Cheap Amps You Wish You Had Never Sold...

S

stevieb

Just another guy, really.
For me, it's:

Pevey Bravo. Way under-appreciated. Not by me, while I had it, but in a weak moment, I decided it was the amp that was one too many...

And, believe it or not, one particular Fender Frontman 15. It was the model that had a DSP that provided several different effects. Only thing I didn't like about it was you could not control the AMOUNT of effect- it was either all or nothing.

Little Sears all-tube I traded for repair to a GK200G. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Should have traded the GK for repair to the Sears...

Yours? (Please keep it down to three.)
 
In the mid 70's, I had a Sears amp my dad had bought me. We started a "band" and were playng in the garage, I was about 10. Dad decided that I needed a better amp if I was in a band, so he came home with an Ampeg Portaflex for me. It was really a bass amp, but I used a Big Muff pedal (the original) and that baby cranked!He bought it used at a local Pawn Shop for $35. This was a lot of money for an amp!

I used this bad boy for about 5 years and aventually traded it for an 100W HIWATT head. Wish I still had that puppy! Here's a picture from the web, not the actual amp I had, but this is exactly what it looked like.
portaflex.jpg
 
I've been through a lot of amps, but two stand out--a National Model 22 I got in high school, 5 watts with trem and reverb into a Jensen 12. With a good speaker in a decent sized cabinet it sounded much better than your average 5 watt amp. Sold it after I got an early '60's Reverborocket.

The other was a Harmony H 191, pretty much a tweed Champ in an art deco cabinet. Put an MXR 6 band EQ ahead of it and the little box would scream. I loaned it to a friend and never saw it again.
 
My first ever amp was a no name (had been painted more than once!) tube amp with an 8" speaker and nothing but a volume control.

It was fine for learning, but I was a dumb kid, so I didn't think it was cool. I worked all summer one year to save up enough to buy a Peavey 225W half stack. About as tall as I was, and loud enough to piss off folks in the neighboring zip code.

After a couple months though, I found myself putting the tiny old tube amp on top of the Peavey head, and just playing through the little one--while telling my parents, who didn't know any better, that I had 'em all hooked up together somehow. I didn't want to look like I didn't like the giant monster! But I really didn't.

It wasn't until years later that I figured out my ears were telling me what we say so much around here: a small tube amp, cranked to power tube distortion is just sweet! The giant Peavey was all transistor and sounded like so much sizzle...

I don't have either of them anymore. My regret is that I don't even know the brand of the little tube amp--I'd love to chase one down for nostalgia's sake.

Oh yeah--how much did I sell 'em for? I traded the big Peavey for a car. I sold the little tube amp for $50. Dohhh!!!
 
Yamaha G100-112- Early 80's what a sweet sounding amp, sure it was solid state but with a tune OD up front it was awesome.

Yamaha practice amp, don't recall the model number also early 80's but it was in a blonde wood case with a plastic 'wicker' speaker grill, switchable overdrive and reverb 15-20 watts into an 8" speaker.

Peavey Bandit 65- 3 gain stages and just bullet proof.
 
Unfortunately my friend died of cancer, we friends were supposed to get some things back, but his parents hauled it all off and sold it instead. I don't blame Steve, but if I were in pissing distance of his father's grave..........
 
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