome plugged into the normal channel. Loud and clean is what it does. It’s not a high gain amp; it’s not trying to be. It can break up if you crank it beyond 7, but that is stupidly loud. Really it was designed to be clean and tight all the way up with a good amount of headroom the way a bass amp ought to be, instead of how the 50-Watt Bassman amp always was (aka awesome for guitar, shamefully bad for bass). The biggest quirk of any old three tone knob Fender amp is the middle control. It’s not actually a midrange control, but a volume control. Turning up the “middle” knob makes EVERYTHING louder; you only hear the mids more because the human ear focuses on midrange sounds the most. This makes the amp controls VERY interactive, maybe more than you’d want it to be. Try playing the amp with all of the tone knobs turned down and you can’t-your amp will be silent. Put the middle knob on 10, turn the treble off and put the bass control at 1.5, and you’ll have a completely flat frequency response curve, great for amplifying keyboards and other things. Try setting your bass and treble knobs where you want and then set your midrange to fit the room-low for small places and practice, up full for loud rooms and gigs. It sounds stupid, but it works. Serial # A 95417. Chassis Black Ink Stamp. Vintage RCA 6L6′s. CTS 7th week of 1974. (28th week of 1974). (34th week of 1973). (4th week of 1974). It might serve the buyers purpose to bring up the power slowly with a variac since these used amp heads are over 50 years old and have not been used for a few decades. Our amp tech has only replaced the needed parts -(filter caps & power cords as specified) to just get them turned on and running for an hour. Please see a skilled amp tech before extended use. The operation of the amps requires that they be regularly serviced for optimal performance. Please remember these are vintage pieces, we cannot guarantee that they will not need service or more parts in their future; only some obvious parts were changed to get it working. Most of the parts are still the original old parts remaining which will be stated in our listings. We do not have any control on what was done by previous owners, but we try to write in detail any information we have. We cannot guarantee that all our information is 100% correct; it is our humble opinions and own musical knowledge. Please see photos and ask questions to make your own assessment. ASK ALL QUESTIONS BEFORE PURCHASING! This discriminating collector has curated an incredible collection of guitars & amps since 1965. From a collector & player with an extensive musical history and knowledge. This collection has been stored and cared for impeccably for decades. Now, after all these years, he is ready to share his collection with other enthusiasts and wants his prized possessions to go to good homes and get played! Please follow our listings. LOTS MORE TO COME! We only sell to buyers that are established, verified.

Up for sale, a 1972 Guyatone Reverb Jazz GA-1050 2×12 combo amp, freshly serviced and in excellent condition. Produced during the “lawsuit” era of Japanese guitar/amplifier production, this Guyatone combo is an extremely faithful copy of a Silverface Fender Pro Reverb, complete with “drip edge”-style aluminum trim. Loaded with a pair of EHX 6L6 power tubes and the original pair of “wideband type” Japanese-made alnico speakers, this Guyatone delivers glassy, balanced cleans very much in the vein of a Pro Reverb, with smooth, lightly compressed overdrive when pushing the amp towards 10 on the Volume dial. The Reverb Jazz GA-1050 features a dual-channel, dual-input design, with footswitchable Reverb and Tremolo on Channel Two. The amp retains all of its original transformers, and the power transformer has taps for both 100v and 117v operation, with a voltage switch on the back of the chassis. The original Japanese TBM pots are all present as well, with visible date codes from the 43rd week of 1972. Freshly serviced by our techs here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar, this amp has been fully recapped to ensure ideal performance. All component voltages have been tested to ensure optimal functionality, and additional maintenance includes spraying out all pots and tensioning tube sockets. The original two-prong power cable is present, and a three-prong can be installed at no charge at the next owner’s discretion. Beyond the Electro-Harmonix 6L6 power tubes, the amp features all vintage Japanese-branded preamp tubes (likely original to the amp). Fender-style cosmetic touches include smooth black tolex, silver sparkle grillcloth with “drip edge” aluminum trim, a “Silverface” faceplate with turquoise silkscreen graphics, and a raised Guytatone badge. There is only light wear on the tolex and modest darkening of the grillcloth. Hardware includes the tilt-back legs, casters, and “Rhythm Machine” serial badge (72-prefix serial translates to’72 production).

Up for sale, a 1979 Fender Bassman 135 in excellent condition and in perfect working order. Introduced at the tail end of Fender’s Silverface era, the Bassman “135″ was outfitted with Fender’s ultra linear transformers, designed to coax maximal tube power and clean headroom out of a quartet of 6L6 power tubes. A Bassman that lives up to its name as a viable bass amp for stage and studio use, the Bassman 135 also offers pristine, bold cleans applicable for guitar, pedal steel, or pairing with a Rhodes piano. Dime out the Master Volume for sparkling, balanced cleans or crank the preamp and keep the Master low for more compressed overdrive and grit. The circuit is virtually untouched, retaining the Schumacher-made transformers which date to’79, and date codes on the original CTS pots are from 1979 as well. All of the original blue molded caps are intact in the preamp too. Originally an “Export” model, the power transformer has additional taps for international voltages, currently wired for USA 120v use. The tube complement includes matching original Fender-branded preamp tubes, and the power tubes are a matched quartet of Sovtek 5881s (6L6GC). The original smooth black tolex and silver sparkle grillcloth with faded orange stripe are intact, and the tube chart is intact inside the cabinet. All of the original hardware is present including the nickel corners chassis straps, handle, and sphinx glides. All of the original witch hat knobs are present as well, along with the raised Fender logo.

INCREDIBLE OLD SCHOOL TUBE TONE at an AFFORDIBLE PRICE! This is a VINTAGE 1979 FENDER DELUXE REVERB AMPLIFIER 1-12 COMBO. This is a 1970′s SILVERFACE AMP W/ ORIGINAL FOOTSWITCHES. It has been maintained and serviced through its history. All the tubes test strong on my Hickok 6000a tester. The amp is in perfect working order. No scratchy pots and everything works as it should. For the most part a quiet amp at idle with some very light white noise, well it’s a 45-year-old tube amp. There has been repair work done to the cabinet. The top joints have been reglued and screws have been added for support. It’s a solid cab. THE AMP LOOKS GREAT and SOUNDS AWESOME!! The speaker was made by CTS and has a 1978 date code. Transformers are all original with 1979 date codes. There are newer capacitors under the main supply pan that are dated 2003, so I suspect that is when it was recapped last. The things I have done to the amp include cleaning the controls, resoldering the plug end of the reverb switch and replacing a couple of microphonic 12AX7 tubes. I also noticed it has a replaced and a cracked knob, and a replaced power plug. This amp has a fairly rare/usable feature… A push/pull volume/mid boost that is also foot switchable. As a basic test I have operated this amp for at least 6 hours recently and it did not fail, smoke, throw sparks, blow fuses, start on fire, etc. Old electronics are scratched, worn, chipped, cracked, dirty, dusty, stained, ugly, tinkered with, missing parts, etc. The exteriors have wear that includes cuts, holes, tears, scuffs, missing stitching, missing or replaced feet, handles, knobs. In the course of servicing over the years, they typically do not have all original components. Old electronics typically hum and have scratchy controls. Old electronics can fail at any time. This is part of my estate. LOOK AT ALL MY LISTINGS!!! You should not have to live with something you are unhappy with for any reason. If you alter, modify, change or “repair” the item in anyway without my consent, you are accepting the item “as is”, at the price paid. We will work through the claim together until things are right.

For sale, this precious vintage 1973 Fender Vibro Champ Silverface 6 watt all tube guitar amplifier 1×8 combo in excellent condition. Works perfectly, sounds like a dream! Very original with original 8″ Fender branded 8″ speaker. No reasonable offer refused.

Up for sale, a 1974 Fender Vibrolux Reverb in excellent condition and in perfect working order, complete with a two-button footswitch. With good reason, the Vibrolux is one of the most desirable Fender models for its ideal size and power, well-suited to both stage and studio applications. The amp delivers sparkling cut and muscle, and a surprising amount of headroom, cascading into lightly compressed tube overdrive when pushing towards 10 on the Volume dial. Offering 35 tube watts through the original CTS alnico magnet 10 speaker pair, the Vibrolux is the perfect platform for getting the most out of a variety of guitars and stompboxes. Clean and sweet up til about 5 on the volume knob (with a perceived volume that’s loud enough to keep up with an aggressive drummer), the Vibrolux has clear note attack and sweet tube rectifier sag, not to mention lush tube-driven Reverb and percussive Tremolo. All of the transformers are manufactured by Fender’s primary transformer supplier in this era, Schumacher, dating between late 1972 and the first weeks of’74. Fully serviced, all pots, switches, jacks and tube sockets have been thoroughly cleaned, and the amp boasts a professional recap of the power supply, with smaller modern Sprague electrolytic caps in the preamp. The preamp retains a full complement of original blue molded caps, and all of the original CTS pots are intact, with visible date codes from the 2nd week of’74. The tube complement includes a properly biased pair of Groove Tubes 6L6 power tubes, with a 5U4 rectifier and mostly modern valves in the preamp The CTS alnico magnet 10 speakers are the original matched pair with black frames and blue Fender foil stickers on the alnico magnets. The date stamps on the edges of the frames date to the 5th week of’74. These are also the same speakers seen in Super Reverbs of the era. The tube chart is intact inside the cabinet as well. The original smooth black tolex and silver sparkle grillcloth with orange stripe are intact, exhibiting some scuffs and a couple bald corners. The hardware shows light surface patina on the original handle caps, chassis straps, corners, and sphinx glides (feet). The faceplate, in contrast, is particularly well-kept with a full complement of witch hat knobs. A modern Fender two-button footswitch is included.

1975 Fender Twin Reverb Silverface Vintage Tube Guitar Amplifier with Pro ATA Flight Case. Measures 10.5″ (L) x 26″ (W) x 20.25 (H). Loaded with two 30-watt 12 eminence 12-BR-8-30 speakers. Amp is 8 ohms. Comes with well-made SafeCase ATA flight case with upgraded Penn Elcomm locking casters. I bought the flight case new in expectation to use this amp and it never left the rehearsal area. I just haven’t used it hardly at all and can’t justify keeping it. It was well-treated, works well and is in great shape for its age.

For sale, one gorgeous very original vintage silverface 1978 Fender Deluxe Reverb 20 watt all tube guitar amplifier 1×12 combo in excellent condition! Works perfectly, sounds like a dream. 20 delicious all tube watts from two 6V6GT power tubes, four 12AX7 and two 12AT7 in the preamp, and 5U4 rectification. Two channels, Normal with two band EQ stack, and Vibrato with three band EQ and foot-switchable tube driven real spring tank reverb and Fender’s signature vary-bias vibrato. The sound that built Rock and Roll, and dominates in several genres. Original Fender branded CTS 12 speaker and all original transformers. And you can only imagine how it sounds. Perfect breakup, no pedals needed! No reasonable offer refused.